Breguet 14 The Breguet 14 was a French biplane bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of World War I . It was built in very large numbers and production continued for many years after the end of the war . Apart from its widespread usage , it was noteworthy for becoming the first aircraft in mass production to use large amounts of metal rather than wood in its structure . This allowed the airframe to be lighter than a wooden airframe of the same strength , in turn making the aircraft very fast and agile for its size , able to outrun many of the fighter s of the day . Its strong construction was able to sustain much damage , it was easy to handle and had good performance . The Breguet 14 is often considered one of the best aircraft of the war . Design and development . The aircraft was designed by Louis Breguet , who flew the first prototype ( originally designated Breguet AV Type XIV ) on its first flight on 21 November 1916 . The design was a come - back for Breguet to designing conventional planes , after designing the pusher - type Breguet BUM . Later that month , the French Army ' s " Section Technique de l ' Aéronautique " ( S . T . Aé . ) issued requirements for four different new aircraft types . Breguet submitted his new design for two of those categories - reconnaissance aircraft , and bomber . Following evaluation in February , the Breguet 14 was accepted for both these roles , and in March , orders were placed for 150 reconnaissance aircraft and 100 bombers , designated Breguet 14 A . 2 and 14 B . 2 respectively ( by 1918 written Breguet XIV A2 / B2 ) . The A . 2 was equipped with a camera , with some carrying radios , while the lower wing of the 14 B . 2 was modified slightly in order to accommodate bomb racks ( built by Michelin ) . Both variants featured automatic , bungee - cord operated aerodynamic flaps , but these were not fitted to production aircraft . A number of B2 models were equipped with the U . S . built Liberty engine and were denoted Breguet 14 B2 L . Other minor variants flown in small numbers during the war included the 14 B . 1 long - range single - seat bomber , the 14 GR . 2 long - range reconnaissance , the 14 H floatplane , the 14 S air ambulance and the 14 Et . 2 trainer . Later variants 14bis A2 and 14bis B2 featured improved wing . An improved variant with bigger wings was the 16 . There was also the two - seat fighter 17 , which was built in small numbers only . Operational history . Following successful deployment by the French , the type was also ordered by the Belgian Army ( 40 aircraft ) and the United States Army Air Service ( over 600 aircraft ) . Around half the Belgian and US aircraft were fitted with Fiat A . 12 engines due to shortages of the original Renault 12F . By the end of World War I , some 5 , 500 Breguet 14s had been produced . The type continued to be widely used after the war , equipping the French occupation forces in Germany and being deployed to support French troops in the colonies . A special version was developed for the harsh conditions encountered overseas , designated 14 TOE ( " Théatres des Operations Extérieures " ) . These saw service in putting down uprisings in Syria and Morocco , in Vietnam and in France ' s attempted intervention in the Russian Civil War . The last trainer examples were not withdrawn from French military service until 1932 . Other air arms using the type included Brazil ( 30 ) , China ( 70 ) , Czechoslovakia ( 10 ) , Denmark , Finland ( 38 ) , Greece , Japan , Siamese Air Force , Uruguay ( 9 ) and Spain . Polish Air Force used 158 Breguet 14s , about 70 of them were used in combat in the Polish - Soviet war . In Japan , Breguet 14s were licence built by Nakajima . Post war , Breguet had also begun to manufacture dedicated civil versions . The 14 T . 2 " Salon carried two passengers in a specially modified fuselage . An improved version of this was the 14 Tbis manufactured as both a land - plane and seaplane . The 14 Tbis also formed the basis of the improved 14 Tbis " Sanitaire air ambulance version , and 100 mail plane s custom - built for Pierre Latécoère ' s fledgling airline , Lignes Aeriennes Latécoère . After changing name to CGEA , the airline used among others 106 Breguet 14s for flights over Sahara desert . The 18 T was a single 14 T re - engined with a Renault J a engine and equipped to carry four passengers . When production finally ceased in 1928 , the total of all versions built had reached 7 , 800 ( according to other sources , 8 , 000 or even 8 , 370 ) .