Editing Sopwith Tabloid

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox aircraft
 |name = Tabloid/Schneider
 |image = File:Sopwith Schneider.jpg
 |caption =
 |type = Sports/scout aircraft
 |national_origin= United Kingdom
 |manufacturer = [[Sopwith Aviation Company]]
 |designer =[[Fred Sigrist]]
 |first_flight = 1913
 |introduction = 1914
 |retired = 1918
 |status =
 |primary_user = [[Royal Flying Corps]]
 |more_users = [[Royal Naval Air Service]]
 |produced =
 |number_built = About 42 Tabloids, 136 Schneiders<ref name="Bruceiv p847"/>
 |variants = [[Sopwith Baby]]
}}

The '''Sopwith Tabloid''' and '''Sopwith Schneider''' (floatplane) were British [[biplane]]s, originally designed as sports aircraft and later adapted for military use. They were among the first successful types to be built by the [[Sopwith Aviation Company]]. The "[[Tabloid (newspaper format)|Tabloid]]", so named because of its small size, caused a sensation when it made its first public appearance.

A [[floatplane]] variant was prepared in under a month and entered for the 1914 [[Schneider Trophy]] race where it was piloted by [[Howard Pixton]]. This aircraft won the competition against minimal opposition.<ref name=BruceDatafile1>Bruce, 1996, p.1</ref>

Production orders for both types were placed by the military, and although a few [[Gnome Lambda]]-powered Tabloids saw limited service in the early war years, some Schneiders were still in Naval service four years later, at the end of the [[First World War]].

==Design and development==
The original Tabloid, which was first flown by [[Harry Hawker]] on 27 November 1913, was a two-seat single-bay biplane with a side-by-side seating, which was unusual at the time. The equal-span wings were staggered and used [[wing warping]] for lateral control. The rectangular-section [[fuselage]] was a conventional wire-braced wooden structure with the forward section covered in aluminium sheet and the remainder, aft of the cockpit, covered in fabric. The wings were also of wood, covered with fabric. The tail surfaces were of steel tubing, fabric-covered, and the undercarriage had a pair of forward-projecting skids in addition to the wheels. The most distinctive feature of the design was the engine cowling, which almost entirely covered the upper half of the engine.

The prototype was  powered by an {{cvt|80|hp}} [[Gnome Lambda]] [[rotary engine]] and in a trial flown by [[Harry Hawker]] at [[Farnborough, Hampshire|Farnborough]] the Tabloid reached {{cvt|92|mph}} and took only one minute to reach {{cvt|1200|ft}} while carrying a passenger and enough fuel for 2{{frac|1|2}} hours.  A production order from the [[War Office]] for the [[Royal Flying Corps]] was placed early in 1914, and a total of 40 were built to this specification. However, the aircraft's speed made it an obvious candidate for entry to the [[Schneider Trophy]] competition.

[[File:Sopwith Tabloid on floats which won the 1914 Schneider Race.jpg|thumb|Sopwith Tabloid on floats which won the 1914 Schneider Race]]

Accordingly, a floatplane adaptation was prepared, to be powered by a {{cvt|100|hp}} [[Gnome Monosoupape]], which [[Thomas Sopwith|T.O.M. Sopwith]] personally collected from Paris. This was initially fitted with a single central float, but on its first taxiing trials with [[Howard Pixton]] at the controls the aircraft turned over as soon as the engine was started, and remained in the water for some hours before it could be retrieved. Great effort was made to make the waterlogged machine airworthy, and, lacking the time to prepare a new set of floats, the existing float was simply sawn in half down the middle and converted into a pair of floats.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.kingstonaviation.org/stories/fred-sigrist-and-the-tabloid.html|title=Obituary of Fred Sigrist|type=letters|newspaper=[[The Times]]|first=Thomas|last=Sopwith|author-link=Thomas Sopwith|date=14 December 1957}}</ref> After a satisfactory test flight on 7 April the aircraft was shipped to Monaco, where the competition was to take place.

