Sopwith Tabloid

When the Sopwith Tabloid was first demonstrated in late 1913, onlookers were astonished with its excellent performance. The original model had pilot and passenger sitting side-by-side in a shared cockpit, though military machines were single-seaters. Wings were controlled by warping and were of single-bay configuration. Eventually ailerons were added instead. In many ways, the Tabloid set design trends that would carry through to 1918.

The RFC and RNAS both ordered small numbers of Tabloids in early 1914 and some went to France in August 1914. The RNAS had only two on hand in Antwerp before it was evacuated, and one managed to destroy Zeppelin Z.IX as it rested in its shed at Dusseldorf. Ad-hoc mounts of machine guns were constructed including a Lewis gun on the upper wing firing over the propeller arc; another used deflector plates on the propeller.

The Tabloid's service life did not last long after the spring of 1915.

1:300 Scale

 * Metal kit: Heroics & Ros GWA107