"Night" Camels

I have read of Camels modified for use as night fighters. These planes reportedly had the cockpit moved back in the fuse, the Vickers guns removed, the center section covering of the wing removed, a pair of Lewis guns bolted to the top wing center section, then painted the whole thing black.

Does anyone know anything more about these Camels?

Anyone got pictures?

Rex
Pudney (John) The Camel Fighter. Page 45 there is an illustration of the gun arrangement for the night fighter. There are two lewis guns, one on top of the wing and level the other mounted at 45 degrees up through the centre of the wing. No 151 camel squadron was a night fighter squadron. The lewis guns had Neame illuminated sights.

Thanks Martin, I'll have to look up a copy of that book.

Another good book is 'The Camel File' *Sturtivant & Page published by Air Britain.

Basically a list of all known Camel serials with a potted history of each plane.

Lots of photos and plans including night-fighting Camels.

Another good book is 'The Camel File' *Sturtivant & Page published by Air Britain.

Basically a list of all known Camel serials with a potted history of each plane.

Lots of photos and plans including night-fighting Camels.

http://www.air-britain.co.uk/books/acatalo...e_Series_6.html

Thank you Gordon, I'll look into that as well. 8)

[Cigogne]

That version of the Camel was also referred to as the "Comic." I don't know where the soubriquet came from. It also had a headrest ala S.E.5 style. The Americans also flew the Camel at night with the 185th Aero Squadron, but they had the standard Camel but with the 160 hp Gnome Monosoupape engine installed, the same engine that was in the Nieuport 28. Another item that would have been installed on the Night Flying Camels were the Holt flare brackets for under the wings for landing.

If I ever build a model of a Camel, it will the "Comic" for me. I think it is an impressive looking variant of the Camel.

How did these modifications enable the Camel to be a night fighter?

How did these modifications enable the Camel to be a night fighter?

Moving the cockpit back in the fuse and removing the covering on the center section of the upper wing would dramatically improve visibility.

I'm unsure what the benefits of replacing the turtledeck mounted Vickers with the wing mounted Lewis guns was. Less muzzle flash to ruin night vision maybe?

The overall black paint would act as camouflage of course.

[Craig]

Whie its rotary engine was well-suited for interception duties, the Camel seems an odd choice for a night fighter. What of its "high-maintenance" flying qualities? It seems you'd want a stable machine for dangerous, night-time take-offs and landings. And moving the cockpit aft would only add reduced visibilty to the aforementioned faults.

Why not the SE5a?

[Cigogne]

Moving the cockpit back made for a more unobstructed view upward. Also, the Camel had a much slower landing speed than the S.E.5a which was seen as safer at night.

The double Lewis guns had flash suppressors on them. Also, the guns being on the top wing they weren't in the direct line of sight to blind the pilot.