Information AboutSopwith Camel |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SOPWITH CAMEL | |
| british fighter aircraft 1910-1919 | |
| world war i aircraft | |
This article describes the fighter plane. For the 1960s Psychedelic Rock Music band, see Sopwith Camel (band) . in London .]] The Sopwith Camel Scout was a British World War I single-seat Fighter Aircraft that was famous for its manoeuvrability. HISTORY Intended as a replacement for the Sopwith Pup , the Sopwith Camel prototype first flew in December 1916 . It was known as the "Big Pup" early on in its development. It was armed with two .303 In (7.7 Mm ) Vickers Machine Gun s mounted in front of the Cockpit , firing forward through the propeller disc. A fairing surrounding the gun installation created a hump that led to the aircraft acquiring the name Camel . The Camel entered squadron service in June 1917. Approximately 5,500 Camels were produced. Unlike the preceding Pup and Triplane, the Camel was not considered to have pleasant handling characteristics. The strong Gyroscopic effect of the Rotary Engine resulted in strange handling, and the Camel was notoriously difficult to fly in the hands of a novice (many were crashed due to mishandling on landing approach). The Camel was particularly noted for its vicious spinning characteristics. In level flight, the Camel was tail-heavy. It turned sharply to the right with a nose down attitude, while it turned slowly to the left with a nose up attitude. Turns in either direction required left rudder. Nevertheless, agility in combat made the Sopwith Camel one of the best remembered Allied aircraft of World War I . Among its survivors it was known as providing a choice between a "wooden cross, red cross, and Victoria Cross." Together with the S.E.5a , the Camel wrested aerial superiority away from the German Albatros scouts. The Camel was credited with shooting down 1294 enemy aircraft, more than any other Allied scout. By mid-1918, the Camel was basically obsolete, limited by its slow speed and comparatively poor performance over 12,000 feet. However, the protracted development of the Camel's replacement, the Sopwith Snipe , meant that the Camel remained in service until the Armistice. VARIANTS The Camel was powered by a variety of rotary engines during the production period.
The Gnome engines differed from the others in that a selector switch could cut the ignition to all bar one of the cylinders to reduce power for landing. (This was because rotary engines did not have throttles and were at full 'throttle' all the while the ignition was on) On the others the engine had to be "blipped" using a control column-mounted ignition switch (blip switch) to reduce power sufficiently for a safe landing. Sopwith Camel F.1
Sopwith Camel 2F.1
Sopwith Camel 'Comic' Nightfighter Pilot seat moved to rear. Served with Home Defence Squadrons against Zeppelin raids. F.1/1
(Trench Fighter) T.F.1
OPERATORS
SPECIFICATIONS (F.1 CAMEL)
REFERENCES TRIVIA There are only seven vintage Sopwith Camels left in the world, with only one in the United States. It can be found at the Aerospace Education Center in Little Rock, Arkansas . The Camel in Popular Culture The Camel appears in literature as:
Videogames The Camel also appears in the following videogames:
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