Evil_Merlin

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Nope, not the first triplane. That was Blériot-Voisin in 1908.

Ernie P.

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Is what appears to be a center plane, actually the ailerons? I.E., this is a biplane, correct? Thanks; Ernie P.

800mZero

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it doesnt look real at all-is it a movie prop used for the likes of hells angels or something?

Ernie P.

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Well, I can't be the only one who noticed how much the front end resembles the Bristol Fighter. But, I can't find any reference to a triplane version; or a Biff being modified to three wings. So, I'm stumped. Thanks; Ernie P.

Evil_Merlin

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Hint: its American. And its real.

on_your_six

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Curtiss- Kirkham 18T
it set a world speed record in 1918 and a world altitude record in 1919
the first airplane to fly from the capital city of LaPaz, at an elevation of 13,500 feet.

Evil_Merlin

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Right manufacturer, wrong aircraft! Very close. The one I posted flew a full year earlier...

Coincidentaly, you did get the right reason for why it was famous (world altitude record).

on_your_six

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Curtiss - Kirkham 18B Hornet....?? (I cannot find a picture)

Curtiss triplane-Curtiss-Kirkham K12-350?? still no picture to compare..

simple

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I though that about Curtis and it could possibly be the 8T-2, the short-span version becoming the 18T-1.


A second 18T-2 was built by Curtiss for export to Bolivia, where it arrived in 1920 and this may be that one.

simple

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That same year 1919 Curtiss L-3 tri-plane piloted by Roland Rohlfs sets altitude record of 31,420’ but notice the three struts vs. two.

Could it be the Curtis L scout / pursuit version / x-1? I can't find graphics to verify the cowl. Someone needs to nail this puppy down

image 3: Roland Rohlfs looking like a cocoon in his specially designed suit for high altitude work. This photo was taken July 30, 1919, when he broke the U.S. record. Photo from the American Legion Weekly, Aug. 29, 1919.

Ram-bro

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so were these engines supercharged and were the pilots on oxygen and or in suits?

Evil_Merlin

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Simple has it close... however these planes flew earlier and were a different model.

This plane first flew in 1917 though, powered by the Curtiss OXX-3.

And yes, it did set the altitude record for the time... 16,500 feet. Top speed was 112 mph.

on_your_six

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Curtiss S-3 Scout.

[link=http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/curtiss_s-3.php]http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/curtiss_s-3.php[/link]

Essentially a triplane derivative of the S-2 Wireless (signifying lack of wing bracing wires) unarmed biplane "scout", the S-3, or "Triplane Speed Scout", possessed a similar fuselage and 100hp Curtiss OXX-3 engine, and initially retained the ducted propeller spinner featured by the biplane. Interplane bracing employed "K"-type struts and, on its second flight during the summer of 1917, the S-3 attained an altitude of 5030m, which was a record at the time. For initial trials, the centre wing was attached to the fuselage at low shoulder position, but the gap between all three wings was subsequently increased and the centre wing was raised above the fuselage. After redesign of the rudder and the discarding of the ducted spinner, the S-3 successfully completed evaluation trials and four were ordered during the course of 1917 for the US Army Signal Corps. It was proposed to arm the S-3 with two unsynchronised Lewis guns which were to fire over the propeller arc, but the S-3s were, in the event, delivered to the Signal Corps without armament.


Evil Merlin... maybe next time you just give me the words to Google...

I did enjoy all the reading about tri-planes during this exercise of what is it?

Evil_Merlin

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Correct!

I'm not going to let you guys off easy by just Googling it! Where is the fun in that!

But yes, teh S-3 it is... you are up on_your_six!

on_your_six

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What was the first American built aircraft with retractable landing gear? Why were the landing gear retractable?

What was interesting about it's fuselage? Where is it?

Evil_Merlin

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How about the XPS-1?

And its currently at Wright-Patterson AFB... NMUSAF.

Ernie P.

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Actually, I think the first would be the predecessor to the XPS-1; the Dayton-Wright RB-1, also known as the Dayton-Wright Racer. It's at the Henry Ford Museum in Dayton. And it was a racer; so the retractable landing gear was a big plus. The fuselage? Well, in addition to being built largely of balsa, plywood and linen, the pilot had no forward visibility, but was provided with side windows. Cockpit access was through a hatch in the top of the fuselage. Thanks; Ernie P.

Evil_Merlin

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Oh damn, I didn't even think of the RB-1. I'm so focused on the military stuff, I sometimes completely overlook the civilian stuff.

stang151

Huges H-1 , Racer, Flush rivets ,, NASM.

Ernie P.

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Wow! I got one up on Evil_Merlin! That doesn't happen very often. (-: Thanks; Ernie P.

on_your_six

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nope... keep'em coming.

wingspar

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i thought it was the RB-1 also[:@] Your not thinking of the "kitten" are you??

Dave

on_your_six

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more question to answer. but you got it.

wingspar

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I'll have to leave that to someone else as I will be leaving for the week-end.[]

Dave

Ernie P.

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But the Kitten couldn't fly. See below. Thanks; Ernie P.

-Wikipedia
Aircraft designers of the 1920s knew that reducing drag on an airplane in flight was important to improving speed and fuel efficiency, as well as maneuverability and controllability. But they still had relatively little understanding of what actually caused drag on airplanes. Various structures obviously caused drag, but they had first to identify the most important sources before they could address them.

In 1927, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) opened its new Propeller Research Tunnel (PRT) at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Virginia. The PRT was a very large wind tunnel for the time, with a diameter of 20 feet (6.1 meters). It was designed to allow the testing of an entire airplane fuselage with engine and propeller, as opposed to simply a part of an airplane or a scale model. NACA aeronautical engineers suspected that the aircraft landing gear contributed to much of the drag of an airplane, and the PRT was the first wind tunnel that would allow them to test this.

Landing gear consists of the wheels that stick out below the fuselage so that an airplane can roll down the runway during landing and takeoff. In early aircraft, they were fixed in an open position so that they protruded at all times, even while the plane was flying and nowhere near the ground. Tests in the PRT immediately demonstrated that landing gear contributed up to 40 percent of fuselage drag, which shocked the researchers. They realized that reducing the drag produced by the landing gear would significantly improve the performance of the airplane in flight.

There were several ways to reduce the drag of the landing gear. The two most obvious methods were to either retract the landing gear inside the aircraft or redesign a fixed landing gear so that it produced less drag while still protruding below an aircraft.

Retracting landing gear were not a completely new idea in the 1920s. J.W. Wartin's Kitten, built in 1917, had retractable gear (but could not actually fly). The Dayton Wright RB-1 of 1920 and the Verville Sperry R-3 of 1922 also had retractable gear. But these aircraft were rarities and most airplanes had fixed landing gear at the end of metal struts because they were easy to design, strong, and relatively lightweight.