Sopwith Tabloid

The Sopwith Tabloid was a British biplane sports aircraft, one of the first to be built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. Named the "Tabloid" because it was so small, its performance caused a sensation when it first appeared, surpassing the existing monoplanes of the day.

Design and development

The original Tabloid, which first flew in November 1913, was a two-seater with a side-by-side configuration — unusual for the time. It had no ailerons, using wing warping for lateral rolling. It was originally powered by an 80 hp (60 kW) Gnôme Monosoupape rotary engine and when tested by Harry Hawker at Farnborough the Tabloid reached 92 mph (148 km/h) while carrying a passenger. It took only one minute to reach 1200 ft (366 m).

On 20 April 1914, a version of the Tabloid, known as the Sopwith Schneider, equipped with floats and powered by a 100-hp (75 kW) Gnôme Monosoupape engine, won the Schneider Trophy in Monaco.

Attempts were made to operate floatplanes, based on the Schneider, from seaplane carriers, including the HMS Ben-my-Chree, but these were unsuccessful. Modifications were made, including a 110 hp Clerget engine, and the resulting floatplane, the Sopwith Baby, had a successful service career.

Operational history

Single-seat variants of the Tabloid went into production in 1914 and 36 eventually entered service with the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Deployed to France at the outbreak of the First World War, Tabloids were used as fast scouts. Some naval aircraft were armed with a Lewis gun on the top wing, firing over the propeller arc. One other aircraft used a Lewis gun firing through the propeller arc with deflector wedges mounted on the propeller blades.

The Tabloid also operated as a bomber. On 22 September 1914, Tabloids mounted the first raid by British aircraft on German soil. In their most famous mission, two RNAS Tabloids flying from Antwerp on 8 October 1914, raided the German Zeppelin sheds at Cologne and Düsseldorf. The Cologne target was not located, the railway station being bombed instead, but the shed at Düsseldorf was struck by two 20 lb bombs dropped from 600 ft and the Zeppelin Z.IX was destroyed.

The Tabloid was withdrawn from service in early 1915. A total of 40 had been built.

Operators

United Kingdom

• Royal Flying Corps
  • No. 3 Squadron RFC
• Royal Naval Air Service
• Royal Air Force
  • No. 201 Squadron RAF

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot

Performance Armament

• Some RNAS aircraft fitted with 1 × forward-firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun
• 2 × 20 lb (9 kg) bombs

See also

Related development

• Sopwith Schneider
• Sopwith Baby

Related lists

• List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force
• List of aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps
• List of aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service

References

• Bruce, J.M. "The Sopwith Tabloid, Schneider and Baby: Historic Military Aircraft No.17, Part I". Flight. 8 November 1957. pp. 733-736.
• Bruce, J.M. "The Sopwith Tabloid, Schneider and Baby: Historic Military Aircraft No.17, Part II". Flight. 15 November 1957. pp. 765-766.
• Bruce, J.M. "The Sopwith Tabloid, Schneider and Baby: Historic Military Aircraft No.17, Part IV". Flight. 29 November 1957. pp. 845-848.
• Thetford, Owen. British Naval Aircraft since 1912. London:Putnam, Fourth edition, 1978. ISBN 0 370 30021 1.