# Nice Shots of a Restored Sopwith Triplane



## MIflyer (Aug 25, 2020)



Reactions: Bacon Bacon:
2 | Like Like:
2 | Winner Winner:
3 | Like List reactions


----------



## Wurger (Aug 25, 2020)




----------



## Crimea_River (Aug 25, 2020)

Cool. We also have one at our local museum. Sopwith Triplane | The Hangar Flight Museum

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## The Basket (Aug 25, 2020)

They run out of red paint?

No Snoopy?


----------



## Snautzer01 (Aug 25, 2020)

The Basket said:


> They run out of red paint?
> 
> No Snoopy?


Snoopy is lurking in a red fokker dr1 in the sun.


----------



## SaparotRob (Aug 25, 2020)

Crimea_River said:


> Cool. We also have one at our local museum. Sopwith Triplane | The Hangar Flight Museum


That’s cool stuff indeed. Do you know if the rotary engine is an original or new build?


----------



## MIflyer (Aug 25, 2020)

That's one Aurora kit I would liked to have had. Never found one, though. And to my knowledge SMER has not reissued it. I think I only had the Nieuport 11 and the Breguet.


----------



## SaparotRob (Aug 25, 2020)

MIflyer said:


> That's one Aurora kit I would liked to have had. Never found one, though. And to my knowledge SMER has not reissued it. I think I only had the Nieuport 11 and the Breguet.
> 
> View attachment 592774


Dude, I built that one!


----------



## MIflyer (Aug 25, 2020)

I had the Aurora Ne11 and Breguet, and the Hawk Nieuport 17C, SPAD 13, and Albatros V. I got a SMER Nieuport 11, DR1, and DH-2.


----------



## Husky (Aug 25, 2020)

MIflyer said:


> View attachment 592739
> View attachment 592740
> View attachment 592742
> View attachment 592741
> ...


Beautiful


----------



## Gnomey (Aug 25, 2020)

Very cool!


----------



## MIflyer (Aug 25, 2020)

I'd have loved to have built a Albatross C-3 or Halberstadt CL-2. Never saw any in the stores that I can recall. Aurora's WWII airplanes were so crude but their WWI kits sure looked right.


----------



## The Basket (Aug 25, 2020)

I do love the design and colour of that 

Reminds me of an old Jag. All wood and green.

British design at its best. Sigh. Them weres the days.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## SaparotRob (Aug 25, 2020)

Am I the only one who thinks there’s but one color for a Jaguar?


----------



## The Basket (Aug 26, 2020)

We talking about a Jaguar the car, the cat or the jet?

It's odd to think that this death trap was once the X-Wing of its day. The F-22 of 1916. 

Love the design. Has an elegance.


----------



## SaparotRob (Aug 26, 2020)

The Basket said:


> We talking about a Jaguar the car, the cat or the jet?
> 
> It's odd to think that this death trap was once the X-Wing of its day. The F-22 of 1916.
> 
> Love the design. Has an elegance.


There’s a cat and a jet too?


----------



## Snautzer01 (Aug 26, 2020)

See here for some (11 pages) of ww1 goodies.


WW1 the eBay finds


----------



## Crimea_River (Aug 26, 2020)

SaparotRob said:


> That’s cool stuff indeed. Do you know if the rotary engine is an original or new build?



Sorry, no I don't.


----------



## buffnut453 (Aug 26, 2020)

The Basket said:


> We talking about a Jaguar the car, the cat or the jet?



How about the tank?


----------



## Snautzer01 (Aug 26, 2020)

buffnut453 said:


> How about the tank?


Ok thats silly. Tank in the air floating... wait ... didnt the soviets?? Yes they did.


----------



## Johnny Curedents (Aug 27, 2020)

MIflyer said:


> That's one Aurora kit I would liked to have had. Never found one, though. And to my knowledge SMER has not reissued it. I think I only had the Nieuport 11 and the Breguet.
> 
> View attachment 592774


I built the DR-I, Fokker D-7, Sopwith Camel, Nieuport (with rockets mounted), SE-5A, but never the Triplane; I don't even remember ever seeing the last mentioned on the shelves (this is 60 years ago now!). I remember also building a Bristol F.2 and I think it too was from Aurora, but perhaps not.


