The Bee was a single-bay biplane powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) Gnome Omega rotary engine, intended for use by Hawker as a runabout and for aerobatics. As with contemporary Sopwith fighter aircraft, great effort was made to concentrate the heaviest components as close to the aircraft's centre of gravity in order to optimise manoeverability: this necessitated a large semi-circular cutout in the trailing edge of the upper wing to accommodate the pilot. Lateral control was achieved by wing warping.[1]
The Bee was subsequently fitted with a single synchronisedVickers .303 machine gun, possibly with a view to meeting the Admiralty's requirement for a small scout aircraft capable of operating from torpedo-boat destroyers, but this came to nothing and no further development of the type was carried out.[1]
The aircraft was sometimes referred to as the Tadpole.
Mason, Francis K. The British Fighter Since 1912. London: Putnam, 1992. ISBN0 85177 852 6
February 25, 2023
sopwith, small, biplane, built, 1916, personal, aircraft, harry, hawker, sopwith, chief, test, pilot, role, experimental, aircraftnational, origin, united, kingdommanufacturer, sopwith, aviation, companyfirst, flight, 1916number, built, contents, history, spec. The Sopwith Bee was a small biplane built in 1916 as a personal aircraft for Harry Hawker Sopwith s chief test pilot Sopwith BeeRole experimental aircraftNational origin United KingdomManufacturer Sopwith Aviation CompanyFirst flight 1916Number built 1 Contents 1 History 2 Specifications 3 References 3 1 Citations 3 2 BibliographyHistory EditThe Bee was a single bay biplane powered by a 50 hp 37 kW Gnome Omega rotary engine intended for use by Hawker as a runabout and for aerobatics As with contemporary Sopwith fighter aircraft great effort was made to concentrate the heaviest components as close to the aircraft s centre of gravity in order to optimise manoeverability this necessitated a large semi circular cutout in the trailing edge of the upper wing to accommodate the pilot Lateral control was achieved by wing warping 1 The Bee was subsequently fitted with a single synchronised Vickers 303 machine gun possibly with a view to meeting the Admiralty s requirement for a small scout aircraft capable of operating from torpedo boat destroyers but this came to nothing and no further development of the type was carried out 1 The aircraft was sometimes referred to as the Tadpole Specifications EditData from Mason 1 General characteristicsCrew 1 Length 14 ft 3 in 4 34 m Wingspan 16 ft 3 in 4 95 m Powerplant 1 Gnome Omega 7 cylinder air cooled rotary engine Propellers 2 bladedArmament One Vickers 303 machine gunReferences EditCitations Edit a b c Mason 1992 p 110 Bibliography Edit Mason Francis K The British Fighter Since 1912 London Putnam 1992 ISBN 0 85177 852 6 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sopwith Bee amp oldid 998922383, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
