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 Gnu Sopwith Gnu The Sopwith Gnu was a 1910s British touring biplane designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation & Engineering Company of Kingston-upon-Thames. It was one of the first cabin aircraft designed for civil use. Designed for the postwar civil market, the Gnu was a conventional equal-span biplane. It had an open cockpit for a pilot with seating for two passengers under a hinged and glazed roof. Most of the aircraft were powered by a 110hp Le Rhône rotary engine. The enclosed passenger cabin was cramped and unpopular and most production aircraft had an open rear cockpit. One prototype and