This article is about the fighter aircraft. For the 1960s psychedelic rock band, see Sopwith Camel (band).
Camel
Sopwith Camel
Role
Biplane fighter
Type of aircraft
Manufacturer
Sopwith Aviation Company
Designer
Herbert Smith[1]
First flight
22 December 1916
Introduction
June 1917
Retired
January 1920
Primary users
Royal Flying Corps Royal Naval Air Service Royal Air Force
Number built
5,490
Developed from
Sopwith Pup
The Sopwith Camel is 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 as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the best-known fighter aircraft of the Great War. In total, Camel pilots were credited with downing 1,294 enemy aircraft, more than their counterparts flying any other Allied fighter of the conflict. Towards the end of the 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.
The Camel was powered by a single rotary engine and was armed with twin synchronized Vickers machine guns. It was difficult to fly, with 90% of its weight in the front seven feet of the aircraft, but 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. Its pilots joked that their fates would involve "a wooden cross, the Red Cross, or a Victoria Cross".
The main variant of the Camel was designated as the F.1. 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. A two-seat variant served as a trainer. The last Camels were withdrawn from RAF service in January 1920.
The SopwithCamel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed...
the Royal Air Force during the First World War, most famously the SopwithCamel. Sopwith aircraft were also used in varying numbers by the French, Belgian...
more conventional Sopwith Pup. It had been decided to withdraw the Triplane from active service as increasing numbers of the SopwithCamel arrived in the...
not pursued. In 1918 the Royal Air Force experimented with launching SopwithCamel fighters from HM Airship 23. The Germans also experimented with the...
fighters. The RNAS replaced their Pups, first with Sopwith Triplanes, and then with SopwithCamels. The RFC soldiered on with Pups, despite increasing...
motor car engine designer W. O. Bentley, BR.1s powered the majority of SopwithCamels flown by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). During World War I, W O...
The Airdrome SopwithCamel is an American amateur-built aircraft, designed and produced by Airdrome Aeroplanes, of Holden, Missouri. The aircraft is supplied...
early examples were required to replace the inferior Sopwith-Kauper gears used in early Camels, so that the armament of the S.E.5a remained the same...
designer of the Sopwith Company, began to design a fighter intended to be the replacement for Sopwith's most famous aeroplane, the SopwithCamel. The design...
aircraft for the allied forces, including 5747 of the SopwithCamel single-seat fighter. Sopwith was awarded the CBE in 1918. Bankrupted after the war...
the Camel Squadron (1934). The 1934 novel Winged Victory by Victor M. Yeates features the SopwithCamel in action during the Great War. SopwithCamels appear...
chose command of C Flight in the newly formed 28 Squadron, flying the SopwithCamel that he preferred over the S.E.5s of 56 Squadron. Although Barker was...
first use of aircraft carriers in combat, with HMS Furious launching SopwithCamels in a successful raid against the Zeppelin hangars at Tondern in July...
the 1960s with Tim Hardin, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Charlatans, and SopwithCamel, and later with Norman Greenbaum, Tazmanian Devils and Chris Isaak....
carrier had been equipped with SopwithCamel 2F.1a, naval variant of the SopwithCamel. These partially replaced the Sopwith 1½ Strutter. In late 1917 a...
from the album The Blonde & Pink Albums, 2022 "Hello Hello", a song by SopwithCamel, 1966 "Hello Hello", a song by Brown Sauce, 1981 "Hello, Hello", a song...
he served on the Western Front with No. 4 Squadron AFC, operating SopwithCamels. He was credited with 29 aerial victories, and his achievements were...
transferred to No. 3 Squadron in France as a flight commander. He used SopwithCamel no. C1615 to score ten triumphs in March. Most notable was 23 March...
Manufacturing Company in Nagoya invited British SopwithCamel designer Herbert Smith, along with several other former Sopwith engineers to assist in creating an aircraft...
Captain Norman Macmillan of No. 45 Squadron 45 RFC. Macmillan dived his SopwithCamel within six meters (20 feet) of Voss, with machine gun rounds nearly...
operate twin guns became available, so that the first SopwithCamels had to be fitted with the Sopwith-Kauper gear instead. From November 1917 the gear finally...
Global Information