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This Sopwith Pup Replica Has Us Ready To Put On Flight Suits and Goggles

The number of genuine First World War vintage military airplanes still known to exist across the globe grows smaller and smaller as each year passes. The number of airworthy examples of these aircraft is even smaller still.
Sopwith Pup 11 photos
Photo: STEFAN TRISCHUK AEROSPORTS INC
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Even so, it's still possible to enjoy all the thrills of an early biplane without risking wrecking a timeless war relic. This particular Sopwith Pup biplane fighter was built not in 1916 but in 2004, at great expense to its original owner.

Unlike the original Pup, which used a French Le Rhône nine-cylinder radial engine, this replica uses, of all things, a Russian engine. It's a Vedeneyev M14P unit derived from the Sukhoi Su-26, an airplane we traveled to see in person a few months ago. Go check out that item if you're interested.

This 360 or so horsepower unit is more than enough for this featherweight biplane. But don't go around thinking that means this Pup is flimsy. The galvanized steel frame and wing struts are rated for 10Gs of maneuvering force, that's around the same forces modern jet fighter pilots are forced to tolerate.

Everything from the polished wood dashboard in the pilot's cockpit, or the wheels repurposed from a Model T Ford of all things, this is the kind of replica fighter that movie directors drool over. But also normal folks like us, it's like we're on the set of a First World War movie.

Sopwith Pup
Photo: STEFAN TRISCHUK AEROSPORTS INC
As of 2022, only one singular original Sopwith Pup is still flying. As it's probably the last of its kind ever to fly, it's only ever taken out of its hangar for very special occasions, like the centennial anniversaries of the many battles this plane fought in between 1917 and 1918.

The biggest difference between the Shuttleworth Collection Pup and this replica, besides the engine, is the replica is clearly decked out in the Imperial German Air Forces instead of the RAF. That's probably annoying to most historians but no bother to us.

And how could we forget about that special metal doohickey sitting in front of the cockpit? That's right, that's a real 7.7×56mm Maxim machine gun up there. It's been converted to fire a mixture of propane and oxygen for the purpose of firing blank rounds.

The integrated smoke system is also fantastic to behold, streaming a constant flow of white smoke out its backside as it loops and spins in the sky like an acrobat. If theatrics and putting on a show is your idea of fun, this is the airplane for you.

Sopwith Pup
Photo: STEFAN TRISCHUK AEROSPORTS INC
If you can believe it, the Model T wheels it uses for its landing gear have been fitted with integrated disk brakes. Just in case a wayward farm animal at the adjacent county fair, this plane could potentially fly at runs in front of the Pup's propeller without much notice. Testimony from the original owner included on the many web listings for this replica Pup say the aircraft attracts a crowd wherever in the country flies.

You best believe this little biplane's been to every corner of these States United, as a barnstorming aircraft that pays for itself by wowing spectators with acrobatics, precision flying, and blowing smoke in every direction.

It'd be pretty gosh darn difficult to put an accurate price tag on a one-of-a-kind creation of this nature. But rest assured, it's well north of $500,000, perhaps even well above $1 million, considering the gargantuan amount of custom fabrication that went into making this a sturdy and reliable airframe.

Considering the plane is not currently available for sale or even charter flights, we can only assume speculating its price is best left for some other plane. For now, we can only hope to see this magnificent replica take to the skies in a city near ourselves sometime real soon.

Sopwith Pup
Photo: STEFAN TRISCHUK AEROSPORTS INC
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