The Sopwith Triplane was an unconventional three-wing, single-seat fighter used by the Royal Naval Air Service during the Great War over the skies of the Western Front.
History
During World War One the Sopwith Aviation Company would gain prominence in the world of aviation manufacturing after the success of the Sopwith Pup, the predecessor of the Sopwith Camel. They desired an aircraft that could build upon the impressive features of the Pup to become the ultimate fighter of the time. From within their experimental department, the idea of the Triplane would begin to emerge.
The first prototype of the Sopwith Triplane would first fly on the 28th of May 1916 piloted by Sopwith test pilot Harry Hawker. In this first flight Hawker would shock the crowd of spectators by performing three vertical loops in quick succession, showing off it’s impressive agility to the onlookers and proving the concept of a triplane fighter to the British military. The Admiralty would issue two contracts to Sopwith for 95 Triplanes, and another two contracts to Clayton and Shuttleworth to build 46 Triplanes. Later the RFC and War Office would then also issue a contract to Clayton and Shuttleworth to build 106 Triplanes, however, this contract couldn’t be fulfilled which lead to the RFC and War Office to cancel the contract. The RNAS contracts were all completed by both Sopwith and Clayton and Shuttleworth.
The Sopwith Triplane would be put inter service and sent to France in December 1916 where they were first used by the No.1 Naval Squadron however they saw little action. They were then relocated to Chipilly to the No.8 Naval Squadron. Between April and May 1917 No.9 and No.10 Naval Squadrons would receive their Triplanes.
The combat debut of the Sopwith Triplane would show it to be highly successful. It’s excellent manoeuvrability, high service ceiling and exceptional rate of climb would give it a clear advantage over the feared Albatros D.III. During April 1917, more infamously known as “Bloody April”, Manfred von Richthofen, The Red Baron, would comment on the Sopwith Triplane calling it “The best allied fighter at the time”. Other German senior offices such as Ernst von Hoeppner would also share this sentiment and started a “triplane craze” within the Imperial German Air Service which would give rise to many of their own triplane designs such as the feared Fokker DR.1.
Despite it’s success the Sopwith Triplane would be retired from combat service in the later half of 1917 with it being relegated as advanced trainers with No.12 Naval Squadron. The Sopwith Triplane would instead be replaced with the Sopwith Camel through the RNAS.
Since the end of the war only 2 of the original Sopwith Triplanes would survive the war and can be found in a few different museums:
*N5486 can be found in the Central Air Force Museum in Monino, Moscow. This is after it was supplied to Russia for evaluation in May 1917, there it was fitted with skis to help it land in snowy conditions.
N5912 is on static display at the Royal Air Force Museum in London. It is one of three built by Oakly & Co. This one never saw combat and instead was used as a trainer with No.2 School of Aerial Fighting and Gunnery at Marske.
Despite this two Sopwith Triplanes can be seen during select airshows in perfect condition. These two are full reproduction aircraft. A reproduction of N6290 from No.8 Naval Squadron can be seen at Shuttleworth Collection in Bedforshire. Another reproduction, N500, is flown as part of the Great War Display Team.
Performance
- Max Speed - 188kph (117mph)
- Range - 517km (321mph)
- Max Flight Time - 2 hours and 45 minutes
- Service Ceiling - 6,200m (20,500ft)
- Rate of Climb - 5.4m/s (1063ft/min)
Specifications
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Weight
Empty - 499kg (1,101lbs)
Max - 699kg (1,541lbs) -
Engine
1 x Clerget 9B 9-Cyclinder Air-Cooled Rotary Piston Engine - 130hp (97kW) -
Size
Length - 5.74m (18ft 10in)
Height - 3.20m (10ft 6in)
Wingspan - 8.08m (26ft 6in)
Wing Area - 21.5m² (231sq ft) -
Armament
1 x Forward Firing .303 Vickers Machine Gun
Pictures
N5486 fitted with skis during it’s service as a trainer with the Red Army.
Sopwith Triplane being flown by the Great War Display Team during the Royal International Air Tattoo 2018.
- Yes
- No
- 0.0
- 0.3
- 0.7
- New Reserve Aircraft (Move everything up by 1 BR)
- Have a separate TT for WW1 vehicles
- I Said No
- Standard TT (Lower than reserve tier, 0.0-0.7)
- Standard TT (Replacing current reserve tier, move everything else up 1 BR)
- Premium
- Event
- Separate WW1 TT
- I said I don’t want it