Sopwith Camel F.1

 The Sopwith Camel was a WWI single seat biplane fighter introduced by the British in 1917. Nicknamed “The Pilot Killer”, it was notoriously difficult to fly due its weight distribution and the gyroscopic effect of the nine-cylinder Clerget 9B rotary engine. However, those pilots who were able to control it made it the most lethal fighter in the war with 1,294 victories over enemy aircraft.

 The Camel was 5.7 meters long (18’ 9”) with a wingspan of 8.5 meters (28 feet.) It had a top speed of 168 K/h (104.5 MPH) at an altitude of 3,050 meters (10,000 feet) and an operational range of 467 Km (290 miles.) It was equipped with two Vickers .303 machine guns synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller.

 The fighter, of which 5,490 were built by the Sopwith Aviation Company, was flown by the British Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service and after the merger of the two, the Royal Air Force.

 This model is based on the plane flown by Flight Lieutenant Norman MacGregor (1896 – 1981) of the RNAS. He was an ace with seven victories to his credit.

 

SPAD S.XIII

 

The SPAD S.XIII was a World War I single seat biplane fighter and successor to the SPAD S.VII. The plane was designed by Louis Béchereau of the Société pour l'aviation et ses derives (SPAD) and had its first flight in April 1917. 8,472 of the planes were built for the French Armée de l'Air, the British Royal Flying Corps and the U.S. Army Air Service.

The plane with a wingspan of 8.53 m (28 ft) was powered by a Hispano-Suiza water cooled V-8, 200 HP engine. Its top speed was 190 km/h (120 mph) at an altitude of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.) The armament consisted of two Vickers .303 machine guns mounted above the engine and synchronized to fire through the propeller at a rate of 500 rounds per minute.

This model carries the markings of the plane flown by the French ace, Capitaine Georges Guynemer who was credited with 54 victories during the war. He was pronounced missing in action (presumed shot down) during a mission over Southern Belgium on 11 September, 1917.

#SPAD #XIII #WWI #World_War_1 #airplane #Fighter #Blender #Cycles