Many think triplanes went out of style after the days of the Red Baron.
However, a deep dive into the record shows otherwise.
In 1930, the tiny, three-sided territories of Tribecca, Trianglestan and Trigonometry felt threatened as they were hemmed in by much larger nations. They formed a mutual defense pact which would be almost known to history as the Trilateral Commission.
The leaders of the three countries of the Trilateral Commission had a daunting task before them.
Developing any kind of teamwork between these countries would be challenging. Therefore, the first order of business was to come up with a banner everyone could rally around that would promote unity.
The second order of business was to obtain a modern aircraft to defend against bombing raids by their larger, glowering neighbors. Many proposals were considered and discarded as not being in line with the Trilateral Commission's design methodology.
You see, the Three Wise Men in their wisdom decreed that power of 3 be the cornerstone of all things within the Trilateral Commission. While this obsession led to a wildly anachronistic aircraft, it had hidden benefits.
An unfinished biplane prototype was converted into a triplane with a steel tube fuselage and cantilever wings. Those wings had interplane struts which were not necessary from a structural standpoint, but helped minimize wing flexing.
The three wings of the prototype fighter gave it an amazing rate of climb which was seen as crucial. Also, the three gun wing armament of two 30 cal. m.g.s & one 30 mm cannon was very heavy for the era and promised fire-power of unprecedented magnitude.
A teardrop-shaped clear perspex canopy offered the pilot an excellent all-around view and the incredibly streamlined spatted landing gear promised an intimidation factor that was also of unprecedented magnitude.
The crowd on hand to see the test flights fairly swooned upon seeing that amazingly sleek, sexy and scary undercarriage. They were also impressed by the prototype leaping skyward like a homesick angel.
Powered by a large radial engine which was so well thought out that even the exhaust was aerodynamic, the triplane thrilled the crowd with repeated power-dives at high speed.
The Three Wise Men had little choice but to order the prototype into production after the overwhelming acclaim of all who saw it or flew it. Thus the Trilateral Commission Tri-13 Triplane was born.
Once again, the citizens of the Trilateral Commission could feel safe and secure now that their skies would be protected by the most cutting-edge aircraft in eastern Europe.
Unfortunately, as perspex was the new wonder material, the ultra-modern canopy was quite expensive and in the end the Trilateral Commission could only afford three of the revolutionary triplanes. One was based in capitol of each of the three nations, tasked with air defense.
Luckily, this would be enough to keep the Trilateral Commission countries safe from enemy attack. If one doubts the effectiveness of these aircraft, the fact that no bombs ever fell on Tribecca, Trianglestan or Trigonometry shows just how feared these fighters were.
No Trilateral Commision Triplanes survive and the only extant photograph is of 369 based in the Trigonometran capitol of Trinomial. Due to this randomly assigned number, modelers and amateur historians remain convinced there was once a great air fleet of these forgotten 3-winged fighters.
Brian da Basher
