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WWI era of aircraft
Exact times and dates of plane manufacture not always correct -
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Kingston Aviation
Kingston Aviation This history of the Aviation of Kingston, from Canberry Road in Kingston to the launch pad in Brooklands. This timeline cover it all from Sopwiths first Sopwith Camel in 1916 to the Hawker plane from Kingston the Hawker Siddley Harri in 1966, a whole 50 years of plane designing and technology in Kingston.
NOTE:All content of external links are not the fault of the maker of this timeline. All conent correct at time of make 11/7/13 -
Sopwith Triplane
This was of a similar desing to the Fokker DR1 triplane.This plane was very manouvrable and could climb great hieghts and at this stage,its speed was quite fast. The plane did have two guns which were mounted on at the front as with all the planes. One of the unique feature about it was the three wings design it had but this was useful because if one was hit it could use the other two pairs although this would have been hard as the wing would turn the plane constantly as the air goes through it. -
The 1916 Sopwith Pup
The Pup served with great success as a fighter in all theatres throughout World War I. It was
also used extensively on pioneer carrier operations. In June 1917 a Pup took -off from a ship
gun turret platform and in August Squadron Commander EH Dunning flew a Pup off the
foredeck of HMS Furious, subsequently making the first ever landing on a ship under way.
Dunning's achievement inspired the development of the aircraft carrier which changed naval
warfare forever. -
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel F.1 had very good speed which meant that the plane could easily chase its rivals. It has a relatively small target size meaning that its rivals would have a hard time trying to aim and shoot, by which time, due to its manoeuvrability it would have already dodged out of the way. The Sopwith Camel was planned and built by Tommy Sopwith.
Weapons - Twin Vickers machine guns
It had a high manouvrability
Speed - approx. 116.625 mph -
Sopwith F1 Camel
This was the successor to the triplane. The new featurs included a traditional two pairs of wings.The engine was stronger and it had twin Vickers machine guns. Vickers was an aircraft company that produced its own firearm. "The plane was so successful in its cause that Camel Pilots managed to shoot down 1300 enemy aircraft". -
Sopwith Snipe
The Sopwith Snipe was deemed the best fighter plane in World War One. It was built by Sopwith and had a top speed of 121 mph. In today's standards it was relatively small with a length of 6 metres and a wingspan of 9 metres. Its first flight was in 1917 but it was started to be used by 1918 in the First World War. It was better than the Camel with its better visibility for the pilot and the handling was easier. This was a plane that was mainly used for escort work but it could be equiped. -
Sopwith Atlantic
This was an eperimental plane after the first great war. The main purpose of the plane was to try and cross the Atlantic [hence the name] for the £10,000 reward from the newspaper the Daily Mail. -
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Inter War years
Theinterwar years of the plane era. Exact times and dates of plane manufacture not always correct -
Hawker Cygnet
The Cygnet was the next step forward. The Cygnet was a plane when Sopwith closed down and made a new company - Hawker, presumably after his top assistant. The plane was supposed to be ultralight and was even smaller than its previous model and its top speed was 82 mph. It was made of wood and fabric and could climb to 5,000 feet in 11 minutes. The front was made of light metal as with all of Sopwith's early planes. -
Hawker Hart light bomber
This was a two seater plane and had could come as a land based plane or sea based plane [i.e. it had floats]. This was a 'new' type of plane as unlike all of Sopwith's earlier model planes this plane's bodywork was not made from wood or fabric but mainly from metal. It was a biplane though it was faster than the previous Cygnet at speeds of 184 mph. -
Hawker Fury fighter
This was a bi-plane that started to be used in 1931. It had a top speed of 223 mph with one Rolls Royce engine - different to the previous models' Bentley engines. This was a one seater plane but this model plane was bigger than the previous model at 8 metres longs and a wingspan of 9 metres. -
Hawker Hurricane
This plane was a new faster plane going to speeds over 300 mph - over 100 mph faster than the previous design.It was also bigger with a length of 9 metres and a relatively big at the time 12 metre wingspan. It was flown in 1935 but was first 'commercially' used in 1936. This was also a new revolution in the airplane industry as this was the first plane that was now not two-paired but a single paired winged plane. It had a very strong machine gun and could be equiped with bombs as in the picture. -
Period: to
WWII era of planes
Exact times and dates of plane manufacture not always correct -
Hawker Typhoon
Form this plane onwards the aim of the 'game' was to produce the best, the fastest and the most manouvrable plane in WWII to outwit the enemies that was also easy to fly for the pilots. The Hawker Typhoon had a length of 9.7 metres and a wingspan of 13 metres with a top speed of around 407 mph which was a lot faster. The first flight was in 1940 but it was 'commonly' used in 1941 - 1946. -
Hawker Tempest
This plane was another plane made for WWII which was designed by Sydney Camm and the fuselage was bigger than the Hawker Typhoon but the wingspan smaller by about a metre. It could travel of speeds around 430 mph and could travel great heights. -
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Final Era
Exact times and dates of plane manufacture not always correct -
Hawker Sea Hawk
The Hawker Sea Hawk had a top speed of 600 mph. It was 12 metres in length and had a wingspan of 12 metres. Again the fuselage was getting bigger the wingspan stayed the same as it did in the previous model. This was a very fast plane with a sudden jump from around 400 mph in the last model to around 600 mph in this model - an increase of 200 mph. -
Hawker Hunter
The Hawker Hunter was 14 metres long. The plane had a G-10 gun camera port. -
Hawker Siddeley Harrier
Harrier Vertical Take off This plane was around 14 metres and the wingspan is not available. This plane had a massive leap in its design, engine power, speed, amnouvrability, technology including Radar and communications, and unqiuely to this day the ability to land and take off vertically using the air blasts in the wings and underneath and at the back of the fuselage.