The competition was won by Pixton.<ref group=note>The race was technically a time trial as each contestant departed in their own time and was timed, rather than them racing directly against each other.</ref> Sopwith did not expect to win,<ref name=Pixton278>Pixton, 2014, p.278</ref> but all of the leading contenders dropped out from mechanical problems connected to their nearly universal use of a larger two row rotary engine theoretically developing {{cvt|160|hp}} to the Sopwith's 100, leaving the Sopwith to lap the only remaining contender in a {{cvt|100|hp}} [[FBA Type A]] [[flying boat]] even before it stopped to refuel.<ref name=Pixton285>Pixton, 2014, p.285</ref> Pixton  completed his first circuit in around two thirds of the time taken by the FBA. One other competitor broke his prop without completing the race. It was the first British designed and built aircraft to win a major international contest.<ref name=Pixton297>Pixton, 2014, p.297</ref> Much was made of the British design, with a British made Integral propeller, and protected with British cellon dope in the British press.<ref name=Pixton287>Pixton, 2014, p.287</ref> Despite the other competitors dropping out, the Sopwith's speed, coupled with Pixton's flying skill, made for a convincing victory. The prizewinning variant was then known as the Sopwith Schneider. After completing the twenty-eight circuits required for the actual race, at an average speed of {{cvt|86.75|mph}} and suffering from a misfiring cylinder, he made additional laps to set a new world record for seaplanes.<ref name="brucei p734-5">Bruce ''Flight'' 8 November 1957, pp. 734–735.</ref>

The first order, for twelve "Schneider" [[floatplane]] aircraft, was placed in November 1914 by the [[Royal Naval Air Service]].<ref name=BruceDatafile3>Bruce, 1996, p.3</ref> Like the race winner, these were powered by the {{cvt|100|hp}} Monosoupape and differed only in minor detail from the racer - most noticeably in the redesigned tail float. Later production aircraft were fitted with [[ailerons]] in place of wing-warping, and were fitted with a [[Lewis gun]] firing upwards through an opening in the wing centre-section, and development would lead to the [[Sopwith Baby]].

In all 160 were built. No original Tabloids or Schneiders survive but full-size reproductions  are displayed at the [[RAF Museum]] Hendon and [[Brooklands Museum]] and a full-scale replica kit is sold by [[Airdrome Aeroplanes]] for homebuilders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.airdromeaeroplanes.com/ |title=Airdrome Aeroplanes ~ Holden, MO|access-date=6 July 2017}}</ref>

==Operational history==
[[File:Sopwith Tabloid Biplane Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Co., Ithaca, New York, 1915 (28943756843).jpg|right|thumb|Single seat Sopwith Tabloid at Ithaca, New York, 1915]]

Single-seat variants of the Tabloid went into production in 1914 and 36 eventually entered service with the [[Royal Flying Corps]] and [[Royal Naval Air Service]] (RNAS).<ref name="Donald">Donald, 1997. p 849.</ref> Deployed to [[France]] at the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]], Tabloids were used as fast [[Scout (aircraft)|scouts]].

Some naval aircraft were armed with a [[Lewis gun]] on the top wing, firing over the [[Propeller (aircraft)|propeller]] arc. One other aircraft used a Lewis gun firing through the propeller arc with deflector wedges mounted on the propeller blades, but the Tabloid was also used as a [[bomber]], when on 22 September 1914 Tabloids mounted the first raid by British aircraft on German soil; and in their most famous mission two RNAS Tabloids flying from [[Antwerp]] on 8 October 1914 attacked the German [[Zeppelin]] sheds at [[Cologne]] and [[Düsseldorf]]. The Cologne target was not located, the railway station being bombed instead, but the Zeppelin shed at Düsseldorf was struck by two {{cvt|20|lb}} bombs dropped from {{cvt|600|ft}} and Zeppelin [[List of Zeppelins#LZ 25|''Z IX'']] destroyed.<ref name="Bruce PtI p736">Bruce ''Flight'' 8 November 1957, p.&nbsp;736.</ref>

During 1915 attempts were made to use Schneiders to intercept Zeppelins over the [[North Sea]], launching them from [[seaplane carrier]]s including {{HMS|Ben-my-Chree}} and {{HMS|Engadine|1911|2}}, but these efforts were largely unsuccessful due to heavy seas either damaging the floats or making takeoff impossible entirely.

