Twitter
Facebook
***image1***Say “World War I triplane” and one immediately thinks of the Fokker Dr. 1 and, more precisely, the all-red mount of the war’s leading ace – the German Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen.
But, in fact, the Fokker aircraft was a derivative – a slightly improved copy of the British Sopwith Triplane that first flew in May 1916.
The Sopwith aircraft was the result of air combat experience that had shown that maneuverability, high rate of climb and good cockpit visibility were essential. The lift of the three sharply staggered wings replacing the normal two was expected to take care of the first two requirements. The very narrow wings – three feet, three inches – and positioning the middle wing level with the pilot’s eyes provided excellent visibility.
The triplane was similar to an earlier, well-regarded Sopwith fighter – the Pup – but was somewhat larger and powered by a 110 horsepower rotary engine instead of the Pup’s 80 horsepower engine.
The triplane was armed with a single .30 caliber machine gun and notably lacked the large number of bracing wires that were common on other aircraft, but the structure was sound. Three minutes into its first test flight, the test pilot looped the aircraft. Further testing showed it was also very easy to fly.
In September 1916, the Germans began to introduce the Albatros D series of fighters that were vastly superior to those flown by the allies, and the air situation over France turned desperate.
The Sopwith Triplane was quickly ordered by both the British Army’s Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Navy Air Service and began to arrive at the front in late 1916. But, for unclear reasons, it was flown almost entirely by RNAS.
In early 1917, the Germans almost drove the allies from the skies, especially during “Bloody April,” but the triplane proved superior to the Albatros and the five RNAS Triplane squadrons helped hold the line. One triplane pilot scored 24 kills in two months and triplanes were so successful that the German high command seemed to think there was magic in the design and demanded a copy from its aircraft designers.
The most successful was the Fokker Dr.1, which was similar in size and
performance, but carried two machine guns to the Sopwith’s one. Even though the Dr. 1 appeared almost a year after the British triplane, it was well-liked by the German squadrons and was used almost exclusively by several of its aces, notably Richthofen and Werner Voss.
Ironically, while the Germans were scrambling to build copies, the Sopwith Triplane was being withdrawn from service and replaced by the faster and more n heavily-armed Sopwith Camel. But the Camel, unlike the docile Triplane, had some vicious flying characteristics (more Camels were lost in accidents than in combat) and most triplane pilots looked askance at their new mounts.
