Sopwith Cobham

The Sopwith Cobham was a twin-engined triplane bomber designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company at the end of the First World War, and the only twin-engined aircraft Sopwith built. Herbert Smith designed it to a June 1918 requirement for a long-range medium bomber for the Royal Air Force, with a crew of three, Lewis guns in the nose and dorsal positions and three 250 lb bombs carried vertically in the fuselage. It was meant to use two new ABC Dragonfly radial engines, but none were ready, so the first prototype flew in April 1919 with 240 hp Siddeley Puma engines. The Dragonfly-powered prototypes flew in January and February 1920, but the Dragonfly proved extremely unreliable and the type failed. Only three prototypes were built.