Sopwith Aviation designed and built a number of land based planes used during the first world war including the Sopwith 1 1/2 Srutter, Sopwith Pup, Sopwith Camel, Sopwith Triplane, Sopwith Dolphin and Sopwith Snipe. Sopwith Aviation needed more room to make more fighters to keep up with demand. In August 1914 it extended its Canbury Park Road premises by knocking down the buildings next door. It was not enough. They needed more room to build more planes so in 1917 Sopwith opened a second Factory a few miles up the road at Richmond Road, Ham. The location was ideal as it was next to the River Thames and a major road. The British Government had built an industrial complex at this location called ‘Number One Aircraft Factory’. Sopwith was granted the lease to the building and started production of some of the most famous planes in British Aviation History. The company employed over 3,500 people including over 1,000 women. They could turn out ninety aircraft a week. Sopwith Aviation was the largest producer of aircraft in Britain at a number of different locations. By the end of 1918 they had produced 16,237 aircraft including 5747 Sopwith Camels, 1847 Sopwith Pups, 5466 1 ½ Strutters and many others including the Sopwith Triplane. In all Sopwith Aviation produced thirty two different aircraft designs at Canbury Park Road, No1 Aircraft Factory Ham and at other locations by sub contractors. Thomas Sopwith was only 30 when the war ended in 1918. A big achievement for such a young man.

Sopwith Tabloid
One of Sopwith’s single-seater float planes was entered into the 1914 Schneider Trophy race in Monaco and came first. It was called the Sopwith Tabloid. During the qualifying laps it recorded a top speed of 86.78mph which in those days was amazing. It was called 'Tabloid' because of it’s small size and compact nature. A land version of the Sopwith Tabloid was also designed by T.O.M. Sopwith and F. Sigrist and became one of the first British biplanes to be used in combat. The first successful bombing mission of World War One happened on the afternoon of 9 October 1914. Two Royal Naval Air Service Sopwith Tabloids were sent to attack the Zeppelin sheds at Dusseldorf and Cologne. Only one of them reached its target. A Zeppelin Z-9 was destroyed in its shed at Dusseldorf. The pilot released two 20 pound bombs from a height of about 600 feet.

Sopwith Schneider
 The Sopwith Schneider entered Royal Navy Air Service RNAS in February 1915.It was based on a modified Sopwith Tabloid.

Sopwith Baby 
Sopwith Aviations next racing floatplane design was the Sopwith Baby. It was based on the Sopwith Schneider but fitted with a Clerget (110 or 130hp) in a new horseshoe shaped cowl.

Sopwith 1 1/2 Srutter 
The Sopwith 1 1/2 Srutter biplane came in two variants: a single-seat long range bomber and a two-seat fighter. They were first used over the World War One trenches of the Western Front April 1915. They were produced in large numbers for the Royal Naval Air Service RNAS and the Royal Flying Corps RFC. The centre section steel tube bracing struts were half the size of the outboard struts and were attached to the upper longerons of the fuselage rather than to the lower wing. This is how it became known as the 'Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter'. It was the first British combat aircraft to be fitted with a synchronised .303 Vickers machine gun that could be fired through the moving propeller by the pilot. The Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter was quite advanced for the period as it had a variable incident tailplane and airbrakes on the lower wings. It was designed as a one or two-seat bomber. It was not a particularly fast or manoeuvrable aircraft but then again it had not been designed as a fighting scout. The Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter was widely used by escadrilles of the French Aviation Militaire as well as Belgian and United States air forces. It was built under license in France. French production of the aircraft exceeded the numbers of British manufactured 1½ Stutters. The first ever strategic bombing force; No.3 Wing Royal Naval Air Service, was equipped with Sopwith 1 ½ Strutters that could carry four 56 lb (25kg) bombs. A Naval variant called the Ship Strutter was built to fly from Aircraft Carriers and off battleships.

Sopwith Bulldog
 The heavily armed two-seater Sopwith Bulldog biplane had two forward firing machine guns and two independently mounted machine guns in the rear but only two of them were built during World War I. It was overweight and clumsy.

