Fokker - The Man and His Aircraft

FOKKER-THE MAN AND THE AIRCRAFT, Compiled and Written by

HENRI HEGENER . Edited by

BRUCE ROBERTSON Tone Paintings by

W. F. HEPWORTH, M.S.I.A. Based on Original Drawings by

J. D. CARRICK, FRANK YEOMAN and PAUL R. MATT Produced by

D. A. RUSSELL, M./.Mech.E.

First Published Summer 1961 by HARLEYFORD PUBLICATIONS LIMITED LETCHWORTH, HERTS Artist J. D. .Carrick depicts an act of gallantry during the abortive first mail-carrying flight fr?m Australtlf to New .Zealand on May 5th, 1935. When the 'Southern Cross', piloted by Sir c;har/es Kmgsford-Smlth, was reduced to flying on two engines, Captain (now Sir Gordon) Taylor, usmg a thermos flask, trans/erred on six occasions, oil from the starboard to the port engine.

© Published in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA by

AERO PUBLISHERS, INC.

Library of Congress Card No. 61-10595 (United States)

MADE AND PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. BY

AERO PUBLISHERS, INC.

329 AVIATION ROAD

FALLBROOK, CALIF.

FO} K R TH

D SIGNER

Foreword The assistance given by Mr. Charles Froesch, VicePresident, Engineering, Eastern Air Lines and of Mr. and Mrs. Carter Tiffany, hould be recorded, with thank, together with that of Wing-Commander orman MacMillan, O.B.E., M.e., A.F.e., who, with permission of his publi her made available some personal recollections of Anthony Fokker. J would also express my appreciation of the consistent contribution of much valuable material and information throughout the preparation of tllis book by Mr. H. A. Somberg, the present Chief Public Relations Officer of Fokker. Due to a tragic and ill-advised deci ion, the original hi toric Fokker records, (including the years 1910-1919) which had survived even the danger of the period 19391945, were deliberately destroyed immediately after that war. It was thus not possible, to obtain, amongst other things, the exact figures on many interesting aircraft nor the size of the pre-war order, including those for Russia, in the early twenties. To Mr. J. W. F. Backer, General Director at the Hague, of our Department of Civil Aviation, I wi h to express my gratitude for allowing me to examine the complete Official Papers and Reports of the Van Doorninck Committee. To Mrs. H. Reinhold, widow of the late Dr. Tom Reinhold, [ am indebted for the very rare photograph of Fokker' very first' Spin " and many other old photographs which appear in this book. I also gratefully acknowledge the assistance rendered by the following, who are listed alphabetically; Algemeen Hollands Trustkantoor I V; H. Barto; M. Beeling; H. G. Bender; Miss S. Blaauw, librarian of the Tweede Kamer del' Staten Generaal; P. Bowers; R. Bowyer; J. D. Carley; J. R. Carp; R. J. Castendijk; Jacob Cremer; Dien t del' Publieke Werken van de Gemeente Am terdam; Douglas Aircraft Co. Inc; Mrs. Jojo Dullus-de Leuw; K. Gorter, Director of the Hogere Burger-school, Haarlem; J. C. Grootenh uis; Justus van Hattum; Lt.-Col. F. A. van Heyst; Headquarters Staff, Historic Division, Leiden; W. e. E. Horter; Bruno Jablonsky, managingdi rector of Jablo Plastics Industries Ltd; e. C. KLipfer, former ecretary of the Fokker Works; Hans Martin, former director KLM; II'. H. e. van Meerten, Chief De igner of Fokker; ederlandse Kamer van Koophandel voor Duitsland; Prof. Dr. Ir. A. van del' eut; Wm. M. van eyenhoff; P. Peereboom, Director' Haarlems Dagblad '; e. B. Reinhold; Miss S. van Rhyn, Fokker's private secretary; Mrs. G. Shewtchuck, another of Fokker's secretaries; M. J. Slaat ; Mr . M. J .. van Thienen-de Waal; the late J. E. van Tijen; Messrs G.E.A. 'van Till; C. Wydooge; Henry Wynmalen; F. Zandvliet, Public Relations KLM.

In common with a great many people associated with aviation and, indeed, many who were merely interested laymen-I was very conscious of the igrlificant figure of Anthony Fokker, whose name became a byword in aeronautical circles in the period 1911 to 1939. Inevitably, J became aware of the man by the nature of my vocation as an aviation writer and editor, and even more so by the fact that Fokker and I were frequently thrown together; he as a maker of hjstory, r as a recorder. These meetings occurred over a period of twenty years from 1919 to 1939, and took place not only in Holland but also in other European countries and in thc United States of America. Up to 1939, the year of Fokker's death, I have drawn upon my personal knowledge of the man and his enterpri e; but from then onwards, to bring the story up to date, r have been dependent upon others. Most important of all has been the active co-operation of my friend Ir. Bruno Stephan, to whose retentive memory and va t knowledge of Dutch and international aviation affairs [ owe a great deal of information. r have had extensive conver ations and correspondence with Fr. Wm. See katz who held important positions with the Fokker company from the vcry earliest days up to the 1939-1945 War, and who provided a fund of reminiscences never before told. Another personality with whom I had long and interc ting talks was Reinhold Platz, the noted designer of okker types over a period of many years. r have been dependent particularly on Bruce Robertson who not only c ntributed an amount of information on the wartime acti itie of Fokker aircraft, but made many valuable suggestions throughou t the text, whjch he so ably edited from the translation by Mrs. L. Skinner from my Dutch MSS. To this lady al 0 I wish to express my thanks for her considerable ability and patience in dealing with so many-to her-' technical terms '. As a useful source of information [ also mention the late A. R. Weyl, in England, who was of German origin and formerly 011 the staff of the German Reichswehr M inisteriu m at Berlin during 1914-1918. My very special thanks and great appreciation are due to Mr. E. F. Cheesman who prepared the type-by-type review of over 200 Fokker aircraft. That part of the book has been solely his work. For the post-war period r am indebted to M. J. F. Bowyer, who brought his specialised knowledge of the world of aviation into th.is project. Also one could not hope to give this subject proper treatment without consulting the European aviation experts on historical matters, Hans Kofoed of Denmark, Olav Sundgren of Sweden, Andre Pernet of Belgium and in the U.S.A., Jolm J. Sloan of Los Angeles. I am also grateful to H. H. Russell for certain 1914-1918 War detail.

