.Tribute to World War I (Sopwith TRIPLANE)
In their search for an outstanding fighting aeroplane the
Sopwith experimental department decided in early 1916 to build an
entirely new design--a triplane. The completed machine had three
narrow-chord wings. The combined wing area of the three mainplanes
gave the aircraft plenty of lift. Ailerons were fitted to all three
wings; the interplane struts were plain but strong and few bracing
wires were needed. The fuselage was a typical Sopwith wooden box
girder. Tail- plane, elevators, rudder and fin resembled those of
the Pup, but later production models had a
tail-plane of reduced area. The handling qualities of the Triplane
were excellent. It is now regarded as only slightly less
manoeuvrable than the Pup, but many pilots preferred it to the
little biplane.
The triplane layout was adopted in order to give the pilot the
widest possible field of vision, and to ensure maneuverability. The
central wing was level with the pilot's eyes and obscured very
little of his view, and the narrow chord of all the mainplanes
ensured that the top and bottom wings interfered less with his
outlook than the wings of a biplane. The narrow chord aided
manoeuvrability, for the shift of the center of pressure with
changes of incidence was comparatively small; this permitted the
use of a short fuselage. At the same time, the distribution of the
wing area over three mainplanes kept the span short and conferred a
high rate of roll.
Looking back, it is hard to realize the revolutionary nature of
the Triplane at the time it appeared. Nothing quite like it had
ever been built for military purposes, and the best measure of its
success is provided by the profusion of German and Austrian
single-seat fighter triplanes which appeared after the impact made
by the Sopwith Triplane
It has been said that Anthony Fokker was so anxious to produce an
aircraft which would be an adequate reply to the new Sopwith
fighter that he resorted to subterfuge to obtain an example of the
Triplane. He contrived to arrange for the delivery to his works of
the remains of a Sopwith Triplane which had been shot down, despite
the fact that the aircraft should have gone to the German
experimental field at Adlershof. However, the Fokker Dr. I Triplane which was ultimately
designed by Reinhold Platz, Fokker's chief designer, was a very
different aeroplane from the Sopwith Triplane.
The power unit, a 110 h.p. Clerget
rotary, was eventually replaced by the 130 h.p. Clerget. The
standard armament consisted of a fixed Vickers gun, synchronized to fire through
the revolving propeller. A small batch of six Triplanes, however,
were fitted with twin Vickers guns built by Clayton &
Shuttleworth.
The first prototype Sopwith Triplane, N.500, went to France in
mid-June, 1916 to undergo Service trials with Naval "A" Fighting
Squadron at Furnes. The Triplane was an instant success, and no
time was lost in testing it in action, for it was sent up on an
interception within a quarter of an hour of its arrival at Furnes.
It was destined to be flown operationally by naval units only. The
R.F.C., who had already received a present of the first sixty
R.N.A.S. Spad S.7s, decided in February
1917 to accept the remaining sixty in exchange for the Sopwith
Triplanes on order for the Corps.
The type was ordered by the Admiralty for the R.N.A.S., and the
War office followed suit by ordering 266 machines for the R.F.C.
Sopwith built the R.N.A.S. Triplanes. Other contractors undertook
production of the Triplane for the R.F.C.
No. 1 (Naval) Squadron, 'Naval one', went into action with the
type in April 1917, in support of the hard-pressed R.F.C. The
hitherto very successful Albatros
D-III was completely outclassed, and IdFlieg , the
German Inspectorate of Flying Troops, received a severe shock. The
Tripehound could out-climb and out-turn the Albatros, and
was 15 m.p.h faster. Naval Eight and Naval Ten, equipped in April
and May, also made their presence felt. Proof of the Triplane's
worth was soon to be shown. In April 1917 Flight Commander R. S.
Dallas and Flight Sub-Lieutenant T. G. Culling attacked a formation
of fourteen German aircraft. After forty-five minutes they had shot
down three of the enemy and driven the remainder into retreat.
On June 6th, thirteen of Naval Ten's Triplanes fought fifteen
enemy aeroplanes and shot down five without loss to themselves. Two
of the five were Albatros scouts which fell in flames under the
fire of Flight Sub-Lieutenant Raymond Collishaw. Other famous
R.N.A.S. pilots who scored heavily with the type were Collishaw,
Little, Booker, Reid, Sharman, Nash and Alexander.
