ORIGINAL: abufletcher
Why not try to address the actual cause of ground loops rather than design in protection for when it does happen?
Chicken and egg. It ain't a perfect world, the Great War itself presenting evidence sufficient of this and mankind's penchant for illogic and enacting stupidity.
Implementation of undercarriage production and design was aleady a
fait accompli, reinforced by fixed ideas and resistance to change as is typical of our species. if one might use the Microsoft analogy. Not only is it easier to come up with perpetual patches than redesign a flawed OS from the ground up, but the fact that one has to accomodate legacy apps and deal with economic and emotional resistance to change during the process is self-determining and restrictive of the ideal process.
So you could say it was partially due to convention, with the usual human resistance to new ideas and change. Even if one could overcome those social and political barriers, where else would you place the undercarriage? On those relatively fragile lower wing structures? Almost universally, undercarriages on scout and recon types were narrow track centred on the fuselage.
Secondly, the narrow track undercarriage issue compounded by no brakes simply make an aircraft more susceptible. The major factor in terms of probability was relative pilot inexperience.
It would have made more sense to make modifications to the undercarriage to minimize ground loops in the first place.
Perhaps, but you've moved back into that armchair, grabbed a coffee, turned the air conditioning on and are thinking about it without the pressures and constraints of the time.
As I flip through Janes it occurs to me from my observation of wingtip design that pure prejudicial preference and aesthetics at the whim of the individual designer heavily influenced tip design. ie: Most Fokkers had squarish tips Dr.1, D.7, D.8 etc. Albatross eg: III & V, Halberstadt and Pfalz went for taper. etc..etc..
As can be seen in the Spitfire and Me109 designs, the high narrow track undercarriage implemented due to structural issues again presented a problem with ground handling 20 years later. It was quickly abandoned in other types, but never addressed in those particular designs. Reason in my view? As needs must - also known as pressure of production triage.
Re tip design.
As it turned out, early during WW2, the rounded tip was very much in vogue. Elliptical made an appearance, but was less popular not least at a guess due to production issues? Examples (primary Marks) of rounded tips Hurricanes, Spitfire II & V & IX, Whirlwind, Mosquito and from the US, P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47, Jap - Zero, Tony, German - Bf 109. Later, as both excess horsepower and overall speeds increased the squared off tip very much came back into vogue.
Today, in an era where fuel economy is everything, the taper supported by induced drag reducing tips is common on everything from gliders through lighties and airliners.