When the First World War was just beginning, military aviation consisted almost exclusively of reconnaissance aircraft. Fighting in the air seemed extremely unlikely, and most importantly, unnecessary. Even then, only a few designers and pilots argued that it was necessary to think about combat maneuvering and weapons that could turn an airplane into a fighter.
However, just two years after the start of the war, the situation had changed beyond recognition. Air battles became commonplace, and fighter aircraft were rapidly improving. It quickly became clear that in the maneuverable aerial combat typical of those years, a biplane had a clear advantage. Two bearing planes made it possible to reduce the specific load on the wing, reduce the turning radius and make the car more obedient.
However, the biplanes still had an ineradicable drawback: poor visibility. Two wings located one below the other blocked the entire view from the cockpit. Meanwhile, noticing the enemy first is already half the victory for a fighter pilot. The appearance of the extremely unusual Sopwith Triplane aircraft was the result of another attempt to radically solve this problem. To narrow down the conventional wing of a biplane meant to reduce the area, and with it the lifting force. To raise the wing higher means to worsen the strength characteristics of the structure.
The author of the new aircraft, Herbert Smith, came up with a paradoxical solution: he immediately raised the wing and narrowed its area. It was possible to compensate for the decrease in structural strength and lack of lift by installing a third wing on the aircraft, which created a triplane – an aircraft with three supporting planes. Of course, the drag of an airplane increased – but in times of low speeds, these could not be reckoned with.
The triplanes were handed over to the troops at the end of 1916. This Sopwith airplane became the only one of its kind – aircraft with three supporting planes were never built later. The active use of triplanes lasted just over six months. Such a short period of time is primarily due to the capriciousness of the aircraft and a certain conservatism of the operational services.
And yet the fighter justified itself. In just four months, five Triplane pilots from the 10th Naval Aviation Squadron were enough to destroy 87 Kaiser aircraft. The pilots gave this car a very high rating. Daily Lotto