Sopwith Camel

Sopwith Camel – famous British fighter plane of World War One.

Camel in flight
Sopwith Camel in flight.

History, development, service, specifications, pictures and 3d model.

Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith F I Camel, the First World War’s most successful fighter, with 1,294 air­craft downed to its credit. It is generally an enlarged and modified Sopwith Pup. It was designed specially for high performance and extreme maneuverability.

It owed much of its success to its phenomenal aerobatic capa­bilities, which were the result of its compact design, powerful controls and the fact that all the large weights were concentrated on or near the center of gravity – in the first seven feet of the fuselage. The considerable torque of the rotary engine on the small frame was a vital factor in the Camel’s lightning fast turn to the right, but it also meant that it was impossible to fly the Camel ‘hands off’.

Because of this difficulty, the type got an undeserved reputation as a killer, but all that was needed was great care, especially at take off and landing. But many less experienced pilots paid the price with their life. As a single seat fighter however it was a great success. The Camel was the first British fighter to have twin Vickers guns.


Pictures of Sopwith Camel:


Specifications Sopwith Camel:

Specification:

Sopwith Camel F1Specification
TypeSingle-seater Scout Fighter
Enginemost Clerget 9B 130hp
Span28 ft.
Overall length18 ft. 8 in.
Maxmimum height9 ft
Weight empty889 lb
Weight loaded1,422 lb
Weight maximim loaded 1.524 lb
Speed 113 mph at 10,000ft, 122 mph at sea level
Climb 5 min to 5,000ft, 10 min to 10,000ft 16 min 50 sec to 15,000ft, approx. 1000 ft/sec
Service ceiling24,000 ft
Rangeapprox. 240 miles (endurance 2 1/2 hours)
Tank capacity petrol 26 galls, oil 5 1/2 galls
Armament2 x Vickers machine-guns
Bomb load optional 4 x 25lb bombs under wings
First fligtDecember 1916
Service deliveryJune 1917
Production figure 5,490
Enemies claimed destroyed 1,294


3d model Sopwith Camel:

Oval@3x 2

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