PROJECT NEWS SPECIAL

History in the making…

The intriguing tale of Sopwith Pup, B1807… By Nick Harris and Clive Davidson

Tucked neatly into the side of the Tiger Moth Training Hangar at Henstridge is a rare and marvellous example of an aircraft destined to return to a full flying life. It is, at the moment, the uncovered fuselage of Kelvyne Baker’s Sopwith Pup which was airborne in 1917, defending London at night against the German Gotha bombers. It sits on its undercarriage with an 80hp Le Rhône Above Three of the team behind the Sopwith Pup restoration, from left Jason Nuttal, Kelvyne Baker and Nick Harris. rotary up front, the bare sides revealing original illuminated night-flying instruments – still working even after all these years. It also has the narrow wickerwork chair. This appears to be too small, but the average height of an RFC pilot was 5ft 4inchs back then. Alongside, covered in protective blankets and resting on a pair of wooden trestles, are the spars, awaiting their completion, and on the wall behind, rows of wing ribs and their upper wing centre section,

awaiting their turn to be added to the growing structure. When recently being assessed by the LAA as the continuation of a once vital but dormant project, and inspected by Francis Donaldson, the Pup was a completely erect, and the bare frame drew an inspired and surprised intake of breath, its stature and presence dominating the hangar. While instructing 50 years ago, Kelvyne, although enjoying the upper end of the single Cessna range, wanted a Puss Moth. He was given a lead and visited an old barn, part of a farm being auctioned, where he found NOT the Puss Moth of his dreams, but two WWI fighters, the other being a Bristol Fighter. Time was short, they were due to be auctioned and would, if acquired, have to be moved pronto. Pickfords charged as much as their acquisition! Kelvyne got in touch with Wally Berry, the then Chief Engineer of the Shuttleworth Collection, and admitted he wasn’t quite sure what he had. Along with Stan Lawrence, his PFA Inspector, they dug into the records and analysed various fittings, and naturally the Bristol Aeroplane Company was also interested. Their apprentices contributed and understandably, centred on ‘their’ fighter. Swaps benefitted both projects, and in time Bristol gained its fighter parts and Kelvyne had his Pup advanced. The continuing aim is to be able to bring it back into being within this country, avoiding it being lost to a foreign collection. As with all such aircraft, its background has to be known, and a few inconsistencies arose with the examinations of plans from Sopwith, and research by Cross and Cockade. Research has found that this Pup is the only remaining original. Most others are replicas or constructed from parts of original Pups. The only exception to that is the airworthy Shuttleworth Collection Pup, which was originally built post-1918 as a Dove, a two-seat Pup, and has subsequently been converted into a standard Pup. Designed by Herbert Smith in the latter part of 1915 and drawing from an earlier machine designed for Sopwith Aircraft Company’s test pilot, Harry Hawker, called The Bee, the Pup is a single bay, single-seat biplane fighter of all wood construction, with staggered equal span wings. Power was courtesy of a nine cylinder, 80hp (60kW) Le Rhône 9C rotary engine, the armament being a single

Top On arrival at Henstridge. The engine is a Le Rhône but the cowling is that of its original 100hp Monosoupape engine.

Above left B1807 while serving with 198 (Night) Training Sqn, based at Rochford, Essex in 1918.

Above right Standard Motor Company (Coventry) photograph showing the usual fit of the cockpit area, before fabric was applied to the fuselage.

Vickers machine gun with interrupter gear. The aircraft was first flown in February 1916 and proved a success, both the RNAS and the RFC ordering substantial numbers. In all, 1,796 examples were built, 850 by the Standard Motor Co., 820 by the Whitehead Aircraft Co, of Richmond, William Beardmore & Co. built 30, with Sopwith themselves building only 96 as its production capability was tied up with the Sopwith One and a Half Strutter. The type went on frontline service in France in October of 1916 and, due to its better agility afforded by having ailerons on top and bottom wings, plus superior climb performance, it was immediately successful against the inferior German opposition. Such was the rapid progress of fighter aircraft during the war that, by the spring of 1917, they were already outclassed by new German machines, and by late-1917 they had been replaced by the Sopwith Camel, and assigned to duties on the home front.

