Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter A/2984

Fair Dinkum · 3 March 2010, 03:59 AM

Hi All,

Hoping someone may be able to help. I have the medals to a chap who crashed this machine (A/2984) on the 25th March 1917 near Peronne. Most fortuitous for himself and his observer as it turned out as the rest of the formation of 5 Strutters were shot down that day.

As part of the display I am having a model of a Strutter made to put with his medals so am hoping for some advice on markings, colours etc.

Any info on the machine would be helpful too!

Cheers
Matt

bristol scout · 3 March 2010, 09:44 AM

Hi Matt,

I'm afraid all i can offer is the fact that it was a re-numbered upon transfer to the R.F.C. ex R.N.A.S. machine and that it served with 70 squadron and around that time this unit used very large letters and numbers ---'B5' being an example, and it would have been in PC10 or 12.

I am sure some of the guy's here will do better for you.

Dave.

TomVrille · 3 March 2010, 09:58 AM

ref:British Aviation Squadron Markings of World War I

From your description, it seems all the aicraft were from 70 Squadron. By the 25th of March, all the Strutters of 70 Squadron should have had the standard P.C.10 finish on upper surfaces, with clear doped finish on the undersides of the planes. Aircraft of each flight were marked with the flight letter, A and C flight markings were forward of the fuselage cockade while the B flight marking was aft of the cockade. Individual aircraft markings were numbers 1-6 aft of the cockade for A and C flights, and aft of the flight marking for B flight.

Hope this is some help. .......TV

Fair Dinkum · 3 March 2010, 04:13 PM

Many thanks Dave & TV,

So I can assume it will be a quite basic scheme. So I guess I need to figure out what flight A2984 was part of.

Yes TV, it was 70th Squadron, the other aircraft on the flight that were all lost were A884, A954, A958, A2986 & 7763.

I wonder if there are any images of these aircraft that may help work out whether A2984 was A,B or C flight?

I have no experience of modelling, but reading other threads it would seem publications such as Windsock datafiles may have a Sopwith Strutter book. Would this be worth trying to purchase?

Cheers
Matt

TomVrille · 3 March 2010, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fair Dinkum

I wonder if there are any images of these aircraft that may help work out whether A2984 was A,B or C flight? I have no experience of modelling, but reading other threads it would seem publications such as Windsock datafiles may have a Sopwith Strutter book. Would this be worth trying to purchase?

Greetings Matt

Windsock Datafile 34 deals with the 1½ Strutter, but the odds of finding a photo of A2984 are none too good, given that over 1000 Strutters were eventually produced. Instead of purchasing the Datafile, I suggest you post a question on the forum, and ask if there is an image of the specific aircraft you are looking for in Datafile 34. I'm sure someone who regularly posts on the forum has that issue, and would be glad to give the copy a quick look.