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 Sociable Sopwith Sociable The Sopwith Sociable (or sometimes Churchill or Tweenie) was a British single-engined two-seat tractor configuration biplane designed and built by Sopwith for the Royal Naval Air Service. The Sociable, so called because the crew were seated side-by side rather than in tandem, was ordered by the British Admiralty for use as a training aircraft by the Royal Naval Air Service. It was two-bay biplane powered by a Gnome Monosoupape radial. The Sociable was given serial number "149" by the Admiralty and first flew from Brooklands on 17 February 1914. Two days after its first flight, the Sociable was