Statement of Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the Fokker TriplaneIntroductionThis speech is about a particular type of aircraft made famous for its use by the Red Baron of Germany in the First World War. Many people know that the Red Baron was a real person from history. Others may know him only as an adversary of Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip, or as a ghost-like magical man imagined by lonely housewives hungry for a particular brand of frozen pizza. Well, his real name was Manfred von Richthofen. He was the greatest ace of the First World War and towards the end of his career he flew a bright red plane with three wings. The Fokker Triplane was one of the most controversial aircraft of the First World War. Better known as the plane of aces like the Red Baron, it was not as highly regarded as many assume. I have been studying Fokker triplanes since I was a kid; they have always fascinated me for some reason that I can't explain. I will tell you about the development of the Fokker Triplane, its operational history, its strengths and weaknesses.I. DevelopmentA. Its designer, Anthony Fokker, was a Dutchman who built planes for the Germans after being rejected by the Allies1. In addition to being a designer, Fokker was a gifted pilot and an astute businessman.2. Fokker built the first fighter aircraft equipped with a synchronized machine gun to fire through the propeller.B. Its German rival Albatros invented a single-seat fighter powered by the excellent Mercedes D-III straight-six engine and armed with two Spandau.1 machine guns. Fokker's planes fell out of favor. Weakly built and underpowered, they could not compete with the ...... middle of paper ...... to fly, which no one wanted them. Some feared them, but most were prized for their exceptional climbing ability and maneuverability, qualities that keep you alive in aerial combat. They were much preferred to the lackluster Albatros and Pfalz fighters that they supplanted but never quite replaced, and the Fokker Triplanes were the best German fighters in the spring of 1918 during the last major German offensive of the war. To summarize the triplane in the words of the Red Baron, "they climb like monkeys and are maneuverable as the devil." Works Cited Over the past thirty years I have drawn on dozens of sources while researching this topic. However, for the purposes of this posting, I specifically mention: Imrie, Alex; The Fokker Triplane; Arms and Armor Press, London 1992. Title, Dale; The Day the Red Baron Died; Bonanza Books, New York 1970.