Construction difference

Pup B1807, the aircraft featured in this article, was built in 1917 by the Standard Motor Company in Coventry, this ‘heritage’ being shown by the construction difference of the wing ribs and how they were slid onto the spars with their attachments. It was one of a small number fitted with a 100hp Monosoupape engine, a motor that proved less reliable than the usual Le Rhône. It was issued to 112 HD (Home Defence) Sqn at Throwley, near Faversham in Kent, and flew on anti-Gotha patrols in August of that year. It was then reassigned to 36 Home Defence Sqn, which is believed to have been based at Cramlington, in Northumberland. On an unknown date it then moved back down south to 198 (Night) Training Sqn, based at Rochford (now Southend Airport). On 18 September 1918 it moved again, this time just up the road to No.39 Sqn at North Weald Bassett, where it remained until after the Armistice. During its Military career, the original 100hp Monosoupape rotary engine was replaced with the standard fitment of an 80hp Le Rhône, although it retained its distinctive ¾ cowling, complete with cooling louvres …which it retains to this day. Above In its civilian guise in 1921 as G-EAVX following its groundloop accident at the Hendon Derby, the last time it is known to have flown.

Below The assembled airframe on display in 2015. Note original wicker seat. The small prop on the undercarriage leg drives a fuel pump. With the war over, B1807 left military service and was struck off charge and sent to the Aircraft Disposal Company at Croydon. It was purchased by A R M Rickards and registered as G-EAVX. Rickards was an RAF officer who was forced down at Croydon by bad weather while on a cross-country flight with his friend and Commanding Officer, Norwegian, Tryggve (pronounced Trig) Gran. Both men were serving Officers based at No 2 Navigation School, RAF Andover. They bought a Pup each during their enforced visit, while looking around the serried rows of brand new and old aircraft waiting to be disposed of by the then new Handley Page Company1 .

The aircraft were bought with the intention of them being flown around Europe by their owners on various trips, most notably to Norway. However, in Gran’s 1979 book Mitt Liv Mellom Himmel og Jord (My Life between Heaven and Earth) he wrote that bad weather and engine problems forced them both down in Kent the week before Christmas 1920. A decision was made to use the prevailing wind and fly to Newcastle, to embark aboard a ship instead. Rickards went on to complete some astounding work surveying Yemen and other areas in what is now Saudi Arabia. He was killed in the area in a flying accident in 1937.

Tryggve Gran had been the ski instructor on the ill-fated Scott Antarctic Expedition of 1912 who found the bodies of Scott and his unfortunate comrades (using his own skis to fashion a cross placed on the cairn of ice and snow built over the collapsed tent).

On 30 July 1914, Gran became the first pilot to cross the North Sea in a heavier than air machine, taking off in his Blériot XI-2 monoplane, Ca Flotte, from Cruden Bay, Scotland, and landing 4 hours 10 minutes later at Jæren, near Stavanger, Norway, after a flight of 320 miles (510km). There is a monument to the flight at Cruden Bay and his aircraft is preserved in the Technical Museum in Oslo. Unfortunately for him, this major event in aviation history was overshadowed by other international events, as some five days later Britain declared war on Germany. He became a national hero in Norway but fell from public grace when he became involved with Quisling2 before WWII. He died in 1980, aged 91. ‘VX re-appeared at the 1921 Aerial Derby at Hendon, an event which sadly saw the death of the renowned Harry Hawker during a test flight. It was flown in the Derby by Dring Leslie Forestier-Walker, who ground looped the aircraft after feeling unwell during the flight on 16 July 1921. Forestier-Walker was lucky to escape unhurt and the aircraft was taken to the Graham-White hangars on the airfield (the same hangars are now preserved as part of the RAF Museum). It remained for what is believed to be two years, during which time the wings were sold to P T Capon, the Chief Engineer for Cierva (UK), after which it was supposedly disposed of. Nothing further is known until Kelvyne Baker acquired the aircraft in 1972, when he discovered the remains in an estate sale in Dorset, thinking he was on the track of a long-forgotten Puss Moth… Work started on rebuilding the aircraft almost immediately, although the aircraft was moved to several different workshops, where Kelvyne and his friends managed to almost complete the fuselage. The then PFA scrutinised the work throughout that build, so the fuselage is ostensibly airworthy. Due to workshop ownership changes, the aircraft had to be placed in storage in 1985, and was subsequently moved to Kelvyne’s garage, where the build had almost stopped due to lack of space. A chance meeting with Nick Carey-Harris put Kelvyne in touch with the then Royal Naval Historic Flight Director, John Beattie. On seeing the aircraft, John immediately offered space in a hangar at RNAS Yeovilton for the rebuild to continue.

