World War 1 Aircraft - Sopwith Camel F.1

The date of this film is not made clear on the canister, but I'm guessing it's from the middle of spring in 1917. The planes are from No. 45 Squadron, so mid-1917 should be just about right.

Well, where to begin. The Sopwith Camel is probably one of the most famous British fighters of the war, in addition to the SE5a simply because it was one of their first superior fighters of the war. Introduced in 1916, it replaced its older sibling, the Sopwith Pup, almost entirely by early July 1917. It remained popular throughout the entire war, although the SE5a started replacing it as the standard by August 1918.

There were several versions built during the course of the war, but the one most people have heard of in accounts of the Great War or seen on film is the F.1 version (and it's the one you're seeing right now, lol).

The Camel was dreaded by most Entente pilots, however. It was fast and maneuverable, but the upper wing had numerous problems and tendencies to shear off entirely and plunge the airframe into the ground (and this caused the death of many pilots), and torque was so great to the left side of the plane that it was sometimes rendered unflyable altogether. It was dangerous for both novice and seasoned pilots to fly, any many died trying to tame the beast.

There's only something like seven or eight authentic Camels left in the world today, most of which are in Australia (I know that England has one and I think Canada also has one).

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Crew: 1
Length: 18 ft 9 in (5.71 m)
Wingspan: 26 ft 11 in (8.53 m)
Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Wing area: 231 ft² (21.46 m²)
Empty weight: 930 lb (420 kg)
Loaded weight: 1,455 lb (660 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Clerget 9B 9-cylinder Rotary engine, 130 hp (97 kW)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0378
Drag area: 8.73 ft² (0.81 m²)
Aspect ratio: 4.11

PERFORMANCE

Maximum speed: 115 mph (185 km/h)
Stall speed: 48 mph (77 km/h)
Range: 300 mi ferry (485 km)
Service ceiling: 21,000 ft (6,400 m)
Rate of climb: 1,085 ft/min (5.5 m/s)
Wing loading: 6.3 lb/ft² (30.8 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.09 hp/lb (150 W/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 7.7

ARMAMENT

Guns: 2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns

Also, the reason why I chose this particular piece of footage is because it showed how the groundcrew (and pilots) had to load the guns. It was a very tedious process, and each one of those little loops in the belt had to be filled every time a plane came home and had exhausted some ammunition. Most of the time, pilots did the actual loading of the belts because they were required to check at one point or another for bent bullets which could cause gun jams.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• World
• War
• Great
• aircraft
• scout
• fighter
• famous
• Sopwith
• Camel

[meatisdeliciouse]

I wonder how much a working original will cost you?

[Friendo1231]

@meatisdeliciouse A lot lol.

[brunosoto]

Great old video

[urbantomcatburban22r]

@SuperNick134. The machine guns have an interupter gear linked in with the motor. Every time the prop blade is at 11 oclock to 1 o clock position, the gear (much like a camshaft in a car) moves a steel rod that disconnects the firing mechanism in the machine gun... There is a sons of guns eposide where they build one.. it's pretty sweet.. the people i work for are actually building one right now.. but without the weaping wings... it's a LONG process...

[barnfres60]

to see this actual clip from back then was a blast, and that camel taking off like that, sensational veiwing here, well done and tks.

[drumsanddrumming]

@SuperNick134 they were synchronized not to fire when the propeller was in front of the machine gun. But how that was ACTUALLY made I don`t know.

[SuperNick134]

i dont get how the machinegun works because the helix passes in front of the barels of the guns

can enyone explane this to me plz!

[tspnyc]

Camels are stunningly small. When I see them in museums etc and imagine being at 10,000 ft, makes my hair stand on end.

[TheWhoaDude]

Bet you could make one with some time, strong wood with some canvas, and an old V6 XD

[fauxsham]

@Vlaxerman343 an Interrupter gear, the firing mechanism of the gun was linked to a cam on the propshaft of the engine, two notches in the cam (lined up with the prop) interrupted the firing of the gun.

[Vlaxerman343]

I'll never understand how they'll make the guns fire at the right time so they won't hit the propellers in front

[dalekprawn]

Next Tuesday I'm going to help my Grandpa, and his friend with a full scale replica of this very plane!

[ColaWhiski]

... I love these pilots... Master of your guild.

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