Sopwith Salamander
Sopwith TF.2 Salamander | |
---|---|
Salamander prototype at Brooklands | |
Role | Ground attack |
National origin | United Kingdom |
Manufacturer | Sopwith |
First flight | 27 April 1918 |
Introduction | 1918 |
Primary user | Royal Air Force |
Produced | 1918–1919 |
Number built | 210 |
Developed from | Sopwith Snipe |
The Sopwith TF.2 Salamander was a British
Design and development
In August 1917, the British
As a result of the high losses sustained during strafing and after seeing the success of the new German types, the RFC instructed the
Work on a more advanced armoured fighter, conceived as an armoured version of the
Originally an armament of three machine guns was planned, with two Lewis guns firing forwards and downwards through the cockpit floor as in the TF.1, and a forward firing
The first prototype started flight tests at Brooklands aerodrome on 27 April 1918 and was sent to France for evaluation on 9 May.[11] It was wrecked in a crash on 19 May while being flown by No. 65 Squadron when the pilot had to avoid a tender crossing the aerodrome responding to another crash.[12] While the Salamander was generally considered promising in the ground-attack role, lateral control was recognised as poor.[12] To rectify these problems, the Salamander underwent many of the same modifications to the tail and ailerons as the Snipe.[13]
Service history
Production was intended to be on a very large scale – an initial order for 500 aircraft was placed with Sopwith on 18 June, followed by additional orders with
With the
Operators
Specifications (Sopwith TF.2 Salamander)
Data from British Aeroplanes 1914–18[24]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
- Wingspan: 31 ft 2.6 in (9.51 m)
- Height: 9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)
- Wing area: 272 sq ft (25.3 m2)
- Empty weight: 1,844 lb (836 kg)
- Gross weight: 2,512 lb (1,139 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 29 imp gal (35 US gal; 132 L)
- Powerplant: 1 × Bentley BR2 9-cylinder air-cooled rotary piston engine, 230 hp (170 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 125 mph (201 km/h, 109 kn) at 500 ft (152 m)
- Endurance: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Service ceiling: 13,000 ft (4,000 m)
- Time to altitude:
- 6,500 ft (1,981 m) in 9 minutes 5 seconds
- 10,000 ft (3,048 m) in 17 minutes 5 seconds
Armament
- Guns: 2 × 0.303 in Vickers machine guns, 2,000 rounds of ammunition
- Bombs: 4 × 25 lb (10 kg) bombs[25]
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References
- Notes
- ^ The 200 hp (149 kW) Clerget 11Eb rotary engine was planned as an alternative to the BR.2, but no Clerget powered Salamanders were built.[16]
- Citations
- ^ a b Bruce Air International March 1979, p. 149.
- ^ a b Davis 1999, p. 147.
- ^ Gray and Thetford 1962, p. XV.
- ^ Gray and Thetford 1962, pp. xii–xiv.
- ^ Bruce Air International March 1979, pp. 151–153.
- ^ Davis 1999, pp. 147–148.
- ^ Bruce Air International April 1979, pp. 182–183.
- ^ Davis 1999, pp. 148–149.
- ^ Mason 1992, p. 135.
- ^ Bruce Air International April 1979, pp. 183–184.
- ^ Bruce 1969, pp. 45–46.
- ^ a b c Bruce Air International April 1979, p. 185.
- ^ Bruce 1969, pp. 46, 48.
- ^ Davis 1999, p. 150.
- ^ Davis 1999, p. 151.
- ^ Bruce 1969, p. 50.
- ^ Bruce 1969, p. 49.
- ^ Davis 1999, pp. 151–152.
- ^ Davis 1999, p. 152.
- ^ a b Bruce Air International April 1979, p. 187.
- ^ Bruce Air International April 1979, pp. 188–189.
- ^ Bruce Air International April 1979, p. 190.
- ^ Halley 1980, p. 354.
- ^ Bruce 1957, p. 627.
- ^ Bruce Air International April 1979, p. 189.
- Bibliography
- Bruce, J.M. (1957). British Aeroplanes 1914–18. London: Putnam.
- Bruce, J.M. (March 1979). "The First British Armoured Brigade: Part 2". Air International. Vol. 16, no. 3. pp. 149–153.
- Bruce, J.M. (April 1979). "The First British Armoured Brigade: Part 3". Air International. Vol. 16, no. 4. pp. 182–190, 199–200.
- Bruce, J.M. (1969). War Planes of the First World War: Volume Three Fighters. London: Macdonald. ISBN 0-356-01490-8.
- Davis, Mick (1999). Sopwith Aircraft. Ramsbury, Malborough, UK: The Crowood Press. ISBN 1-86126-217-5.
- Gray, Peter; Thetford, Owen (1962). German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam.
- Halley, James J. (1980). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-083-9.
- Mason, Francis K. (1992). The British Fighter since 1912. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-082-7.
- Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I. New York, New York: Military Press. 1990. p. 87. ISBN 0-517-03376-3.