Bennebroek, Holland, June 1961

HE RI HEGENER

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FOR PHOTOGRAPHS

" Fokker, The aviaTor, aT The drawillg board "-A self-descripTioll

2

The Publishers gratefully acknowledge the following sources (listed alphabetically) of photographs. Air Force Museum, Wright-Patter on A. F. B., Dayton, Ollio; E. F. Cheesman; Royal Netherlands Aircraft Factories

Fokker; Charles Froe ch; Henri Hegener; Imperial War Museum; K. L.M.; Hans Kofoed; Paul Matt; ationaal Luchtvaart Museum; orth American Aviation, Inc; Heinz J. Nowarra; Andre Pernet; H. A. Somberg. 3

About This Book

By D. A. R

ELL, M./.Mech.E.

design staff. Fokker's general manager told me that the two men worked well together, that they were indeed complementary to each other-Platz, as a fir t-cla welder and a good 'rule- f-thumb' designer; Fokker a a fir t-class te t pilot with an extraordinary flair for basic de ign. In the cour e of my enquiries I also learned that in regard to the claim that Platz wa 'badly treated 'financially, he received from okker at many a year· end a bonu which equalled, and sometime excecded, his year's salary! Like many other early aircraft con tructors Fokker had a basic knowledge of aerodynanlics, but in orgaluzing his increasing business activitie it eem unlikely that he had much opportunity to develop and extend his theoretical knowledge. It would, therefore, eem probable, if not inevitable, that the various designer who worked with and for Fokker right from Ius early day mu t have been responsible for the increasing number f de ign , and that Fokker' own offerings consisted of ugge tion for the prelinunary layouts and variou improvements indicated by test fI ights. That these were sub tantial, and not less than major contribution to the development of Fokker aircraft no one would gainsay, and full credit for this work must fairly be given to Fokker. From his earliest years, Anthony Fokker knew what he wanted to do, and to the end of hi life, he exercised hi incredible driving force. At the same time he also retained much of the' boyishness' which in his general behaviour was from time to time somewhat of a handicap in dealing with men of ' big busine s '. evertheless, he had a considerable ability to organize men and get them to work Jor him. One never reads of labour differences or strikes in his factories. Despite his increa ing business ramifications there is ample record of his concern for his employees' welfare. Howev'er, together with these many excellent characteristics went a single-mindedne of purpose, the

Fritz Cremer, right, school frielld alld early associate with Fokker at Haw'lem, 1911.

o man in the history of the development of the aeroplane was so well known for his truly practical pioneering work, Ius skill as a test-pilot, and for the very wide range of aircraft types produced by his firm, as Anthony Fokker. '0 man in the history of the development of the aeroplane has so ' caught the headlin s' and attracted to lumself uch a wide variety of ' names '-everything from' genius' to , egotist' ... plus one or two less kind! These factor, and indeed many others, were the reasons for the devotion bj tl:e leading Dutch aviation writer, Mr. Henri Hegener over the past three years, to continuous hard work in compiling and writing the story of Fokker-the man and the 2.i rcraft. ow aged 66 years and living in semi-retirement, Mr. Hegener has devoted the whole of his working life to the recording of aviation history. For 25 years, he was editor of Het Vliegwereld, magazine of the Royal etherland Aero Club. So wide has been the field covered by M 1'. Hegener's researches, and so great the contributions by the men consulted both by himself and myself, that J have written a special feature-which follows on the next two pages-so that proper tribute should be paid to these men who have o closely co-operated in the compilation of tlus book. Jn recent years, suggestion has been made that Fokker had little to do with the design of many of his aircraft, and that he attracted to himself much of the credit which was rightly due to several of his designers, in particular to Reinhold Platz. Claims have been made that Platz was responsible for about 0 designs during Ius working life with Fokker, and also that he was badly treated financially by Fokker. These claims are not true. Platz' 'technical' abilities wele at no high level. He had received no technical training. He was essentially a praclical man-indeed a craftsman-and in his early days with Fokker he was undoubted of great a i tance to him. But as aircraft design advanced, so it became necessary that more technically qualified men should be appointed t<1 the company'

inevitable self-assurance of the pioneer, and the equal socalled' vanity' of the egotist. On one occasion Fokker is recorded as having said, after concluding successfully a certain business deal-' the real payment is the satisfaction of winning a fight '. This satisfaction may well be its own reward-what Fokker called the 'real payment '-but unfortunately he had to talk about it. Men of his type invariably talk too much! To that extent, then, Fokker was his own enemy, and it could be said that he brought on his own head unwarranted and, indeed, unfair criticism. As an aircraft constructor, he differed from Ius contemporaries. He used lus eyes and ears better than others. In the 1914-1918 War one of the engineers of Flugzeugmeisterei once said that, whilst the various German aircraft manufacturers were self-satisfied in presenting their creations, the Dutchman, Fokker, was an exception. At the Adlershof competitions for fighter aircraft, Fokker would study carefully the entries of his competitors and photograph them with his pocket camera. It was then said that Fokker stole like a magpie. But magpies do not steal, they collect! This is exactly what Fokker did. He may well have used the valuable details of others, the same as others later copied his idea. But in general, the range of Fokker projects showed too much originality for Fokker to be labelled a copyi t. By his own associates in the Fokker companies, both Dutch and American, Anthony Fokker was considered, in many respects far ahead of his time.' As a constructor, he succe fully pioneered the development of autogenouswelded teel-tube airframes, and-again successfully-the so-called full cantilever, thick-wing principle. ( ow used on many modern aircraft). Finally, he was recognised as a first-class test pilot. Writing in his book, My Flying Life, in January 1937, Sir Charles Kingsford Snlith, said this of Fokker: ' Anthony Fokker is one of the world's aeronautical geniuses-abrupt to the point of rudeness and apt easily to offend-on closer acquaintance his amazing and lovable personality is revealed. He is a man who enjoys life to the utmost.' Of Anthony Fokker none other than Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker wrote in 1931: 'H istory will accord Tony Fokker the reward that his confidence, untiring

Allother illformal photograph of Fokke( at D(/\'oS with a frielld, George Gleichl11an, ill 1930.

effort, and genuine service to mankind 0 richly deserves.' In the course of extensive researches into the personal history of Fokker, I have had the opportunity, and indeed the privilege, of examining and reading through the many personal tributes paid to him, following his death. It was universally felt that aircraft design-and indeed aviation itself-was the poorer for hi death. In this book great care has been taken to provide the reader with as much information about the man, a about the aircraft. With the large amount of information compiled by the Author, and those other responsible men who were for so many years per onally associated with Fokker; I am confident that a complete, fair and true' report' on Fokkvr himself has been produced. Fokker had hi own evaluation of himself. The following sentences are quoted'*' from Flying Dutchman, Unlike a great many de igner ,1 actually fly my planes, use them a other men use automobiles and yachts. Thi experience I have utilized.... Nothing I have yet done has ever really satisfied me. No one has yet found as many flaws in an airplane of mine as I could fll1d my elf. ... All either in my life I have been something of a lone wolf. Germany nor America have I been particularly popular among my competitors.... On the other hand I thjnk mo t of my employees either like or admire me. This is true, especially of those with whom [ worked side by ide for years.... I have never found any pleasure in spending. money on myself. Unless the payment come hard, so that one appreciates it, there is no fun in buying it at all. The fact that I made my money by hard work and fighting gavt' me more satisfaction than I ever got latel buying myself luxuries.... In the end, l uppose it is all vanity.... Artists are living for fame, not money, but my own ati faction lie in the way [ do a thing, and the fact that I have done it against odd .... As long as there is something new to fight for, I am happy. That in the end is what gives real satisfaction.'

