Sopwith Camel
From Free net encyclopedia
- This article describes the fighter plane. For the 1960s psychedelic rock music band, see Sopwith Camel (band).
Image:Sopwith Camel at the Imperial War Musuem.jpg The Sopwith Camel Scout was a British World War I single-seat fighter aircraft that was famous for its manoeuvrability.
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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 guns 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.
- 130 hp Clerget 9B Rotary
- 140 hp Clerget 9Bf Rotary
- 110 hp Le Rhone 9J Rotary
- 150 hp Bentley BR1 Rotary
- 100 hp Gnome Monosoupape 9B-2 Rotary
- 150 hp Gnome Monosoupape 9N Rotary
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
- Single-seat fighter scout aircraft.
- The main production version.
Sopwith Camel 2F.1
- Shipboard fighter scout aircraft.
Sopwith Camel 'Comic' Nightfighter
Pilot seat moved to rear. Served with Home Defence Squadrons against Zeppelin raids.
F.1/1
- Version with tapered wings.
(Trench Fighter) T.F.1
- Experimental trench fighter.
- Downward angled machine guns
- Armour plating for protection
Operators
- Australia (AFC), Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Greece, Lativa, Poland, United Kingdom (RAF, RFC, RNAS), United States,
Specifications (F.1 Camel)
Image:Sopwith Camel 3-view.png {{airtemp |plane or copter?=plane |jet or prop?=prop |crew=1 |length main=18 ft 9 in |length alt=5.71 m |span main=28 ft 0 in |span alt=8.53 m |height main=8 ft 6 in |height alt=2.59 m |area main=231 ft² |area alt=21.46 m² |empty weight main=930 lb |empty weight alt=420 kg |loaded weight main=1,455 lb |loaded weight alt=660 kg |max takeoff weight main= |max takeoff weight alt=
|engine (prop)=Clerget 9B |type of prop=9-cylinder rotary engine |number of props=1 |power main=130 hp |power alt=97 kW
|max speed main=115 mph |max speed alt=185 km/h |stall speed main=58 mph |stall speed alt=93 km/h |range main=300 mi ferry |range alt=485 km |ceiling main=21,000 ft |ceiling alt=6,400 m |climb rate main=1,085 ft/min |climb rate alt=5.5 m/s |loading main=6.3 lb/ft² |loading alt=30.8 kg/m² |power/mass main=0.09 hp/lb |power/mass alt=150 W/kg |guns=2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns
}}
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:
- The fighter flown by Biggles in the novels by W. E. Johns.
- The "plane" of Snoopy in the Peanuts comic strip, when he imagines himself as a WWI flying ace and the nemesis of the Red Baron.
- A 1960s American music group was called "The Sopwith Camel".
Videogames
The Camel also appears in the following videogames:
- Sopwith and Sopwith2.
- Flying Corps
- FlightGear Free and Open Source flight sim
- Red Baron
- Microsoft Flight Simulator series (98 through 2002)
External links
- Download the Sopwith Camel for MS Flight Simulator 2004
- Sopwith Camel images at Airliners.net
- Camel photos and links to museums with Camels
Related content
Template:Aircontentde:Sopwith F-1 fr:Sopwith Camel it:Sopwith Camel ms:Sopwith Camel TF.1 ja:ソッピースキャメル no:Sopwith Camel fi:Sopwith F1 Camel sv:Sopwith Camel