Sopwith Tabloid - Design and Development

Design and Development

The original Tabloid, which first flew in November 1913, was a two-seater single bay biplane with a side-by-side seating configuration, unusual for the time. The equal-span wings were slightly staggered and used wing warping for lateral control. The rectangular section fuselage was a conventional wire-braced wooden structure and the control surfaces were of fabric-covered steel tubing. The most distinctive feature of the design was the engine cowling, which almost entirely enclosed the engine, cooling air being admitted through two small slots at the front. The prototype was powered by an 80 hp (60 kW) Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine and when tested by Harry Hawker at Farnborough the Tabloid reached 92 mph (148 km/h) while carrying a passenger and enough fuel for 2½ hours. It took only one minute to reach 1200 ft (366 m). A production order from the War Office was placed early in 1914, and a total of 40 were built.

The aircraft's speed made it an obvious candidate for entry to the Schneider Trophy competition, and accordingly a floatplane adaptation was prepared, to be powered by a 100 hp Gnome Monosoupape which T.O.M. Sopwith personally collected from Paris. This was initially fitted with a single central float, but on its first taxying trials with Howard Pixton at the controls the aircraft turned over as soon as the engine was run up, and remained in the water for some hours before it could be retrieved. A heroic effort was made to make the waterlogged machine airworthy, and, lacking the time to prepare a new set of floats, the existing float was simply sawn in half down the middle and thus converted into a pair of floats. After a satisfactory test flight on 7 April the aircraft was shipped to Monaco, where the competition was to take place. The competition, which was a time trial rather than a race, was easily won by Pixton. So clear was the superiority of the Sopwith that the competitors who were to start after him did not even bother to take off: Pixton had completd his first circuit in around two thirds of the time taken by the fastest of aircraft which had taken off before him. After completing the twenty eight circuits required at an average speed of 86.75 mph (139.6 km/h), he opened the throttle fully and completed two more laps at a speed of 92 mph (148 km/h), setting a new world record for seaplanes.

The first order, for twelve aircraft, was placed in November 1914. Like the race winner, these were powered by the 100 hp Monosoupape and only differed in minor detail from the racer. Later production aircraft were fitted with ailerons in place of wing-warping, had an enlarged fin and were fitted with a Lewis gun firing upwards through an opening in the wing centre-section. In all 160 were built.

Attempts were made to operate Schneiders from seaplane carriers, including HMS Ben-my-Chree, but these were unsuccessful. On 6 August 1915 a Schneider took off from the aircraft carrier HMS Campania.