Hanger 9 Sopwith Camel (Pig) Land-Dings

[PETER BRUCE - Eastchurch Gap]

Hi Daniel.

The results of shifting the weight was very conclusive - and final - you can see the clear results within the last video posted by me on the 3/9/12.. I could never have predicted such a remarkable change in the Sopwith Camel - so far away from the "Pig" it was. Check out just the videos rather than reading the last comments and you will see it all with your own eyes - and yes it is the same plane! Thanks for your comment anyway because I had never heard of a tail sliding weight adjustment being used on an aircraft just when it was coming into land. Regards Peter

[daniel barton]

hi peter

the designs for the shifting tail weight was primarily used for aircraft carrier planes during ww1 as there planes always ended up tail up upon landing due to the extremely rapid decceleration of the plane and as such, they started fiddling to find this worked best.

the actual design of it is still classified but i used to own a ww1 aircraft book which explained the planes in grave details and also there problems and the solutions to the problems, even though the actual designs are still under classification, the actual idea of it was declassified and as such free to talk about.

so i thought as you were having a very similar situation, i think this bit of information would help, i can also figure out a way of doing it aswell if anyone needs the info

[David Ovenden]

Whilst this post is 5 years after the events in question, can I ask if Peter feels that the smaller wheel size was imporant, or whether he feels the lowering of the lead was the key factor? I ask as I am looking at buying a little flown s/h H9 Camel.

I am impressed by Peter's commitment to fixing the poor landing characteristics of his Camel and the extent of the transformation once he identified the cause of the problem.Great stuff!