Black Maria without the C

[Marco]

Hi!

I´m going to start a Wnw Triplane using Pheon decals.

Correct me if I´m wrong: the decal instructions inform two possible Black Marias: one with the letter C and another without the C. Using the C-less aircraft Collishaw scored most os his Tripe victories.

I plan to built the C-less version and I need to know:

1) Which one of the three cowling access panels should I use: oval, big square or small square?

2) Was this aircraft single gun or twin gun?

3) Which gun leather padding?

3) Small or big tail wing?


Thank you!

[coyotemagic]

Hi, Marco.  N5492 was a single gun ship with a simple leather butt pad on the gun without the windscreen.  It had the standard small square access panel just forward of the intake pipes.  It's hard to tell from photos whether it had a large or small tailplane.  From February 1917 on, all Tripes came off the production line with the small tailplane and aircraft in service were retrofitted with them as they became available.  In the photo of N5492 on page 70 of the Osprey book, Sopwith Triplane Aces of World War 1, the elevator appears to sweep outward and forward, indicating the older, large tailplane.  Considering the service life of this particular bus, it's likely to have worn both at one time or another.  I'm certainly no expert and hopefully someone with more information will chime in, but I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Bud

[Marco]

Thanks, Bud! You practically solved everything 

Now I´ll get this build moving.

[coyotemagic]

Great, Marco.  I look forward to seeing it.
Cheers,
Bud

[Chris Johnson]

As I'll be building this in the near future, I'll be watching with interest as you break trail for me.

Cheers,

Chris

[pepperman42]

Great info again. Filing this one for future reference.

Steve