Sopwith Pup
 In 1916 Thomas Sopwith and his Sopwith Aviation Company designed and built the fast and easy to handle Sopwith Pup fighter biplane. The Pup was a single-seat fighter scout and the forerunner to the more famous Sopwith Camel. The British Admiralty ordered it for the Royal Navy Air Service. The design of the Sopwith Pup was based on Harry Hawker’s private plane. Harry was Sopwith Aviation’s test pilot. The Royal Flying Corps also purchased Sopwith Pups. In the autumn of 1916 the first Sopwith Pups flew over the Western Front trenches. It was superior to the Fokker D.III. It was one of the few aircraft of the period that could compete with the German Albatros Scout and Halberstadt on equals terms in early 1917, even though it only had one .303 Vickers machine gun when at the time the German Albatros was mounting two Spandau machine guns. The Sopwith Pup helped maintain British supremacy until newer faster and more powerful German fighters started to dominate the skies The Sopwith Pup was the first aircraft ever to land on an aircraft carrier when on 2 August 1917 Sqn Cdr Dunning landed a Sopwith Pup on HMS Furious. Unfortunately on his third attempt he crashed over the side of the ship and was killed. The Ministry of Defence did not like the name ‘Pup’ as they did not think it dignified for a war machine and referred to the plane as the Sopwith Scout but the Pilots kept the Pup name alive. It is alleged that it got the name ‘Pup’ because someone noticed that it looked like a smaller version of the Sopwith 1½ Stutter and said ‘Good heavens, your aircraft has had a Pup!’ The Sopwith Pup remained in service until late 1917 when they were flown back to England and used as a Home Defense fighter unit against Zeppelin bombing raids

Sopwith Camel
When flown by an experienced pilot the Sopwith F.1 Camel (the F stands for Fighter) was more manouverable than any other contemporary combat aircraft, with the possible exception of the German Fokker F.1 Triplane. The Sopwith F.1 Camel had all its weight concentrated within the first seven feet of the fuselage. This caused a massive torque effect and enabled an experienced pilot to make very fast right hand turns, but the same responsiveness could be deadly if the Camel was flown by novice pilots. Many young allied pilots died in uncontrolled crashes owing to its very small wingspan, unstable characteristics and the gyroscopic effect of a rotating engine and propeller. It would flip into a spin very easily at low speeds especially during take off and landing. The reason it was called the Sopwith Cammel was because it was the first British combat aircraft to carry twin Vickers machine guns as standard and the gun’s breeches were enclosed in a 'hump', which gave the Camel its name. From July 1917, when it reached the Front, until the Armistice, the Camel accounted for no less than 1,294 enemy machines.

Sopwith Dolphin 5F.1
 The Sopwith Dolphin was the ugliest of Sopwith Aviation's wartime designs. Previous Sopwith aircraft were designed using rotaries but the first Sopwith Dolphin was powered by the Hispano-Suiza V-8. The Dolphin’s wing was lowered and featured reverse stagger rather than the normal forward staggering of the upper wing allowing excellent upwards visibility. The Sopwith Aviation Dolphin was the first British fighter to be fitted with two fixed Vickers and two Lewis guns in the centre section of the plane. Some only had just the one Lewis gun. Despite it's excellent high altitude performance, the Dolphin was used primarily for ground attack. 1,700 Sopwith Dolphins were built and five front line squadrons were equipped with them. The Dolphin was withdrawn from service in 1921.

Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe 
By the end of World War One on 11th November 1918, four RFC squadrons had converted to the new Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe. It became one of the standard post war RAF fighters and eleven squadrons were issued with the Snipe. It has the honour of being one of the final Sopwith design that saw widespread operational service. Rotary powered engines were back in this Sopwith fighter. The Snipe was powered by the 230hp Bentley BR.2 engine. Though not much faster than the Camel, the Sopwith Snipe had a better rate of climb and was easier to fly.

Sopwith Salamander TF.2 
The Sopwith Salamander ground attack aircraft was modled after the Sopwith Snipe. It had the same the 230hp Bentley BR.2 rotary engine but it an armor plated fuselage to protect it from ground fire and improve survivability. The TF stood for Trench Fighting. (The TF.1 code was given to an up-armoured ground attack Sopwith Camel variant). The aircraft had down pointing guns and was delivered in May 1918. Although too late to see extensive operational combat service in the war, some were sent to France for testing. Only 419 were made.

Sopwith Triplane
 Sopwith Aviation introduced a radical rethink on aircraft design which effected the look of combat aircraft of World War One. Sopwith wanted to try and produce a plane with more lift and pilot visibility than it’s excellent Sopwith Pup. The result was the Sopwith Triplane. The stack of three shorter wings reduced wingspan but increased wing area making it handle and climb better than normal biplanes. It still only had a single .303 Vickers machine gun but some planes were upgraded with a second gun later on. The Germans and the French admired the Sopwith Tripalne. Their aircraft designers set about emulating it by producing the French Nieuport Tripalne and the Germans produced the Albatros Dr.I Triplane, Pfalz Dr.I Triplane, and the famous Fokker F.I (later called the Dr.I) Triplane. The Sopwith Triplane was eventually withdrawn from service and replaced with Sopwith Camel. Only 152 Sopwith Triplanes were built.