Sir Thomas O.M. Sopwith is one of the most famous figures in British aviation. He began his aviation career in ballooning, then founded a flying school, and in time started designing aircraft. Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, he established a company producing aircraft. Just before the war began, it started building single-seat Tabloid machines for British military aviation. However, technical development in the early years of World War I necessitated the creation of a more modern design.
Engineer Herbert Smith, working at Sopwith, designed in 1916 an aircraft commissioned by the naval aviation that became one of the most famous British fighters of World War I. The Sopwith F.1 Camel was a single-seat biplane of entirely wooden construction. Various types of engines were fitted, resulting in several variants differing in performance and operational characteristics. The first examples reached naval aviation squadrons in May 1917. The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was also equipped with these machines from July 1917.
In the penultimate month of the war, over 800 Sopwith F.1 Camel aircraft were serving in frontline units. A total of 5,490 examples of this most famous British fighter of World War I were built. Despite its undoubted qualities, the Camel was an extremely difficult aircraft to fly; the gyroscopic effect caused by the rotary engine was the bane of novice pilots and frequently led to accidents.
After the war, these machines were in service with the air units of the USA, Canada, Belgium and Greece, and were also used in Soviet Russia. The only Camel to serve in Polish aviation, bearing the number F5234, was brought as his private property by American volunteer Lieutenant pilot Kenneth M. Murray. This aircraft took part in the Polish-Bolshevik War with the 7th Fighter Squadron, and was subsequently handed over to the military authorities.
The example in the MLP collection, number B 7280, was built at the Clayton and Shuttleworth works in Lincoln. From 30 March 1918, it served with No. 1 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). On 1 April 1918, this squadron was redesignated as No. 201 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). Lieutenant J. H. Foreman, flying this aircraft, destroyed two German planes.
After overhaul, the aircraft was transferred to No. 210 Squadron RAF. Between 16 June and 5 September 1918, Captain H. A. Patey DFC, flying it, destroyed a further 9 enemy aircraft. On 5 September 1918, he made a forced landing behind German lines. His Sopwith F.1 Camel was tested by the Germans and later displayed at an aviation exhibition in Berlin.
It is currently one of only 5 surviving examples of this aircraft in the world. It is also most likely the most combat-distinguished aviation artefact of World War I, as the pilots who flew it scored a combined total of 11 German aircraft destroyed.
| Wingspan | 8.53 m |
| Length | 5.53 m |
| Takeoff weight | 665 kg |
| Maximum speed | 187 km/h |
| Ceiling | 5450 m |
| Range | 3.5 hours of flight |
| Armament | 2 synchronised Vickers machine guns, .303 cal. (7.7 mm), 4 x 9 kg bombs |
| Engine | 9-cylinder rotary Bentley Br1, 150 hp (111 kW) |
