The Pup was a single-seat fighting scout and the forerunner to the more famous Camel. It was named Pup because it looked like a baby 1½ Strutter. The Pup was nearly perfect in flying qualities. Delightful to fly, very small, simple and reliable with a generous wing area for a good rate of climb and agility. It had excellent performance at height. It was soon underpowered for combat on the Western Front againt Albatros DIIIs, but it could turn twice in the radius of a single turn by an Albatros. This aircraft established the reputation of Naval 8 RNAS in late 1916 when they racked up 20 kills. After removal from the front it was used as a Home Defence unit fighter against Zeppelins.

Technical Details
The Pup was powered by the 80 hp LeRhone 9C rotary engine, giving it a maximum speed of 179 km/h (111 mph). Other engines were used on some aircraft (80 hp Gnome or 100 hp Gnome Monosoupape) It was armed with a single Vickers machine gun mounted on the fusilage over the engine. It was light and extremely agile, although slower than it's opponents, the Albatros DIII. Some 1770 were built, quite a number for that time.

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Image from: E. Parks, Fighters. The World's Great Aces and Their Planes. Permission to be requested.