Sopwith Snapper

The Sopwith Snapper was a prototype single-engined biplane fighter that Sopwith designed in 1918 to replace its own Snipe. It answered the Air Ministry's RAF Type 1 requirement, which called for the new ABC Dragonfly radial engine, and was built alongside the triplane Snark. The Snapper was a small single-bay biplane with heavily staggered wings, a cockpit set aft of them for good visibility and two synchronised Vickers guns on the top decking. A planned wooden monocoque fuselage was dropped for a fabric-covered wire-braced one to ease production. The first of three flew at Brooklands in May 1919, but the overweight, vibration-prone Dragonfly was cancelled that September, and the three aircraft were used for test flying by the Royal Aircraft Establishment.