Australians in the Royal Naval Air Service 1914-1918 (Part 2a)

Author

Stevens, Errol

Subjects

Biographies and personal histories, Naval Aviation, History - WW1

Tags

Little R.A. RNAS, RNAS No.1 Wing, RNAS No.8 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, Sopwith Triplane

RAN Ships

None noted.

Publication

March 1996 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)

In April 1917 Little was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and on April 7 whilst flying alone he attacked a group of 11 enemy aircraft. He shot one down during a long dogfight before escaping. This action was reputed to have been observed by Richthofen from the ground. The outstanding manoeuvrability of the Sopwith Triplane as demonstrated by Little so impressed Richthofen that he asked the Dutch aircraft designer Fokker to urgently produce similar aircraft. A short time later the famous Fokker Triplane appeared but by then the most successful fighter of WWI in terms of number of enemy aircraft destroyed, the Sopwith Camel, was being introduced.

[Ed: Continued in Part 2(b)]