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Sopwith Aviation Company founded
Sopwith Aviation Company was first founded by Thomas Sopwith in June 1912. The company wasw founded in Kingston upon Thames on Canbury Park Road. -
Sopwith Three-seater first flown
The Sopwith three-seater was one of the first planes built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. The plane was powered by a 70 horse power rotary engine. The wings of the Sopwith three-seater were from the wright biplane. 13 of these planes were built. They then became officially retired in 1915. -
Sopwith Bat Boat first flown
The Sopwith bat boat was an amphibious biplane. The Sopwith Bat Boat was the first successful flying boat built in the UK. Although the plane was designed in Kingston, it was built at Brooklands. The bat boat had many strengths for a flying boat since it was very light being made of copper and plywood. 6 bat boats were built and they were used by the Royal Navy, the Kaiserliche Marine and the Greek Navy. -
Sopwith Tabloid first flown
The Sopwith Tabloid was designed by Fred Sigrist. The plane was named "The Tabloid" because of its small size. The Tabloid had a cooling system for its 80 horse power rotary engine. The Sopwith Tabloid could reach a top speed of 92 miles per hour. Piloted by Howard Pixton, The Tabloid won the Schneider Trophy in 1914. Aside from sports, the Sopwith Tabloid was used as a acouting aircraft. -
Sopwith Camel first flown
The Sopwith Camel was first flown by Henry Hawker at Brooklands. It had 2 Vickers machine guns and a 110 horse power engine. The Camel had alot of firepower, was light and it was very manoeuvrable. However it was slow, difficult to control and hard to land. The Sopwith Camel shot down a total of 1,294 enemy aircrafts, more than any other allied aircraft during World War 1. A total of 5,490 Camels were built. During World War 1, the Sopwith Camel had to compete with the Fokker Dr.1. -
Hawker Aircraft Limited founded
Sopwith Aviation Company had a total of 5000 employees and made more than 16000 aircrafts just during World War 1. The company collapsed in 1920 because of a large demand from the government for Excess War Profits Duty. Upon the collapse of Sopwith Aviation Company, Hawker Aircraft Limited was formed by Thomas Sopwith, Harry Hawker, Fred Sigrist and Bill Eyre. -
Hawker Duiker first flown
The Hawker Duiker was the first aircraft built by Hawker engineering. The Hawker Duiker was made mostly of wood. Its top speed was 125 miles per hour and it had a weight of 1,792 Kg. It was considered unsuccessful hence why only one was ever built. -
Hawker Hurricane first flown
Designed by Sydney Camm, the Hawker Hurricane was a very successful fighter plane during World War 2. The Hurricane made up for 60% of the RAF's victories. The Hurricane had many variations such as the Sea Hurricane which was adapted to be used at sea. The Hurricane was so successful because itwas very fast with a top speed of 547 Km per hour and it carried eight wing mounted machine guns. However the Hawker Hurricane had a very large target size. -
Hawker Hunter first flown
The Hawker Hunter is a subsonic jet aircraft, the first produced by Hawker Aircraft Limited for the RAF. On the 7th of September 1953, the Hawker Hunter broke the world air speed record managing to travel 727 miles per hour. The Hawker Hunter was very successful and is still being used in front line service 60 years later. The Hawker Hunter was succesful because of its extreme speed, manoeuvrability, variations and low operating and maintenance costs.
