Thomas Sopwith Flying at Brooklands. In June 1912 Sopwith, along with Fred Sigrist and others, set up the Sopwith Aviation Company, initially at Brooklands. On 24 October 1912 using a Wright Model B completely rebuilt by Sopwith and fitted with an ABC 40 hp engine, Harry Hawker took the British Michelin Endurance prize with a flight of 8h 23m. Sopwith Aviation got its first military aircraft order in November 1912, and in December moved to larger premises in Kingston upon Thames. The company produced more than 18,000 World War I aircraft for the allied forces, including 5747 of the Sopwith Camel single-seat
Sopwith Snark available until March 1919, and the Snark did not make its first flight until July 1919. While it demonstrated reasonable performance and good maneuverability, (although not as good as the earlier Sopwith Triplane), by this time, it had been realised that the Dragonfly engine had serious problems, being prone to overheating and severe vibration, and plans for production of the Snark had been abandoned. The three Snarks continued in use for trials purposes until 1921. Sopwith Snark The Sopwith Snark was a British prototype fighter aircraft designed and built towards the end of the First World War to replace the