Editing Triplane (section)

===Fighter triplanes===
[[Image:SopTri3.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Sopwith Triplane]], the first triplane to see service in World War I.]]
[[Image:Fokker Dr. I USAF.jpg|thumb|A flyable reproduction of the [[Fokker Dr.I]] of World War I, the best known triplane.]]

During [[World War I]], some aircraft manufacturers turned to the triplane configuration for [[fighter aircraft]]. In practice these triplanes generally offered inferior performance to the equivalent biplane and, despite a brief vogue around 1917, only four types saw limited production.

[[Nieuport]] built a series of triplane prototypes between 1915 and 1917, featuring a top wing heavily staggered backwards to improve the pilot's view and a characteristic triangular strut arrangement bracing the three wings. The design resulted in poor handling and was eventually dropped.

Sopwith developed three different triplane designs in 1916. One, known simply as the [[Sopwith Triplane]], went into production and became the first military triplane to see operational service. It had equal-span wings of high aspect ratio, mounted on a fuselage very similar to that of the preceding Pup biplane, and braced by one sturdy strut on each side with minimal wire bracing. The type was ordered by both the [[Royal Flying Corps|RFC]] and [[RNAS]], but the RFC traded theirs for another type and the Sopwith saw service only with the RNAS, where it served with success.

The Sopwith type's performance advantage and early successes over the [[Albatros D.III]] spurred military interest in the design, especially in Germany and Austria-Hungary. A flurry of fighter prototypes were produced through 1917 and 1918, sometimes reluctantly while under pressure from the military. Examples were produced by Albatros, [[Aviatik]], Brandenburg, DFW, Euler, Fokker, Friedrichshafen, [[LFG Roland]], Lloyd, Lohner, Oeffag, Pfalz, Sablating, Schütte-Lanz, Siemens-Schuckert, W.K.F, in Britain by Austin and in the US by Curtiss. Only two companies, Fokker and Curtiss, would see any of their designs into production.

Fokker's V.4 prototype of 1917 (identified by some as the V.3) had unusual cantilevered wings without bracing, the uppermost wing being attached only by cabane struts to the fuselage. The wings vibrated excessively in flight and the next prototype, the V.5, featured a single interplane strut on each side, similar to the Sopwith but with no wires called [[shroud lines|shrouds]]. This became the prototype of the famous [[Fokker Dr.I]] triplane of 1917, which would become immortalised as the aircraft most closely identified in popular culture with [[Manfred von Richthofen]], the "Red Baron". Although it had a good rate of climb and was highly manoeuvrable, it was not particularly fast. Following the break-up of two examples in the air, the type was withdrawn from service for strengthening, and by the time it was re-introduced, it was no longer at the forefront of performance.

Meanwhile, in the US, the Curtiss company produced many triplane designs between 1916 and 1918. Of these, several fighters and related types entered production, notably the [[Curtiss Model L|Model L]] trainer (of which three examples were constructed as floatplanes) and the [[Curtiss Model S|Model S]] and [[Curtiss 18-T|Model 18-T]] fighters. The [[Curtiss GS-1]] prototype of 1918 was unusual in being a floatplane scout from the outset.

The performance of the fighting triplanes was soon overtaken by improved [[biplane]] fighters. However, as late as 1919 three prototype [[Sopwith Snark]]s were flown, and in 1920 and 1921 the heavily armoured [[Boeing GA-1]] and [[Boeing GA-1|GA-2]] ground-attack triplanes proved too heavy to be useful.