Tommy Sopwith was born in 1888. He became the second
person to fly the English Channel, and he established the Sopwith
Aviation Company in 1912. His first successful aircraft design was
the Sopwith Tabloid. This was a very modern aircraft when introduced
in 1913. With its top speed of 92-MPH the Tabloid won the 1914
Schneider Trophy race. Two other early Sopwith designs were the Bat
Boat, one of the first flying boats flown by the Naval Wing, and the
Three-Seater, a large observation aircraft. Sopwith proliferated
many other designs during the Great War, including the Snipe, Pup,
Dolphin, Salamander, Strutter, and Camel. Sopwith’s triplane was
introduced in 1917. It evolved from the need for an aircraft with a
superior rate of climb. By reducing the length and width of the
wings, and by adding a third wing, the desired results were
achieved. The triplane was a sound design with good rate of climb
and very good maneuverability. It was somewhat underpowered when
compared with its German adversaries. It was powered with either a
110-HP or 130-HP Clerget engine. The Sopwith Triplane utilized a
convention design with I-sections and longertrons made of spruce
wood. The fabric was separated from the structural members by thin
strips of spruce, and the forward section of the fuselage was
covered with sheet aluminum. The Triplane had a steer able tailskid,
and the undercarriage was built with streamlined steel tubing. This
diminutive aircraft was 26 feet 6 inches in span and just under 19
feet in length. The maximum speed of the aircraft was 117-MPH;
attainable at 5,000 feet altitude. With a service ceiling of 20,500
feet the Triplane had a maximum endurance of 90 minutes.
Maneuverability was a hallmark of Sopwith designs and the triplane
was no exception to this rule. Many Royal Naval Air Service pilots
flew the Triplane. For most of 1917 the pilots of Navy 1, 8, and 10
squadrons in Flanders flew Triplanes. Sopwith also produced a 200-HP
Hispano-Suiza powered triplane that had larger wings to compensate
for the increased engine weight. More than 20,000 aircraft were
built of Sopwith design prior to the company’s merger with Hawker in
1933. Captain R.A. Little was the RNAS’s highest-scoring ace with a
total of 47 victories. He had fifteen victories (No’s 22-36) that
were attained while flying the Sopwith Triplane with No 8 Squadron
RNAS between April 1917 and July 1917.
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Collector Sized Lithograph:
$40
16" x 11 1/2"
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Giclee on Canvas:
$445
18'' x 27''
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