|
More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
|
Tommy Sopwith
|
|
(1888-1989, kt 1953) Pilot and aircraft designer who formed the Sopwith Aviation company in 1912 at Kingston-upon-Thames. During World War I the factory produced eight varieties of biplane and a triplane. The Sopwith Pup (in service from summer 1916) and the Sopwith Camel (from summer 1917) were the main fighter planes of the RFC. Pilots flying the Camel, armed with two Vickers machine guns, claimed to have shot down some 3000 enemy planes, including the Red Baron himself (Manfred von Richthofen) in April 1918. The Sopwith Aviation Company later developed into *Hawker Siddeley.
|
|
|
|