Sopwith
Pup
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Photo: Robert Deering 9/3/2011
Museum of Flight
King County International Airport (BFI)

Seattle, Washington

Some pilots called it, "the perfect plane." The Pup was light, basic, and simply simple. "They were tiny little things," says a British pilot, "just big enough for one man and a machine gun." The machine gun was key -- a trusty Vickers gun equipped with a hydraulic synchronizing gear which allowed it to fire through the propeller. With a good weapon and not much else, it was said that, "a Pup could turn twice to an Albatros' once" -- an invaluable trait in a chaotic dogfight. At a time when other Allied aircraft were suffering terrible losses, German flyers would try to avoid getting into a scrap with a Pup.

 

The Museum of Flight's aircraft was built by Carl Swanson of Darien, Wisconsin and is considered to be a masterpiece of replication. It is virtually indistinguishable from the original aircraft -- right down to the Le Rhône 9D, 80-horsepower rotary engine and .303-inch Vickers machine gun.


Photo: Robert Deering 7/21/2018
Frontiers of Flight Museum
Love Field (DAL)

Dallas, Texas
SPECIFICATIONS: PERFORMANCE:
Span: 8.0772m / 27ft
Length:  5.89483m / 19ft
Height:  2.87122m / 9ft
Empty Weight:  356.983kg / 787lbs

Gross Weight:  555.66kg / 1,225lbs
Crew: One .303-inch Vickers machine gun
Maximum speed: 178.599km/h
Cruising speed:
Range: 312.548km / 194miles
Service ceiling:
Engines: One Le Rhône 9C, 80 h.p. rotary engine  
Armament:
   
SOURCE: Museum of Flight