FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0016.PDF
8 FLIGHT, 1 January 1954 THE SOPWITH PUP Historic Military Aircraft : No. 6 By J. M. BRUCE, M.A. THE enthusiastic words quoted in the centre of this page were written by the diarist* of War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator; they epitomise the feelings of many war-time pilots on first making the acquaintance of the Sopwith Pup. In the classic simplicity of its lines the Pup bore the hall mark of inspired design; so much so that it is easy to believe the legend of its origin, which tells of how Harry Hawker sketched his inspiration in chalk on the shop floor at Kingston, and how that first layout remained virtually unchanged throughout all the detail design which preceded the emergence of the prototype. To the Sopwith Company the machine was known as the 80 h.p. Le Rhone Single Seat Biplane, and its official title was simply the Sopwith Scout. The name "Pup" was unofficial and was frowned upon by authority. Orders were issued forbidding the use of such a frivolously incorrect name for the aeroplane, but the Pup it was and the Pup it remained. The origin of the name and the identity of its inventor are alike obscure, but a more appropriate title could hardly have been de vised, for the machine inspired in its pilots the same kind of affec tion as is lavished on a pet, and gave in return flying qualities which have probably never been equalled in any other aeroplane before or since. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the Pup was its excellent performance on the mere 80 h.p. of its Le Rhone rotary engine, and the flying controls were harmonious and effective. The light wing-loading (which was just under 5 lb per sq ft) gave the machine a low landing speed and made it remarkably safe in forced landings. The Pup bore a family resemblance to its immediate pre decessor, the Sopwith 1^-strutter, but its design owed a good deal to a little single-seat biplane, powered by a 50 h.p. Gnome, which had been built in 1915 to the ideas of Harry Hawker. Indeed, it seems probable that it was this machine which was designed on the shop floor by Hawker. This aeroplane was rather smaller than the later Pup, and its centre-section struts were vertical when seen in end elevation: those of the Pup splayed outwards. However, the plan-form of wings and tail- plane were similar to those of the Pup, having the characteristic cut-back shape which later became so familiar, but on the early machine wing-warping was used for lateral control. The aircraft was employed by Harry Hawker as a personal means of transport, and was popularly known as "Hawker's Runabout." The Pup also owed something to experience gained in ser vice with an even earlier Sopwith single-seater, the Tabloid of * Now known to have been J. M. Grider, an American who flew in No. 85 Sqn., R.A.F. " 'T'ODAY I saw my first scout machine, a Sopwith Pup. It's ± the prettiest little thing I ever laid my eyes on. I am going to fly one if I live long enough. They aren't as big as a minute and. are as pretty and slick as a thoroughbred horse. Tiny little things, just big enough for one man and a machine gun." "THE perfect flying machine" is the author's assessment of the Pup; but gentle as it was, it has a stirring combat history. The present article was preceded by five others of the series—D.H.4 (October 17th last), Bristol Fighter (November 7th), F.E.2 (December 12th), Handley Page 0/100 and 0/400 (February 27th), and S.E.5 (July 17th). 1913, which was one of the first high-speed single-seat scouts to go into production for the British flying services. In its day the Tabloid was also officially known as the Sopwith Scout, and official statistics under that heading include both Tabloids and Pups, but it seems most probable that, between October 1914 and June 1915, 36 Tabloids were built for the R.F.C. and R.N.A.S. A small number of Tabloids had been completed before the outbreak of war. The type did not form the com plete equipment of any Service unit, but did some good work in the early days of the war, including the bombing attacks made on October 8th, 1914, by Squadron Commander Spenser Grey and F/L. R. L. G. Marix. Spenser Grey bombed Cologne, and at Diisseldorf Marix destroyed the Zeppelin shed and the airship it housed. The Tabloid's success as a military machine is the more commendable because it was built for demonstration and sporting flying. The Pup was designed as a fighting scout. Simplicity was the keynote of the Pup's design, structurally as well as aerodynamically. The four longerons of the fuselage were of l^in square ash, and the vertical and horizontal spacers were of spruce. Most of the cross-bracing was of 14-gauge wire, but the forward three bays of the fuselage were braced with 10- and 12-gauge wire: the front bay had substantial diagonal struts of ash, and a fire-proof bulkhead was fitted. The oil and petrol tanks were situated immediately behind this bulkhead. Forward of the cockpit the top cowling was a sheet of 22-gauge aluminium, its rounded contour being continued down to the tailplane by a conventional top-decking of £in x Jin stringers notched into |in birch three-ply formers. The circular engine-cowling was faired off to the flat sides of the fuselage by tapered fairings: these fairings consisted of 3/16in x |in spruce stringers on formers, of which there were four on the port side and five on the starboard. The forward bay was covered with aluminium sheet, and the remainder of the fuselage was covered with fabric, except for the top-decking in the immediate vicinity of the cockpit, which was of iin plywood. Strips of |in x |in spruce ran almost the full length of top and bottom longerons on the outside in order to hold the fabric £in clear of the fuselage structure. On the starboard side of the fuselage the covering aft of the cockpit consisted of a laced-on panel of fabric: there was no lacing on the port side. The mainplanes had spruce spars, spindled out for lightness and connected by four compression struts. The two inboard bays of each wing panel were cross-braced by 12- and 14-gauge In this view of a standard R.F.C. Pup the location of the single fixed Vickers gun is seen to advantage.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
