Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Single-seat biplane scout and training aircraft

Power Plant:

One 60 kw (80 hp) Le Rhone 9C nine-cylinder rotary piston engine

Specifications:

Armament:

One Vickers or Lewis 7.69 mm (0.303 in) machine gun fixed and firing forward

History:

The Sopwith Pup was one of the most successful aeroplanes of the World War I era, having aesthetic appeal and delightful handling qualities. It was built in large numbers by the Sopwith Aviation Co Ltd of Kingston-on-Thames and the type was used both in fighting and training roles. It continued to be flown in Australia with the RAAF for some years after the cessation of hostilities.  About 1,900 examples were built, with production ceasing in 1918.  It entered service with No 54 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, on Christmas Eve 1916, and, in addition to serving with other British units, was flown with Nos 5, 6 and 8 (Training) Squadrons, Australian Flying Corps, in the United Kingdom.

The Pup prototype (serial 3691) stemmed from an aircraft known as the “Runabout”, an aircraft built to the design of Harry Hawker and known as “Hawker’s Runabout”.  The new scout, fitted with a Vickers machine gun mounted on the top decking in front of the cockpit, and synchronised to fire through the propeller by a mechanical interrupter system, was found to have a max speed at 1,980 m (6,500 ft) of 177 km/h (110 mph).  It went to the Central Flying School for evaluation and was tested in late March 1916.  Fifty production aircraft were ordered with the serials 9901 to 9950, these to be delivered by William Beardmore & Co Ltd of Dalmuir, Dumbartonshire.  Further orders were placed with the Sopwith company.

The new scout won acclaim and immediately further production orders were placed, including initially 50 aircraft from the Standard Motor Co Ltd of Coventry, the first aircraft completed by this company being serial A626.  Engines fitted included the 60 kw (80 hp) Clerget 7Z seven-cylinder rotary engine, the Le Rhone 9C nine-cylinder rotary or the 75 kw (100 hp) Gnome Monosoupape B nine-cylinder rotary engine. Examples were soon taken to France for evaluation by the RFC and the RNAS.  To meet requirements, further companies were requested to commence construction, including Darracq Motor Engineering Co Ltd of Fulham, Wells Aviation Co Ltd of Chelsea, and Whitehead Aircraft Ltd of Richmond, but in the event the first of these two companies in fact did not build any Pups.  Production aircraft differed from the prototype in having a taller undercarriage, the shape of the fin and rudder being altered, streamline-section interplane bracing wires replacing cables, and other alterations.

Pups saw service with a number of foreign services, including The Netherlands (N6164), Russia and Greece. A number found their way to the United States Navy.  Some 49 went to Japan and surplus aircraft were offered to Commonwealth countries under the Imperial Gift Scheme in 1919.  In late 1918 twelve Pups were ordered by the Australian Government.  Received during 1919, these aircraft carried the RAF serials C521 to C532.  In 1920 they were transferred to the Australian Air Corps, as it was then known.  Early in 1921 it became the Australian Air Force, and in August that year it became the Royal Australian Air Force.  The 11 Pups surviving were then given RAAF serials (A4-1 to A4-11) under the new Australian designation system, and were flown in the training role.

The Pups with the RAAF served with No 1 FTS from March 1921 to 1925 when they were withdrawn from service.  Those lost in service were: A4-4 (ex C524) which crashed on 4 December 1924 at Point Cook, VIC when it hit a hangar; A4-8 (ex C528) which crashed on 4 August 1922 at Point Cook when it stalled and spun into a Bessoneau hangar; and A4-10 (ex C531) which crashed on 13 February 1923.  The twelfth aircraft (C529) was not allotted an RAAF serial.  It arrived in Australia on 24 December 1918 on board the SS Barambah and was found to have suffered damage during the journey.  The damage was repaired and it was operated by the Central Flying School, being used during the First Peace Loan in September 1919 but was lost in an accident and was struck off official records on 8 April 1920.

Sopwith Ships Pups took part in launching experiments on board vessels of the Royal Australian Navy, including HMASs Australia and Sydney.  A trial flight was made from HMAS Sydney on 8 December 1917 when a Pup took off from a platform on board, the flight being repeated on 17 December.  In 1918 HMAS Sydney took on board a Sopwith Camel, as did HMAS Melbourne.  HMAS Australia operated a Pup on 18 December 1917 when it was launched from a platform, being flown by Flt Sub-Lt F M Fox.

