Sopwith Triplane (oz7024)

About this Plan

Sopwith Triplane. Radio control sport scale model. Uses Ace mini foam wing.

Quote: "The author's .15 powered Sopwith tripe looks almost like a caricature of the famous- WW I aircraft. In the air, it's one of the finest sport models ever had the pleasure of flying. Sopwith Triplane, by Fred Reese.

I have wanted to build a Sopwith Triplane for a long time but the thought of building three wings for only one airplane had put me off. Then Ace RC came to the rescue with their constant chord, 35 inch foam wings. What could be easier? I have been flying foam winged Rumplestadts for about a year now with excellent results. They can really take a beating and they repair easily. With all this experience, scale three-views, and three foam wings I began to draw the plan's.

What I ended up with is not scale. It is a caricature that resembles the Sopwith Triplane. It is still very attractive and a real crowd pleaser with very scale-like performance. The airplane literally flies itself and is extremely stable. It will return to level flight with hands off the controls from practically any attitude. At low throttle it is as docile as any trainer, yet with full power it is very acrobatic.

I spent a very sleepless night before the first flight worrying about the short nose and just about everything else but I needn't have. Except for the addition of some down thin, everything was perfect; It lifted off easily in about twenty feet, and climbed steadily, so I began to try out the responses. Rudder response was good. The elevator was a bit sensitive but I found myself using it very little. I would recommend that newer modelers use the inside hole on the elevator servo output wheel. The stall proved to be just a gentle mush - the nose dropped a little and the airplane continued on its way. Slow flight was fantastic! The airplane would hover at zero ground speed when headed inio the wind with no tendency to fall off on a wing or snap roll.

The gentle stall characteristic is because of the different angles of attack of each of the three wings. The top wing, which is the most foreword, has the most positive incidence and stalls first. The center wing stalls next and lastly the bottom wing. l must add that you have to try very hard to make all three wings stall because as the top wing stalls the airplane becomes nose heavy in relationship to the wings still flying so the nose drops naturally and flying speed increases until the top wing is no longer in a stalled condition.

I have flown the triplane many times since that first flight and it continues to be a pleasant escape from those roaring .60's. Low, slow passes with the wings gently rocking prove that it is not necessary to go fast to have fun.

Ideally, the triplane should have a three channel radio and a throttled .15 engine for power. However, the little triplane flies very well with rudder control only. So if you have a single channel or one of the new two channel radios you can join the fun with something a bit different from the usual high wing monoplane.

If you have read this far, build it! Right now order the full size plans from RCM and three sets. of the Ace constant chord wings. While you are waiting, gather up all of the balsa, plywood and dowels, paint, wheels, etc, that you will need. Paint the pilot and assemble the Williams Bros 2 in scale Vickers gun..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 31/05/2016: article pages, text & pics added, thanks to spitfireflyby.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, text & pics.

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