first heavier-than-air craft to carry a person in free flight was a triplane, as far back as 1848 and long before the advent of powered flight. One of the few Danish designs to fly, in 1907, and the first powered type to fly in Germany, was also a triplane. However the triplane has seldom proved a practical solution and few types have ever entered production. The majority of triplane designs emerged during a narrow period from 1908 to 1923. Besides the famous fighting triplanes of the First World War, several larger types became successful bombers, airliners and maritime patrol aircraft, sometimes as different variants of the same basic design, both during and immediately after the war. The last triplane design, a private homebuild, was introduced shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Pioneer years The first heavier-than-air machine to carry a human on a free, untethered flight was a triplane glider constructed by George Cayley and flown in 1848. It was modern in form, having three stacked wings above the fuselage and a separate stabilising tail with both fin and tailplane. The wings were of typical Cayley kite-like planform having a low aspect ratio. The craft was not large enough to carry an adult so a local boy was chosen as the passenger, but his name is not known. Between 1907 and 1911 a number of pioneers experimented with triplanes, some capable of flight and others not. None proved outstanding, although the series produced by A.V. Roe had some success and sold in small numbers. In 1907 the Danish pioneer Jacob Ellehammer flew a powered triplane and would later receive a prize for flying it in Germany. The French Bousson-Borgnis canard triplane of 1908 was a failure. The Goupy No.1, designed in 1908 by Ambroise Goupy and built by Voisin, was more successful. A few weeks after the Goupy No.1 flew, Hans Grade's triplane became the first German-built aeroplane to fly. In the same year Farman modified his original Voisin machine to triplane configuration, and Dorand constructed a military triplane. In 1909 the American Morris Bokor constructed his own canard triplane and the Frenchman Alfred Groos constructed a triplane which failed to fly. Through 1909 and 1910 the British aviation pioneer A.V. Roe built a series of four experimental triplanes—types I, II, III and IV—and selling a small number of his Type II and III designs, before abandoning