A11Ihony Fokker with olle of his pet dogs at St. Moritz, Switzerlalld in 1936. All illformal pose at Schwerill. Whell this photograph was taken ill Jlllle, 1915, Anthony Fokker was 25 years old and on the threshold of his career as an interlIatiOl;al figllre ill aviation. 111110 other photographs is Fokker seen wearing a mOllstache.

'By Al7lltollY H. G. Fokker and Bruce GOllld. Henry Holt aud Company, New York, U.S.A.

4

5

About the men who assjsted

Ab:JVe: Hellri Hegeller Iras a very keell parachlilisl alld he is here ShOlVII, all Ihe riglll, lVilh Ihe Frellch pilol Dllcherellx, be/ore //lakillg a jllmp ill 1922. RighI: Mr. H. A. Samberg, Ihe preselll Pllblic Relaliolls Officer 01 Fokkers.

M r. Henri Hegener and f first met early in 1957, when we discussed in general terms the format of this book. He, the leading Dutch aviation writer with a lifetime experience, was insistent that without the help of a number of men who had been associated with Fokker, justice could not be done to the man or to the firm that bore and still bear his name. M r. Hegener claimed that the compilation of the material of such a book - ' FOKKER - THE MAN A D THE AfRCRAFT '-recording as it does the life story of Anthony Fokker, and the history of the development of Fokker aircraft over a period of more than 50 years; was a task which no one man could carry out. With this r agreed.

Thus it came about that in the following years I sought conta t with as many men as were still alive, and who could provide fIrst hand information about Fokker the man; Fokker the aircrat"t designer and test pilot; and Fokker the founder of a bu iness which to-day has an international reputation second to none. A mol'::: exciting and interesting project I have never embarked on' Together with my colleagu~, Mr. E. F. Cheesman, I have personally met, talked with, and-much more important-listened to Messrs. "tephan, Froesch, Seekatz, Beeling, and Somberg; each of whom was associated with Fokker for many years. We have visited the United State of America, Germany, and Holland, altogether travelling

ome 10,000 miles to meet these men; and to gather from them' hitherto unpublished photographs and information' which would a sist Mr. Hegener in compiling and authoring this book. Everywhere we were met with the greatest courtesy and an unlimited willingness to assist us in every way; and because of these' personal' contacts, r think we have really 'got to know' Fokker, Ihe man, in all his mood and individual characteristic. ot the least of our pleasures in this project have been the many meetings we have had with Mr. Hegener himself, who fully justified his reputation as a most conscientious and accurate writer on aviation matters.

Left: A 1101her/alllOlis associale 0/ Fokker IVho \lias cOllslllled dllrillg Ihe IVrilillg 0/ Ihis book, lVas Herr F. W. Seekalz, A 111110111" S sales mwwge': for //lore Ilnlll 25 years. "Chal de Mer" as he lras kilo 11'11, is seell here ill 1915, all all SU 1/10101' cl'cle lVilh Fokker" s Ihell 1V0rk S mallager, Herr H. Liebig. RighI: D. A. Rllssell lVilh Herr F. W. Seekal:: - photo takell ill S/III/gar/ lale 1960.

6

the author

eif this

Book

He first met Anthony Fokker in 1919, and as related in thi book, wa in contant touch, and on many occa ion flying, with Fokker throughout his lifetime. He knew Reinhold Platz, probably the longest - serving of Fokker's designers, and ha consulted him from time to time during his work on this book. Mr. B. Stephan, although well over 70 years, is still active a an I nd ustrial Consultant. I n add ition, he assists the Dutch Courts of Justice as a translator consequent on his wide knowledge of a number of European languages. M r. Charles Froesch, who was Fokker's chief maintenance engineer , in the field' in America in the early thirties, now occupies the important

AbDve: The Alilhor, Ie/I, lalkillg 10 I. A. Aler, (lale Presidell! 0/ K.L.M.) ill 1958 al Schiphol. Lefl: Mr. Charles Froesch, IIOIV VicePresidelll-Ellgilleerillg, of Eas/em Air Lilies, Ulliled Stales of America.

company commenced in the early thirties, and he now holds the important position of Chief Public Relations Officer for th company. All these men gave many hours of their time to answering a wide and varied range of questions, in addition to searching through their files for photographs and information a election from which has been incorporated in this book. There are also the many correspondents throughout the world, who on hearing of this project, offered photographs and items of information. All the e were considered, and inclusion of a number of them has further increased the value of this book. D. A. RUSSELL.

POSition of Vice-President, Engineering, of Eastern Airlines; the Chairman of the Board of which is 'Eddie' Rickenbacker, equally as well known as Anthony Fokker. Mr. F. W. Seekatz, also well into the seventies, is now Sale Director for the Heinkel firm at Stuttgart. He had the longe t a ociation with Fokker, having joined him in 1912. Mr. M. Beeling is still in the employ of Fokker, and is their official resident representative with the Fairchild Engine & Airplane Corporation, of Hagerstown, Maryland, .S.A., who, under licence, build the well-known Friendsnip aircraft. Mr. H. A. Somberg's association with the Fokker

BOIIOIII Lefl: Mr. M. BeeliJig, 111110 joilled Ihe Fokker cOlllpallY ill 1923 alld el'ell/llalll' becallie Iheir desigller, II'as able 10 cOlllribll/e I1Il1ch firsl halld ill/orlllalioll COIIcemillg Ihe aClil'ilies oflhefirlll ill Hollalld. RighI: Ali/hOllY alld Slephall, Il'h~ ll'{/S his "rigill-halld-llullt" frol1llhe early 1920's 10 1935. III his POSilioll as Deplily Direclor, Slephall Il'as respollsible /01' Ihe mallagemelll ofall Ihe DUlch illlereSIS.

7

Fokker-The Man

and the Aircreift PART THREE

CONTENTS

A Type-by-Type review of 211 Fokker Aircraft

Page by J. D. Carrick

Painting Frontispiece

Fokker the Designer

2

B.I B.Il

Foreword

by Henri Hegener

3

About this Book

by D. A. Russell, M.I.Mech.E.

