History:

Mr John Lowther in New Zealand designed and built a 75 per cent scale replica of a Sopwith F.1 Camel, this being the second aircraft he had designed himself and the ninth light aircraft he had built. He built the aircraft whilst he was working at No 1 RNZAF Repair Depot at Woodbourne and it was engineered to fit into the New Zealand microlight class. Construction commenced in 1995 and it was fitted with an English-built Webster five-cylinder radial engine. Painted in the markings of World War I Camel F9509, it was registered as ZK-JKE(c/n F9509) on 9 March 1999 and the first flight took place at Easter 2000. It was withdrawn from service in November 2006.

Mr Lowther  built a Nieuport replica at Timaru before moving on to the Camel. The Camel when completed made its one and only flight at RNZAF based Woodbourne. The Camel replica was placed in the hands of a group at Timaru for further development and at this time was fitted with the Rotax engine while ground testing of the radial engine was carried out to make it ready for flight testing. The Webster engine and the aircraft itself are now held by the South Canterbury Aviation heritage Centre at Timaru.

Photograph: the Lowther Sopwith Camel ZK-JKE (c/n F9509) nearing completion in New Zealand (NZCIVAIR)

Further information:

Information on this aircraft is currently limited. The Author welcomes any further specifications and/or details to update the site.