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History of Kingston Aviation
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Sopwith Camel
In the 17 months in service, 1,294 kills were recorded, averaging in 76 kills a month. Sopwith Camels were made at the Roller Skating factory on Canbury park road. About 14,000 Sopwith Camels were built in that factory. Thomas Sopwith took over it 1912. From there, they were transported to Brooklands by trucks. -
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel is a very famous British aircraft. It was used during World War One and it was designed by Thomas Sopwith. It was called the Sopwith Camel because of the hump-shaped cover over the two Vickers machine guns it had. Vickers machine guns were the best available guns at that time. In addition, the machine guns were above the propeller so that there wouldn't be any risk of the bullets hitting the propeller. It had a top speed of 118mph, 3mph faster than its rival, the Fokker D1. -
Hawker Hart
The Hawker Hart was a two seater Biplane. It was a light bomber aircraft used by the RAF. A 525hp Rolls Royce Kestrel engine powered the Hart. One forward firing Vickers machine gun and rear mounted Lewis machine gun was fitted on the Hawker Hart. It was designed by Sidney Camm during the 1920s. -
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane was developed by Sidney Camm, the chief designer of Hawker. The first prototype of the Hurricane flew on 6th November 1935. It was powered by a strong Rolls Royce Merlin engine. The Hawker Hurricane was the first RAF plane to shoot down a Luftwaffe plane. It was much faster than the Sopwith Camel-becoming the first RAF aircraft to exceed the 300mph mark, had better Manouevrability, better Firepower-8 Browning machine guns in the wings and was able to take a few hits. -
Hawker Typhoon
The Hawker Typhoon was a fighter bomber. It was one of the first planes to provide close air support. The design of the Typhoon started when Hawker believed that they had developed an engine twice as powerful as the Merli engine. Initial tests showed that the Typhoon was 40mph faster than the Spitfire but was less agile. The engine was capable of producing 400mph but was very unreliable and leaked deadly Carbon Monoxide into the cockpit. -
Hawker Typhoon
It seemed like a failure but it was equipped with bombs in 1942. In 1943 ground attack rockets were added to the plane. Those two addtions turned the Typhoon into one of the most successful ground attack aircraft in World War Two. -
Hawker Hurricane
It had a major role in the victory of the Battle of Britain. The Spitfire is normally credited for the victory but the Hurricane was the actual hero. 32 squadrons of Hawker Hurricanes were ready in the Battle of Britain, almost twice as much as the 19 available sqaudrons of Spitfires. It took around 26 minutes to re-arm and refuel a Spitfire but only took 9 minutes to re-arm and refuel a Hurricane. -
Hawker Hunter
There have been many variations of the Hawker Hunter. The F.1, F.2, Mk 3, Mk 4, F.5, F.6, FGA.9 and FR.10. The wingspan of the Hunter was shorter than the Hawker Hurricane; meaning that the plane could have been slightly more unstable than the Hurricane.In addition, the length of the plane increased by 11ft, which meant that it was a bigger target and had a bigger chance of getting hit. However, the Hawker Hunter could acheive greater heights. Trainer Hunters were produced and used by the RAF. -
Hawker Siddeley Harrier
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is an incredibally fast plane due to it being powered by jets and is much more modern and complex comparerd to previous Hawker aircraft such as the Hawker Hurricane. The plane is also known for its ability to lift of vertically instead of horizantally which was really special for a plane tto have duiring the time. It has a Rolls-Royce Pegasus 101 turbofan which allows the aircraft to fly at 735 MPH which is amazingly fast for a plane from that time.
