Sands Fokker Dr.1 Triplane

The Sands Fokker Dr.1 Triplane is an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Ron Sands Sr of Mertztown, Pennsylvania, and produced by Wicks Aircraft and Motorsports. It is a full-sized replica fighter aircraft based upon the 1917-vintage Fokker Dr.1. The aircraft is supplied as a kit and in the form of plans for amateur construction.

Design and development
The aircraft features a strut-braced triplane layout, a single-seat open cockpit, fixed conventional landing gear, and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The Sands Fokker Dr.1 Triplane is made from welded steel tubing and wood, with its flying surfaces covered in doped aircraft fabric. The cockpit width is 28 in. The acceptable power range is 110 to 185 hp and the standard engines used are the 160 hp Lycoming O-320, the 185 hp Lycoming O-360, the 110 hp Le Rhône 9J rotary engine or the 125 hp Warner Scarab radial engine powerplant. The Le Rhône 9J was the direct basis for the Oberursel Ur.II 110 PS German umlaufmotor rotary that powered production Dr.Is in 1917–18.

The aircraft has a typical empty weight of 1150 lb and a gross weight of 1600 lb, giving a useful load of 450 lb. With full fuel of 23 u.s.gal the payload for the pilot and baggage is 312 lb.

The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with a 185 hp engine is 300 ft and the landing roll is 200 ft.

The designer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit as 3,000 hours.

Operational history
By 1998 the company reported that 100 sets of plans had been sold and 15 aircraft were completed and flying.