Having built just small-scale biplanes before, Chris Jones tackles an altogether bigger subject in Wingnut Wings’ all-new Sopwith Dolphin
ADVANCED BUILD SOPWITH 5F.1 DOLPHIN
The Sopwith Camel was a phenomenal combat aircraft, which helped wrest air superiority from the Jagdstaffeln in the later part of World War One.
With the creation of Hispano-Suiza’s new 200hp V8, though, the Sopwith Aviation Company began designing a brand-new fighter around this seemingly impressive engine. The ‘Hisso’ powerplant offered more speed than the Camel’s various rotary engines, and as an inline design, it produced far less torque. In the hands of experienced Camel pilots, this turning force could of course be exploited to perform extraordinarily tight combat manoeuvres, but for newer airmen, its asymmetric handling qualities could be lethal. In air combat, the ability to see the enemy first is vital, but the Camel was not renowned for its field of view, so the Dolphin was given two novel design features. Firstly, the upper wing was set low and given a negative stagger, meaning it sat further back than the lower wing. This gave much better vision forwards and upwards. Secondly, the wing centre section was completely fre…
