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Sir Thomas Sopwith

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Sir Thomas Sopwith Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith CBE Hon FRAeS 18/1/1888 to 27/1/1989 Born in Kensington, eighth child and only son to Civil Engineer Thomas Sopwith. His first interest in aviation was when he and Fred Sigrist were becalmed in the English Channel and overhead saw John Moisant flying the first cross Channel passenger flight. First flight with (Gustave Blondeau?) in a Farman at Brooklands. Taught himself to fly in a Howard Wright Avis monoplane on 22/10/1910 achieving a modest 275 metres. Awarded Certificate #31 from Royal Aero Club. On 18/12/1910 won 4,000 pounds for longest flight from England to the Continent (272km in 3 hrs 40 mins). Eastchurch to Beaumont in Belgium. He flew with no seat belt. Set up Sopwith School of Flying at Brooklands. In June 1912 he and Fred Sigrist and others set up Sopwith Aviation Company producing more than 18,000 WW1 aircraft including 5,747 Sopwith Camel fighters. Bankrupted after the War he re-entered aviation business a few years later with a new firm named after his chief engineer and test pilot, Harry Hawker. Hawker Aircraft became Hawker Siddeley and Sopwith remained there until 1980. From his 1984 BBC video interview with Raymond Baxter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgxCioiN5pQ At 18 years of age in 1906 he started a small motor business with a friend who knew Charles Rolls (RAC Certificate #2). Thomas became a “balloonitic” until powered flight took his interest. His first flight was by mistake. A fast taxi and he was airborne. Sopwith’s record of 9 seconds for a fast start still stands today - - pilot aboard, engine start and then airborne. He was critical of the Wright Brother’s control system. Left lever elevator, right lever lateral movement (roll), on top of right lever a handle controlled rudder and feet did nothing. He fitted his own controls to his Wright Flyer so starting his experimentation. He said that crashing was common but at such low speeds serious injury was uncommon. Viscount Hugh Trenchard (Certicate #270), Father of the Royal Airforce was an early student who gained his licence in ten days in 1912 before he became too old to participate in WW1 as he was 39 years of age. He accumulated 64 minutes of flight time. He wasn’t considered by Sopwith to be a good pilot. Harry Hawker was another early student. Sopwith assembled his first aircraft in a shed at Brooklands from bits and sold the second one to the Admiralty. He now moved to Kingston near London to a disused skating rink. The first aircraft built there in 1913 was a flying boat called a Bat Boat and Sam Saunders, a boat builder from Cowes, built the hull. (later of Saunders-Roe fame) This was the first British built amphibious aircraft. They set their sights on the Schneider Trophy and won the 1914 race with a Sopwith Tabloid seaplane with a 100hp engine. Howard Pixton piloted, averaging 86.83mph. In WW1 they moved to bigger premises to meet the demand. They built to sketches, not engineering plans. Craftsmen were joiners and fitters. The Pup (80hp) and the Camel (110hp) evolved. The Pup was easy to fly, the Camel, not so. The Camel, a superlative fighter, downed 1,294 enemy aircraft (2,700 victories also claimed). Sopwith said maneuverability was due to having weight close to centre. (90% within seven feet). Salamander, Snipe, Cuckoo, Snapper, Dolphin, Hippo and Bulldog are other designs. Hart, Hind and Fury then the Hurricane came out of the resurrected Sopwith (Now Hawker) Company between WW1 and WW11. The Hunter and the Kestrel prototype, now the Harrier, followed after WW11. Sir Thomas rates the Harrier as the greatest technological leap in aviation. He puts his own success down to “pure luck”..
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