#45, Sopwith Camel: More Kills Than Any WWI Fighter
The Sopwith Camel is credited with 1,294 aerial victories, more than any other fighter aircraft of World War I. In an era when air combat was barely a decade old and pilots were still figuring out basic tactics, the Camel's combination of twin synchronized Vickers guns, rotary engine torque, and hair-trigger maneuverability made it the deadliest dogfighter over the Western Front. It shot down more enemy aircraft than any other Allied fighter of the Great War.
The Camel was also one of the most dangerous aircraft to fly. Its rotary engine produced a powerful gyroscopic effect that made it viciously unstable, it could snap into a spin with almost no warning. More Camel pilots were killed in training accidents than in combat. But in the hands of an experienced pilot, that same instability made the Camel extraordinarily agile in a turning fight. Roy Brown was flying a Camel when he was credited with shooting down the Red Baron. The Sopwith Camel represents the raw, dangerous origins of military aviation history, when pilot training was minimal, parachutes weren't issued, and the aircraft themselves were as deadly to their pilots as to the enemy.
