Sopwith Pup

[bad bear]

I just read the fantastic account of the rebuilding of G-APUP alias N5182 http://www.eaa.org/vintageaircraft/articles/0911_archive.pdf then checked on G-info to find it is now deregistered and shown as a replica.

This left me with a few questions

Does anyone know the rest of the story?

Wiki suggests there were around 1800 built, do we know what happened to them ( shot down/ crashed) ?

Did pilots in those days fly inverted?

Do we know what the engine life was?

lastly, has anyone built and run a full size replica rotary engine?(80 hp Le Rhône)
bb

[India Four Two]

has anyone built and run a full size replica rotary engine?

Yes, The Vintage Aviator at Hood Aerodrome, Masterton, NZ makes new Oberursel rotaries from scratch. :ok:

Start here: Oberursel Reproduction | The Vintage Aviator (http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/projects/oberursel-engine/oberursel-ur-ii-rotary-engine-build-history)

Make sure you watch the videos of machining and running on a test stand.

[Molemot]

Well, that takes me back.... I helped to unload that aeroplane from it's trailer when it came back from painting in 1973, iirc. I was flying for the RAF at the time and was at Fairoaks to fly a Cessna 152 Aerobat .... a spam can, oh the shame of it (!)....when this magnificent beast came up to the hangar. A truly beautiful piece of work, and I remember having a long chat about the rotary engine.

[DaveReidUK]

Make sure you watch the videos of machining and running on a test stand.

Looking at all that rotating mass makes you appreciate why aircraft of that era turned much more quickly in one direction than the other. :O

[treadigraph]

Thanks BB, a delightful read and goes hand in hand with Neil Williams' account of test flying the little gem.

[Fareastdriver]

Way back before the RAF Museum was thought of there used to be a sort of museum at Halton This was run on a semi voluntary basis by aged chief techs of obsolete trades. As they had the blueprints for Sopwith airraft they could build them from scratch; 'find you're own engine'. There was, apparently, only one person in the UK who knew how to weave the basket pilot's seat
Before Halton, RFC engineers were trained at Farnborough and one day they heard from an ex-instructor who was there that when they closed it they buried all their instructional engines. They took him around, he pointed at the spot, and they dug up a gold mine of rotaries and other types. Most of them took very little effort to get running again.
The whole lot went to Hendon and Cosford in the end

[India Four Two]

Looking at all that rotating mass ... flinging castor oil in all directions, it also makes you appreciate why the pilots wore scarves over their mouths.

[bcgallacher]

About 3 years ago I saw components of a Sopwith Pup which was being built from scratch by a group of enthusiasts at the Scottish Museum annex at East Fortune. I am a retired LAME and appreciated the high standard of construction that was evident. Has anyone any information as to the progress of work on the machine? - I live about 60 miles from East Fortune and would like to pay a visit if there has been progress.

[bad bear]

bcgallacher, I think it might be a Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter and it is at the stage of being rigged for checking before covering. I believe the hope is to have it ready for 2015, 100 years after the type last flew at East Fortune. I hear it will have a radial rather than rotary engine. Its on display in the Concord shed

bb

[bcgallacher]

Thanks Bad Bear -I will go and take a look when I get home - I am in Manila my other home at the moment. I always feel a bit odd when I go to East Fortune - there are aircraft there I have worked on and flown in when I was but a youth.