Sopwith Hippo

The Sopwith 3F.2 Hippo was a prototype two-seat fighter of the First World War, a single-engined biplane with heavy negative stagger. Sopwith designed it in summer 1917, possibly to replace the 1½ Strutter in French service, and built prototypes as a private venture when the Air Board placed no order. The shape followed the wish to give pilot and gunner the best possible view: the fuselage filled the gap between the wings and the crew sat with their heads level with the upper wing, with cutouts in the wing edges. The pilot had two synchronised Vickers guns and the observer two Lewis guns on a rocking pillar mount. It used a Clerget 11 rotary engine and was not successful, because the Royal Flying Corps preferred the Bristol F.2 Fighter.