Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Two-seat biplane scout

Power Plant:

One 75 kw (100 hp) Gnome Monosoupape seven-cylinder rotary piston engine

Specifications:

Armament:

One 7.69 mm (0.303 in) Lewis machine gun mounted on centre section; capacity to carry a small number of 9 kg (20 lb) bombs

History:

The Tabloid was one of the outstanding aeroplanes produced in Great Britain before the beginning of World War I and, in the hands of Australian born test pilot Harry Hawker, caused a sensation at Hendon on 29 November 1913 when first demonstrated to the public.  The prototype seated two side-by-side but all production aircraft were single-seaters. It was designed as a high-performance racing aircraft and was a single-bay biplane with staggered mainplanes of deep chord and equal span, utilising wing warping for lateral control.  No vertical fin was fitted, the rudder being aerodynamically balanced.  The undercarriage was augmented by wooden skids and power was provided by a 60 kw (80 hp) Gnome seven-cylinder rotary engine.

The prototype was presented to the British War Office for appraisal and, with Harry Hawker at the controls, and carrying a passenger and fuel for 2 ½ hours, the aircraft demonstrated a speed range of 60 to 148 km/h (37 to 92 mph) and an initial climb rate of 366 m/min (1,200 ft/min).  The aircraft showed agility and manoeuvrability unheard of at that time.  On 18 December 1913 the British War Office ordered nine single-seat examples for the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps, this being increased to 12 machines in the following March. The role of the new type was as a fast scout and for carrying dispatches.  A total of 36 examples was delivered to the RFC and the RNAS.  A few served on board the seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal in the Dardanelles campaign.

One notable flight early in the war was that of Sqdn Ldr S Grey and Fl Lt R L G Marix when they, in two Tabloids (serials 167 and 168), were tasked to bomb Zeppelin hangars at Cologne and Dusseldorf in Germany from 183 m (600 ft) on 8 October 1914, each being equipped with two 9 kg (20 lb) Hales bombs.  Grey was unable to locate the target and dropped his bombs on a railway station crowded with troops.  Marix located the target and destroyed the new Zeppelin Z.IX airship, this probably being the first successful use of an aircraft in the strategic bombing role.

On 14 April 1914 another Tabloid fitted with floats, which had a 75 kw (100 hp) Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine installed, and flown by C Howard Pixton, left its mark in history by winning the Schneider Trophy Race in Monaco for that year on 20 April, achieving two laps over a 300 km (186 mile) course at a speed of 148 km/h (92 mph). Pixton flew 30 laps of the circuit recording 2 hrs 9 mins 10 seconds in the air. Later at Farnborough in Hampshire Harry Hawker achieved a speed of 148 km/h (92 mph) and climbed to 366 m (1,200 ft) in one minute.

Delivery of production machines to the RFC commenced on 22 April 1914, the first delivered (serial 378) turning over on landing soon after being completed.  This machine was later used for destructive testing at the Royal Aircraft Factory.  First to enter service (381) was delivered from Farnborough to Netheravon in Wiltshire on 30 June 1914.  Four (362, 386, 387 and 611) were shipped to the Aircraft Park at Boulogne in France and saw some combat, one forcing a German Albatros to land behind Allied lines. At this stage of the war it was considered the type was of limited use in the combat role and no further orders were placed.

However, the Royal Naval Air Service ordered 16, these being delivered between October 1914 and June 1915, a few of these having ailerons in place of wing warping.  A variant of the Tabloid was the Churchill (serial 149), a two-seat model fitted with dual controls which was employed by the RNAS at Hendon and Eastchurch for training, later going to Belgium.  In September 1914 three Tabloids (394, 395 and 604) were transferred from the RFC to the RNAS and received new serials 167 to 169.  In February 1914 an RNAS Tabloid (1214) was fitted with a 7.69 mm (0.303 in) Lewis machine gun on the starboard side of the fuselage firing through the propeller with steel wedges at the points which aligned with the gun, thus deflecting the bullets.

