sopwithcamel

D9518 built by Boulton and Paul Ltd, Norwich Delivered 3 AAP Norwich; Tested 31 May 1918 (right wing low), and 2 June 1918; 8 AAP Lympne to Orly for US Air Service 3 July 1918, Lt Love; Arrived Orly 4 July 1918; 3rd Aviation Instruction Center Issoudun 21 July 1918 ... Aircraft History from The Camel File, Sturtivant and Page, Air-Britain 1993. Another picture www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/8091635585/ as well as www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/8091635781/

This seems to be the ultimate rarity in the album of E.G. Rowell. It shows a dual-control Sopwith Camel. Due to the tricky behaviour of the Sopwith Camel single seat fighter the English saw the need to modify a few as dual control / two-seat trainers. This sample shows likely an A.E.F. sample which was converted by technicians of that force. Noticeably the headrest on the RFC/RAF samples is omitted. The serial that is visible on the side '1514' needs some more research. There is an interesting article by Philip Jarrett about the two-seater Sopwith Camel in Cross and Cockade Winter 2012, of which the first page can be seen as an appetizer at www.crossandcockade.com/uploads/DC_Camels1.pdf

Wreckage of Royal Flying Corps (RFC) Sopwith Camel, Serial No. B5201, belonging to 89 Squadron, operating from the airfield at Harling Road. Fatal crash on March 19, 1918, caused by an engine failure and resulting stall. 2nd Lt. Luigi Leopoldo Guasche Costa (RFC) was killed in the accident. See: theyserved.wikia.com/wiki/Luigi_Costa Second Lieutenant Luigi Leopoldo Gauche Costa was an English officer of the Royal Flying Corps who died during the First World War. He was born on 4 June 1899, in Kensington, the son of Cavaliere Girolamo Luigi and Marie Antoinette Costa (née Lesieur), of Italy and France, respectively. Educated at Dulwich, where he was captain of the cricket team, Costa enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps in March 1917. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 11 October 1917. Costa qualified as a pilot on 22 January 1918, and served as an instructor with the 89th Training Squadron. He died on 19 March 1918 when his aircraft suffered engine failure near Thetford, Norfolk. He is interned at Golders Green Crematorium. See also: www.kingstonaviation.org/100-years-ago/1918.html www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1918.htm www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/7000268362-costa-l...