Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 was a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the fastest aircraft of the war, while being both stable and relatively manoeuvrable. According to aviation author Robert Jackson, the S.E.5 was: "the nimble fighter that has since been described as the 'Spitfire of World War One'". In most respects the S.E.5 had superior performance to the rival Sopwith Camel, both aircraft being capable dogfighters
Sopwith Hippo for the gunner's Lewis guns was replaced by a more conventional Scarff ring mounting a single Lewis gun. The rebuilt prototype flew in April 1918, with a second prototype following in June. No further production followed. Some sources suggest that, rather than a rebuilt first prototype, that the Hippo with reduced stagger was a new aircraft. Sopwith Hippo The Sopwith 3F.2 Hippo was a prototype British two-seat fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was a single-engined biplane with considerable negative stagger. It was not successful, the Bristol F.2 Fighter (already in production) being preferred by the Royal Flying