Notes: Designed as a heavier, more powerful refinement of the Sopwith Pup, the Camel was first flown in 1917. Earning its name from the distinctive humped fairing surrounding its twin .303 Vickers machine guns, the Camel's unforgiving flight characteristics claimed the lives of many students in flight training. In the hands of a skilled pilot though, it was an extreme dogfighter that could out-maneuver any contemporary with the possible exception of the Fokker Dr.I. Common for airplanes of that era, a fixed crankshaft configuration allowed the entire engine to spin with the propeller, creating strong gyroscopic forces that adversely affected the airplane's handling under power. Together with the S.E.5a, the Camel helped gain superiority over the German Albatros and is credited with shooting down 1,294 enemy aircraft, more than any other Allied fighter.
Sopwith Camel B7270 - No. 209 Sqn. was flown by Captain Arthur Roy Brown, a Canadian World War I flying ace. The Royal Air Force officially credited Brown with shooting down Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron", although it is now generally agreed that the bullet that hit Richthofen was fired from the ground.
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