Sopwith Camel
BY: Bill Coffman & Martin Myers
The photos are of a US Army Air Corps Camel in post WW 1 colours that is on display at the US Army Air Museum at Fort Drucker in Alabama. Also photographed is a Canadian Camel that was on display at the old War Museum in Ottawa. (I don't know where it has been stored while that Museum is closed and the new Museum is under construction.) This aircraft is unique in that it is an original 2F.1 "Ships Camel" with the big Bently rotary engine, a single gun in the 'hump' above the cowling, and a Lewis gun mounted on a retractable rig in the hole in the top wing. It also has a 'transport joint' behind the cockpit that allowed it to be broken down and packed in a small container with the wings removed, aboard a ship.
The other photos were taken at Old Rheinbeck NY and of a 'diorama' exhibit in the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton. The airplane is actually not a Camel, but a replica . (I looked it up when I was trying to figure out why the wingtips had such a strange shape.) It was built by Slingsby for a movie in 1969 and moved to the US before it was returned to the UK and put on display in the FAA Museum.
The Sopwith Camel F.1
The F.1 Camel was developed to replace the Sopwith Pup. Camels began to enter the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service in the middle of 1917 and met with immediate success. Although mainly used in western Europe, Camels also served in Italy. Some Camels were assigned to home defence, with the cockpit positioned further back and guns placed on the upper wings. The 2F.1 Camel was produced for the RNAS with more powerful engines and modified armament. A total of 5 490 Camels were built.
Sopwith Camel 2F.1
The Sopwith Camel is 87 years old. Aircraft development moved quickly in the
second decade of powered flight, accelerated by the use of
the airplane in warfare, as one of the new weapons
developed in WW1. The Sopwith Camel was a development
of the Sopwith Pup, with a more powerful engine. For a period of
time in 1917, it held air superiority for the Allies,- until
the Fokker D VII came into use by the "Huns". Sopwith
and a number of other
sub-manufacturers were able to ramp up production enough to supply the
Americans, who had no fighter aircraft of their own when they
entered the war in 1917.
The massive flywheel forces generated by the whirling Bently rotary engine
along with the prop, made the short winged, short coupled
Camel want to rotate in the opposite direction. It was
great if you wanted to turn left, but a slug on RH
turns. These forces were also in effect on takeoff, and any
time that the constant speed engine was 'blipped'. It was a
real bitch to fly, but it was an effective gun
platform, and met the requirements of its day.
The name 'Camel', was
derived from the hump-shaped cover over the machine
guns. In order to combat Zeppelins, 2F.1 Camels were flown from barges towed
behind destroyers, from platforms on the gun turrets of
larger ships as well as from early aircraft carriers.
A 2F.1 successfully flew after being dropped from an
airship, an experiment testing an airshipıs ability to carry
its own defensive aircraft. An armoured trench-fighting
version was flown, but did not go into production.
A Canadian pilot, Major W.G. Barker, destroyed 41 enemy aircraft while
flying Camels.
These are the specs for the Canada Aviation Museum's Camel which is also a
2F.1 but without the gun on the top wing.
The museum specimen was built in late 1918 and did not serve
in First World War. It was purchased by the RCAF in
1924 and used for demonstration flights and as a
training airframe. It was loaned to the Canadian War Museum in 1957
then stored and displayed at National Research Centre,
Ottawa. It underwent RCAF restoration in 195859 and
an additional restoration to flying condition in
196667. Flown during May and June 1967, it has since
remained on display.
Sopwith 2F.1 Camel
* Period: First World War (1914-1918)
* Uses: Fighter
* First Flight: December 22, 1916
* Display Status: On the Museum Floor.
Museum Example
* Registration #: N8156 (RAF)
* Manufacturer: Hooper and Company Ltd., Great Britain
* Manufacture Date: 1918
* Construction #: Unknown
* Aquisition Date: 1967
* Provenance: Transfer from Canadian War Museum
Specifications
Wing Span:
26 ft 11 in (8.2 m) Length:
18 ft 6 in (5.6 m) Height:
9 ft 1 in (2.8 m) Weight, Empty:
956 lb (434 kg) Weight, Gross:
1,523 lb (691 kg) Cruising Speed:
Unknown Max Speed:
114 mph (184 km/h) Rate of Climb:
6,500 ft (1,980 m)/6 min 25 sec Service Ceiling:
19,000 ft (5,790 m) Range:
2.5 hours (Endurance) Power Plant:
one Clerget 9B, 130 hp, rotary engine