B.1Il B.I lie

4 to 5

About the men who assisted the Author of this book

B.IV (F.II) B1Va (F.IIA) C.l C.la

6 to 7

Part One

Fokker-the Man

II to III

Part Two

Fokker-the Aircraft

112 to 177

Part Three

Type-by-Type Review

178 to 223

Index

c.r.-w C.ll

c.m C.IV C.IVA C.WB

224 PART ONE Page

Chapter

Chapter

Page

One

Anthony in Adversity

11

Eight

Fokker and K.L.M.

79

Two

The Fokker Menace

23

Nine

Dutch Doldrums

85

c.rvc C.IV-W D.C.1. C.V-A C.V-B

Three

The Creat Conspiracy

35

Ten

Mainly Military

90

c.v-c

Four

Fame and Fortune

39

Eleven

Fokkers at War

96

C.V-D C.V-E

Five

Spreading Wings

52

Twelve

Post War

102

c.v-w

Six

Fokker in America

66

Seven

American Misadventure

74

C.VI C.VlI-W

Epilogue

107

C.VUI-W C.IX

PART TWO 1/72

c.x

SCALE THREE-VIEW TONE PAINTINGS

Page

Page

Page

Spin I

112

D.X1lf

130

ex

Spin lf1 Variant

113

C.V-D

131

XO-27

156-7

M.IOZ (B-lf)

114

F VllA

132-3

FXX

158-9

M.14 (£-11)

115

Universal

134

FXXXVI

160-1

M.20 (D-IV)

116

Super Universal

135

D.XXI

162

VI

117

B.III

136

C.XIV-W

163

VA (Dr-I)

118

S.lV

137

TV

164-5

VI3 (D- VI)

119

F V111

138-9

T VJ[I- W

166-7

V.24 (D-VllF)

120

TIV

140-1

C.IA

168

V28 (D-VIII)

121

F VllB-3m

142-3

S.lX

169

V38 (C-I)

122

FI0A

144-5

TIX

170-1

V45 (Fll)

123

C-2A

146-7

D.XXlll

172

FIV (T-2)

124-5

FXll

148-9

S.11 ' Instructor'

173

S.14 ' Mach Trainer'

174

S.II

126

C.VJJ-W

C.lV

127

FI4

151

TJ[1

128-9

F32

152-3

150

D.XVI

c.vrrr

XFA-l F27 (Friendship)

155

175 176-7

C.xl-W C.XIV-W D.IX (PW-6) D.x D.XI (PW-7) D.XI1 D.XIII D.XIV D.XV D.XVa D.XVI D.XVII D.XXI D.XXIII F.I F.II F.1Il F.III-W F.lV F.V F.VI (PW-5) F.VII F.VIIA F.VIIA-3m F.VIIA-3mjM F.VIIB-3m

178 178 178 179 179 179 179 180 180 180 180 180 180 180 181 181 181 181 181 182 182 182 182 182 183 183 183 183 183 184 184 184 185 185 185 185 185 186 186 186 186 186 187 187 187 187 188 188 188 188 189 189 189 189 190

Page

Page

Page

Dust Cover

F.VIIB-3m (MONOSPAR) 190 190 F.VIIB-3mjM 190 F.VIIB-3m-W F.VIII 190 191 F.IX 191 F.IX-M (F.39) 191 F.XI 191 F.XII 191 F.xlV F.XIV-3m F.XVA; F.XVB F.XVIIA: F.XVIIB: F.xVIlC F.XVIII F.XIX F.XX F.XXII F.XXIII F.XXlV F.25 ("PROMOTER") P.I ("PARTNER") F.26 ("PHANTOM") F.27 ("FRIENDSHIP") F.XXXVI F.xXXVII F.LVI G.I G.IA G.IB Spin I Spin II Spin III 1st 1912 Spin Variant 2nd 1912 Spin Variant 1st 1913 Spin Variant 2nd 1913 Spin Variant (M.I) 3rd 1913 Spin Variant M.I M.2 M.3 M.3a MA M.5L (A-II) M.5K (A-III) M.5K/MG (E-I) M.6 M.7 (FOKKER B) M.8 (A-I) M.9 (K-I) M.IOE (Austrian B-1) M. 10Z (B-II) M.II (B-II) M.12 and M.13

199 M.14(E-II) M.14 (E-III) 199 199 M.15 (E-IV) 199 M.16E M.16Z (Austrian B-1I1) 200 M.17E 200

192 192 192 192 192 192 192 192 192 193 193 193 193 193 193 193 194 194 194 195 195 195 195 195 196 196 196 196 196 197 197 197 197 197 197 198 198 198 198 198 198 199 J99

154 8

9

/

M.17K (Austrian B-II) M.17ZF (D-II)

200 200

M.I7ZK (0-11)

200

M.18E

200

M.18.Z.F. (D-I)

201

M.18.Z.K. (D-I)

201

Page V.II

209

V.12 V.13/1 (D-VI) V.13/2 V.17

209 209 209 209

V.18 (D-VII) V.19 V.20 V.21 V.22 V.23 V.24 (D-VIIF) V.25

209 210 210 210 210 210 210 210 211

M.19F (0-111)

201

M.19K (0-111)

201

M.20 (D-IV)

201

V 26/1 V.26j2 (E-V/D-VIII)

M.21

201

V.27

211

M.22E (D-V) M.22Z SI (TW-4) S.II S.IIA S.III S.IV S.IX/I

202 202 202 202 203 203 203 203

V.28 (D-VIII)

211

S.IX/2 S.II "INSTRUCTOR" S.12 "I STRUCTOR" S.13" IVERSAL TRAINER" S.14/1 "MACH TRAINER" S.14j2 "MACH TRAINER" TI T.lI (FT Series, USN.) Till TIII-W

203 204 204

204 205 205 205 205

V.29 V.30 V.31 V.33 V.34 V.35 V.36 V.37 V.38 (C-I) V.39 VAO VAl VA2 VA3 VA4 (F.I) VA5 (F. II) W.I W.2 W.3

TIV T1Va TV TVIII-W TVIII-WjM TVIII-L TIX V.I V.2 V.3 VA (F.I., later Dr.-I) V.5 V.6 V.7 V.8 V.9 V.IO

205 205 206 206 206 206 206 207 207 207 207 208 208 208 208 208 208

211 212 212 212 212 212 212 213 213 213 213 213 213 214 214 214 214 214 214 214 215

204 204

WA C-2 and variants F.IO and F.IOA "TRIMOTORS" F.IIA F.14 and 14A F.32 GA.15 and variants PW-5 PW-6 PW-7 TW-4 Universal Super-Universal XA-7 XCO-4 XO-27 XFA-I

211

215 215 215 216 216 216 216 216 217 217 217 217 217 218 218

PART ONE

"The Flying Dutchman)) CHAPTER 0

Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker. Born Apri/ 6th, 1890. Died December 23rd, 1939.

