The Sopwith Pup makes early carrier trials manageable

At one point, the Sopwith Pup was the world's most common fixed-wing carrier aircraft. It was stable, comparatively easy to fly, and forgiving beside more demanding contemporaries such as the Camel. Those qualities made it the natural test aircraft for the first landing on a moving ship. Using a manageable aircraft let the Royal Navy concentrate on the still-unknown problems of deck layout, approach, and recovery. HMS Furious was the ship used for that first underway landing.