camo on french 1 1/2 strutters?

Does anyone know what colors were used on the french sopwith 1 1/2 strutters? I searched archieved post and found discussions on french strutters being painted silver and not CDL, but I coundn't find any descriptions of camo patterns. I have the book French Aircraft of the First World War by Dr. James J. Davilla and Arthur M. Soltan, and they show two color profiles of strutters with a green and CDL pattern on the upper surfaces. Could the CDL part of the camo pattern be the french "yellowish" dope instead? Were other colors used for camo on strutters?

Thanks for the help, Jim

[Rob_Owens]

Afaik, french Strutters also appeared in the 3-color (a la Spad) scheme, but I can't find any pics or profiles.

[Dan_San_Abbott]

JimDrissell:
French built Sopwith 1A.2 and 1B.2 (1 1/2 Strutter) were delivered in the French 5 color camouflage scheme. Early French production 1A.2 were delvered in the French Jaune (yellow) scheme.
Reference: Cross & Cockade, Vol.9 No.1, Vol. 13, No.2 and Vol.13, No.4.
Aircraft Profiles, 121, Sopwith 11/2 Strutter. (color scheme.)
Blue skies,
Dan-San

[JG1Schorner]

Anybody know about when the change from yellow to camo took place? In WFP I try to do accurate camo schemes over time (at least as accurate as RedBaron allows) and at the moment my French an American strutters never change to camo.

Thanks.

[Matt_Bittner]

Sorry, DSA, but French Strutters in overall Yellow/CDL is not accurate, given the current research. With Memorial Flight refurbishing their 1.B2, they have found that single-color French Strutters were finished in overall aluminum. So please, whatever you do, don't finish your French Strutter model in CDL/Yellow.

There might have been a couple of the machines that the British handed over to the French that may have been CDL, but I haven't found any photos yet.

The profile of the SOP 287 machine that was quoted by JimDrissell is in error. I've seen the photograph of the SOP 287 line-up, and the one profiled is the first machine in the line up. There were more than just the colors shown in the profile. This was an actual five-color camo machine; however, the camo pattern was either "unique" to that certain aircraft, or one of the Strutter manufacturers had a different pattern than any of the other manufacturers.

Unfortunately the study of French Strutters still needs to be accomplished. There are a lot of unanswered questions. Not only the one I wonder about - if, like the Breguet, the five-color pattern changed based on Strutter manufacturers - but a ton more. Another one I would really like to find is a photo, or a drawing, of EXACTLY how the underside of the 1.B1 looked. Were the bomb-chutes truly left uncovered (like has been posited by a few people) or did they have some sort of hinged doors? I have yet to run across anything showing this.

Not to toot my own horn, but my guess on what this single SOP 287 camo pattern looked like can be see here.

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Matt Bittner:
Matt, I refer you to "French Aircraft of theFirst World War", page 465, Sop.1B.1, in cdl. Sop 107. See page467 both photos, top, Sop.1 A.2 cdl, Sop.43., bottom Sop.216, cdl. Page 469, Sop1 A.2 landing, Cdl, etc. See page 472, aluminum finish on a Sop.1B1. The Musee De la Air has (had) a Sop.1A.2 in Cdl finish. I saw it on the hill in the Balloon hangar in 1976. In looking at the photos in "French Aircraft..." it appears that only the Sop.1 B1 was delivered in the aluminum finish, however it was also delivered in Cdl and French 5 color camouflage finish.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

[Ross_Moorhouse]

I put this page together last year. I am by no means an expert on this. But i hope this helps develope some healthy debate. ...... CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT I PUT TOGETHER......

[wingstrutdotcom]

Hard to tell from photos. Here is a photo postcard from my own personal collection. There seems to be quite a difference between the shine/color of the metal cowl and the fabric on this machine:

Sop 1/2

I would be interested to hear what Alan Tolle has to say on this subject.

[Gregvan]

Hi,

There is plenty of contemporary evidence that some French Sopwith Strutters were silver or aluminum. In "The Diaries of Captain Orlando Lennox Beater, DFC, 55 Squadron" in C & C International, Volume 33 No. 2, 2002, page 17, the entry for Tuesday, January 29, 1918 says, "A French Sopwith landed on the aerodrome today; a flimsy machine, a one and a half strutter and painted silver."

Charles Gosse's aeroconservancy site has an original 1917 era photo album of a French airman which has a color painting of a silver two-seater Sopwtih 1 1/2 Strutter on the cover.

[VonHelton]

Ok, my turn.........

Granted, I may bust Dan San's chops every now & then, but this time he's right.

The only silver I know of on Sopwith Strutters is the cowling!