10

Anthony

E

Anthony Fokker, the' Flying Dutchman " had one thing in common with the American pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright; a well as being a con tructor and pilot of aeroplanes, he was also a business man. Tn fact most of the pioneers of the air pos essed uch a trinity, but soon the picture changed as the various task became specialised; the de igner took charge of the design office, one or more pilot undertook the test and demonstration flying and the commercial side was placed in the hands of a ales manager. But in the large Fokker organisation with its various departments headed by executives, that sprung from the hobby of a Haarlem schoolboy, Fokker himself became the only major aircraft con tructor in the world to remain a jack-of-all trades in aeronautics. He did not nece sarily design all his aeroplanes, but he was the mainspring, the source of ideas and the man whose own intuition gave reality to conceptions. That his aircraft enjoyed a reputation for safety, of being easy to fly and almost foolproof, resulted mainly from his own experience and skill as a pilot. He had a remarkable gift in being able to sense a sound design; he could um an aircraft's capabilities and presage its flying characteristicsand his impre sions were usually confirmed by flight te ting. A series of test flight reports by Fokker himself could tip the balance between a failure and a record-breaker. Of the greatest importance was the part he played in asse sing the flying characteristics of the various new de ign produced by his organi ation, ju tifying hi own words-' 0 one has yet found as many flaws in an aeroplane of mine a r could find myself" s far a, his business was concerned, he was, until the middle 'thirties, the driving force behind his works; but never more so than in Germany during the fou'r years of the 1914-1918 War, and later when etting up, with marked success, his factories in Holland and America. He did not allow himself to be disturbed by anything or anybody and he displayed boundless energy, initiative and courage; and such a passion for work, that it was written of him, in a British journal-' how on earth he produces and maintains the high pressure energy of body and brain which he displays, is one of the marvels of the age.' Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker was born on April 6th, 1890, at Blitar, Kediri, in Java, in what is now known a Indonesia, formerly part of the Dutch East Indie . His early years pent in the paradisiacal environment of his father's coffee plantation had a formative influence on his phy ique and his clear mind, and early development showed the potentialities of the man of action that he was to become. A a child he admired the agility with which the native boys climbed trees with their hand and feet and the way they used their toes to pick up article, and after practice he became equally as agile and dextrous. Schooling on an isolated e tate with no local facilities wa a problem that beset Fokker senior and his wife Anna; they had al 0 a daughter Katharina, Anthony's senior by a year, to consider. Since a twenty years' sojourn in the tropics as a

In

Adversity

Anthony Fokker and his sister Kat/wrina, left, {Ire seen here at Singapore in /894.

planter had brought the reward of a family fortune, the educational problem was solved by a return to the homeland. At the beginning of August 1894 the family settled down in Haarlem, a town on the River Spaarne, in an impo ing re idenee at o. 41 (now o. 65) Kleine Houtweg. Anthony's school year in Haarlem caused much parental worry, due to a playful son yearning for the free life he had enjoyed in the colonies. From the time he entered Primary School until hi premature departure from High School, he was continually out of step. Due partly to his small build and his apparent frailty, but mainly due to his keen brain and his creative powers, he kept very much to himself. He found little sati faction in mixing with other in the usual games, but he found an outlet in creative work. Most of his time was pent in the large attic of his home, wherein he established hi workshop. There he played and experimented with steam engine, an electric train, soldered with the aid of a Bunsen burner, and attained great skill in carpentry. Perhap hi best piece of woodwork wa a canoe, which he built when he was twelve years old; later he fitted it with a mast, sail and outrigger. Thi marked the beginning of his fame as a yachtsman. He became devoted to the sport and later, as member of the committee of the Rowing and Sailing Club' Het Spaarne " his skill and daring wa proverbial. Old members can still recall the wager whereby Anthony Fokker balanced himsclf on hi bicycle and rode down a gang-plank from the boathou e to the end of the jetty, whereupon he dived into the Spaarne!

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the windows. Anthony was in his element-and he did not go back to chool. For his compulsory m.iljtary service Fokker went to the 9th Company, 2nd Regiment of the Garrison Artillery at aarden-' a place to hang yourself' he described it to his mother. On the journey to the old fortress town, the new recruits were accompanied by a sergeant who had a weakness for cigar, a he explained in his first letter to his mother from aarden. For his medical examination he wa allotted a cubicle at the end of a dark corridor, which he regretted, because his crooked leg did not show to his best advantage, but he wrote hopefully that on Friday there would be another medical examination and that he would strive to present himself to his best advantage; this meant to the disadvantage of the State of the etherlands by simulating f1at-footedness in the way he had learned in Java! In the short time that he was in the army, his inclination to reach for his money, whenever inconvenienced, became evident. In a further letter, , Dear Mother' it implored, My chocolate powder is finished and the sugar, too. Please bring or send me a whole lot-the sooner the better. I have none left. I really do not waste it, but the cups here are terribly large and the bread is spread terribly thin and dry. Hclp from on("'s batman is worth gold. It is a first essential to remain good friends with him, because if you get such a fellow against you, then you are finished. If I fail the medical, I have promised him twenty-five florins. At first sight that seems a lot, don't you think, but don't forget what one gains by it. He i fir t batman and assistant to the doctor, and therefore it would not be wise to send him off with a mere tip.'

After The faTher's reTirelllenT frOIll cojJeeplanTing, The Fokker falllily reTnmed To Haarlelll where AnThony and his .1·isTer cOllllllenced Their schooling. Here They are, on a special occasion, wearing The tradiTional cosTullle of Zeeland.

