Sopwith Snipe Herbert Smith, the chief designer of the Sopwith Company, began to design a fighter intended to be the replacement for Sopwith's most famous aeroplane, the successful Sopwith Camel. The resultant design, called Snipe by Sopwith, was in its initial form a single-bay biplane, slightly smaller than the Camel, and intended to be powered by similar engines. The pilot sat higher than in the Camel while the centre-section of the upper wing was uncovered, giving a better view from the cockpit. Armament was to be two Vickers machine guns. In the absence of an official order, Sopwith began construction of two
Sopwith Type 807 June 1915. Twelve Type 807s were ordered by the RNAS. Three of them formed part of the embarked air wing aboard the seaplane carrier HMS "Ark Royal" when it sailed for the Dardanelles in February 1915. They were used as reconnaissance aircraft, but proved to be underpowered, with fragile floats. Sopwith Type 807 The Sopwith Admiralty Type 807 was a 1910s British biplane seaplane designed and built for the Admiralty by the Sopwith Aviation Company. In July 1914, Sopwith produced a two-bay tractor biplane powered by a 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine to compete in the 1914