One of the most successful World War One fighters, the Sopwith Camel was credited with 1294 enemy aircraft destroyed, more than any other allied aeroplane.
The Sopwith Camel was intended as a replacement for the Sopwith Pup with the prototype taking its first flight in December 1916. It was known as the “Big Pup” early on in its development, but the fairing that covered its twin mounted Vickers machine guns mounted in front of the cockpit created a visible hump, so the plane subsequently acquired the name Camel.
Whilst being a very effective combat aircraft the Camel was not considered an easy plane to fly. There were several reasons for this. The strong gyro effect of the rotary engine resulted in strange handling, and on take off with a full tank of fuel the centre of gravity was affected. In level flight the Camel was markedly tail-heavy, and as if this was not enough when executing turns in either direction requiring rudder it turned sharply to the right with a nose-down attitude, and turned slowly to the left with a nose up attitude. Novice pilots in particular had to be very wary on take-off and landing and any stall would result in an immediate spin. None the less once mastered these “twitchy” characteristics gave the Camel its superb manoeuvrability, the perfect quality for a fighter aircraft, and together with the S.E.5a it wrested aerial superiority away from the German fighters of the day.