A trimotor is a propeller-driven

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

powered by three internal combustion engines, characteristically one on the nose and one on each wing. A compromise between complexity and safety, such a configuration was typically a result of the limited power of the engines available to the designer. Many trimotors were designed and built in the 1920s and 1930s as the most effective means of maximizing payload. Other - and uncommon - configurations include engines above the wing, as on

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

s, including in pusher configuration, and an engine on each wing and one on the tail. The best known trimotors are the Fokker F, Ford AT, and Junkers Ju series aircraft.

Gallery

Ford C-4 Tri-Motor.jpg,

Ford Trimotor The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American Trimotor, three-engined transport plane, transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, afte ...

, a pioneering all-metal aircraft StateLibQld 1 139254 Landing the aircraft, Southern Cross in Brisbane, Queensland, ca. 1928.jpg, Fokker F.VIIb/3m landing in Brisbane in 1928 after making first crossing of the Pacific Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00921A, Armstrong Whitworth A.W. 154 Argosy.jpg, Imperial Airways Armstrong Whitworth A.W. 154 Argosy Avia 51-Spanish Republican AF.jpg, Only three Avia 51 were produced G-BEDR-Trislander-AirEcosse.jpg,

Britten-Norman Trislander The Britten-Norman Trislander (more formally designated the BN-2A Mk III Trislander) is a trimotor, three-engined piston engine, piston-powered utility aircraft designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Britten-Norman. The Tri ...

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amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

Air Melanesiae De Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover Mk3 BWU Wheatley.jpg, de Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover Caproni CA 36.jpg, WW1 Caproni Ca.3 trimotor

List of trimotors

References

{{Lists of aircraft, state=collapsed Aircraft configurations Lists of aircraft by power source

Gallery

List of trimotors

See also

References