The Sopwith Buffalo was a British armoured
fighter/
reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using Aerial photography, photography), signals ...
of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. A single-engined
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
, two examples of the Buffalo were built by
Sopwith to carry out reconnaissance missions low over the trenches while protected against machine-gun fire from the ground, but no production followed, with the end of the war removing the need for such an aircraft.
Development and design
In July 1918, the British
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
requested Sopwith, who were already building the
Sopwith Salamander
The Sopwith TF.2 Salamander was a British ground-attack aircraft of the First World War designed by the Sopwith Aviation Company which first flew in April 1918. It was a single-engined, single-seat biplane, based on the Sopwith Snipe fighter, w ...
armoured single-seat ground attack fighter, to build an armoured two-seat aircraft to carry out the dangerous contact patrol mission. This mission involved flying at low altitude over the battlefield to locate and keep in contact with attacking forces, therefore keeping commanders in touch with the progress of the battle. This exposed aircraft carrying out such missions to heavy small arms fire from enemy trenches, resulting in heavy casualties.
[Bruce 1957, p. 629.][Mason 1992, p. 139.]
Sopwith's design, the 3F.2 Buffalo, was a single-engined
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
, with its two-bay wooden wings taken from Sopwith's earlier
Bulldog
The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...
fighter. Like the Salamander, the forward fuselage was made out of armour plate, weighing about 750 lb (340 kg), with the bottom of the fuselage 0.315 in (8 mm) thick, with the sides and front of 0.179 in (5 mm) plate. The armoured box reached back to the observer's cockpit, protecting the crew together with the fuel tanks and pipes, the
carburettor
A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter)
is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Vent ...
and the
magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
s.
[Bruce 1979, p. 199.]
The first prototype flew on 19 September 1918,[ flying to France for evaluation in the field on 27 September.][Bruce 1979, p. 200.] The second prototype, which had its armour extended further aft, flew in October.[ While tests showed that the Buffalo had good performance, and promised to be an excellent contact patrol aircraft, the end of the war ended plans for large scale production. The two prototypes were sent to No. 43 Squadron, serving with the British Army of Occupation at ]Bickendorf
Bickendorf is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea ...
near Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, Germany, but were quickly damaged in crashes.[
]
Operators
;
*Australian Flying Corps
The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during World War I, and the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The AFC was established in 1912, though it was not until ...
** No. 4 Squadron AFC – One Buffalo was attached to No. 4 Squadron, it was used for tests and trials during October 1918.
;
*Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
**No. 43 Squadron RAF
Number 43 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Fighting Cocks'', was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in April 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It saw distinguished service during two world wars, producing numerous Flying ace, ...
Specifications
See also
Notes
References
*Bruce, J. M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914-18''. London:Putnam, 1957.
*Bruce, J. M. "The First British Armoured Brigade",Part 3. ''Air International
''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd.
History and profile
The magazine was fir ...
'', April 1979, Vol 16 No. 4. Bromley, UK:Fine Scroll Publishing. pp. 182–190, 199–200.
*Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA:Naval Institute Press, 1992. .
Milestones:The Sopwith Machines
. ''Flight
Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...
'', 6 February 1919. pp. 163–174.
*Robertson, Bruce. ''Sopwith-The Man and his Aircraft''. Letchworth, UK:Air Review, 1970. .
{{Sopwith Aviation Company aircraft
1910s British fighter aircraft
1910s British military reconnaissance aircraft
Buffalo
Buffalo most commonly refers to:
* True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo
* Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo
* Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Biplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1918
Rotary-engined aircraft