In the book 'The Clouds Remember' Oliver Stewart writes--- "A minor comedy of officialism was enacted with the Pup. Those in high places were grieved to observe this name"PUP". They regarded it as undignified, frivolous, slangy, unofficial and heaven knows what else. So they found time, during the fury and trouble of war, to sit down and pen an order which called upon all officers and men to note that the Sopwith Pup was not the Sopwith Pup but the Sopwith Scout mark something or other, and it demanded that on all future occassions the aeroplane should be refferred to under that title and none other. Everybody read the order and marvelled, and then referred to the machine as the Sopwith Pup. So another, more peremptory order came out drawing the attention of all units to this prevalence of incorrect nomenclature. The aeroplane was in future always to be described as the Sopwith Scout mark something or other. So I suppose that, and the perverse state of mind of the fighting forces when it came to language, both good and bad, accounts for the fact that the aeroplane has ever after been known exclusively as the Sopwith Pup" Image Unavailable, Please Login
And what a gorgeous little airplane it is! Lost in this dissertation is the derivation of the name. It was noted that it resembled the Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter in a smaller way hence it was the Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter's PUP. Both of which are beautiful airplanes. Switches
I think that the Pup is one of the more underrated fighters of WW I. The Camel gets all the glory (in part thanks to a certain beagle) but the Pup did just fine and was much nicer to fly.
This seems to be absolutely true based on what I have read. The Camel was more effective of a killer due to two guns and a right turn almost no Hun could keep up with due to the gyroscopic effect of the motor. On a somewhat cynical note, by the end of the war, the F.1 Camel was a bit slow compared to other fighters, and simply could not separate from a fight by zooming away. Once in a fight, a Camel was commited to the end. In fact, pretty much the only fighter in 1918 a Camel could 'run down' was the even slower DR.1 triplane. On a personal note, I am hoping that without much of the gyroscopic effect, my full size Camel replica will be as nice to fly as a Pup, and more comfortable for my non-Pup sized frame.
With ample dihedral, large control surfaces, plenty of horse power, and a competent pilot, what better arrangement could you have. Switches
Jim- The Pup was a delightful aircraft to fly but was seriously underpowered by its 80 hp LeRhône 9C and also undergunned, as Russ stated. It was obsolescent when introduced and French Nieuports of the same period already had the 110/120 hp LeRhône 9J/Jb and, normally, two guns, one a Lewis on the top wing. The French gave the British a hard time about delivering their latest engines, and the Britsih retaliated by withholding machine guns from the French. MvR's second victory in the Fokker F.I Triplane prototype in early Sept 1917 was against a Pup, and Lt Bird had no chance. Incidentally, MvR's Triplane was powered by a captured 120 hp LeRhône 9Jb. The German equivalant Oberursel Ur.II had not completed qualification by early September. All the Albatros variants that flew against the Pup were superior in every way except turning ability, but they were so much faster, it did not make much difference. They could engage and disengage at will. Taz Terry Phillips
