Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: bruce@tcom.stc.co.uk (Bruce Munro) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Surprise in air combat Message-ID: <10526@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 24 Oct 89 02:51:17 GMT References: <9876@cbnews.ATT.COM> <10185@cbnews.ATT.COM> <10240@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: STC Telecoms, London N11 1HB. Lines: 24 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Bruce Munro In article <10240@cbnews.ATT.COM> cperlebe@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM (Chris Perleberg) writes about the Sopwith Camel: > >And it was very tricky to fly, having a marked tendency to "precess" >into the ground if you tried to turn against the torque of the rotary >engine. I guess pilots figured they had a better chance of surviving >the Camel then they did of surviving an attack by a Fokker D-7 while >flying a DH-2! Wasn't this one of the reasons for the manouevreability of the Camel? I seem to remember watching a program recently about Tommy Sopwith who'd just turned 100, or was it more? I may be wrong, but what was said was that due to the torque it had to be constantly fought against to keep it on the straight and narrow, but when nippy manouevring was required the plane would literally fling itself into very tight turns. -- Bruce Munro. || ...!mc{sun,vax}!ukc!stc!bruce STC Telecommunications, Oakleigh Rd South, London N11 1HB. Phone : +44 1 368 1234 x3799 Saw three hippies saving a whale. I give 'em head butts! - JO & WWB