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The Sopwith Snark was a British prototype fighter aircraft designed and built towards the end of the First World War to replace the RAF's . A single engined triplane, the Snark did not fly until after the end of the war, only three being built.
Sopwith produced two designs to meet this requirement, a biplane, the Sopwith Snapper, and a triplane, the Snark. Sopwith received orders for three prototypes each of the Snapper and Snark,Bruce 1969, pp. 52, 56. as well as orders for 300 of a Dragonfly powered version of the Snipe, the Sopwith Dragon. The Snark had a wooden monocoque fuselage like that of the Sopwith Snail lightweight fighter, and had equal span single-bay wings with on each wing. The wings had unequal spacing and stagger, with the gap between the mid and upper wings less than that between the lower and mid wings to minimise the height of the aircraft.Bruce 1969, pp. 51–52.
The Snark was fitted with what was, for the time, a very heavy armament for a single-seat fighter. In addition to the normal two synchronised inside the fuselage, it had four mounted under the lower wings, firing outside the propeller disc. These guns were inaccessible to the pilot, and so could not be reloaded or unjammed in flight.Bruce 1957, p.632.
The first prototype was complete by October 1918, but flight-ready engines were not available until March 1919, and the Snark did not make its first flight until July 1919. While it demonstrated reasonable performance and good maneuverability, (although not as good as the earlier Sopwith Triplane), by this time, it had been realised that the Dragonfly engine had serious problems, being prone to overheating and severe vibration, and plans for production of the Snark had been abandoned.Bruce 1969, p.53. The three Snarks continued in use for trials purposes until 1921.Robertson 1970, p.229.
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