Designed by the Sopwith Aviation
Company, originally for service
with the RNAS, the 1� Strutter
was so nicknamed because each
of the upper wings (there was no
true centre section) were
connected to the fuselage by a
pair of short (half) struts and a
pair of longer struts, forming a "W"
when viewed from the front .[1]
The aircraft had airbrakes on the
lower wings and was powered by
a 130-hp (97 kW) Clerget rotary
engine.
Some early production aircraft
were initially built without pilot's
guns - at the time Vickers guns,
as well as the necessary
synchronisation gears, were in
short supply. The Scarff ring
mounting was also very new, and
production was at first slower than
that of the aircraft requiring them -
so that various makeshift Lewis
mountings, as well as the older
Nieuport ring mounting, were
fitted to some early 1� Strutters
as an interim measure.
From the beginning, a dedicated
light bomber version was
planned, with the observer's
cockpit eliminated to allow for
more fuel and bombs to be
carried.
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