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Long before they invented powered flight the wright brothers tested gliders to perfect fixed wing aerodynamics
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After years of testing the wright brothers achieved the first powered, controlled flight
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The french pilot Louis Bleriot made the first flight across the English channel
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Thomas Sopwith builds his first plane at Brooklands with his team in 1912. It is called the Sopwith Weight-tractor.
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In 1912 Tommy Sopwith opened his school of aviation.
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In order to facilitate the construction of his planes, Thomas Sopwith bought the skating rinc factory in kingston
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In 1914 the Sopwith Gunbus was created. There were only ever 23 built.
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Byplane built for an experiment; tested by Harry Hawker (Sopwith's chief tester pilot). Only one built.
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The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, and a powerful rotary engine.
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THe Sopwith Dolphijn had its first flight in 1917. There were 2,072 of these made.
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In 1917the Sopwith Hippo was made. There were only 2 built. This plane could hold up to two people.
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Invented just after WWI this plane was retained as a torpedo bomber which could be launched off an aircraft carrier
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The Sopwith Dragon was created in 1918. There were 200 made in total and they were made for battle.
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The bentalls depository building was taken over by Hawker aviation to store plane parts before they were assembled in the factories
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The awsome Hurricane had its first fllight in 1935.
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One of Brittains earliest jet planes, this sleek aerodynamic plane frequently reached speeds of up to 700 miles per hour
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The Anro vulcan is a jet-powered delta wing strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. It was the primary bomber of the raf during the cold and fawkland wars.
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This plane was the first plane to use vertical takeoff technology and was hugely influential in the fawklands war
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This was the official end of the company hawker siddely and when all factories were either demolished or inherited by british aerospace. The factories in kingston were turned into housing estates.
