The Sopwith Sociable (or sometimes Churchill or TweenieRobertson 1970, p. 211.) was a British single-engined two-seat

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher co ...

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 ...

designed and built by Sopwith for the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

Design and development

The Sociable, so called because the crew were seated side-by side rather than in tandem, was ordered by the British Admiralty for use as a training aircraft by the Royal Naval Air Service. It was two-bay biplane powered by a

Gnome Monosoupape The ''Monosoupape'' (French for single-valve), was a rotary engine design first introduced in 1913 by Gnome Engine Company (renamed Gnome et Rhône in 1915). It used a clever arrangement of internal transfer ports and a single pushrod-operated ...

radial. The Sociable was given serial number ''149'' by the Admiralty and first flew from Brooklands on 17 February 1914.

Operational history

Two days after its first flight, the Sociable was delivered to

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

on 19 February 1914. The next day the

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

Winston Churchill flew in it as a passenger; it afterwards gained the nickname the "Sopwith Churchill". It was based at Eastchurch when on 25 March 1914 it spun into the ground on take-off. Repaired by Sopwith it was delivered to

No. 3 Squadron RNAS 03 may refer to: __NOTOC__ Dates The years 1803, 1903, or 2003 Music * ''03'' (Twelve album), 2007 * ''03'' (Son of Dave album), 2008 * ''03'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2013 Other uses * 03 numbers, a non-geographic telephone number range in the ...

in Belgium in September 1914. It was fitted with an additional fuel tank and a bomb rack and was used on an abortive attempt to bomb a German airship shed at Cologne on 22 September 1914. It was transferred to

No. 1 Squadron RNAS 01 or 01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * 01011001, the seventh studio album from Arjen Anthony Lucasse ...

but broke an axle on take-off from Antwerp, damaging the landing gear and badly damaging the upper wing. While awaiting repair at Antwerp it was abandoned following the advance of German troops.

Operators

; *

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Robertson, Bruce. ''Sopwith - The Man and His Aircraft''. Letchworth, UK: Air Review, 1970. . * Ray Sturtivant and Gordon Page ''Royal Navy Aircraft Serials and Units 1911–1919''

Air-Britain Air-Britain, traditionally sub-titled "The International Association of Aviation Enthusiasts", is a non-profit aviation society founded in July 1948. As from 2015, it is constituted as a British charitable trust and book publisher. History Air-Brit ...

, 1992. {{Sopwith Aviation Company aircraft 1910s British military utility aircraft

Sociable The sociable or buddy bike or side by side bicycle is a bicycle that supports two riders who sit next to one another, in contrast to a tandem bicycle, where the riders sit fore and aft. The name "sociable" alludes to the relative ease with whic ...

Aircraft first flown in 1914 Rotary-engined aircraft