On 6 August 1915 a Schneider took off from the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Campania|1914|6}} using a jettisonable dolly.<ref>Lamberton, 1960. p 58.</ref>

A single Sopwith Schneider fighter seaplane was acquired by Captain Shiro Yamauchi, during an inspection tour of England, during 1915. While in [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] service it was designated '''Yokosuka Navy Ha-go Small Seaplane'''.<ref name="Mikesh">Mikesh, Robert and Shorzoe Abe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941''. London: Putnam, 1990. {{ISBN|0-85177-840-2}}</ref>

==Variants==
;Tabloid:
:Original wheeled version, two seater, 6 built
;Single-seater Tabloid:
:Single-seat version for RFC and RNAS, 32+ built
;1914 Schneider Racer
:Single-seater Tabloid equipped with floats, 1 or 2 built
;Schneider
:Float equipped, production version of Schneider Racer for RNAS, 133 built
;[[Gordon Bennett Trophy (aeroplanes)|Gordon Bennett]] Racer
:Variant with the fuselage partially faired to a circular section, a smaller fin and rudder, conventional engine cowling and V strut undercarriage without skids. Maximum speed {{convert|105|mph|kph|abbr=on}} Taken into service by the Admiralty on the outbreak of war as Nos. 1214 and 1215. Two built.<ref>Lewis 1962, p.492.</ref>
;Lebed VII
:Unlicensed copy of the design built by [[Lebed (aircraft manufacturer)|Lebed]] in Russia as a military reconnaissance aircraft
;Lebed VIII
:As Lebed VII but with revised undercarriage
;Yokosuka Navy Ha-go Small Seaplane
:A single Sopwith Schneider fighter seaplane operated by the IJN<ref name="Mikesh"/>

==Operators==
; {{UK}}
* [[Royal Flying Corps]]
** [[No. 3 Squadron RAF|No. 3 Squadron RFC]]
* [[Royal Naval Air Service]]
* [[Royal Air Force]]
** [[No. 201 Squadron RAF]]
;{{JPN}}
*[[Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service]]
;{{RUS}}
*[[Imperial Russian Navy]]

==Specifications (Production Schneider)==
[[File:Sopwith Tabloid RAFM.jpg|thumb|The Sopwith Tabloid replica on display at the [[Royal Air Force Museum]].]]
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Sopwith – The Man and His Aircraft<ref name="Robertson p234-5,8-9">Robertson 1970, pp. 234–235, 238–239.</ref>
|prime units?=imp
<!--
        General characteristics
-->
|crew=1
|length ft=22
|length in=10
|span ft=25
|span in=8
|height ft=10
|height in=0
|wing area sqft=240
|wing area note=<ref name="Bruceiv p848">Bruce ''Flight'' 29 November 1958, p. 848.</ref>
|aspect ratio=<!-- sailplanes -->
|airfoil=
|empty weight lb=1220
|gross weight lb=1700
|max takeoff weight lb=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
<!--
        Powerplant
-->
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=[[Gnome Monosoupape 9 Type B-2]]
|eng1 type=9-cylinder rotary engine
|eng1 hp=100

|prop blade number=2
|prop name=wooden propeller
|prop dia ft=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia in=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia note=
<!--
        Performance
-->
|max speed mph=87
|cruise speed mph=
|stall speed mph=
|never exceed speed mph=
|range miles=510
|combat range miles=
|ferry range miles=
|endurance=<!-- if range unknown -->
|ceiling ft=7000
|g limits=<!-- aerobatic -->
|roll rate=<!-- aerobatic -->
|climb rate ftmin=
|time to altitude={{cvt|6500|ft}} in 15 minutes
|lift to drag=
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
|power/mass=
|thrust/weight=

|more performance=
<!--
        Armament
-->
|guns= 1 × [[.303 British|{{cvt|0.303|in}}]] [[Lewis gun]] occasionally fitted<ref name="Bruceiv p847">Bruce ''Flight'' 29 November 1957, p. 847.</ref>
|bombs=1× {{cvt|65|lb}} or up to 5× {{cvt|20|lb}} bombs<ref name="Bruceiv p847"/>
}}

