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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1439.PDF
FLIGHT, 5 October 1956 591 American I'A-Strutter with hydrovane fitted in front of undercarriage. THE SOPWITH 1^-STRUTTER . . . Scarff-Dibovski or Sopwith-Kauper synchronizing gear, or by the Rossinterrupter gear. The two-seat version had a single free Lewis gun on a pillar-type mounting, Nieuport ring-mounting, or Scarff No. 2 ring-mounting on the rear cockpit; the bomb load could consist of twelve le Pecq or two 65-lb bombs. The single-seat bomber version occasion-ally had a forward-firing Lewis gun mounted centrally above the upper wing in addition to the standard Vickers gun; the bomb load consistedof four 56-lb bombs or an equivalent weight of other bombs. At least one Home Defence single-seat li-Strutter had a pair of Lewis gunsmounted in a near-vertical attitude to fire upwards immediately behind the trailing edge of the upper wing. Service Use.—Western Front: R.F.C. Sqns. Nos. 43, 45 and 70;R.N.A.S. Sqns. Nos. 5 and 8; R.N.A.S. Third Wing; French Escadrilles Nos. 29, 54, 210 and others; Belgian Flying Corps Sqns. Nos. 2, 3 and4; United States Air Service 90th Aero Sqn. Eastern Front: Flown by some Russian units. Macedonia: R.N.A.S. Sqns. A, B, C, D, E and F,and as part of the Composite Fighting Sqn. at Hadzi Junas; also used by a French unit based at Fiorina. Home Defence: R.F.C. Sqns. Nos.37 and 44. Coastal Patrol: R.N.A.S. stations at Great Yarmouth, Mullion, Pembroke and Prawle Point. Shipboard use: Aircraft carriers Furious,Vindex and Argus; battle cruisers Barham, Queen Elizabeth, and H.M.A.S. Australia, Mediterranean: R.N.A.S. station Otranto. Train-ing: Training squadrons at Eastbourne, Shawbury and Wyton; R.N.A.S. stations at Cranwell, Dover and Manston; American Expeditionary Force3rd Instruction Centre, Issoudun. Serial Numbers.—1$ Strutters originally ordered for the R.N.A.S.:3686, two-seat prototype built by Sopwith; 9376-9425, two-seat fighters built by Sopwith, sixteen transferred to R.F.C.; 9651-9750, sixty-fivetwo-seaters and thirty-five single-seaters built by Sopwith, 41 trans- ferred to R.F.C.; 9892-9897, A.878-A.897 and A.1902-A.1931, allbuilt by Sopwith; N.5080-N.5179, built by Sopwith, mostly single-seat bombers; N.5200-N.5249, built by Mann, Egerton (the first twentywere single-seat bombers); N.5500-N.5549, single-seat bombers ordered from Sopwith (only 38 were built); N.555O-N.5559, built by Sopwith;N.5600-N.5624, five single-seat bombers and twenty two-seaters built by Westland; N.5630-N.5654, two-seat fighters built by Mann, Egerton. Delivered to the R.F.C.—7762-7811, two-seat fighters built byRuston Proctor; A.377-A.386, built by Sopwith; A.954-A.1053, built by Fairey; A.1054-A.1153, two-seaters built by Vickers; A.1511-A.1560,built by Westland; A.2381-A.2430, built by Ruston Proctor; A.2983- A.2991, built by Sopwith; A.5238-A.5337, two-seaters built by Wells;A.5950-A.6149, built by Morgan (some were single-seaters); A. 6901- A.7000, built by Hooper; A.8141-A.8340, built by Ruston Proctor;A.8744-A.8793, two-seaters built by Vickers; B.2551-B.26O0, built by Ruston Proctor.Notes on Individual machines.—Used by No. 5 Sqn, R.N.A.S.: 9378, 9383, 9396, 9397, N.5514, N.5531. Used by No. 43 Sqn, R.F.C.: A.960,A.961, A.970, A.1010, A.1100 ("C.5"), A.1108 (shot down by Manfred von Richthofen), A.2388, A.2401. Used by No. 45 Sqn, R.F.C.: 7774,7775, 7792 ("Little 'Erbert," flown by Lt F. T. Courtney), 7800, A. 1075, A.1077, A.1083, A.1084, A.1095, A.2381, A.2382, A.2385, A.8260,B.2576, B.2583. Used by No. 70 Sqn, R.F.C.: 7763, A.38O, A.884, A.954, A.956, A.957, A.958, A.976, A.981, A.994, A.995, A.996, A.997,A.1002, A.1069, A.1514, A.1902, A.1925, A.2983, A.2984, A.2986, A.8172, A.8213. Other machines: 9378, "New Zealand No. 1"; 9383, "Britons in JapanNo. 1"; 9395, "Tientsin Britons No. 1"; 9401, "Poverty Bay, New Zealand No. 2"; 9405, "Britons in Egypt No. 1"; 9410, used by No. 3Wing, R.N.A.S.; 9420, interned in Holland, 17.9.16; 9422, used at R.N.A.S. station Dover; 9423, "Peking Britons No. 1"; 9654, "Rio deJaneiro Britons No. 1"; 9667, "Tientsin Britons No. 2"; 9669, used by No. 3 Wing, R.N.A.S. 9722, "Sao Paulo Britons No. 1", used by No. 3 Wing, R.N.A.S.;9739, "Britons in Egypt No. 2"; 9742, bomber used by No. 3 Wing, R.N.A.S.; 9744, "Britons in Italy No. 1". A.6006: used in H.M.S.Queen Elizabeth; A.6987, fitted with skid undercarriage, modified wing bracing and Grain flotation gear; B.762, single-seat conversion for HomeDefence duties with twin upward-firing Lewis guns (flown from rear cockpit); B.2591, flown at Eastbourne; N.5084, "Sao Paulo BritonsNo. 2"; N.5086, R.N.A.S. Mudros. N.5089,N.5091, N.5098, N.51O7,N.5115, N.5116, N.5171,N.5173 andN.5174, all used by No. 3 Wing, R.N.A.S.; N.5119, used by "F" Sqn, R.N.A.S., Stavros; N.5219, transferred to Russia; N.5224, used byNo. 2 Wing, R.N.A.S., Mudros; N.5235-N.5242, transferred to Belgium; N.5244, transferred to Russia; N.5503, R.N.A.S. Dover; N.5512, usedby No. 3 Wing, R.N.A.S.; N.5517 and N.5527, used by the R.N.A.S. at Mudros. N.5601, used in H.M.S. Vindex; N.5630 and N.5632, flownat Cranwell. WEIGHTS Version Clerget engine h.p. Weight empty (Ib) Military load (Ib) Fust and oil (Ib) Weight loaded (Ib) Max. speed (m.p.h.) at: 6,500ft 10,000ft Climb (min and sec) to; 6.500ft 10,000ft ... Service ceiling (ft) AND PERFORMANCE Two-ieater 110 1,259 520 370 2,149 100.5 96.5 10 50 20 25 — 130 1,305 517 328 2,150 10097.5 9 10 17 50 15,500 Single-seater 110 1,354 500 508 2,362 94 14 00 26 55 12,500 130 1,316 524 502 2,342 102 98.5 12 40 24 35 13,000 Note.—The two-seater had a flight endurance of 4j hr with the 110 h.p. Clerget and 3j hr with the 130 h.p. engine. Photographs of World War I aircraft en masse are seldom seen. This striking picture shows The majority of the aircraft have retained their original French camouflage markings, but l'/i -Strutters of an American training unit. ] few are marked with American roundels.
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