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Sopwith Pup

1916 WORLD WAR 1

Sopwith Puppy Story

The Sopwith Pup was a World War I era biplane fighter that appeared in 1916 when German air superiority coined the name "Fokker Scourge". The Allied response came to an end as technology and experienced pilots began to turn things around. "Puppy" is based on the Sopwith "Strutter" but with smaller wings - hence the name "Puppy".

The aircraft played a major role in Allied control of the skies over Western Europe, while also establishing itself as an adversary worthy of the respect of the enemy.

The puppy first appeared under the Admiralty name "Type 9901", later renamed "Puppy". It used to be called Sopwith "Scout" before the animal nickname became popular. It features a traditional biplane wing arrangement with upper and lower spans connected by struts and cables. The engine is enclosed under a cylindrical metal fairing at the front and drives a two-bladed propeller unit. The fuselage is slender, tapering at the tail, with a vertical tail and corresponding horizontal plane attached.

The landing gear was typical of biplanes of the time - fixed main legs, wheels under the front mass, and a single chute under the tail.

The first flight of the Pup prototype was on December 22, 1916. Since 1916, Pup has been used by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS).

For the latter, this family of aircraft became an important precursor to carrier-based deck takeoffs and landings, becoming the first aircraft to take off and land on mobile ships in 1917.

Sopwith Pup exhibited excellent maneuverability and inherently powerful flight characteristics that made it a popular combat mount of the time. Armament includes a 1 x 7.7mm (.303 caliber) machine gun fired synchronously via rotating propeller blades - putting it on par with the latest German fighter jets. Additionally, the aircraft can carry up to 4 x 25 lb conventional drop bombs under the lower wing section (two bombs per wing) for fighter-bombers.

Service is capped at 17,000 feet with little performance loss. There is a version with a more powerful 100 hp rotary engine that further increases the capabilities of the aircraft.

With its base 80-horsepower engine, the Pup can reach a top speed of 111 mph. Endurance is about three hours. Rate of climb is available from 14 minutes to 10,000 feet.

Production of Pups spanned 1916 to 1918 with 1,770 built - these were collected from various British companies - Standard Motors (850) and Whitehead Aircraft (820) and William Beardmore (30) COMPANY. Although the puppy was her own product, Sopwith only contributed 96 as her wartime manufacturing commitments took her elsewhere.

Beardmore W.B.III was a carrier-based offshoot of Pup and appeared in the 100 original examples in 1917. The Sopwith "Pigeon" was a related two-seater civilian passenger design, although only 10 were built.

The Sopwith Pups had a relatively short period of service in the war and were completely replaced as front-line fighters as early as early 1918. The remaining aircraft were retained in the second line as trainers and self-defense fighters, and the product was eventually replaced by the famous war-winning Sopwith "Camel" introduced in June 1917, realizing 5,490 examples (this aircraft was among the other place for details) page).

Sopwith Pup eventually served Australia, Belgium, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia/Soviet Union and the United Kingdom in air service (wartime and postwar). Some also work with the U.S. Navy.