----------



## Vic P (Aug 27, 2020)

MIflyer said:


> View attachment 592739
> View attachment 592740
> View attachment 592742
> View attachment 592741
> ...


This looks like the Sopwith Triplane (Black Maria) that was a part of the Canadian National Aeronautical Collection and is now in the Canadian Aviation & Space Museum in Ottawa, Canada. They did get a number of the old aircraft in the collection flying for the 100th anniversary of Canada (in ‘67). My old Air Cadet squadron was named after this aircraft ... and no, that wasn’t in 1967  .


----------



## Vic P (Aug 27, 2020)

SaparotRob said:


> That’s cool stuff indeed. Do you know if the rotary engine is an original or new build?



If this is the Triplane at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum then these pics were taken in 1967 when a few old WW I aircraft were put in the air for a bit for the 100 anniversary of Canada. So it is quite likely that the original engine was used. It definitely has a rotary engine in it. I must have about 50-100 pictures of this plane when I was at the museum several years ago.

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## Admiral Beez (Aug 27, 2020)

The WW1 exhibit at Seattle’s museum of flight has some fantastic original and replica aircraft. I highly recommend a visit.

Their replica Sopwith Triplane is painted in Canadian colours.

Sopwith Triplane Reproduction | The Museum of Flight


----------



## wingnuts (Aug 27, 2020)

Camouflage is for sissies!

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Dislike Dislike:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## nuuumannn (Aug 29, 2020)

The Triplane in the pictures is The Vintage Aviator's reproduction ZK-SOP and no, it isn't powered by a rotary radial, sadly.

Reactions: Informative Informative:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## RagTag (Oct 14, 2020)

Johnny Curedents said:


> I built the DR-I, Fokker D-7, Sopwith Camel, Nieuport (with rockets mounted), SE-5A, but never the Triplane; I don't even remember ever seeing the last mentioned on the shelves (this is 60 years ago now!). I remember also building a Bristol F.2 and I think it too was from Aurora, but perhaps not.


Since you all are talking Aurora, great memories, I built a small group of them back in the day. They typically came with black parts for engines, machine guns and wheels which I remember thinking back then was pretty technical! Here is a rescue from my hot attic this year where my 1/48 Aurora Sopwith Triplane "Black Maria" had been squirrelled away for thirty years and forgotten about. I built it around the early seventies probably. Still has the ceiling hook and all. Amazing, the engine rotates like a proper rotary. Debating now to actually try and paint it or leave it in its seventies glory and buy a new one to do properly. I was shocked in doing research after finding it that Collishaw's Black Maria was not all black like Jo Kotula's great box art, and the fabric were in different factory colors of olive drab. I know you can't trust black and white photos for color determinations, but there are other pictures of the Black Flight like of "Peggy" and some others where the whole fuselage looks black or without very discernible difference between the cowling say and the fuselage fabric. Anyone here know if any of the Black Flight planes were painted completely black?

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## SaparotRob (Oct 15, 2020)

RagTag said:


> Since you all are talking Aurora, great memories, I built a small group of them back in the day. They typically came with black parts for engines, machine guns and wheels which I remember thinking back then was pretty technical! Here is a rescue from my hot attic this year where my 1/48 Aurora Sopwith Triplane "Black Maria" had been squirrelled away for thirty years and forgotten about. I built it around the early seventies probably. Still has the ceiling hook and all. Amazing, the engine rotates like a proper rotary. Debating now to actually try and paint it or leave it in its seventies glory and buy a new one to do properly. I was shocked in doing research after finding it that Collishaw's Black Maria was not all black like Jo Kotula's great box art, and the fabric were in different factory colors of olive drab. I know you can't trust black and white photos for color determinations, but there are other pictures of the Black Flight like of "Peggy" and some others where the whole fuselage looks black or without very discernible difference between the cowling say and the fuselage fabric. Anyone here know if any of the Black Flight planes were painted completely black?
> View attachment 598269


Blast from the past. I built that one too.


