Sopwith Dragon

__NOTOC__ Infobox Aircraft
name=Sopwith Dragon


caption=
type=Single-seat fighter biplane
manufacturer=Sopwith Aviation Company
designer=
first flight=1919
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=Royal Air Force
more users=
produced=
number built=76
developed from=Sopwith Snipe
variants with their own articles=The Sopwith Dragon was a 1910s British single-seat fighter biplane developed from the Sopwith Snipe by the Sopwith Aviation Company.

Design and development

First flown in January 1919 the Dragon was a Snipe re-engined with a 320hp (239kW) ABC Dragonfly I radial engine. With an increase of speed from the Snipe it was ordered into production for the Royal Air Force with a larger 350hp (268kW) engine. The Dragon was a two-bay unswept biplane with unequal span wings and ailerons fitted on all four wings and a braced tailplane and a single fin and rudder. It had a fixed tailskid landing gear with a cross-axle type main gear with twin wheels carried on vee legs under the fuselage. It was powered by a nose-mounted 360hp (268kW) ABC Dragonfly IA radial engine driving a two-bladed propeller. It had an open cockpit behind the upper wing and two forward firing Vickers machine-guns mounted above the engine.

The aircraft was not used operationally during the First World War due to the unreliability of the Dragonfly engine.

Operators

;UK
*Royal Air Force

pecifications

aerospecs
ref=
met or eng?= eng

crew=1
capacity=
length m=6.63
length ft=21
length in=9
span m=9.47
span ft=31
span in=1
swept m=
swept ft=
swept in=
rot number=
rot dia m=
rot dia ft=
rot dia in=
dia m=
dia ft=
dia in=
width m=
width ft=
width in=
height m=2.9
height ft=9
height in=6
wing area sqm=25.2
wing area sqft=271
swept area sqm=
swept area sqft=
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
volume m3=
volume ft3=
aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=
empty weight lb=
gross weight kg=967
gross weight lb=2132
lift kg=
lift lb=

eng1 number=1
eng1 type=ABC Dragonfly IA radial engine
eng1 kw= 268
eng1 hp= 360
eng1 kn=
eng1 lbf=
eng1 kn-ab=
eng1 lbf-ab=
eng2 number=
eng2 type=
eng2 kw=
eng2 hp=
eng2 kn=
eng2 lbf=
eng2 kn-ab=
eng2 lbf-ab=

max speed kmh=240
max speed mph=150
max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
range km=
range miles=
endurance h=3
endurance min=30
ceiling m=7,600
ceiling ft=25,000
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=
climb rate ftmin=
sink rate ms=
sink rate ftmin=

armament1=2 x forward firing Vickers machine-guns
armament2=
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6=

ee also

aircontent
see also=
related=
*Sopwith Snipe
*Sopwith Salamander
similar aircraft=
sequence=
lists=
* List of aircraft of the RAF

References

*
*cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)|year= |publisher= Orbis Publishing|location= |issn=|pages=2953
* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=710 British Aircraft Directory]