The Sopwith F-1 was introduced to the Western Front in June of 1917. Pilots and ground crew quickly named it the Camel because of the "hump" formed by the fairing over the machine gun breeches.
It had a short nose and had a combination of a very powerful rotary engine and twin Vickers .303 in. machine guns, synchronized to fire through the propeller. This feature was to be the basis for British fighter design for the next 20 years.
5,490 Camels were produced, during the course of WW1 and they were used to shoot down 1,294 enemy aircraft, making this the deadliest of all the allied airplanes. However, it should also be noted that more pilots were killed in take-offs and landings, than were shot down by the Germans!
The Camel was not an easy airplane to fly, but it was extremely maneuverable. It could make a rapid turn to the right, greatly assisted by the rotary engine's torque but left turns were very slow. In fact some pilots , when required to make a left turn, would, instead make a 270 degree right turn!
An excellent description and history of the Camel can be found at this Wikipedia page.
Any model of the Sopwith Camel, will have the same problem as the original. The short nose will force you to keep as much weight as far forward as possible and if you have the option, build everything behind the balance point as light as possible!
The Great Planes Sopwith Camel Electric Sport Scale WW1 Flyer.
This version if the Camel can be flown at your local park or the club field.
Construction is of laser cut balsa and ply and covering is Monokote. Regarding the film covering- it is sometimes necessary to shrink the covering to remove wrinkles.
Proceed carefully, with a low heat iron. Only apply enough heat to do the job! I think that the Great Planes Camel has some kind of decal for the markings and this does not like too much heat! So be very careful!
Scale details included with this ARF RC airplane are- a replica radial engine, fully painted pilot, scale twin .303 caliber Vickers machine guns and scale landing gear.
A complete hardware package is included, so trips to your local RC hobby shop should be at a minimum.
Scale RC biplane park flyers are not the ideal beginner RC plane! That is not to say that the Camel is hard to fly- it is definitely not! Take a look at the page "The Beginner RC Airplane" for full details on the ideal plane to start your RC flying adventures.
The video below shows both the Camel and the Spad.
This model is definitely for the intermediate flyer, who has a couple of different models under his belt.
The Great planes Sopwith Camel is IN STOCK.
The Mick Reeves Sopwith Camel.
Mick Reeves Models was founded by 3 time World Champion modeler Mick Reeves.
Many of Mick's models are available here as RC airplane plans or as complete kits.
The Camel is offered as a plan or a kit in scales of 1/4 or 1/3 full size.
The RC kits include all the parts, CNC routed to shape, and all the scale details. These models are capable of being built to World class competition standards and many have won the top places in world events for many years.
If you are building a WW1 scale model then please take a look at Mick's site. A lot of the detail parts are available as separate pieces and may well suit your project.
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