Features on the Sopwith Camel

I was studying a completed hobby kit model of a Sopwith Camel when I spied a couple of features on the aircraft
that I'd never noticed before. The first item was a small
propeller attached to the aft end of the inner wing strut
(on the pilot's right). What was the purpose of this propeller? The second feature appears to be a gun scope atop the right(from the pilot's perspective) "hump" positioned next to the right-side Vickers. Considering the
vibration of the engine, the normal bouncing caused by air currents that particularly effect a light aircraft and the
relative movement of two aircraft (one of whom is presumably doing everything humanly possible to get away from the other), it occurs to me that a pilot could not effectively be able to peer into a gun scope and expect to take steady aim on a target. Am I underestimating the flight stability of WWI era aircraft or the marksmanship ability of WWI airmen? I'm sure the astute participants to the Forum can answer these questions.

I believe the small propeller was an air speed indicator but will check and let you know for sure.

Given the difficulty of flying the Camel and many of the other aircraft of the era gunsights would appear to me to be worthless but you find them on may of the aircraft of the time. Wheather the pilots used them is another question.

the propeller you spoke of is a wind driven fuel pump. as for the other, if it's a tube you're describing, i think it's called an aldis gunsight, although i'm probably wrong.

leon

[Billy_Bishop]

I don't mean to complain, but doesn't ANYONE ever read past the 1st reply???

There are a total of 3 replies to the message starting this thread,(not counting this one) and at least one is totally redundant. I wouldn't say anything, but I've noticed this happening before.

VBR,

Al

mabey one reply was submitted before the other was finished being written. at least i DO read. (squadron/signal p.10).

leon

The pump is called a Rotherham pump and the Aldis gives a light greenish image that actually "shrinks" the subject, I believe. This feature led some pilots to crash when on ground attacks. No "objects in the mirror are closer than they appear" warning was inscribed on the Aldis. This was a problem that a lot of pilots rectified by also installing open sights along with the Aldis.

As noted, the tube is an Aldis gunsight. It did not color or reduce the viewed object. Nor was it a telescopic sight. Rather it was a 1:1 sealed optics system. Why a 1:1 optical system? It was very hard to properly align the eye, the ring, and the bead of a ring and bead sight when you were pulling "g" and pursuing an enemy airplane that was all over the sky. The Aldis optics solved this problem by presenting an accurate sight picture even if the pilot's eye, looking into the sight from about a foot away, was off center by several degrees. With a ring and bead sight that much error in eye positioning would leave you shooting air. The view through the Aldis, however, would accurately show where your bullets would be going despite the incorrect position of the pilot's eye. The Aldis was highly regarded by both sides, but the German attempts to copy it could never overcome problems with fogging. Captured units, once damaged or disassembled for examination, would also fog, but undamaged and un-disassembled units had no fogging problems. What the Germans never realized was that the "air" in the Aldis wasn't oxygen, but a mix of other gases that prevented fogging. The Aldis continued in service with the RAF up until the outset of WW 2.

Lighten up there, big guy. If you'll notice the posting time on the "redundant" reply, it was done within just a few minutes of the one it duplicated. Shoot, it takes me that long just to type my name into this thing, much less to actually figure out what I'm going to say.

[PeterL]

Thanks Marco, these has been one of those realy useful threads..I already know abot 1000% more about the Aldis sight than I did at the start and we may not be finished yet. A bit of a minor spat, but that's the Forum as I know from experience.

cheers 'n' beers

Peter L

[Billy_Bishop]

That's what I get for having a typing speed of 50 wpm. I forget sometimes that a good number of people on the internet use the hunt and peck method.

Ok, so it doesn't apply in this case. I apologize.

Still, I have seen it happen in other threads, where the time difference was as much as a day, and quite obviously someone didn't read all the messages before replying.

Oh well, we did learn a bit more about Aldis sights.

Later,

Al "The Grump" Lowe