==See also==
{{aircontent|
|related=
* [[Sopwith Baby]]
|similar aircraft=
*[[Avro 511]]
*[[Bristol Scout]]
|sequence=
|lists=
*[[List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force]]
*[[List of aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps]]
*[[List of aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service]]
|see also=
}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=note}}

===Bibliography===
{{Commons category|Sopwith Tabloid}}
{{Refbegin}}
* Bruce, J.M. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110520141004/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201645.html The Sopwith Tabloid, Schneider and Baby: Historic Military Aircraft No.17, Part I]". ''[[Flight International|Flight]]''. 8 November 1957. pp.&nbsp;733–736. Archived from the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110520141004/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201645.html original]  on 20 May 2011.
* Bruce, J.M. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110520141013/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201677.html The Sopwith Tabloid, Schneider and Baby: Historic Military Aircraft No.17, Part II]". ''[[Flight International|Flight]]''. 15 November 1957. pp.&nbsp;765–766. Archived from the [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201677.html original] on 20 May 2011.
* Bruce, J.M. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150225100208/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201731.html The Sopwith Tabloid, Schneider and Baby: Historic Military Aircraft No.17, Part III]". ''[[Flight International|Flight]]''. 22 November 1957. pp.&nbsp;821–822. Archived from the [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201731.html original] on 25 February 2015.
* Bruce, J.M. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110520141018/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201755.html The Sopwith Tabloid, Schneider and Baby: Historic Military Aircraft No.17, Part IV]". ''[[Flight International|Flight]]''. 29 November 1957. pp.&nbsp;845–848. Archived from the [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201755.html original] on 20 May 2011.
*{{cite book|last=Bruce|first=J.M.|title=Sopwith Baby|series=Windsock Datafile 60|publisher=Albatros Publications|location=Hertfordshire, UK|year=1996|isbn=978-0948414794}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | editor = Donald, David | encyclopedia =The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft | publisher = Prospero Books | year = 1997 | isbn = 1-85605-375-X }}
* {{cite book |last= Holmes |first= Tony |title=Jane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide |year=2005 |publisher=Harper Collins |location=London |isbn = 0-00-719292-4 }}
* {{cite book |last= Lamberton |first= W.M. |title=Fighter Aircraft of the 1914–1918 War |url= https://archive.org/details/fighteraircrafto0000unse |url-access= registration |year=1960 |publisher=Harleyford Publications Ltd. |location=Herts |pages= [https://archive.org/details/fighteraircrafto0000unse/page/58 58]–59 }}
* Lewis, Peter, ''British Aircraft 1809–1914''. London: Putnam, 1962.
* {{cite book|last=Pixton|first=Stella |title=Howard Pixton, Test Pilot and Pioneer Aviator|publisher=Pen and Sword Aviation|location=South Yorkshire|year=2014|edition=epub|isbn=978-1473834941}}
* Robertson, Bruce. ''Sopwith – The Man and His Aircraft''. Letchwoworth, UK: Air Review, 1970. {{ISBN|0-900435-15-1}}.
* Thetford, Owen. ''British Naval Aircraft since 1912''. London:Putnam, Fourth edition, 1978. {{ISBN|0-370-30021-1}}.
*Mikesh, Robert and Shorzoe Abe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941''. London: Putnam, 1990. {{ISBN|0-85177-840-2}}
{{Refend}}

{{Sopwith Aviation Company aircraft}}
{{Lebed aircraft}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1910s British sport aircraft]]
[[Category:Biplanes]]
[[Category:Sopwith aircraft|Tabloid]]
[[Category:Schneider Trophy]]
[[Category:Floatplanes]]
[[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1913]]
[[Category:Rotary-engined aircraft]]
[[Category:1910s British bomber aircraft]]