A trimotor is a propeller-driven aircraft powered by three internal combustion engines, characteristically one on the nose and one on each wing. A compromise between complexity and safety, such a configuration was typically a result of the limited power of the engines available to the designer. Many trimotors were designed and built in the 1920s and 1930s as the most effective means of maximizing payload. Other - and uncommon - configurations include engines above the wing, as on seaplanes, including in pusher configuration, and an engine on each wing and one on the tail. The best known trimotors are the Fokker F, Ford AT, and Junkers Ju series aircraft.

Gallery

<Gallery> Ford C-4 Tri-Motor.jpg|[Ford Trimotor](https://bliptext.com/articles/ford-trimotor), a pioneering all-metal triplane StateLibQld 1 139254 Landing the aircraft, Southern Cross in Brisbane, Queensland, ca. 1928.jpg|[Fokker F.VIIb/3m](https://bliptext.com/articles/fokker-f-vii) landing in Brisbane in 1928 after making first crossing of the Pacific Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00921A, Armstrong Whitworth A.W. 154 Argosy.jpg|[Imperial Airways Armstrong Whitworth A.W. 154 Argosy](https://bliptext.com/articles/armstrong-whitworth-argosy) [Avia 51](https://bliptext.com/articles/avia-51)-Spanish Republican AF.jpg| Only three [Avia 51](https://bliptext.com/articles/avia-51) were produced G-BEDR-Trislander-AirEcosse.jpg|[Britten-Norman Trislander](https://bliptext.com/articles/britten-norman-trislander) Stinson A.jpg|[Stinson Model A](https://bliptext.com/articles/stinson-model-a) Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79 flight in formation.jpg|[Savoia Marchetti S.M.79](https://bliptext.com/articles/savoia-marchetti-sm-79-sparviero) in formation during WW2 Bundesarchiv Bild 102-14295, Rohrbach-Werke, Belastungstest der Tragflächen.jpg|[Rohrbach Romar](https://bliptext.com/articles/rohrbach-romar) under construction Northrop YC-125.jpg|[Northrop YC-125 Raider](https://bliptext.com/articles/northrop-yc-125-raider) [Loire 70](https://bliptext.com/articles/loire-70).jpg|[Loire 70](https://bliptext.com/articles/loire-70) [amphibian](https://bliptext.com/articles/amphibian-aircraft) Air Melanesiae De Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover Mk3 BWU Wheatley.jpg|[de Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover](https://bliptext.com/articles/de-havilland-australia-dha-3-drover) Caproni CA 36.jpg|WW1 [Caproni Ca.3 trimotor](https://bliptext.com/articles/caproni-ca-3-1916)

List of trimotors