Sopwith Three - seater The Sopwith Three - seater was a British aircraft designed and built prior to the start of the First World War . One of the first aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company , it was operated by both the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Flying Corps , being used briefly over Belgium by the RNAS following the start of the First World War . Development and design . In 1912 , Thomas Sopwith , who had learned to fly during 1910 and had set up a flying school at Brooklands , built a tractor configuration biplane using the wings from a Wright Biplane and the fuselage and tail of a Coventry Ordnance Works biplane . and powered by a 70 hp ( 52 kW ) Gnome Gamma rotary engine . The resulting aircraft , known as the Hybrid , first flew on 4 July 1912 . The Hybrid was rebuilt in October 1912 and sold to the British Admiralty , being delivered in November 1912 . Further orders for an improved tractor biplane from the Admiralty lead to Sopwith setting up the Sopwith Aviation Company with a factory at a disused roller skating rink at Kingston upon Thames . The new aircraft , known variously as the Three - Seat Tractor Biplane , the Sopwith 80 hp Biplane or the Sopwith D1 was flown on 7 February 1913 before being displayed at the International Aero Show at Olympia , London opening on 14 February . It had two - bay wings , with lateral control by Wing warping , and was powered by an 80 hp ( 60 kW ) Gnome Lambda rotary engine . It had two cockpits , with the pilot sitting in the aft one and two passengers sitting side by side in the forward one . Three transparent Celluloid windows were placed in each side of the fuselage to give a good downwards view . A second aircraft was retained by Sopwith as a demonstrator , being used to set a number of British altitude records between June and July 1913 . A further two tractor biplanes were built for the RNAS , being delivered in August and September 1913 , with the original hybrid being rebuilt to a similar standard . Following tests of a Tractor Biplanes fitted with ailerons instead of wing warping for lateral control , a further nine aircraft were ordered for the Royal Flying Corps ( RFC ) in September 1913 . Operational history . The RFC received its Three - seaters between November 1913 and March 1914 , with the first example being tested to destruction in the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough , it being found that structural strength was inadequate . Despite this , the remaining eight aircraft were issued to No . 5 Squadron as two - seaters . Two were destroyed in a fatal mid - air collision on 12 May 1914 , while several more were wrecked in accidents before the outbreak of the First World War . 5 Squadron left its remaining Tractor Biplanes in England when it deployed to France in August 1914 , these being briefly used as trainers at the Central Flying School . The RNAS aircraft were issued to seaplane stations to allow flying to continue when sea conditions were unsuitable for seaplane operation . On the outbreak of war , the RNAS acquired Sopwith ' s demonstrator . Three Sopwith Tractor biplanes went with the Eastchurch wing of the RNAS when it deployed to Belgium under the command of Wing Commander Charles Rumney Samson . These were used for reconnaissance and bombing missions , attempting to bomb Zeppelin sheds at Düsseldorf on 23 September and railway lines on 24 September , being withdrawn in October . The RNAS also used Sopwith Tractor Biplanes for patrol duties from Great Yarmouth , one remaining in use until November 1915 .