Desert camel

Air Classics, Jul 2002 by O'Leary, Michael

AN EXTREMELY RARE SURVIVOR Of THE GREAT I WAR IS NOW BASED fAR FROM ITS ORIGINAL HOMES

The Sopwith F.1 Camel made its first appearance from the Sopwith Experimental Department on 22 December 1916.

Some of the new aircraft's design was related to the earlier Sopwith Pup which was powered by a 80-hp Le Rhone rotary engine and carried a single Vickers machine gun. The air war over the Western Front was rapidly progressing and demand for newer and more powerful fighting aircraft was high. The Camel was small yet it appeared to be quite powerful -- the rotary engine, twin Vickers guns, and pilot were all in a small area. An attractive aircraft, the Camel did not have the trimness of the earlier Pup and it appeared every inch to be nothing but a weapon of war.

Structure of the new aircraft was very standard -- wood construction with wire bracing and plywood cockpit sides. For the Royal Flying Corps, the War Office issued contracts for Camels in May 1917 (interestingly, the Royal Naval Air Service was receiving the first of its Camels that very month).

Because of the pressures of the war, many companies were making aircraft designed by other companies and the first contract went to Ruston Proctor & Company who would go on to produce over 1500 of the type. Their first Camel was completed in June and their peak production of the new fighter was 128 aircraft a month. Other builders were Sopwith (of course!); Boulton & Paul; British Caudron; Clayton & Shuttleworth; Hooper; March, Jones & Cribb; Nieuport & General; and Portholme Aerodrome. Sopwith's own output of Camels was only about one-third of Ruston Proctor.

Whereas the prototype had a one-- piece upper wing, production aircraft had a three-piece wing and lengthened ailerons. In production, F.1 Camels were powered by a variety of engines including the 130-hp Clerget, 150-hp Bentley B.R.1, 110-hp Le Rhone, and 170-hp Le Rhone. However, the aluminum engine cowlings varied less than one would think -- the frontal lip was an unbroken circle which accentuated the extremely short nose of the craft but sometimes the units were heavily slotted around portions of the perimeter for additional cooling in high temperatures or at low altitudes. Also, choices of propellers varied in size and pattern - time to 10,000 feet could vary from eight minutes to 16 minutes!

As previously mentioned, the two Vickers machine guns were set very closely together and the aft portions were enclosed in a humped structure which some claim gave the Camel its name. The weight of these weapons often varied which caused airframe problems given the Camel's very light weight. A typical military figure stated that a Vickers weighed 35 pounds while ammunition per gun was 250 rounds but this was later increased to 300 rounds. Also, the F.1 Camel could carry bombs and these were fitted under the fuselage on a "Carrier, 4-20 lb, Mk.I" rack which could carry 20-lb Cooper, 20-lb Hales, or 16-lb HERL bombs. It could also be fitted with two 40-lb phosphorous bombs. Release of the bombs was a simple toggle in the cockpit and no form of bomb sight was fitted.

Each producer of the Camel - and it must be remembered that these were very simple and extremely crude aircraft - had their own modifications. For example, some had windscreens, others did not. Pilot visibility was poor and many aircraft had large areas cut away from the center section while others did not. Also, there were numerous specialized variants - such as modified Camels being used for night defense of London.

The first F.ls which had been delivered to the Royal Navy quickly went into action and by the end of June 1917, 135 were in service. These aircraft began replacing Sopwith Triplane fighters and, in what must have been an amazing sight, Naval Camels of No. 4 Squadron intercepted and attacked 16 German Gotha bombers that had blasted Harwich, England. For the Royal Flying Corps, a No. 70 Squadron Camel scored the first RFC victory for the type on 27 June 1917 and from that point the Camel blazed its way into aviation history books (destroying over 1200 enemy aircraft with just under 5500 Camels constructed). It must be remembered that it was a Camel that defeated the infamous Von Richthofen (although other sources firmly state it was ground fire that got the Red Baron).

The aircraft had quirky handling qualities but was extremely maneuverable, attributable to the super-sensitive ailerons and the gyroscopic, or torque, effect of the relatively powerful rotary engine which enabled the Camel to turn very rapidly to the right. Squadron Leader R.M. Hill compared the two top British fighters: "Take the Sopwith Camel and the S.E.5. The S.E.Sa is stable with elevators free, the Camel unstable with them fixed. The Camel is more lightly loaded and has, with the exception of the rudder, more powerful controls. In a dive the Camel is flicky, due to a lighter loading and excessive longitudinal instability; the S.E.Sa is very steady, but dull to small intentional movements. In a zoom, the Camel improves greatly owing to its lighter loading and instability; the S.E.Sa is inclined to become languid, and its stability near stalling draws down the nose so that a large backward stick movement has to be made. In a Camel, the pilot has always to make small movements of controls to pick up steady speed which is difficult to maintain.