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 Gunbus Sopwith Gunbus The Sopwith Gunbus was a British fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was a single-engined pusher biplane based on a floatplane built by Sopwith before the war for Greece. Small numbers were built and used by the British Royal Naval Air Service, mainly as a trainer. In 1913, the Sopwith Aviation Company received an order for six two-seat floatplane from the Greek Government for the Greek Naval Air Service, which was in the process of being set up on the basis of advice from Rear Admiral Mark Kerr, the head of the British Naval Mission to