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
Paterson Biplane Paterson Biplane The Paterson Biplane was an early British biplane designed by Cecil Compton Paterson and built at the Liverpool Motor House, where Paterson was a director. It was later called the Paterson No. 1 Biplane to distinguish it from subsequent aircraft designed by Paterson. Built between 1909 and 1910, the Paterson Biplane was a similar design to the Curtiss Biplane. It was an open-framed pusher biplane with a main frame made from bamboo and a tubular steel tricycle landing gear. It had a biplane front elevator and a single rear elevator with a rudder. It first flew from the