The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes mainly for the British Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service and later Royal Air Force in the First World War, most famously the Sopwith Camel. Sopwith aircraft were also used in varying numbers by the French, Belgian and American air services during the War. Look up aircraft in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of World War I. Origin and Early History Formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912, the RFC superseded the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. ... Personnel of No 1 Squadron RNAS in late 1914 The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of World War I, when it merged with the British Armys Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to form the Royal Air Force. ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... The Sopwith Camel Scout was a British World War I single-seat fighter aircraft that was famous for its maneuverability. ...

The company was founded in Kingston upon Thames by Thomas Octave Murdoch (Tommy, later Sir Thomas) Sopwith, a well-to-do gentleman sportsman interested in aviation, yachting and motor-racing, in June of 1912. The company's first factory premises opened that December in a disused ice rink. During the First World War, the company made more than 16,000 aircraft and employed 5,000 people. Many more of the company's aircraft were made by subcontractors than by Sopwith's themselves. These included Fairey, Clayton and Shuttleworth, William Beardmore and Company and Ruston Proctor. The Sopwith company was wound up in 1920 after failing to achieve sufficient success with civilian products (which had prompted the purchase of ABC Motors in 1919) to compensate for the drop in military aircraft orders after the end of the War and a potential large demand from the government for Excess War Profits Duty. Kingston upon Thames, part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, is an ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned, and is now a lively suburb of London. ... Sir Thomas Octave Murdock Sopwith (January 18, 1888 - January 27, 1989) was a British aviation pioneer as well as a celebrated yachtsman. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Fairey Aviation Company, Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century, notable for a number of important planes, including the Fairey III family and the Fairey Swordfish. ... William Beardmore and Company was a Scottish Engineering and Shipbuilding company based in Glasgow. ... Ruston was a industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England, UK. They built narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives, cars and steam shovels. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... ABC Motors Ltd (All British (Engine) Company) of Hersham, Surrey was a manufacturer of cars, aircraft, motor scooters, and engines for road and air. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ...

The Sopwith "Schneider" (a float-equipped Sopwith Tabloid) at the 1914 Schneider Trophy in Monaco.

Initially, Tom Sopwith himself, assisted by his former personal mechanic Fred Sigrist, led the design of the company's types. Following a number of unremarkable pre-war designs for the Royal Naval Air Service, such as the Three-Seater and Bat-Boat, Sopwith's first major success was the fast and compact (hence the name) Tabloid, a design which first showed the influence of the company's test pilot, the Australian Harry Hawker. A float-equipped version of this aircraft won the Schneider Trophy in 1914. The landplane version used by both the RNAS and RFC at the start of the war. With higher power and floats, the type evolved into the Sopwith Baby, which was a workhorse of the RNAS for much of World War One. The Sopwith Schneider (modified Sopwith Tabloid) at the Schneider Trophy in Monaco, 1914. ... The Sopwith Schneider (modified Sopwith Tabloid) at the Schneider Trophy in Monaco, 1914. ... The Sopwith Tabloid was a biplane sports aircraft, one of the first to be built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... The Sopwith Tabloid was a biplane sports aircraft, one of the first to be built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. ... Harry George Hawker (22 January 1889–12 July 1921) was an Australian aviation pioneer and co-founder of Hawker Aviation, the firm responsible a long series of successful military aircraft, including the Fury, Hurricane, Hunter and Harrier. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1916, Herbert Smith became Chief Engineer of the Sopwith company, and under his design leadership its other successful World War I types included the larger Type 9901. This aircraft, better known as the 1 1/2 Strutter due to its unconventional cabane strut arrangement, was used from 1916 by the RNAS, RFC and the French Aviation Militaire as a single-seat bomber, two seat fighter and artillery spotter and trainer. Soon after came the small and agile single-seat Scout, which quickly became better known as the Pup because of its obvious descent from the 1 1/2 Strutter. The Pup and 1 1/2 Strutter were the first successful British tractor fighters equipped with a synchronising gear to allow a machine gun to fire through the rotating propeller. This gear was known as the Sopwith-Kauper gear from its designers, although several other designs were used later. The Pup was widely used on the Western Front by the RFC and from ships by the RNAS from the autumn of 1916 to the early summer of 1917, and was considered a delight to fly by its pilots. It continued in use as an advanced trainer for the remainder of the War. 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Sopwith 1½ Strutter The Sopwith 1½ Strutter was a British one or two-seat biplane multi-role aircraft of the First World War. ... Sqn Cdr E. H. Dunning landing on HMS Furious in a Sopwith Pup. ... Damaged propeller from a Sopwith Baby aircraft circa 1916/17 with evidence of bulletholes from a machine gun fired behind the propeller without an Interruptor. ... Western Front was a term used during the First and Second World Wars to describe the contested armed frontier between lands controlled by Germany to the East and the Allies to the West. ...

