1/16 Sopwith Camel Cockpit

[Nortley]

Hi Syd, You nailed it with "flying bomb". Anyone who even left the ground with a Camel or one of its contemporaries was brave beyond my comprehension, and to face an armed enemy with one was pure heroism. To answer your question, the pulsometer was a sight glass on the output side of the oil pump which allowed the pilot to visually verify that the oil pump was delivering oil to the intake duct. The engine was lubricated with castor oil which was dribbled into the intake air stream and thus blown through the engine and out the exhaust - there was no sump or recirculating system - some of it lubricating the bearings and bores as it passed through. Speaking of passing through, a good deal of castor oil mist was blown back into the pilot's face and inhaled, with the result that a pilot's first mission upon landing was often an urgent visit to the WWI equivalent of the porta-pot. Castor does not mix with gasoline, so it was not possible to pre-mix oil and fuel like we used to with outboard motors and old two stroke motorcycles. Given that flying a Camel took all the attention that mind, limbs, and guts could provide, I doubt the pulsometer was given much attention once off the ground. There is a fine book on the Bentley rotary, "Bentley BR2, building the quarter scale working replica", by L. K. Blackmore, ISBN 0 9519367 4 3, it was published by Camden Miniature Steam Services and was once availble from Lindsay Publications. http://www.lindsaybks.com . I can't say if they have it in stock now but it is worth a search. It includes photos and drawings of the real engine as well. Should Mario get hold of a copy of this book, look out world.

[JohnReid]

Take a look here for some great pics of my friend Ken's 1/15th scale Camel build.
http://www.wwi-models.org/Images/Foran/Camel/index.html

[hot ford coupe]

Wow, that's one niceCamel, John. Man, with all that Castor oil, a pilot could really have a few non aviation related accidents.

[mouppe]

Sy,

I think the hand pump confusion arises from the fact that on a Camel, there were two fuel tanks. The main tank, and the gravity tank with a hand pump for when the main tank pump failed. A pilot could switch to the gravity tank if the main tank ruptured or failed. In "Winged Victory" by Yeats, the pilot is constantly switching to the gravity tank, which seems to be very reliable according to the novel.

I strongly recommend you read this novel as you build your Camel- it will enhance the model-building experience and help put the plane into context.

Mouppe.

[Oklahoma Connection]

Can anybody out there help me? I build desk top models , I am building a 1/16 scale sopwith camel. This is for my new grandson . Help me with the control panel , I know the gauges are out ther some where, I am lost . Is there some place out there to find a pilot?

[xken]

Visit my Sopwith Camel album and check out reference photos like this.



Ken

[Lancair IV]

Here's some of my 1/16 Sopwith Camel







More pictures of my entire build here: Login to a private Photobucket.com album

Cheers

[Oklahoma Connection]

What did you guys use for gauges on the control panel ? I would like for my grandson , when he gets my age to say that my grandpa built that for me and know what he has . I know I am way out of my league here . I wanted to go to the people that know. I thought that a 6 " gi joe might make a good pilot ? Any help that you guys can give me would be great.

[keramh]

hello,

dashboard looks already very much very good.
can you still show us pictures of the seat?
what I of the wicker basket sees like to me very much.

[Lancair IV]

I scratch built the seat out of brass following Kens build

Start
















Cheers