Sopwith Camel and Spitfire flying in formation

Wanaka, New Zealand
April 2004

Two historic fighters were flown side by side to showcase the advance in technology in only 20 years! The Sopwith Camel and the Supermarine Spitfire are icons of their respective eras, both efficient designs that were very effective. The Sopwith Camel was first flown in 1916 and the Supermarine Spitfire made its maiden flight March 6, 1936.

[HSTMDad]

Beautiful vid and wonderfully clear sound. No music to mess with those engines either - perfect!

[CliffHarveyRCPlanes]

That was almost a spiritual experience, the world around me faded away as I watched, as if in a dream, my two favourite planes, wow.

[tasospatriwtis]

OMG...THIS TWO IS MY FAVOURITE PLANES OF ALL TIMES...I JUST LOVE THIS BEAUTIES.

[Wellsy]

5:10 doesnt even seem real.... its like something glorious from the past being relived right in front of you. thanks for uploading!

[bbtreehaus]

Fantastic! My dad would have loved this; he was born at about the time of the Camel and was fascinated by flight since he was very young. When he joined the army in 1940, he wanted to fly. He passed every test but one. So he joined an anti-aircraft unit instead! He served in both WWII and Korea...a great man!!

[DavidELD]

When you compare the two... it was just barely a decade or so from the Wright Brothers to the Sopwith Camel. Then you jump ahead 20 years or so to the Spitfire. Then about 20 years from the Spitfire, you have the first manned missions to space. Technology man.

Then you see the two flying, the Spit flies so effortlessly like it was born to fly. The poor 100 year old Camel just wants to stay on the ground. It's probably saying. "WHAT AM I DOING UP HERE?! MAKE IT STOP! WANNA GO HOME, WANNA GO HOME! DON'T LIKE THE AIR!"

[GGigabiteM]

Gnome Monosoupape engines had no throttle. The engine was either "on" or "off", with reduction in power done by grounding the magneto on specific cylinders, or by turning the ignition off and blipping the engine.

[draoi]

The sound of the Spitfire is just beautiful!

[CIWS]

You have to love the sheer difference in the engine sounds. The "Playing card in wheel spokes" sound of the Sopwith and the aggressive and sexy purr of the Spitfire. Two amazing aircraft to be sure!

[Baroness]

Wow! What a beautiful image. It's so cool to see how much planes of all kinds have advanced. Just between WW1 and WW2 you can see such a big diffrence in how far technology had come, and now look what we have. These planes are wonderful reminders of the birth of flight, keep em flyin!

[AmerAhmad]

Supreme. I hope this video gets preserved for posterity. As a pilot I never realised the curios stepped throttle of the sopwith. Amazing and very well flown, formation and filming

[FokkerBoombass]

Two of the best fighters of their time period...
AWESOME

[crazygood]

I just love the sound of that Merlin engine in the spitfire, just beautiful

[johnlohr]

I was witness to the spitfire during ww2and it's amazing performance from the waist position of a B 17 but I would not have believed the sopwith and it's scary engine and the name it finally made for itselfe.
John Lohr 379th bomb groupe

[callinstead]

Man, what a phenomenal scene! I can't get over how good it is to see these planes still flying.

[gjmoore]

what a beast.great sound .and the spitfire as well.

[kirkconway]

that is sooo neat, listening to Gene De Marco talking about the old planes and thier design's and flight characteristic's.
and then that shot where the Spit is right there with Gene, and then Gene peel's off going back to the field. and the spit speed's up over the pretty countryside and then climb's into a loop, and the noise of that Merlin in the open air is beyond word's doing that loop with it's sillouette against the sky
hard to discribe.

[kirkconway]

the way that late model Spit is going thru that large loop with the hill's and greenery, and river's in the background and that sound od that merlin in ABSOLUTE MAJESTY.
Totallly Incredible.

[blackbirdpie]

Would be nice to see the Sopwith Camel fly with the Hawker Hurricane. Both companies were founded by Thomas Sopwith. Hawker was one of his partners.

[jjaybeebee]

The Merlin does sound nice. I flew with RAF Bomber Command in the big war and heard 4, 000 Merlins in 1, 000 Lancasters in unison many nights of the week, That was really something to hear.