His years at the High School in the Jacobynen traat of Haarlem, and later at Zylvest, were not hi happiest years. In the middle of hi fourth year he left the High School. He invented a so-called punctureless motor-tyre which, in his belief, would disrupt the world's rubber market. With a choolmate, Fritz Cremer, son of J. F. Cremer (later the Dutch Ambassador in Wa hington), who lived in a large country house at Santpoort, he attempted to put the idea into practice, with the help of their respective father who had both become very enthusiastic. During an interview with his headmaster, Mr. Brongersma, to ask for leave of absence in connection with urgent busine s as an inventor, the grey-haired pedagogue could only an weI' the boy's oration by nodding significantly. ' So you of all people want to take leave', said the headmaster, knowing full well that Fokker was a failure at school. To which he retorted' I am not learning anyway, and [ can do no good here'. To this the headmaster could not but agree! His actual school reports, confirmed by M r. K. Gorter, the present headmaster, show that he scraped through with five out of ten throughout his school years of 1903-1908. In the first year he was conditionally moved to a higher form, with two re-examinations and a task in Frcnch. In the second form he stayed two years and after the third chool year he only just scraped through to spend thc remainder of hi time in the fourth form which he left late in 1908. His invention came to naught. A lawyer engaged by his father to protect their interests, finally produced, together with an extensive account, evidence of a French patent that annulled their claim. everthele the two boys, Fokker and Cremer, had great fun out of the tests on the Cremer Peugeot, fitted with the new tyres, on a tretch of road between Haarlem and Amsterdam, that ran for ome twelve miles alongside a railway line. Roaring along the road at night, they timed the run to corre pond with the Paris Express and the trial developed into a nightly race. After the first two or three runs, the engine crew recognised the challenge with a whistle and set to, stoking up; passengers, attracted by the noise of the snorting Peugeot, cheered from

AnThony, inTeresTed in boaTing all his life, sails his' EquilibrisT on The Spaame, 1908.

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Fokker's un happy time in the casemates at Naarden soon came to an end. He was rejected, but not without some malingering. He wa confronted by his strict father, who no doubt thought, 'What next?' The whole family was worried about his future, but not Anthony himself. Even if he was no scholar, he knew what he wanted, and what he could do. He was well versed in carpentry and metalwork. For his own amusement he had learned to work the lathe in the smithy of Jan de Boer on the picturesque Bakkenessergracht. His last job there was an anchor, that he made for his sailing boat. His father, however, wanted him to take a course in automobile engineering at Bingen in Germany; therefore he put his son on board a Rhine steamer and gave him his blessing. Strange as it may seem, the self-assured youngster who had astounded his fellows at Het Spaarne by his daring and dexterity, who at school excelled in unrulines , and who had conjured himself out of military service, was as shy as a weasel and utterly miserable with homesickness when for the first time he had to leave the familiar hearth and stand on his own feet. [n the family circle this had been seriously considered and it was arranged that a schoolfriend (later the geologist Dr. Thomas Reinhold) should accompany him to Germany. 'If it had not been for him, I don't think I could have left my home', Fokker confessed in his autobiography, , I do not remember ever having been so discouraged. The further we went, the marc hopcless [ felt.' From his few letters home of the years 1910-1912 which have been preserved, and from what his parents have said, it appears that the facts of this venture, which decided his future career, differ somewhat from the account in his autobiography. Fokker senior had been misled by a beautifully coloured prospectu of a a-called motor-car course. His on said so in a letter to his mother from Bingen, dated July 30th, 1910. '[n the afternoon we' had a look at the drivers' school, a small square garage with two car, a four-cylinder rattletrap and a one-cylinder job. The rest, a pile of old iron, cars that are ten years old-or older, which cannot be driven and without tyres. All that is in the prospectus is eyewash to such a degree that I was flabbergasted by it. There was one lathe, about the size ofa treadle sewing machine, and a smithy was non-existent.' Having overcome his homesicknes , and standing on his own feet, even if partially supported by Tom Reinhold, it appeared that he quickly transformed himself. He becamc quite the experienced traveller and acted resolutely and energetically. He wrote a little later-' Tomorrow we go to have a look at Wiesbaden and in the afternoon to Rudesheim.' Just like that! Of the worthlcss course he wrote: , I talked to a tudent recently qualified and a ked him what he had learned and knew, and what was required for the Reichsdiplom (Government certificate), from which it appeared that a to the practical side, T have already reached that; the theory is not much. The whole prospectus is humbug and it means throwing money away to stay. The repair jobs are not done at the school and driving only is taught.' But, he had discovered something better. t a chauffeur' school at Zahlbach, near Mainz, there was also a course for aircraft construction and flying. This di covery was the sensation of his young life. It was ju t what he wanted. But that course did not start until October; there-

The illllllaculaTeh arrired Tony when 18 years old. AT This Tillie, donbTless, his 1II0rlter's influence resulTed in his neaT appearance buT for The resT of his life he becallle a noToriously indifferem dresser. This phoTograph was Taken during his lasT year aT school when his Tl/OughTs were devoted n/Ore To The invenTion of The , puncTure-proof Tvre' Than TO his school sTudies.

fore, he wrote home: 'As it will be wasting good money 1 shall wait here for your reply and then see something of the surrounding country in the cheape t po ible way and then go home by boat; that is the only thing to do as I cannot very \\ell wait until October.' Whether or not he did go back home eems rather unlikely in view of the fact that there are letters to his parent dated in October which still talk of coming home. His aeronautical aspirations had not been recently acquired, they were of fairly long standing. In hi workroom under the roof of his home at the Kleine Houtweg, he had shown a great interest in flying matter, byexperimenting with model aeroplanes. Already, in those day, he gave expression to an urge of wanting to fly. His father had re isted this energetically, at lea t to the extent of refu ing to buy him an aeroplane, but the changed plan of tudie , from a motoring school to a flying course, was, however, accepted with resignation. At the school the pupils had built their own aeroplane. The fir t was too heavy. Then a lighter machine followed, for which a baker, who wanted to fly, purchased the engine. A certain Bruno Buechner, who pa ed himself off as an al'ialeur and for that reason alone was treated by the pupils with awe and respect, wa to make the first tentative flights. At this time, however, a study-trip was made by the school to the aeronautical exhibition held in Pari in the second half of October. In a letter home Anthony asked on October 12th, whether he could join them, stating that two of the engineer-instructors were going on behalf of the school and 13

