Triplane
From Freepedia
A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three sets of wings, each roughly the same size and mounted one above the other. Typically, the lower set of wings would be level with the underside of the aircraft's fuselage, the middle set level with the top of the fuselage, and the top set supported above the fuselage on struts.
During World War I, some aircraft manufacturers turned to this configuration in an effort to gain extra maneuverability for fighter aircraft, at a penalty of greater drag and therefore lower speed. In practice, triplanes generally offered performance that was seldom superior to biplanes, and relatively few aircraft of this configuration ever reached mass production. Triplane layouts were also experimented with on large aircraft such as early heavy bombers such as the Witteman-Lewis XNBL-1 Barling Bomber and on anti-zeppelin fighters of the RAF.
Sopwith Triplane was the first triplane to see service during World War I, but by far, the best-known example of a triplane is the Fokker Dr.I, immortalised as the aircraft most closely identified with Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron".
Recently, the term "tandem triplane" has been used for recent jet fighter aircraft that have canards in addition to normal flying surfaces for increased manouverablility. These are generally not considered triplanes in the traditional sense. Examples of these include the Sukhoi Su-37, Su-47, the Mikoyan Mig-33, and NASA's F-15 Active-an experimental derivative of the F-15 Eagle.
