The pup worth its bite in a dog fight

Andrew Stackpool

FLTLT Chris Tulk flew the RAAF Museum’s replica 1916 Sopwith Pup for the first time on August 16.

Photo provided by David Gardner

The Sopwith Scout became unofficially known as the Pup because pilots claimed it looked like a “baby 11/2 Strutter”, another famous Sopwith fighter.

It first appeared in 1916 and, while underpowered, quickly won acclaim for its almost perfect flying qualities. Pilots said it was delightful to fly, very small, simple and reliable with a good rate of climb and agility. It had excellent performance at height and could still perform aerobatics at 5000m.

The aircraft was specifically designed to outmanoeuvre enemy aircraft and, while slower than its main opponent, the Albatros, it could easily turn inside that aircraft at a much quicker turn rate.

Its ultimate accolade came from leading German air ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen who commented, “We saw at once that the enemy airplane was superior to ours,” after encountering the Sopwith Pup in combat.

The Pup was flown by the Royal Naval Air Service – including being flown off ships – the Royal Flying Corps and with Nos. 6 and 8 Squadrons of the Australian Flying Corps.

Several Australian pilots scored impressive victories with the aircraft and it opened the way to naval aviation in the Royal Australian Navy when one was successfully launched from the cruiser HMAS Sydney.

After the war, a number of Pups came to Australia and flew until at least 1925, mainly as trainer fighter aircraft. In 1921, No. 1 Flight Training School at Point Cook was operating 11 of them.

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