Experimentally equipped with three narrow-chord wings and a more powerful engine, the Pup led to the Triplane, which was used only in small quantities in the spring of 1917, but became well-known for its startling fighting qualities, put to best use by Raymond Collishaw's famous 'Black Flight' of 'Naval 10' (10 Squadron, RNAS). This flight was so called due to the black identification colour of the flight's aircraft, which in turn led to their naming as Black Maria, Black Prince, Black Death, Black Roger and, rather lamely, Black Sheep. Such was the impact of this type that it spawned a large number of experimental triplane designs from manufacturers on all sides, although only the Fokker Triplane achieved any subsequent success. Sopwith Triplane Sopwith Triplane in the Aero Space Museum of Calgary. ... Air Vice-Marshal Raymond Collishaw (November 22, 1893 - September 28, 1976) was the highest scoring Royal Naval Air Service flying ace and the second highest scoring Canadian pilot of World War I. Raymond Collishaw was born at Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada on 22nd November 1893. ... The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by the company of Anthony Fokker, used by Germany. ...

In the early summer of 1917 the twin-gun Camel fighter was introduced. This aircraft was highly manoeuvrable and well-armed, and over 5,000 were produced up until the end of the War. It destroyed more enemy aircraft than any other British type, but its difficult flying qualities also killed very many novice pilots in accidents. It was used, modified, as both a night-fighter and shipboard aircraft, and was flown in combat by the Belgian and American Air Services as well as the British. The Sopwith Camel Scout was a British World War I single-seat fighter aircraft that was famous for its maneuverability. ...

Later still in front-line service came the stationary-engined four-gun Dolphin and the ultimate rotary-engined fighter, the Snipe. The Snipe saw little wartime service, being issued only in small numbers to the Front, but William George Barker, the Canadian Ace, won a Victoria Cross flying one in an epic single-handed dogfight against enormous odds. This aircraft article has not been updated to WikiProject Aircrafts current standards. ... The Sopwith Snipe was a single-seat bi-plane fighter of the Royal Air Corps (RAC), designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War and was arguably the definitive fighter of the Allied side by the end of World War I. // History The Snipe was... Lt. ... Victoria Cross medal, ribbon, and bar. ...

Towards the end of the war the company produced the Cuckoo torpedo-bomber and the Salamander armoured ground-attack development of the Snipe, but these types were too late to see action. Many other experimental prototypes were produced throughout the war, mostly named after animals (Hippo, Gnu etc), leading to some referring to the 'Sopwith Zoo'. The Sopwith Cuckoo was a bi-plane torpedo bomber used by the British Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), and its sucessor organisation, the Royal Air Force (RAF). ... The Sopwith Salamander was a British World War I ground attack aircraft. ...

Following World War I, the Sopwith Snipe was chosen as the standard fighter of the much-reduced Royal Air Force, and soldiered on until finally replaced in the late 1920s. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... The 1920s is a decade that is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ...

Sopwith attempted to produce aircraft for the civil market based on their wartime types, such as the Dove derivative of the Pup and the Swallow, a single-winged Camel, but the wide availability of war-surplus aircraft at knock-down prices meant this was never economic.

Upon the liquidation of the Sopwith company, Tom Sopwith himself, together with Harry Hawker, Fred Sigrist and Bill Eyre, immediately formed H.G. Hawker Engineering, forerunner of the Hawker Aircraft and Hawker Siddeley lineage. Sopwith was Chairman of Hawker Siddeley until his retirement. Hawker and its successors produced many more famous military aircraft, including the inter-war Hart, and Demon; World War 2's Hurricane, Typhoon, and Tempest; and the post-war Sea Fury, Hunter and Harrier. Incredibly, these later jet types were manufactured in the exact same factory buildings used to produce Sopwith Snipes in 1918. Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history. ... Hawker-Ciggerley was a group of UK aircraft manufacturing companies formed as a result of the merger of Hawker Aircraft with Armstrong Siddeley. ... The Hawker Hart was a two-seater biplane light-bomber of the Royal Air Force (RAF), which had a prominent role during the RAFs inter-war period. ... The Hawker Hart was a two-seater biplane light-bomber of the Royal Air Force (RAF), which had a prominent role during the RAFs inter-war period. ... The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. ... The Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft starting in 1941. ... Hawker Tempest II, RAF Museum, Hendon The Hawker Tempest was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter aircraft of World War II, an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, and one of the most powerful fighters used in the war. ... The Sea Fury was a fighter aircraft developed for the British Fleet Air Arm by Hawker during World War II. The last propeller-driven fighter to serve the Royal Navy, it was also the fastest production single piston-engined aircraft ever built. ... Sixteen Hunters of the RAF Black Arrows perform aerobatics at the Farnborough Air Show, England. ... See also BAE Sea Harrier The Hawker Siddeley Harrier and the AV-8A are the first generation of the Harrier series, a successful close-support and reconnaissance fighter aircraft with V/STOL capabilities. ...

In popular culture, the Sopwith Camel was respectfully parodied for a generation during the life of the Peanuts comic strip and resulting animated specials. Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000 (the day after Schulzs death). ...

Aircraft

• Sopwith Tabloid
• Sopwith Baby
• Sopwith 1½ Strutter
• Sopwith Pup
• Sopwith Triplane
• Sopwith Camel
• Sopwith Snipe
• Sopwith Dolphin
• Sopwith Salamander
• Sopwith Cuckoo

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Sopwith Aviation Company