Collishaw was probably the best-known exponent of the Sopwith
Triplane's superb fighting qualities. A Canadian, he was given
command of "B" Flight of No. 10 (Naval) Squadron on April 1st,
1917. This was the famous "Black Flight", as redoubtable a fighting
unit as took the air during the war. Between May and July, 1917 it
accounted for no fewer than eighty-seven enemy aircraft. All the
pilots were Canadians. The original members were Flight
Sub-Lieutenant E. V. Reid, Flight Sub-Lieutenant J. E. Sharman,
Flight Sub-Lieutenant G. E. Nash, and Flight Sub-Lieutenant W. M.
Alexander. The Triplanes of the Black Flight were named Black
Death, Black Maria, Black Roger, Black Prince and Black Sheep.
In a combat on June 26th, 1917, Nash was wounded and forced down
behind the enemy lines by Leutnant Allmenroder, a German pilot with
thirty victories to his credit. Next day Collishaw avenged the loss
of his friend. In a fight which began near Courtrai, he shot down
and killed Allmenroder, forcing his green tailed Albatros to crash
on the outskirts of Lille.
In twenty-seven days during June, 1917, Collishaw shot down
sixteen enemy machines. All, except three, were Albatros and
Halberstadt single-seat fighters.
Some difficulty was found in obtaining spares for the Triplane
during the summer of 1917, and one unit, Naval one, had to reduce
its establishment from eighteen to fifteen aeroplanes. By the
autumn the type had passed its zenith and the rate of casualties in
Triplane squadrons rose.
At the end of August, 1917, No. 10 (Naval) Squadron began to
re-equip with Sopwith Camels. Three of its
Triplanes were then transferred to No. I (Naval) Squadron, which in
turn gave up its beloved Triplanes on its withdrawal on November
2nd, 1917. The first Triplane squadrons to begin re-equipment with
Camels were No. 8 (Naval), which had received a few Camels by the
end of July, 1917, and No. 9 (Naval), which exchanged its Triplanes
and Pups for Camels between mid-July and August 4th.
The Battles of Ypres were therefore the last actions over which
Sopwith Triplanes flew. They fought with distinction until their
final demise.
When it is realized that only about 150 were built, it is
surprising how much they influenced the trend of design. A host of
triplanes and quadruplanes were built by the leading German and
Austro-Hungarian aircraft manufacturers in efforts to match the
performance of the remarkable Sopwith Triplane.
One Sopwith Triplane, N.5431, was used in Macedonia. It was on
the strength of No. 2 Wing R.N.A.S., and in March, 1917, it was
allocated to the new R.N.A.S. unit known as "E" Squadron, which
later combined with a Royal Flying Corps detachment to form the
Composite Fighting Squadron, based at Hadzi Junas as a
countermeasure to the German bomber squadron then operating from
Hudova. However, N.5431 never reached Hadzi Junas. It flew first to
Stavros; and, in company with four Sopwith 1
1/2 Strutters, set out for Salonika on March 26th, 1917. Its
pilot was Flight Lieutenant John
Alcock. When landing at Salonika, Alcock made one of the few
errors of judgment in his distinguished flying career. He overshot
the small aerodrome and wrecked the Triplane. The wreckage was
taken back to Mudros and rebuilt. It was still flying from Mudros
at the end of September, 1917. On the 30th of that month it was
flown by Lieutenant H. T. Mellings when he shot down an enemy
single-seat fighter seaplane.
Another, 'Tripe' No. N5486, went to Russia and was eventually
provided with skis for operating in the snow.
Specifications: |
Sopwith
Triplane |
Dimensions: |
Wing span: |
26 ft 6 in (8.07
m) |
Length: |
18 ft 10 in (5.73 m) |
Height: |
10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) |
Weights: |
Empty: |
1,101 lb (499 kg) |
Max T/O: |
1,541 lb (698 kg) |
Performance: |
Maximum Speed: |
117 mph (188 km/h) @ 5,000 ft
(1,524 m) |
Service Ceiling: |
20,500 ft (6,248 m) |
Endurance: |
2 3/4 hours |
Powerplant: |
One 110 hp (82 kw)
or 130 hp (96 kw) Clerget rotory, radial engine. |
Armament: |
One synchronised
Vickers machine gun mounted centrally on top of the
fuselage, firing forward. Several Triplanes had an installation of
twin synchronised Vickers guns. |
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