Sopwith Snail up for firewood in November 1919. Sopwith Snail The Sopwith 8F.1 Snail was a prototype British Fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was unsuccessful, being abandoned due to an unreliable engine. The Sopwith 8F.1 Snail was designed by Herbert Smith of Sopwith Aviation Company to meet the Air Board Specification A.1A for a light fighter with superior performance to the Sopwith Camel. Herbert Smith designed a small single-bay biplane, powered by the 170 hp (127 kW) ABC Wasp radial engine. An initial order was placed on 31 October 1917 for six prototypes with a conventional wood and fabric
Duigan pusher biplane Duigan pusher biplane The Duigan pusher biplane (often simply called the Duigan biplane) was an early aircraft which made the first powered flight by an Australian-designed and built machine when it flew in Victoria in 1910. The aircraft was constructed by John Duigan with help from his brother, Reginald, on their family farm at Mia Mia. The effort was especially significant in that the brothers built the aircraft almost entirely by themselves and without input from the pioneering aviation community; a photo-postcard of the Wright Flyer inspired the design and Sir Hiram Maxim's book "Artificial and Natural Flight" provided the