Well known Australian aviator and author Patrick Gordon Taylor (later Sir) is one of many Australian pilots who flew the type in Europe during World War I.  He flew over 100 offensive patrols and escorts into enemy territory in the Pup, and other Australian pilots who flew the type included Lts Charles Kingsford Smith and Hudson Fysh.  On one occasion whilst flying A7309 (which was built by the Standard Motor Co Ltd of Coventry) leading a flight of six Pups, Taylor came up against a formation from the Richthofen Circus and he fought his way out against ten Albatross scouts, later receiving the Military Cross in June 1917 for this and other notable actions.

A number of Pups were also flown in Australia in the civil role.  As a single-seater, the type was still known as the Sopwith Pup, and one (ex-C476) became G-AUCK.  It is not known when it was actually civilianised but, when the registration of civil aircraft became mandatory in Australia in 1921, it was registered to Mr C D Pratt of Geelong, VIC who traded as Geelong Air Services of Belmont Common.  Its last flight was recorded on 24 June 1923 when it was dismantled and placed in storage.  It was obtained by J L Roche of Murrumbeena, VIC and, because of the difficulties with running rotary engines, it was re-engined with a 60 kw (80 hp) Armstrong Siddeley Genet II unit.  Its Certificate of Registration was renewed on 21 May 1941, and the Certificate of Airworthiness was issued on 18 August 1942.  It was sold to W Stillard of Deniliquin, NSW on 4 December 1943.  During its life it had major changes, including new vertical tail surfaces, a horn balanced rudder, the cockpit moved further back in the fuselage, a shortened undercarriage, and larger tyres fitted.  Stories abound as to its ultimate fate but it seems it was badly damaged in September 1945 when lifted by strong winds onto the roof of a house at Barooga on the Murray River. The wreck was later burnt.

A number of Pups were converted to two-seaters in the United Kingdom, and these became known as the Sopwith Dove.  Four of these conversions were brought to Australia and are dealt with elsewhere.  One Pup (C523) was made available by the Central Flying School to assist in the promotion of a Peace Loan in August/September 1919, making many flights throughout Tasmania.

In the mid 1970s construction of two replicas was commenced in Sydney, NSW by Transfield to meet current airworthiness standards.  These had a steel-tube construction fuselage with fabric covering, and an Armstrong Siddeley Genet 1A radial engine of 123 kw (165 hp) de-rated to 82 kw (110 hp).  One (VH-PSP – c/n TSP-1) has been seen regularly at airshows on the east coast.  In recent years it has been based at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook, VIC. The second Pup replica was not completed for many years, eventually becoming VH-SOR (c/n TSP-1-02).

In the 1980s a further replica (ex-G-BIAT – c/n SS/SPR/001), built by Skysport Engineering was imported to Sydney after being damaged in an accident in the United Kingdom.  In the mid-1990s it was exchanged with the RNZAF Museum at Wigram, Christchurch, for a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and has since been restored in the colours (N6460) of Flt Lt H F Beamish, a New Zealander, who flew the original aircraft with No 3 Squadron RNAS.

A replica Sopwith Pup (N5182) was built for the Museum of Flight at HMAS Albatross, Nowra, NSW. This replica was for a period placed on a platform on a gun-turret which contained a six-inch gun formerly fitted to HMAS Melbourne, this museum later becoming the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

 In 2009 a collector at Omaka, New Zealand obtained a Sopwith Pup replica. This machine was built in California in 1962. It was imported and restored by Antique Aero Engineering as ZK-SPH. It was painted in the colour scheme of the Pup operated by New Zealand World War I ace Malcolm McGregor, he achieving his first aerial victory in A6192, shooting down an Albatros D.III near Cambrai in France.

A further Pup replica was registered in Western Australia in January 2010, becoming VH-NHD (c/n B-1727), painted in a Royal Flying Corps colour scheme.

On 17 April 2010 the Vintage Aviator Ltd at Masterton completed a Pup which became ZK-PPY (c/n 0005), painted as N6205 and named Betty, being followed by ZK-PPD (c/n 006), painted as P2162, this aircraft being registered on 20 September that year.

Further replicas have been built, including 19-7339 completed in 2012 at Watts Bridge in Queensland and registered with Recreation Aviation Australia (RAA).