not, if I should not come home, but go to Paris at my own expen e.' In an earlier letter Anthony said that Buechner, who would do the test flying, had learned to fly in France, but apparently the man had never really flown, though he did have an accident during training. Hi debut as a test pilot was an unfortunate day for the school. He started, but he did ilOt leave the ground! Furthermore, he neither stopped nor turned before smashing the machine at the far end of the field. The school manager who came running up, panting heavily, could do nothing but shout' terrible!', in between gasps for breath, and then bur t into tears. Fokker started snivelling too, which the manager thought was for the pilot whom okker has assisted so faithfully, but AnthoilY shed tears because his hope of flying had apparently gone up in smoke, and hi enthusia tic letter home were made pointless. Buechner-to do the man ju tice- oon became an excellent pilot who made a name for him elf. The school, however, did not survive the disaster. The baker sawed his engine out of the wreckage and took it to another e tablishment, and as for the young Dutchman-he boldly planned to build an aeroplane himself. This was a monoplane of quite original conception with wings of pronounced dihedral giving the machine a relatively high centre of gravity, but bestowing a large mea ure of lateral tability, and consequently it could be managed without any form of lateral control. The theory, quite brilliant for that time, was based on the tests Fokker had made from hi attic at home: tests that to his family and neighbours seemed a senseless game of throwing paper, cardboard or celluloid models of wings out of the attic window, and watching their behaviour during their descent, which, if they were favourable, would glide on to end in a neighbour's garden. In his fascinating autobiography' Flying Dutchman " written in co-operation with Bruce Gould, which was published in 1931 in America, with a Penguin edition in England, and of which De Vliegende Hollander, together with the French, German, Swedish, Bulgarian and Russian editions are translations, Fokker mentions as his first aircraft, the universally known, and often depicted, 'Spin' or Spider with which he made demonstrations in Holland. However, this matter was re-investigated by the writer some ten years ago, after the discovery of some interesting old photographs, and it became clear that this' Spin' could not possibly have been Fokker o. 1 and that by the summer of 1911 the Fokker aircraft family consisted of three separate aircraft. Therefore it is not correct to say-as has been generally accepted-that the first ' Spin' machine was modified in stages. An associate in the construction of the first two models and a fellow pupil of the fated aircraft course at Zahlbach, was thefifty-year-old Oberleutnant von Daum, who had faith in the enthusiastic assertions and explanations of the young man from Haarlem. It was this officer who supplied the money for the engine, whereas Fokker's contribution was his knowledge, his hands, and 1,500 Marks. A factory in Frankfurt made the steel-tube frames for the wings from rough drawings, a local carpenter made the wooden longerons for the fuselage, and the small metal parts were made by the designer and his helpers in a workshop. Von Daum

The' invenror ' and Fritz Cremer, right, showing the springs used in the' puncture-proof tyre' experil1lellls. As will be seen, there was no (inflatable) 'tyre'.

that there was an opportunity for the pupil to go with them on an educational trip under their tuition. But the journey cost 150 marks and that he could not payout of his monthly allowance. In requesting hi father to subsidi e the trip, he carefully added' It i definitely an educational trip and not for pleasure, although it will be, of course, very pleasant .. .'. Further on in the letter he speaks about hi plan to go to Haarlem from. Paris for a few days-' to sort out a few things and to take ome things back with me.' He asked for a reply by return, if possible, by wire. Another letter to his mother followed-undated. There was still talk of the trip to the' Ville Lumierc 'and of coming home ... ' This latter,' he wrote, ' will take some doing, no doubt, becau e of the 150 Marks. If father doe not want to pay, tell him that I am prepared to pay for it, or for part of it. 1 would like to come home for a few days for all sorts of domestic matters, as you will understand. r can then take my belongings with me in a suitcase and as pa senger's luggage there should be little difficulty wi~h the customs.' Immediately after that, came the really surprising information: ' Sending money is not immediately necessary, as I still have enough cash myself. Do speak for me. I am coming home in any case, even if I have to pay for it myself.' The end of the letter is comically dramatic: ' If my coming home is absolutely undesirable for the peace, then will you personally let me know this quickly, in which case I shall return from Paris with the others to Mainz. Write back as soon as possible or wire to: Fokker, Fliegerhalle, DotzheimWiesbaden. Put all right, if everything i in order, both for the journey and coming home; put half if nothing will be paid for, and I can follow my plan of coming home: put 14

had heard that the Zeppelin shed at Baden-Baden was currently unoccupied and could be used as an a semblyshop. It was there that the first' Spin' was assembled. This prototype of all Fokker , which rested on a somewhat complicated combination of both wheel and bamboo skid undercarriage, had neither rudder nor aileron -so that when taxiing the machine would go in all directions but the required one. After that a rudder was added. At the end of 1910, hop were ventured with this aircraft, but the ensation of that in itself cau ed the young designer to nearly faint with exaltation. Anthony spent the Chri tmas holiday at home. While there, very di turbing news reached him about his precious aircraft. He had su pected that a mishap would occur if ever he let the retired officer have a free hand at the controls. All his wits had been needed to invent excuses about further adjustments being necessary to prevent von Dallln from flying. Jealous for the safety of the coveted machine, he quite forgot that it was only partly his, and while he made a series of test hops across the field, von Daum had been left on the field standing di con olately with his hand in his pockets. But when Fokker spoke of going home for Christmas, von Daum artfully di played a great consideration for his feelings and hastened hi departure. 0 sooner was Fokker on the train than von Daum was sitting in the aeroplane, warming up the engine. He opened up to take off-and crashed. To Fokker at Haarlem came a telegram to the effect that von Daum was unhurt, but that the machine had met with a mishap. His parents had the greatest trouble in restraining their son from returning at once to Germany, to find out the extent of the damage to the machine he worshipped. The cau e of the accident appeared to be rather absurd, as an engineer from the Zeppelin works told him later. When taxiing across the field, von DaUln had met a tree, the only one on the field-and yet he could not avoid it! The aircraft was beyond repair. Using Fokker's plans, and with his co-operation, an improved' Spin' was then built in the work hops of the boat-builder Jacob Goedecker, at ieder-Walluf on the Rhine. Goedecker also cherished idea of flying. Jt was on this machine that Fokker taught himself to fly at the Grosser Sand at Gonsenheim on the left bank of the Rhine. The paper Flugsport, then not so well-informed, gave report of , the aeroplane of the Dutch aviator von Dacem " which had arrived at the airfield ofGonsenheim. In the next i ue, the name Fokker appeared for the first time, and also. the

name of his associate, no longer mis-spelt, as the owner of the machine. About his stay at Gon enheim Anthony wrote in April 1911 to his mother' ... We are living, the three of u , in the Krimm where at last I am living cheaply once more, but for that reason it is also rather bad. The only advantage is that it is close to the airfield and in the middle of the fir woods so that it is healthy. The soup tastes of oil and there is spinach to eat every day'. After having said that the aeroplane was completed on Saturday, he mentioned the first hop into the air when hi po terior went everal times through the seat of the contraption and then continues proudly: ' The 'plane is frightfully table and the steering is very sensitive.' He called it a record that thi machine wa completed in ix we ks, and, burning with pride, he ended: 'My construction which was built last, was flown first, and this i therefore a per onal success and te tifie to my capacity as a constructor.' Mother no doubt smiled with motherly pride. In the early part of May the first turns were made and some days later there followed a series of complete circles; on May 12th the first pas engel' flight was made with von DaUln. So the latter did after all get something for his money I Then on May 16th, 1911, came the day of the flight for the certificate. The official representatives of the Deutsche Luflschiffer\'erband (German Aeronautical Association) were Oberleutnant Selasinsky, Pre ident of the Mainzer Aero Club, and Heyne, the a sessor. There were many spectators. Fokker performed the pre cribed examination requirements of five figures-of-eight, flying and landing with turned-off engine within a measured distance from a previously indiuccess! cated point. One report spoke of perfect turns. The coveted certificate was his. After that followed another flight with von Daum. Although Fokker had intended from the beginning to build an aeroplane without any kind of lateral control, he had-careful and sen ible lad that he was-for his fir t tests fitted a pair of ailerons, just to be sure. A detail he no doubt forgot to mention in his book, or perhaps purposely omitted out of shame for fear of being denounced for his mi guided ideas. That this Spin No.2 was the machine used for the flying certificate flight is proved by photographs which various Dutch new papers publi hed when they reported the success of the young man from Haarlem, in May 1911. The Spin universally acknowledged-and mentioned by Fokker himself in his book as o. I-did not then exist. Reports about the construction of that machine are first

Durillg tlte SUII/mer oj 1911 Fokker, ill the rear seat, oftell flew tlte '5Iurll1vogel' built by GoedeckeI'. Note the wing-warping control systell/.

