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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0529.PDF
Camel with 100 h.p. Gnome Monosoupape engine. Dual-control Camel. Camel with tapered wings. (Below) Camel with downward-firing Lewis guns. 22 April 1955 529 Ordre pour le Merite and victor in 80 aerialcombats. Brown did not know the identity of hisvictim until some time after the combat. He immediately turned back to engage twomore Fokkers, which retreated under fire, and he landed at Bertangles with a damagedengine and fifty bullet holes in his Camel. At that time No. 209, in common withthe other ex-R.N.A.S. Camel Squadrons, was equipped with F.I Camels powered bythe 150 h.p. Bentley B.R.I engine. One of the hardier fables relating to aeroplanes ofthe 1914-18 war is to the effect that the B.R.I was fitted only to the Sopwith 2F.1, butthat engine was in fact installed in large numbers of the F.I Camels used byR.N.A.S. Squadrons. (Another cognate myth is that R.N.A.S. units used only the2F.1 version of the Camel.) An F.I powered by a 150 h.p. A.R.I (orAdmiralty Rotary, as the engine was originally named) was tested as early as May1917. Tests with a B.R.I were carried out in July 1917. During the course of thesetrials the compression ratio was varied and larger induction pipes were fitted. Ultimatelythe best performance was achieved with large induction pipes and a compressionratio of 5.7 to 1. No. 9 (Naval) Sqn., later No. 209 Squad-ron, R.A.F., was typical of the units which flew F.I Camels with .B.R.l engines. Itsoriginal Camels were standard Clerget- powered machines, which it flew untilDecember 16th, 1917. The squadron then flew B.R.I Camels until February 4th, 1918,when it reverted to Clergets for some six weeks. On March 13th, however, NavalNine again had B.R.ls and retained them until January 21st, 1919. The Camels of the Naval squadrons weremuch more gaily decorated than those of the R.F.C. units. The pilots of No. 209 hadvarious personal markings on their machines; few of the Camels had roundelson the fuselage sides. Those of No. 210 Sqn. were painted with longitudinal stripes whichran from the cowling to the back of the cockpit: "A" Flight had black and whitestripes, "B" Flight blue and white stripes, and "C" Flight red and white stripes. During the final great Allied offensive in1918 the Camels of No. 209 were extensively used for ground-attack work. To provideadequate cooling for the engine, additional slots were cut in the cowlings of many of theaircraft. Squadrons Nos. 43, 54, 73, 201, 203 and 208 were employed on these duties,and No. 73 was placed at the disposal of the Tank Corps Commander for low-flyingattacks against anti-tank guns. By this time American squadrons were inaction on the Western Front. In June 1918 the American Government bought 143 F.ICamels, which were issued to the 17th and 148th Squadrons of the United States AirService. The 17th Sqn. arrived in France on June 20th, 1918, and the 148th onJuly 1st. Both units were attached to the R.A.F. until November 1st. The 17th suf-fered the loss of six of its Camels in a fight on the evening of August 26th, but the twoAmerican units scored a resounding success on September 24th: of the eighteen enemyaeroplanes shot down on the British front on that day, six fell to the 148th and five tothe 17th. For duty on the Western Front 36 ClergetCamels were supplied to the Belgian Flying Corps. The machines were used by severalBelgian squadrons. The 1st Squadron of the Belgian Flying Corps tried a few Camelsbut preferred their Hanriot HD-ls; their Camels were transferred to the 11thSquadron. The Camel's operational service was notlimited to the Western Front, for it was used in Italy, Macedonia, Mesopotamia and
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