KPM Kovozavody Prostejov Hobby Plastic Model Kit Nieuport Triplane France — 1:72

Manufacturer

Kovozávody Prostějov (KP Models) is a Czech manufacturer with a strong catalogue of unusual European military and civil aircraft. The company has produced numerous subjects from the First World War and inter-war period, including aircraft associated with Czech, French and British aviation.

This kit was released in September 2021 and represents the experimental Nieuport Triplane in French markings. HobbySearch identifies the kit as KPM0256, while European retailers catalogue it as KOV72256.
Kit contents

The KPM0256 is a compact 1:72 injection-moulded plastic kit supplied with:

Injection-moulded plastic components

Fuselage and triplane wing assembly

Cockpit and pilot's position

Landing gear

Engine and propeller

Tail surfaces

Interplane struts and associated flying surfaces

French national markings/decals

Assembly instructions

The kit includes one French decal option. The boxed kit is approximately 25 × 17.5 × 4 cm and weighs about 101 g.
History of the full-size aircraft

The Nieuport Triplane was an experimental French fighter design based on the successful Nieuport 10/17 family. It was developed during the First World War at a time when aircraft designers were experimenting with increasingly sophisticated wing configurations in an attempt to obtain greater lift and manoeuvrability.

Designer Gustave Delage modified a Nieuport 10 in 1915 to test a three-wing arrangement. The aircraft used an unusual fore-aft-fore stagger between the three wings. The concept was sufficiently unusual that it was subsequently patented in 1916.

The attraction of the triplane arrangement was its ability to provide a large lifting area without requiring an exceptionally long wingspan. This could potentially produce excellent climb and manoeuvrability while keeping the aircraft compact.

However, the additional wing structure also introduced drag and structural complexity. As fighter development accelerated during the war, designers increasingly looked for ways to obtain the benefits of high lift without the aerodynamic penalties of multiple wings.
Royal Naval Air Service testing

The Nieuport triplane experiments included aircraft derived from the Nieuport 17. The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) tested two Nieuport 17s modified with a triplane arrangement. These aircraft incorporated reversed stagger on the upper mainplane and were armed with a Lewis machine gun.

Another triplane was subsequently tested and assigned to No. 11 Squadron RNAS, where it remained until approximately June 1917.

The experimental aircraft was based on the Nieuport 17bis. Despite the testing and operational evaluation, the design never received a formal production designation because it was never ordered into series production.

Consequently, the Nieuport Triplane represents an interesting dead-end in First World War fighter development: it demonstrated the potential of the triplane arrangement, but the concept was soon overtaken by other approaches to fighter design.
Importance in aviation history

The Nieuport Triplane is particularly interesting because it illustrates how rapidly aircraft design was changing between 1915 and 1917.

The period saw an enormous amount of experimentation with wing arrangements, engines, armament and aerodynamics. Designers were trying to balance:

Climb rate

Manoeuvrability

Speed

Structural strength

Pilot visibility

Armament

Aerodynamic drag

The Nieuport triplane offered excellent theoretical lifting characteristics, but the extra wing surfaces and associated struts increased drag. Conventional biplanes ultimately offered a more practical compromise, while later aircraft moved toward increasingly refined single- and two-wing arrangements.

Because the Nieuport Triplane never entered mass production, it is an especially unusual subject for a scale-model collection.