----------



## Capt. Vick (Oct 15, 2020)

Crimea_River said:


> Cool. We also have one at our local museum. Sopwith Triplane | The Hangar Flight Museum







😳


----------



## MIflyer (Oct 15, 2020)

I may have an old issue of Popular aviation with an article and artwork on "Collishaw and The Black Flight" I'll look.

And here is the Profile info.

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## Capt. Vick (Oct 15, 2020)

Aircraft in Profile...a classic!


----------



## MIflyer (Oct 15, 2020)

You can go on ebay and buy all of them on a CD for about $7. Of course they also had profiles on Ships, Guns, Armored Fighting Vehicles and Cars.

Reactions: Informative Informative:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Capt. Vick (Oct 15, 2020)

Heresy!


----------



## wingnuts (Oct 16, 2020)

RagTag said:


> Since you all are talking Aurora, great memories, I built a small group of them back in the day. They typically came with black parts for engines, machine guns and wheels which I remember thinking back then was pretty technical! Here is a rescue from my hot attic this year where my 1/48 Aurora Sopwith Triplane "Black Maria" had been squirrelled away for thirty years and forgotten about. I built it around the early seventies probably. Still has the ceiling hook and all. Amazing, the engine rotates like a proper rotary. Debating now to actually try and paint it or leave it in its seventies glory and buy a new one to do properly. I was shocked in doing research after finding it that Collishaw's Black Maria was not all black like Jo Kotula's great box art, and the fabric were in different factory colors of olive drab. I know you can't trust black and white photos for color determinations, but there are other pictures of the Black Flight like of "Peggy" and some others where the whole fuselage looks black or without very discernible difference between the cowling say and the fuselage fabric. Anyone here know if any of the Black Flight planes were painted completely black?
> View attachment 598269



I built a wooden Fokker DR1 out of offcuts from my son's picture framing business.


----------



## nuuumannn (Oct 16, 2020)

wingnuts said:


> I built a wooden Fokker DR1 out of offcuts from my son's picture framing business.



Sounds very plauseable!  In the Great War, aircraft production was contracted to all sorts of different manufacturers!

The Dr I in the local aviation museum is modelled on Richtofen's famous 425/17 in which he was shot down.




Knights of the Sky 72 

The scene being depicted here, the square of fabric with the Iron Cross in it being torn from the aircraft is replicated from life, as the museum has an Iron Cross marking from the original aircraft.




Knights of the Sky 70

A flying interpretation of same aircraft built in the early 80s by a sadly now deceased warbird pilot Stuart Tantrum, and flown at local airshows.




Knights of the Sky 44

Reactions: Like Like:
3 | Like List reactions


----------



## RagTag (Oct 20, 2020)

Thanks Mlflyer for the profiles, I may have to give up my quest for the legendary (in my mind) all black "Black Tripe". But before I do so in the court I present the following flying in the face of all the museum restorations and flying replicas. My first case is "Peggy", although probably not in the Black Flight, was in No. 1 (Naval) Squadron with what looks like an all black fuselage in its picture.



Your profile post shows it a consistent olive drab, which could possibly take on the black appearance in the photo. But this is definitively of darker cast. Or the profile is wrong!

My next case was this picture of a captured Tripe. The fabric even looks darker than the cowling. Possibly black tail and wheel covers. This could be the smoking gun. Or the cowling is red, doubtful! In any case a prime candidate.






The final case is this flight line picture of No. 1 (Naval) Squadron. N5454 looks particularly like a good candidate for the feared all "Black Tripe". Note on the far aircraft the fins are of lighter cast than the fuselage sides. This may be a mixed shot of Flights A, B and C which had tails and other elements painted red, black and blue, respectively (source: an excellent Database article on the Sopwith Triplane in Aeroplane Magazine, Feb. 2017).




So without corroborating memoirs, squadron logs, relic doped fabric, A/I photometric studies, or museum survivor visits, and not having discovered any missing photos of Abraham Lincoln or Billy the Kid, with N5454 I rest my meager case for an all black Black Tripe. Maybe it can't be proven, but maybe can't be disproven. After all, The Great Waldo Pepper and Flyboys "prove"  there were all black Fokkers! All potshots and misguided opinions welcome!

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## Gnomey (Oct 25, 2020)

Good stuff!


----------

