|
Sopwith Camel F.1
Notice the splayed out wheels, a feature of many ww1 aircraft which used bungee cord wheel suspension and a hinged axle.
Other features included four ailerons and an undercambered wing section.
|
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel together with the SE5a were probably the two finest single seat combat aircraft the allied forces had on the Western front during ww1. This rotary engined biplane was designed by the highly talented aircraft designer Herbert Smith, the same man responsible for the earlier Sopwith Pup.
The Camel spanned about 28ft and had a length of around 18.75ft. By comparison the earlier Pup had a span of 26.5 ft and a length of about 19.3ft. This shorter fuselage length respective to the wing span and area plus other design features including a very short nose and small vertical and horizontal tail surfaces contributed to the lower stability of the Camel compared to the forgiving Pup.
This low level of aerodynamic stability coupled with the rotating mass of the rotary engine was a double edged sword for the Camel pilots. It allowed good pilots to extract very high manouverablilty from the plane while less able and less experience pilots could struggle with the aircraft. Indeed many Sopwith Camel losses were due to accident not to combat action.
|
First squadron deliveries for this aircraft were made in May 1917, both RNAS units and the RFC took delivery of the Camel.
Engines used were rotary designs and included the Bentley BR1 engine which developed 150hp, Clerget 9b 130hp engine and the Le Rhone 9J of 110hp output. With a Clerget engine the Camel could exceed 104mph in level flight, when fitted with the larger engines the machine could do around the 115mph mark level flight.
The F.1 Camel was armed with two side by side mounted prop synchronised .303 inch Vickers mgs in a hump directly ahead of the cockpit (the hump being the origin of the Camel's name). This was fairly good firepower for the time.
The Navy 2F.1 Camel mounted twin Lewis mgs above the top wing instead of the hump mounted Vickers units, this eliminating the requirement for interupter gear.
|
The main production variant of the Camel was the F.1, there was also the 2F.1 Camel which was used on ships and various experimental examples.
The Camel served until the end of ww1 but was then replaced by the Sopwith Snipe aircraft in the British forces. The aircraft continued in service however with various other countries including the U.S.A. (Navy) and Poland.
It's unclear exactly how many were produced but the figure is likely between 5,000 and 6,000 aircraft. Very few original aircraft survive.
|
|
| Sopwith Camel F.1 |
|---|
| Engine | Clerget 9b rotary 9cyl
130 hp
Many other engines also used of various power output.. |
Top Speed | approx. 104 mph with 130hp |
|---|
| Weight | approx. 1,450 lb |
Wingspan | 28ft |
|---|
| Length | 18ft 9inches |
Weps | Two Vickers .303 mgs |
|---|
| Country | UK |
Crew | 1 |
|---|
| | |
| |
|---|
|
|
