The Daily Wingman

Sopwith Camel: Produced by Sopwith Aviation Company, this is perhaps the most iconic and well- known fighter of the Great War. With a characteristic "hump" over the two Vickers .303 machine guns, from which the Camel's namesake is derived, it had a 28 foot wingspan. Powered by a Clerget 9B air-cooled rotary-type engine, it had a max speed of 113 mph (182km/h), a 300 mi (480 km) range, and a 19000mi (5800km) service ceiling. The Camel is equally noticeable on the silver screen. The most famous is, of course, Snoopy from Peanuts, when he imagines himself to be a WW1 Flying Ace his doghouse to be a Camel, taking to the skies to battle the Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofen). Also, author Captain W.E. Johns's daring pilot Biggles flew a Camel in some of his early adventures.   Snoopy as the World War One Flying Ace, in  The Peanuts Movie .    

The Birth of a Fighter: Fighter aircraft in general began in the year 1915, during the course of World War 1. Previously, aircraft had only been used for scouting missions. French pilot Roland Garros was a successful pilot who wanted not only to intercept enemy aircraft, but to shoot them down as well. There was only one hitch: How to shoot through the wooden propeller blades of his Morane-Saulnier monoplane? His solution was simple: he attached strips of aluminum to his blades. Next, he fixed a machine gun to the front of the aircraft so he could shoot straight ahead, thus saving weight, as other models had a rear gunner and a pilot, and thus were more susceptible to attack from oncoming German planes. Garros went on to become a successful fighter pilot. Unfortunately, he was shot down in April 1915, and was forced to crash -land behind German lines. He was captured, along with his aircraft. He was sent to many POW camps before escaping and continuing to fly, this time commandi...