Westland Wagtail Westland Wagtail The Westland Wagtail was a prototype British fighter aircraft of the First World War. A single-engined tractor biplane, the Wagtail was a failure owing to the unreliability of its engine, only five being built. The Westland Wagtail was designed by Westland Aircraft of Yeovil in 1917 to meet the Royal Air Force Specification IA for a light fighter with superior performance to the Sopwith Camel. Westland's design team, led by Robert Bruce, the Company's manager and Arthur Davenport, Chief Draughtsman, came up with a design for a small single bay biplane, powered (like the other competitors for the
Sopwith Snark available until March 1919, and the Snark did not make its first flight until July 1919. While it demonstrated reasonable performance and good maneuverability, (although not as good as the earlier Sopwith Triplane), by this time, it had been realised that the Dragonfly engine had serious problems, being prone to overheating and severe vibration, and plans for production of the Snark had been abandoned. The three Snarks continued in use for trials purposes until 1921. Sopwith Snark The Sopwith Snark was a British prototype fighter aircraft designed and built towards the end of the First World War to replace the