![]() Pilot's view from the cockpit of a Camel, June 1918 In order to evade a potential manufacturing bottleneck being imposed upon the overall aircraft in the event of an engine shortage, several other engines were adopted to power the type as well. Production Camels were powered by various rotary engines, most commonly either the Clerget 9B or the Bentley BR1. The upper wing featured a central cutout section for the purpose of providing improved upwards visibility for the pilot. The bottom wing was rigged with 5° dihedral while the top wing lacked any dihedral this meant that the gap between the wings was less at the tips than at the roots this change had been made at the suggestion of Fred Sigrist, the Sopwith works manager, as a measure to simplify the aircraft's construction. In addition to the machine guns, a total of four Cooper bombs could be carried for ground attack purposes. For the first time on an operational British-designed fighter, two 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns were mounted directly in front of the cockpit, synchronised to fire forwards through the propeller disc – initially this consisted of the fitment of the Sopwith firm's own synchronizer design, but after the mechanical-linkage Sopwith-Kauper units began to wear out, the more accurate and easier-to-maintain, hydraulic-link Constantinesco-Colley system replaced it from November 1917 onward. While possessing some clear similarities with the Pup, it had a noticeably bulkier fuselage. The Camel had a conventional design for its era, with a wire-braced wooden box-girderfuselage structure, an aluminium engine cowling, plywood panels around the cockpit, and a fabric-covered fuselage, wings and tail. Replica Sopwith Camel showing internal structure In early 1918, production of the naval variant of the Sopwith Camel, the "Ship's" Camel 2F.1 began. By the time that production of the type came to an end, approximately 5,490 Camels of all types had been built. Throughout 1917, a total of 1,325 Camels were produced, almost entirely the initial F.1 variant. In May 1917, the first production contract for an initial batch of 250 Camels was issued by the British War Office. On 22 December 1916, the prototype Camel was first flown by Harry Hawker at Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey it was powered by a 110-horsepower (82 kW) Clerget 9Z. A metal fairing over the gun breeches, intended to protect the guns from freezing at altitude, created a "hump" that led pilots to call the aircraft "Camel", although this name was never used officially. Įarly in its development, the Camel was simply referred to as the "Big Pup". The design effort to produce this successor, initially designated as the Sopwith F.1, was headed by Sopwith's chief designer, Herbert Smith. It was recognised that the new fighter needed to be faster and have a heavier armament. When it became clear the Sopwith Pup was no match for the newer German fighters such as the Albatros D.III, the Camel was developed to replace it, as well as the Nieuport 17s that had been purchased from the French as an interim measure. Harry Cobby sitting in the cockpit of a Sopwith Camel The last Camels were withdrawn from RAF service in January 1920. Other variants included the 2F.1 Ship's Camel, which operated from aircraft carriers the Comic night fighter variant and the T.F.1, a "trench fighter" armoured for attacks on heavily defended ground targets. The main variant of the Camel was designated as the F.1. Towards the end of the First World War, the type also saw use as a ground-attack aircraft, partly because the capabilities of fighter aircraft on both sides had advanced rapidly and left the Camel somewhat outclassed. In total, Camel pilots have been credited with downing 1,294 enemy aircraft, more than any other Allied fighter of the conflict. Though difficult to handle, it was highly manoeuvrable in the hands of an experienced pilot, a vital attribute in the relatively low-speed, low-altitude dogfights of the era. The Camel was powered by a single rotary engine and was armed with twin synchronized Vickers machine guns. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the best known fighter aircraft of the Great War. The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917.
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