Originally Posted by Yeoman_dai
My view is that figures don't lie, and if the Sopwith Camel shot down the most, then surely it must have been the best, non? Yes it was tricky to fly, but the fact is that it was those same handling characteristics that made it so manoeuvrable, and therefore so successful. It was also better armed with twin belt fed guns, rather than that the SE.5a, which is the plane my companion was banging on about - something about climb rate, and speed to be honest I just ignored him as obviously wrong
No, he's not wrong.
Camel may have more in total, but, if you look at the list of the highest scoring British/Commonwealth aces, such as Ball, McCudden, Bishop and Mannock, they all flew, and preferred the SE.5a....
The Camel was at it’s best at low and medium altitudes and coupled with the forward firing twin belt fed Vickers MG’s, it was a formidable weapons platform once mastered by a pilot. For these reasons Camel’s were also employed in the ground attack/strafing role which they were ideally suited for.
However, the SE.5a's speed and climb rate and easier handling meant that once above 10,000ft the SE.5a was superior to the Camel, and it’s armament was better suited to high altitude air fighting, as was it’s better pilot visibility and better handling characteristics.
One wasn’t better than the other, they complimented each other.