Volunteer work begins…

The aircraft was filmed by the BBC during its move to RNAS Yeovilton on 30 March 2007, where a team of volunteers commenced work on the aircraft.

The wings are probably the biggest job to complete now. The Sitka Spruce for the spars was obtained at great cost and has been machined to the required shape. The now completed main spars are currently being populated with ribs, compression struts, interplane wiring and a myriad of other bits and pieces. In late 2010 the Pup was moved to a private airfield, owned by a North Somerset businessman, Derek Paget, but was later moved to the owners workshop. Other work outstanding includes refitting the turtle decking behind the cockpit, assembling the port side cowl fairing, and building from scratch the front fuselage lower cowl which forms part of the engine exhaust vent… a major piece of kit! The team have been promised, in principle, the use of a flight-worthy 80hp Le Rhône, although negotiations for that have still to be concluded.

Progress has been painfully slow due to all the team members using their own funds to contribute to the costs of the restoration. It is still actively seeking sponsorship, however, and any contributions would be gratefully received!

The people currently involved in the restoration include Kelvyne Baker, Nick Harris, Jason Nuttall and Mike Waldron. Obviously, we’re receiving lots of encouragement and assistance, which we are all very grateful for, especially from Kelvyne’s wife, Sue. Other supporters include Standard Motor Company Club members Phil Homer, Bob Richards and Joe Wardby. The project is now being driven by Jason Nuttall, carrying out most of the restoration work, with the historical research being carried out by Nick Harris. Working from a complete set of digitised plans, the metal fittings for the spars are in progress, with the aim of the wings being constructed and covered this season (regulations permitting). As an incentive, which must be quite a spur, Jason has been checked out on the Tiger Moth and is continuing to maintain recency (except during lockdown) and gain experience so that he may fly the Pup when complete. For Kelvyne, this long-lived project has been, and continues to be, a long road, but with an LAA road map it is my fervent hope that this historic aircraft will grace our home skies in the not too distant future. If you would like to help with any information for the team, please feel free to contact Nick Harris at Nickh2437@gmail.com

Above Original instruments and the panel lights for night flying – pea bulbs in a tube with holes drilled in it to throw light onto the instruments. Sick ‘grip’ is temporary.

NB: 1. Gran was a highly experienced ‘Pup’ pilot. Very unusually he had been issued with his own Pup (B2188), whilst he was a pilot operating under the name ‘Teddy Grant’, with a Special Duties Unit attached to 101 Squadron in France in 1917. He was delivering Spies behind enemy lines, which could not have been easy in a single seat aircraft. A 101 Sqn. pilot, Claude Wallis, stole into the secret hangar and later described what he saw as ‘something like a motorcycle sidecar attached to the aircraft’. We have no record of Rickards having flown in a Pup, but it seems likely that he may have, as the type was famed as one of the most benign handling aircraft of its day.

The team are of the opinion that Gran may well have ‘persuaded’ Rickards to buy a Pup, because of his deep association with the aircraft type. 2. Gran’s involvement with Quisling may not have been entirely voluntary. He was a national hero at the outbreak of WWII and there are indications that he was threatened with harm directed at his family if he didn’t co-operate. ■