A Tripod Buster
May 1918 - With the Martians increasingly targeting the human airfields, and rapidly advancing east and west toward Paris and Berlin, new technology was needed to save Europe, and possibly the world. After the Entente and Central Powers air forces were quickly reorganized as Allied Air Command in April, the new organization’s first task was to develop planes specifically designed to combat the alien menace. Combining technological advances from all the Great Powers, Project Falcon rapidly moved forward and in a few weeks had a new groundbreaking design.
A triplane outline was chosen for a fast climb rate up and away from heat-ray range. The prototype was built upon an existing Fokker Dr1 fuselage, with it’s squared profile promising to speed mass construction. A larger engine and cowling extended the length to the front, while a large rocket engine was slung underneath the tail for quicker maneuvering around tripods. Lightweight heat-dissipating armor covered vital areas. British manufacturers initially refused to be involved due to the triplane concept being stolen from Sopwith in 1917. However, when the project’s directors determined Britain would be the safest place for manufacture, and Fokker himself was lost behind the growing “Red Curtain,” the new plane officially became the “Royal-Sopwith Falcon.”
Introduced in late May of 1918, the Falcon quickly proved itself a powerful and survivable aircraft, making aircrews more willing to take on the Martians, knowing there was a chance they would make it home. The Falcon-A variant was quickly introduced in response to Martian airfield raids, adding trapeze hooks to the top wing for new highly mobile airship carriers.
As Paris fell and the Martians neared the English Channel, the Triplane looked poised to save humanity, but only combat performance would tell...
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