V
Sopwith Camel
A classic 1/4-scale British icon of World War I
CONSTRUCTION
BY GERRY YARRISH PHOTOS BY GERRY YARRISH & SAL CALVAGNA
Viewed by many as the British airplane
that best defined air combat during
World War I, the Sopwith Camel is one
of the best-known fighters to come out
of the Great War. First introduced at the
end of 1916, it was a replacement for the
Sopwith Pup, and about 5,500 Camels
were produced. Perhaps the most famous
Sopwith Camel pilot of all was Canadian
Captain Arthur Roy Brown, who was
credited with shooting down Manfred von
Richthofen, the Red Baron. Controversy
over this continues today and was one
of the reasons I chose the Camel as a
building project.
I wanted a semiscale model with the
strength and building ease of a sport
flyer, so I started with Wylam drawings
and used CAD to simplify most of the
structures. I also replaced the thin,
undercambered airfoil with a more pilot-
friendly flat-bottom wing. If you’ve built
a kit or two, you’ll have little trouble with
the Camel.
CONSTRUC TION
Everything can be easily made with basic
shop tools, but to save time, there is also
a laser-cut wood kit available from
Arizona Model Aircrafters. ;e wheels
and machine guns are from Williams
Brothers, and the custom pilot bust is the
work of Lyle Vasser of Best Pilots. ;e
20-ounce RotoFlow fuel tank is from
JL Products, fitted with Tygon fuel tubing
from Nick Ziroli Plans. ;e 10.5-inch radial-
engine cowl is available from Fiberglass
Specialties, but it does have to be cut down
a bit in length. ;e lower wing panels
plug into place over an aluminum wing
tube from Tn T Landing Gear Products. I
designed the Camel around the Zenoah
G- 38 gas engine, but the engine you
choose will determine the placement of
the firewall.
;e bottom aileron servos are installed
in the wing panels and 2-56 slave rods
connect the bottom ailerons to the top
ones. ;e entire cockpit and machine-gun
hump section comes o; in one piece to
provide access to the radio and the fuel
tank. It’s held in place with rare-earth
magnets. ;e engine cowl is also secured
with several large magnets, and two
sheet-metal screws prevent the cowl from
shifting while flying.
TAIL SURFACES
;e tail feathers are built directly over the
plans. ;e tips are cut from sheet balsa
and are shimmed up to center them with
the leading and trailing edges. ;e center
section is made with an upper layer of
1/4-inch balsa glued onto a 1/8-inch
;e 1/4-scale Sopwith Camel has an accurate outline
and simplified construction to speed building time.
