Sopwith Aviation School

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Founder T. O. M. (Thomas Octave Murdoch) Sopwith; learned to fly a balloon at age 18; by age 22 (1910), had taught himself to fly an airplane, earning Britain's 31st aviator certificate; raised money for his airplane manufacturing company by stunt flying. SD says formed late 1911 but other sources seen say 1912. Company began as Sopwith Aviation School at Brooklands and, lacking sufficient space at Brooklands for aircraft construction, rented skating rink on Richmond Road, Kingston-on-Thames, in December 1912. Until business grew, Sopwith rented rink to skaters on Saturdays and towed aircraft on their own wheels to Brooklands for assembly and testing or to the Thames River in the case of seaplanes.

With him at the beginning were engineer Fred Sigrist, who became works manager, and pilot Harry George Hawker (both Australians); R.J. Ashfield was hired as draftsman. In December 1913, Sopwith Aviation Co. Ltd. registered the business formerly carried on by Sopwith Aviation Co.; first directors were Sopwith, Miss Gertrude M. Sopwith, and Reginald O. Cary.

Advertisement in The Aeroplane, 4 July 1912.

Name changes: was Sopwith Aviation School; became Sopwith Aviation Company; then became Sopwith Aviation Co. Ltd.; in 1919, became Sopwith Aviation and Engineering Co. Ltd.

Sources

  • Gunston, 1993, p287-288
  • Gunston, 2005, p436-437
  • SD268-269
  • RAFM11, 14
  • Sopwith Obit
  • 1912TA307
  • 1912FM1223
  • 1913FM251, 1370; 1416
  • 1919FM163-174; 189; 585, 1154, 1183, 1250-1251, 1574
  • 1919AeronauticsUK247
  • 1920AAW400
  • 1920FM990, 1008
  • 1921FM494
  • 1922FM733
  • 1923FM324
  • 1924FM303
  • 1955FM528-532
  • 1960FM1013
  • HOW Hawker


Names Sopwith Aviation School
Country Great Britain
City Works on Richmond Road and offices on Canbury Park Road, Kingston-on-Thames; sheds/hangars and use of airfield at Brooklands Aerodrome; seaplanes tested on Thames River; giant wartime factory Richmond Road, Ham; all in Surrey, England.
Affiliations
Keywords
Started aero 1911 or 1912
Ended aero 1920
Key people Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, Fred Sigrist, Harry George Hawker, R.J. Ashfield, Gertrude M. Sopwith, Reginald O. Cary, Herbert Smith
Wikidata id