Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single - seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917 . Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company , it had a short - coupled fuselage , heavy , powerful rotary engine , and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns . Though difficult to handle , to an experienced pilot it provided unmatched manoeuvrability . A superlative fighter , the Camel was credited with shooting down 1 , 294 enemy aircraft , more than any other Allied fighter of the war . It also served as a ground - attack aircraft , especially near the end of the conflict , when it was outclassed in the air - to - air role by newer fighters . Design and development . Intended as a replacement for the Sopwith Pup , the Camel prototype was first flown by Harry Hawker at Brooklands on 22 December 1916 , powered by a 110 hp Clerget 9Z . Known as the " Big Pup " early on in its development , the biplane design was structurally conventional for its time , featuring a box - like fuselage structure , an aluminium engine cowling , plywood - covered panels around the cockpit , and fabric - covered fuselage , wings and tail . For the first time on an operational British - designed fighter , two . 303 in ( 7 . 7 mm ) Vickers machine gun s were mounted directly in front of the cockpit , firing forward through the propeller disc with synchronisation gear . A metal fairing over the gun breeches , intended to protect the guns from freezing at altitude , created a " hump " that led to the name Camel . The bottom wing was rigged with 3° dihedral but the top wing had no dihedral , so that the gap between the wings was less at the tips than at the roots . This was done at the suggestion of Fred Sigrist , the Sopwith works manager , in order to simplify construction . Approximately 5 , 490 Camels were built . Unlike the preceding Pup and Triplane , the Camel was generally considered difficult to fly . The type owed its extreme manoeuvrability and its difficult handling to the close placement of the engine , pilot , guns and fuel tank ( some 90 % of the weight of the aircraft ) within the front seven feet of the aircraft , coupled with the strong gyroscopic effect of the rotary engine . The Camel soon gained an unfortunate reputation with student pilots . The Clerget engine was particularly sensitive to fuel mixture control and incorrect settings often caused the engine to choke and cut out during take - off . Many crashed due to mishandling on take - off when a full fuel tank affected the centre of gravity . In level flight , the Camel was markedly tail - heavy . Unlike the Sopwith Triplane , the Camel lacked a variable incidence tailplane , so that the pilot had to apply constant forward pressure on the control stick to maintain a level attitude at low altitude . The aircraft could also be rigged so that at higher altitudes it was able to be flown " hands off . " A stall immediately resulted in a particularly dangerous spin . Operational history . Western front . The type entered squadron service in June 1917 with No . 4 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service , near Dunkirk . The following month , it became operational with No . 70 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps . By February 1918 , 13 squadrons were fully equipped with the Camel . The Camel proved to have a good margin of superiority over the Albatros D . III and D . V and offered heavier armament and better performance than the Pup and Triplane . In the hands of an experienced pilot , its manoeuvrability was unmatched by any contemporary type . Its controls were light and sensitive . The Camel turned rather slowly to the left , which resulted in a nose up attitude due to the torque of the rotary engine . But the engine torque also resulted in the ability to turn to the right in half the time of other fighters , although that resulted in more of a tendency towards a nose down attitude from the turn . Because of the faster turning capability to the right , to change heading 90° to the left , many pilots preferred to do it by turning 270° to the right . Agility in combat made the Camel one of the best - remembered Allied aircraft of the First World War . It was said in jest to offer a choice between a " wooden cross , red cross , and Victoria Cross . " Together with the S . E . 5a and the SPAD S . XIII , the Camel helped to establish the Allied aerial superiority that lasted well into 1918 . Major William Barker ' s Sopwith Camel ( serial no . " B6313 " , the aircraft in which he scored the majority of his victories , ) became the most successful fighter aircraft in the history of the RAF , shooting down 46 aircraft and balloons from September 1917 to September 1918 in 404 operational hours flying . It was dismantled in October 1918 . Barker kept the dashboard watch as a memento , but was asked to return it the following day . Home defence and night fighting . An important role for the Camel was home defence . The RNAS flew a number of Camels from Eastchurch and Manston airfields against daylight raids by German Gotha bombers from July 1917 . The public outcry against these raids and the poor response of London ' s defences resulted in the RFC diverting Camel deliveries from France to home defence , with 44 Squadron RFC reforming on the Camel in the home defence role in July 1917 . When the Germans switched to night attacks , the Camel proved capable of being safely flown at night , and the home defence aircraft were modified with navigation lights to serve as night fighters . A number of Camels were more extensively modified as night fighters , with the Vickers machine guns being replaced by overwing Lewis guns , with the cockpit being moved rearwards so the pilot could easily reload the guns . This modification , which became known as the " Sopwith Comic " allowed the guns to be fired without affecting the night vision of the pilots , and allowed the use of new and more effective incendiary ammunition that was considered unsafe to fire from synchronised Vickers guns . By March 1918 , the home defence squadrons were equipped with the Camel , with seven home defence squadrons flying Camels by August 1918 . Camels were also used as night fighters over the Western Front , with 151 Squadron intercepting German night raids over the front , and carrying out night intruder missions against German airstrips , claiming 26 German aircraft shot down in five months of operations . Ground attack . By mid - 1918 , the Camel was becoming limited , especially as a day fighter , by its slow speed and comparatively poor performance at altitudes over 12 , 000 ft ( 3 , 650 m ) . However , it remained useful as a ground - attack and infantry support aircraft . During the German offensive of March 1918 , flights of Camels harassed the advancing German Army , inflicting high losses ( and suffering high losses in turn ) through the dropping of 25 lb ( 11 kg ) Cooper bombs and ultra - low - level strafing . The protracted development of the Camel ' s replacement , the Sopwith Snipe , meant that the Camel remained in service until the Armistice . In summer 1918 , a 2F . 1 Camel ( " N6814 " ) was used in trials as a parasite fighter under Airship " R23 " Variants . Camels were powered by several rotary engines . Engine variants . With rotary engines , the crankshaft remain static and the cylinders , crankcase and attached propeller rotate around it . The torque produced by this rotating mass produces a significant " pull " to the right . In the hands of an experienced pilot , this characteristic could be exploited to give exceptional manoeuvrability in a dogfight . A 3 / 4 turn to the right could be done in the same time as a 1 / 4 turn to the left . The Gnome " mono " engines did not have throttles and were at full " throttle " while the ignition was on – they could be " throttled " with a selector switch which cut the ignition to some of the cylinders to reduce power for landing . The Clerget , Le Rhone and BR1 had throttles , although reducing power involved simultaneously adjusting the mixture and was not straightforward , so it became common during landing to " blip " the engine ( turn the ignition off and on ) using a control column - mounted ignition switch , the blip switch , to reduce power . Sopwith Camel " Comic " Night fighter . The twin Vickers guns were replaced with two Lewis guns on Foster mounting s firing forward over the upper wing , since the muzzle flash of the Vickers guns tended to blind the pilot . To allow the pilot to reload the guns , the pilot seat was moved about 12 inches ( 30 cm ) to the rear ; to compensate for this , the fuel tank was moved forward . Served with Home Defence Squadrons against German air raids . The " Comic " nickname was of course unofficial , and was shared with the night fighter version of the Sopwith 1½ Strutter . Survivors . There are seven original Sopwith Camels left . Notable appearances in media . The Camel appears in literature and popular media as :