Controls & Quirks: Introduction to the Sopwith Camel (Part 1)
Channel: flightgear flug
Date: 2013-05-26

This is the first in a series of videos showing the new, historically realistic flight dynamics model for the Sopwith Camel that I am developing for Flightgear/JSBSim.

Other videos in this series--part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr_UnWpZSvs

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGiMzKL4uQI

This video will be of interest to Flightgear pilots, but also to anyone who is interested in the Sopwith Camel and how it worked and flew.  A number of pilots have flown the Camel and lived to write about it, and what they have to say is interesting and often surprising.  The video illustrates how those surprising and unusual features look and work from the pilot's perspective.

This video gives an overview of the controls and flight characteristics along with quirks and very unusual and distinctive flight personality of the Camel.  Topics:

 - Tail heavy at beginning of flight, nose heavy at end--due to rear position of fuel tank
 - Strong engine torque requires slight right rudder to maintain straight flight
 - General lack of yaw and pitch stability
 - Strong adverse yaw and drag from ailerons
 - How to roll & turn, given the strong adverse yaw & drag of ailerons
 - Slow roll rate

This is in response to osjcag, who named the Sopwith Camel the Aircraft of the Month for May and is producing various reviews and videos of it, which you can see here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6gRFEEkkFE

More about the Camel FDM here:

  http://www.flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19584&sid=a1ab744edae107a017428997f84fd6a4&start=30#p182946

The historically accurate Camel FDM is the Aircraft of the Month here:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6gRFEEkkFE

Download the Camel here:

  http://brenthugh.com/flightgear/sopwithCamel-HistoricallyAccurateJSBSim-16.zip

Download the Bombable add-on for Flightgear--which turns the Camel into a working WWI fighter aircraft, complete with weapons, dogfighting, and damage, here:

  http://www.flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5742

Flightgear flight simulator here:

  http://www.flightgear.org/