Camel chutes

buzz1941 · 17 May 2005, 03:37 PM

Hey, what are those square chutes coming through the sides of the Sopwith Camel cheek access panels? Haven't yet found a picture with the panel removed and the chutes still in place. Are they attached to the panels or to a mechanism inside? I had assumed all along they were escape paths for machine gun linkage hardware ....

EricGoedkoop · 17 May 2005, 04:57 PM

Going by the Wylam drawings, the chutes that open through the access panels are for empty shells. The links exit by way of two chutes on either side of the hump. In profile view, they're directly behind the forward interplane struts.

Hope this helps,

Eric

MikeW · 18 May 2005, 11:21 AM

Very early Camels didn't have the chutes for spent ammunition, the pilot had to wind-up the used bandolier on a takeup spool behing the instrument panel.

Mike

buzz1941 · 18 May 2005, 12:13 PM

Thanks -- I've noted that some Camels have no chute openings at all. These might be school birds that are unarmed. In which case, was there also a fairing to cover the gun openings in the upper fuselage?

EricGoedkoop · 18 May 2005, 12:56 PM

I don't know for sure, but Comic Camels with the overwing Lewis' didn't have a hump at all, so maybe school machines didn't, either.

mgtaylor · 22 May 2005, 05:20 AM

If I am not mistaken they are attached to the frame forward of the Ammo cans and snake down from the Vickers Guns. Whats always perplexed me is that fo rthe Left gun there is a direct shell casing discharge chute out of the hump MG assess panel. So why another chute underneath it on the left cowling? There are very difficult to interpret photos of the chutes from the Copper 1/8 scale build and from the award wiining museum sponsed Sopwith snipe. I hope to one day scratch build an after market part of the ammo cans for the Revel Camel. I hope to scale down the parts from the Hasegawa series.