Sopwith
The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft company that manufactured aeroplanes for the British Military in the first world war, most famously the Sopwith Camel.
The company was founded in Kingston-upon-Thames by Sir Thomas Sopwith in June of 1912. The company's first factory premises opened that December in a disused roller skating rink. During the first world war, the company made more than 16,000 aircraft and employed 5,000 people. The company folded in 1920 as a consequence of the drop in orders after the end of the war as well as rising tax rates.
Its early aircraft included the float planes the Tabloid, which won the Schneider Trophy in 1914 and was used by the Royal Naval Air Service before the war, and the Baby. Its World War I aircraft included the 1 1/2 Strutter, Pup, Triplane, Camel, Dolphin, Snipe and Salamander. Towards the end of the war the company produced the Cuckoo but it was too late to see action.
The company's chief test pilot was Harry Hawker who in 1920 with Sopwith, Fred Sigrist and Bill Eyre, formed H.G. Hawker Engineering, forerunner of the Hawker-Siddeley Aviation company which produced many famous fighter aircraft, including the Hurricane, Hunter and Harrier.
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