One further variant of the Tabloid was built, known as the Sopwith Gordon Bennett, built with a 60 kw (80 hp) Gnome engine, which was built for the 1914 Gordon Bennett Aviation Cup.  It was said it had a max speed of 169 km/h (105 mph) but, due to the war situation, was never raced and ended up with the RNAS as serial 1215.  Sopwith went on to develop the design as the Sopwith Schneider and 136 examples were built. It served in most theatres from mid-1915.

The Sopwith Schneider was developed from the Tabloid, being a single-seater with twin floats, entering production in November 1914 for the RNAS. It was powered by a 75 kw (100 hp) Gnome Monosoupape engine and resembled the Tabloid.  It had wing-warping for lateral control, a larger fin and rudder, reinforced bracing for the floats and a 7.69 mm (0.303 in) machine gun. It was used for coastal patrol along the British coast and from 1915 was carried on light cruisers for patrols against Zeppelin airships. As noted, it also served in the Dardanelles, the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Tabloid and Schneider served with some distinction in the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli campaign. Australian members of the RNAS operated on photographic, bombing and reconnaissance work from 1915 until the ANZAC forces were withdrawn.  The aircraft were operated from land bases as well as the carrier HMS Ark Royal and seaplane carrier HMS Ben-my-Chree, the aircraft operating from the latter being fitted with floats. HMS Ark Royal during that period operated some nine Schneiders (including serials 3722, 1577, 1587, 1579, 1566, 3713, 3721, 3722 and 3727). Tabloids were operated on wheels from land bases and were powered by a 60 kw (80 hp) Gnome rotary engine, these including serials 1201, 1202, 1203 and 1204.  One of the bases was a 600 m (1,968 ft) strip on the eastern Mediterranean island of Tenedos, reconnaissance sorties being flown over the Gallipoli peninsula during the amphibious landings.

In the 1980s a replica (G-BFDE – painted with the serial number 168) was built in the United Kingdom using original drawings.  It was fitted with a modern Continental engine and, fitted with ailerons, attended and flew at a number of aviation events.  It was later obtained by the RAF Museum at Hendon, fitted with wing warping and a 60 kw (80 hp) Gnome rotary engine, and placed on display.

One example came to Australia, arriving on board the vessel the RMS Maloja on 13 January 1914 for Harry Hawker and Harry Kauper.  The aeroplane was first flown from Elsternwick, VIC on 27 January that year.  On 3 February it was flown at Caulfield Racecourse and on that day was landed in the grounds of Government House where the Governor General, Lord Denman, made an inspection and a flight with Harry Hawker. On 12 February the Defence Minister, Mr Millen, made a flight with Hawker. Hawker carried out a number of displays, including one at Albury, NSW on 7 March, when an Australian height record of 2,377 m (7,800 ft) was achieved.  The machine was offered to the Australian Government for the Aviation Corps but the offer was not taken up, the Central Flying School indicating it only required elementary training machines. The Tabloid was considered far too advanced for basic instruction.

Huge crowds saw Hawker fly the aircraft in Australia, including, it was reported in the press, 20,000 at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, NSW on 21 February 1914.  The aircraft was transported by rail to Albury and on 8 March 1914 in front of 6,000 spectators a ten minute flight was made, climbing to 2,286 m (7,500 ft), an Australian record.  However, on descent the engine stopped, the aircraft landed in a ploughed paddock adjacent to the racecourse, the propeller was smashed, the undercarriage collapsed, and the aircraft stood on its nose.  By 20 March it had been repaired and a new propeller built and installed.  On 4 April the aircraft was flown from the Redan Racecourse at Ballarat, VIC. The following day it departed Melbourne, VIC on board RMS Mooltan for the United Kingdom. During its time in Australia it made 60 flights and carried 40 passengers. Its ultimate fate is not known.

A non-flying replica of the Tabloid floatplane, which won the Schneider Trophy at Monaco in 1914, was constructed and presented to the Brooklands Museum at Weybridge in Surrey in late 2013.