Two first-line fighters

[barit1]

...only 23 years apart. Taken at AirVenture this week. Wonder if the Dreidecker's Vmax is above a P-51D's Vso?
http://www.airventure.org/news/2010/images/30-duo%202_jk_.jpg

[henry crun]

Lovely photo barit; what is that object at the tip of the lower right wing of the Tripe ?

[alanmt]

There is one under both lower wingtips they are supposed to protect the wing if it goes a little wrong on takeoff or landing. :)

[henry crun]

I did consider that reason, but the ones on the Tripe appear to be rectangular in section and blunt nosed, just right for digging in if a wingtip should touch the ground.

[Entaxei]

Could be early JATO - but no sign of any fuses to light. ;)

[SomeGuyOnTheDeck]

I did consider that reason, but the ones on the Tripe appear to be rectangular in section and blunt nosed, just right for digging in if a wingtip should touch the ground. I think with a short-coupled and 'torque-y' aircraft like that, you are most likely to catch a wingtip in a groundloop, when the nose is well up, so the front of the skid shouldn't make contact. Or perhaps that was the thinking, anyway. There are one or two other WW I vintage aircraft with wingtip skids - I'll see if I can find a photo.

Edit ----
Curtiss Jenny:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Flying_jenny_cropped.jpg
If the Microsoft Flight Simulator version is anything like correct (a big if), landing a Jenny without a skid touching in any sort of wind was an achievement.

[Noyade]

Aviagraphica call then "Wing tip skids" but they look different (less bulky) than in the replica aircraft.

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/4186/tipskid.jpg (http://img831.imageshack.us/i/tipskid.jpg/)
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/5747/dr1n.jpg (http://img823.imageshack.us/i/dr1n.jpg/)

[treadigraph]

'Ere, that Tripe's got a tailwheel!

Lovely pic though, is that Vlado Lenoch's Mustang?

[SomeGuyOnTheDeck]

Ere, that Tripe's got a tailwheel!
Yeah, and a radial engine too. Far too easy to fly without having the nose going at right angles to the way you want it to in a turn, and no castor oil in your face (and ultimately, your digestive system). Pilots these days don't know how lucky they are...

Only kidding, I'd imagine it is still a bit of a handful.

[India Four Two]

Judging by this EAA page 2010 - 06/18 - Fokker Dr.1 Triplane (http://www.warbirds-eaa.org/news/2010%20-%2006_18%20-%20Fokker%20Dr.1%20Triplane.html), the Dr. I in the photo is from the Vintage Aero Flying Museum in Colorado Lafayette Foundation (http://www.vafm.org/planes/Dr-I/Dr1.html)

Looking at the photos on their website, you will see that the wingtip skid is exactly like the one in Noyade's post. It must be just a trick of the light that makes it look so bulky in the P51 photo.

Surprisingly, it has an IO-360 rather than a radial. The range is quoted as 125 miles, which must have made for an interesting cross country (871 miles).