The Sopwith Camel F.1 was a direct development of Herbert Smith's Sopwith Pup1 and the two planes were not dissimilar in appearance, but this is where the simularity ended. Unlike the elegant and docile handling Pup, the Camel was a high strung animal, difficult and dangerous to fly. Deadly in the hands of a novice, many a student was killed while learning to fly the Camel, but in the hands of a skilled pilot, able to take advantage of its temperamental flying characteristics, it was an extreme dog-fighter that could out maneuver any contemporary airplane with the possible exception of the Fokker Dr.I Triplane.