NEW! Kovozavody Prostejov 72484 Sopwith Swallow

The Sopwith Swallow (also known as the Sopwith Monoplane No. 2) was a British prototype fighter aircraft from the end of World War I. The prototype flight took place in October 1918, but the machine never entered mass production. The length of the aircraft was 5.72 meters with a wingspan of 8.79 meters. The drive was provided by a single Le Rhone 9J engine with 110 HP. The deck armament consisted of two 7.7 mm Vickers machine guns.

The Swallow model was developed at the Sopwith Aviation Company for the British Air Force as a development of the Sopwith Scooter. In relation to its predecessor, it used the same fuselage and wings in the umbrella arrangement. On the other hand, it had on-board armament, a larger wing area and a slightly changed shape. It also uses another power unit - paradoxically - with less maximum power. Interestingly, it was the engine that was the main reason why the Swallow aircraft was not put into service. This is because it turned out to be highly failure-prone and susceptible to damage. Moreover, it did not give the machine any distinct advantage over the already operated Sopwith Camel planes. The only built copy of the Sopwith Swallow was probably destroyed in 1927.