SPAD XIIISPAD airplane model. The SPAD (Societe pour l'Aviation et ses Derives Society for Aviation and its Derivatives) XIII was designed in 1916 as a French attempt to counter the twin gun German fighters, like the Halberstadt. The SPAD XIII doubled the firepower of the earlier SPAD VII by using two Vickers 303 machine guns with 400 rounds of ammunition for each gun. The enthusiasm of the French pilots who tested the aircraft between April and September 1917