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Sopwith Aviation Factory
Canterbury Road has a new factory called the Sopwith Aviation Factory -
Period: to
The History of Kingston Aviation
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Sopwith Pup
The Sopwith Pup was invented by Herbert Smith.
-It was the first British single seated fighter aircraft which decreaseed weight.
-It had a top speed of 111mp/h which compared to other planes was quite high.
-It was armed with a single Vickers machine gun sycronised with the propeller. -
Sopwith Camel is invented
Tommy Sopwith developed invention the Camel.
-Had 4 bombs along with two twin Vickers machine guns as part of its armoury.
-It was made of aluminium which was a very light metal and was very good for manouverability, -
Sopwith to Hawker
In 1920 Tommy Sopwith joined with his test pilot Harry Hawker to create the Hawker aviation company which later went on to produce some of the most famous british aircrafts. -
Hawker Fury
The Hawker fury was the predecessor to the Hurricane and was built by Sydney Camm.
-The Hawker Fury broke the world record and was the first plane to reach over 200 mph.
-It had four vicker machine guns which was much higher than the other plane of the time as many of the other planes had only tow machine guns -
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane was invented by Sydney Camm.
-It served in all major battles of WW2 and accounted forf 60% of all the RAF air victories in WW2
-It broke the world record with a top speed of 423mph
-It had four vicker machine guns which was much higher than the other plane of the time as many of the other planes had only tow machine guns -
Hawker Typhoon
The Hawker Typhoon was invented, like many other planes ,by Sydney Camm
-The Hawker Typhoon also broke the world record with 652mph
-The typhoon was armed with four vickers machine guns
- It could also be armed with four RP-3 rockets under each wing. -
Hawker Hunter
The Hawker Hunter was invented by Hawker Siddely.
- Broke the world speed record reaching 727 mph
-Was used by all major Air Forces across the globe
-Had four 30 mm ADEN cannon, with 150 rounds of ammunition per gun. -
Hawker Harrier
The Hawker Harrier was invented by Sydney Camm.
-The Harrier took off vertically using rotating nosels, which directed the flow of air down instead of behind, thrusting the plane up not sideways.
-It was armed with one Vickers machine gun and one Lewis gun carrying a maximum of 1,000 lb of bombs
-The top speed of the Hawker Harrier was considerably high with 1,175 mph. -
Bae Systems Closes
One of Kingston's prides closes with the richmond factory of Bae systems, Hawker siddley, Hawker and Sopwith finally shut down to end an era of great British aviation
