Sopwith Baby
Sopwith Aviation Company · United Kingdom · first flew 1915 · reconnaissance aircraft
The Sopwith Baby was a British single-seat scout and bomber floatplane operated by the Royal Naval Air Service from 1915. It was a development of the two-seat Sopwith Schneider.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Lewis gun fitted either above the fuselage or over the top wing |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Single-seat tractor biplane floatplane
- Nine-cylinder Clerget rotary engine in the nose
- Lewis gun fitted either above the fuselage or over the top wing
A small single-bay biplane floatplane with a rotary engine and a gun mounted above the fuselage or over the top wing.
Specifications
- The Sopwith Baby has a length of 7.01 m (23 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 7.82 m (26 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 161 km/h (100 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
The Baby, also known as the Admiralty 8200 Type, first flew in September 1915. It had a wooden structure with fabric covering and a 110 hp Clerget 9Z rotary engine.
Variants
Blackburn built a version modified for the more demanding conditions of 1916-18, and Fairey and Parnall built the modified Fairey Hamble Baby.
Where you'll see it
The RNAS ordered 286, of which Sopwith built 100 and Blackburn 186, and Ansaldo built 100 in Italy. The Baby flew from seaplane carriers, cruisers and trawlers, watched for Zeppelin raids, and also served with the navies of the United States, France, Chile, Greece and Norway, in Norway until 1930.
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