Sopwith PUP by Matthew Willis

The Sopwith Pup from the pen of Matthew Willis

Matthew Willis has focused on the small biplane that earned among the pilots of the Great War a reputation as the most pleasant-handling machine of its day. The item is a printed work, not a modeling blank.

A fighter of the First World War

The Pup was powered by a rotary engine of eighty horsepower and, with its low weight, it had an excellent climb and fine behavior at high altitude, where it could cope even with more powerful opponents. It went into the fighting in 1916 and 1917 with land-based and naval units alike, and its handling made it a favorite machine for beginning fighter pilots. It was also with this type that the first landing of an aircraft on a ship under way took place, a step without which the later aircraft carriers would never have come about. When newer designs replaced it at the front, it passed to training and home defense units.

What the text deals with

• The rotary power unit and the light wooden structure
• Front-line service with land-based and naval squadrons
• Experiments with taking off from and landing on ships
• The later training and defensive role of the type
• Surviving examples and flying replicas of this type

Readers the title will suit

The book will please builders of Great War aircraft who need support in reconstructing the rigging, the covering and the markings. It is also interesting for readers following the birth of naval aviation and the first attempts at operating from a deck. It serves as well as a clear way into the subject of early fighter designs.