Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Aviation Company produced the Sopwith F.1 Camel, a famous biplane of World War I and well known to readers of the "Peanuts" cartoons. The Camel was the most successful fighter plane of the war and very difficult to defeat when flown by a skilled pilot. For more than 70 years, it was credited with shooting down 1,294 aircraft, but later research by a British writer showed that British units could account for move than 2,800 downed aircraft with an overall total of more than 3,000. Although highly maneuverable, the aircraft was tricky to fly, and more men lost their lives while learning to fly it than did during combat.

The Sopwith Camel was the most successful fighter plane of World War I. It shot down more enemy aircraft than any other fighter of any of the warring nations.

The Camel was the first British aircraft to carry twin Vickers guns, which were enclosed in a "hump," giving the Camel its nickname. It was 18 feet 9 inches (5.7 meters) long; 8 feet, 6 inches (2.6 meters) high; had a wingspan of 28 feet (8.5 meters); and weighed about 1,450 pounds (658 kilograms) fully loaded. It was usually powered by a 130-horsepower (97-kilowatt) Clerget rotary engine but sometimes used a Bentley, Gnome, or Le Rhône engine. It could attain a top speed of 112 miles per hour (180 kilometers per hour) and could fly 300 miles (483 kilometers) (about 2-1/2 hours) without refueling. The Camel could climb to an altitude of 19,000 feet (5,790 meters) although its best combat altitude was in the range of 12,000 feet (3,658 meters).

The Camel first went into action in June 1917 with the 70 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps and 4 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service. Two U.S. Air Service squadrons, the 17^th and 148^th, used the Camel in combat while assigned to British forces during the summer and fall of 1918. The 185^th Aero Squadron used the Camel as a night fighter on the American Front during the last month of the war.