SOPWITH 5F.1 DOLPHIN (Fighter & Night Fighter) The Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin was a British fighter aircraft manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It was used by the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force, during the First World War. The Dolphin entered service on the Western Front in early 1918 and proved to be a formidable fighter. The resulting Dolphin was a two-bay, single-seat biplane, with the upper wings attached to an open steel cabane frame above the cockpit. To maintain the correct centre of gravity, the…
Month: August 2021
SOPWITH PUP
Sopwith Pup Sopwith Pup was a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristics and good manoeuvrability, the aircraft proved very successful. The Pup was eventually outclassed by newer German fighters, but it was not completely replaced on the Western Front until the end of 1917. Remaining Pups were relegated to Home Defence and training units. The Pup’s docile flying characteristics also made it…
ZEPPELIN-STAAKEN R.VI
Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI The Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI was a four-engined German biplane strategic bomber of World War I, and the only Riesenflugzeug (“giant aircraft”) design built in any quantity. In September 1914, at the start of World War I, Ferdinand von Zeppelin visualised the concept of a Riesenflugzeug (R) bomber. Almost all of these Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeug designs used some variation of either pusher configuration and/or push-pull configuration in their engine layout, orientation and placement of their powerplants. The R.VI was the most numerous of the R-bombers built by Germany, and also among…
GOTHA G.V
GOTHA G.V. The Gotha G.V was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. Designed for long-range service, the Gotha G.V was used principally as a night bomber. Operational use of the Gotha G.IV demonstrated that the incorporation of the fuel tanks into the engine nacelles was a mistake. In a crash landing the tanks could rupture and spill fuel onto the hot engines. This posed a serious problem because landing accidents caused 75% of operational losses. In response Gothaer produced the G.V,…
BRISTOL F 2B
BRISTOL F 2B The Bristol F.2 Fighter was a British two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, other popular names include the “Brisfit” or “Biff”. Although the type was intended initially as a replacement for the pre-war Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c reconnaissance aircraft, the newly-available Rolls-Royce Falcon V12 engine gave it the performance of a two-seat fighter. Despite a disastrous start to its career, the definitive F.2B version proved…
Aircraft Project – Week 3
BIGGIN HILL – HOME DEFENCE BASE /Prototype Testing; December 1917 Onwards Earlier in WW1 (1915/16) Britain became under attack from Zeppelin Airship bombers. These attacks were met by the Royal Flying Corp pilots flying machines of the day. After shooting down a number of these slow moving raiders, the Germans ceased these raids. However, by 1917, the Germans were equipped with well armed, faster heavy bomber aircraft. England was again under attack by a more serious adversity. This required setting up a new Home Defence force, located to protect vulnerable…
Aircraft Project – Week 2
WW1 Aircraft Associated with Biggin Hill I live in Bromley and as a boy had an interest in planes, and often cycled to the Biggin Hill aerodrome to watch the RAF jets in action, and to attend Battle of Britain and other flying display days. At the aerodrome there is a Memorial Chapel which commutates all the 454 pilots and air crews who were killed in WW2 flying from the Biggin Hill sector. In 2016 this lost its funding support from the RAF/MOD and was taken over by Bromley Council.…
HANDLEY PAGE 0/400
HANDLEY PAGE 0/400 The Handley Page Type O was a 2 engine biplane bomber (crew up to 4) used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was the largest aircraft that had been built in the UK and one of the largest in the world. There were two main variants, the Handley Page O/100 (H.P.11) and the Handley Page O/400 (H.P.12). The aircraft were used in France for tactical night attacks on targets in German-occupied France and Belgium and for strategic bombing of industrial and…
ROYAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY SE 5A
ROYAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY SE 5A The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 was a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was one of the fastest aircraft of the war, while being both stable and relatively manoeuvrable. According to aviation author Robert Jackson, the S.E.5 was: “the nimble fighter that has since been described as the ‘Spitfire of World War One’“ In most respects the S.E.5 had superior performance to the rival Sopwith Camel, although it was less immediately responsive to the controls. Problems with its Hispano-Suiza engine, particularly…
SOPWITH CAMEL F1
SOPWITH CAMEL F1 The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company (Kingston upon Thames). It was called a Camel because of the hump-shaped protective covering over its machine guns. It became one of the best known fighter aircraft of the Great War. The Camel was powered by a single rotary engine and was armed with twin synchronized Vickers machine guns. Though proving difficult to handle, it provided for…