Sopwith Camel

Operational history

The type entered squadron service in June 1917 with No. 4 Squadron of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], near [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The following month, it became operational with No. 70 Squadron of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

By February 1918, 13 squadrons were fully equipped with the Camel.

The Camel proved to be a superlative fighter, and offered heavier armament and better performance than the Pup and Triplane.

In the hands of an experienced pilot, its manoeuvrability was unmatched by any contemporary type. Its controls were light and sensitive.

The Camel turned rather slowly to the left, which resulted in a nose up attitude due to the torque of the rotary engine.

But the engine torque also resulted in the ability to turn to the right in half the time of other fighters, although that resulted in more of a tendency towards a nose down attitude from the turn.

Because of the faster turning capability to the right, to change heading 90° to the left, many pilots preferred to do it
by turning 270° to the right.

Agility in combat made the Camel one of the best-remembered [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

It was said in jest to offer a choice between a "wooden cross, red cross and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]."

Together with the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the Camel helped to wrest aerial superiority away from the German [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] fighters.

Major [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s Sopwith Camel (serial no. B6313, the aircraft in which the majority of his victories were scored^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]})
became the most successful fighter aircraft in the history of the RAF, shooting down 46 aircraft and balloons from September 1917 to September 1918 in 404 operational hours flying.

It was dismantled in October 1918.

Barker kept the clock as a memento, but was asked to return it the following day.

By mid-1918 the Camel was becoming limited by its slow speed and comparatively poor performance at altitudes over 12,000 ft (3,650 m).

However, it was then used as a ground-attack and infantry support aircraft.

During the German offensive of March 1918, flights of Camels harassed the advancing German Army, inflicting high losses (and suffering high losses in turn) through the dropping of 25 lb (11 kg) Cooper bombs and ultra-low-level strafing.

The protracted development of the Camel's replacement, the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], meant that the Camel remained in service until the Armistice.

In summer 1918 a 2F.1 Camel (N6814) was used in trials as a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] under [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Variants


The Camel was powered by a variety of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] during the production period.

• 130 hp [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 9B [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (standard powerplant)
  
• 140 hp Clerget 9Bf Rotary
  
• 110 hp [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Rotary
  
• 150 hp [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] rotary (gave best performance - standard for R.N.A.S. machines)
  
• 100 hp Gnome Monosoupape 9B-2 Rotary
  
• 150 hp Gnome Monosoupape 9N Rotary
  

Engine variants

With [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] remained fixed while the cylinders and attached propeller rotated around it.

The result of this [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was a significant "pull" to the right.

In the hands of an experienced pilot, this characteristic could be exploited to give exceptional manoeuvrability in a dogfight.

A 3/4 turn to the right could be done in the same time as a 1/4 turn to the left.

The Gnome "mono" engines did not have throttles and were at full "throttle" while the ignition was on - they could be "throttled" with a selector switch which cut the ignition to some of the cylinders to reduce power for landing.

The Clerget, Le Rhone and BR1 had throttles, although reducing power involved simultaneously adjusting the mixture
and was not straightforward, so it became common during landing to "blip" the engine (turn the ignition off and on) using a control column-mounted ignition switch, the blip switch, to reduce power.

Sopwith Camel 2F.1

• Shipboard fighter aircraft.
  
• Slightly shorter wingspan
  
• One Vickers gun replaced by an overwing [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] as standard engine
  

Sopwith Camel "Comic" Night fighter

Pilot seat moved to rear. The twin Vickers guns were replaced with two Lewis guns firing forward over the top wing on [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Served with Home Defence Squadrons against German air raids. The "Comic" nickname was of course unofficial, and was shared with the night fighter version of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Specifications (F.1 Camel)

Data from Quest for Performance

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
  
• Length: 18 ft 9 in (5.71 m)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 26 ft 11 in (8.53 m)
  
• Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
  
• Wing area: 231 ft² (21.46 m²)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 930 lb (420 kg)
  
• Loaded weight: 1,455 lb (660 kg)
  
• Powerplant: 1× [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 9B 9-cylinder [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 130 hp (97 kW)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 0.0378
  

• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 8.73 ft² (0.81 m²)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 4.11