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As I/tiS pholograph shows, Ihe aircrafi buill by Ihe siudellls, illcludiug Fokker, al Ihe DOlzheim- Wiesbadell /fyillg school ill 19/0, wasvirllwlly a copy of Ihe COIIlemporary Farmal) Iype. Brullo BuechlieI', who claimed 10 be a pilol, crashed il before leaving Ihe groulld!

thirty feet. With a cut, bleeding face, which looked worse than it was, he wormed himself out of the wreckage and cursed: ' Take the damned aeroplane and fly to hell with it. I've had enough!' Fokker did his best to look sorry. The aeroplane was wrecked, but the engine was not. He made a proposition to buy his friend out of the agreement for 1,200 Mark and what was still useable on the machine-the engine--was to be taken over for that sum. That was done. Thus, the third Spin creation had trus same 50 h.p. Argus engine, but otherwise it was an improved edition of the 0.2 smashed by von Daum. o. 3 was lighter and had a different cabane construction. The pilot no longer sat immediately behind the engine, tuck between two vertical struts, but farther back; the tail skid was no longer under the tail but under a long vertical leg of wruch the rubber spring action was fixed just behind the pilot's back. Also No.3 did not have ailerons. After nearly becoming the victim of a bankrupt impresario, who wanted to engage him for a tour of Germany, Fokker put his Spin on a train to the etherlands for the demonstrations at Haarlem. The youthful airman could not have imagined in his wildest dream, that eight years laterafter having produced 7,600 aeroplanes-he was to tran port within a few weeks six train-loads of aircraft, a total of 350 railway wagons with 200 Fokker aeroplanes, plus spare parts, from Germany to Holland. His re-appearance at his own town was the greatest glory of rus stormy life and his richest experience. It was a remarkable triumph for the youth that he still was; once thought to be a failure, he vindicated himself brilliantly, placing hjmself with the pioneers of the aeroplane, in one of his own design. The epic of the' flying man' wa hown to the public of Haarlem from a field bordered by roads. For flying purposes it was most unsuitable, being only about 300 feet long by 100 feet wide, lying obliquely to the prevailing wind. Along one side were a row of flagpoles on which he feared he would impale his frail craft. He presented his difficulties to the committee, but the only concession they could make, was to remove the flagpoles. Towards nightfall he made a test flight la ting only a few minutes, to en ure all was well for the official di play next day, the Queen's birthday. The

found in the Mainzer Anzeiger of June 12th, 1911, in which this report appears: ' The Dutch aviator Fokker will not use Lt. von DaUln's machine any more, for he is having a new aeroplane built in the workshops of Goedecker at NiederWalluf.' Fokker himself mentions this in a letter home, dated July, 2nd 1911, in v;hich he writes: ' ... I am at ieder-Walluf with Tom Reinhold working on my new 'plane. But things are not going according to plan. I have to wait for aluminium castings which are delaying thing .' He ends:' ow I must finish, they are waiting for me downstairs. One wing is almost ready and has to be fabric covered. Tuesday or Wednesday I shall collect the middle ection. Reinhold is making the wheels.' In the same epistle there is a touchjng note from the' thankful son' to his' dear tenderly caring mother '-' Is father annoyed over that money matter? If [ earn much, I hall let you have an extra note too.' Apparently his mother had sent him money without her husband's knowledge. When first negotiating with von DaUln, it had been agreed that the man who paid for the engine would become the owner of the aeroplane as soon as the builder had obtained his flying certificate. That had now happened. Therefore von DaUln wanted to start practising for his certificate. But his young associate, having received an invitation to come and demonstrate to his home-town of Haarlem, in connection with Queen Wilhelmina's birthday celebrations, pleaded with his partner to abandon this unholy intention for the moment. Money was to be earned at Haarlem and he was fearful lest von Daum should smash the aircraft. The Oberleutnant would not hear of it. He was going to fly, not later, not some other time, but there and then. Consequently von Daum flew. He made a passable tart, so that Fokker feared that after all he might fly weIland then he would have to share the joys of flying with his fifty-year-old friend for some time, and perhap even lose his aeroplane later. Although plans for a new improved aeroplane were progressing, he did not posse s a econd engine. But, unexpectedly, the chance of an engine of hi own fell into his lap-almost literally! The Oberleutnant had been flying again, but at the crucial moment before landing, he had suddenly forgotten everytrung. He crashed down from about 16

The aircrafl depicled ill Ihis rare pholograph is Ihe Spill o. 1 (Spider)-Ihe very firsl Dill' buill by Fokker and von DaUlII al Baden-Dos ill 1910. 11 had a 50 h.p. Argus engine bUI due 10 Ihe absellce ofany laleral cOlllrol only shorl, slraighl , hops' were allempled wilh il.

young hero made his preparation and took his seat in the aircraft. 'He has attired himself in a sweater which looks as if he has had the trung for the last twenty-five year " wrote the young reporter Robert Peereboom in his father's newspaper, the Haarlems Dagblad. A flight of nearly seven minutes was rewarded with a bouquet and a shouldering by enthusiastic Boy Scouts. He was asked to do another flight, and in spite of protesting that the engine' is rebellious, and does not pull enough', he risked a further flight of four minutes, after which he announced firmly: ' Gentlemen, the demonstration is ended'. On Friday, he made local history by a flight over Haarlem itself, soaring over the grey, 262-feet-high, 15th-century church tower of St. Bavo. Again a take-off was made diagonally across the wretched field. ear the road, which sensibly had again been closed for traffic, the airman had not reached sufficient speed, but-and to repeat again the flowery prose of the Dagblad-' With a courageous sweep he ran towards the west, fluttered around in a few circles like a half-dead fly, then shot vigorously along the length of the Kleverlaan and cJimbed into the sky steeply shooting.... ' Such is journalism! Then he circled the cathedral while people ran outside to watch, pressed their noses against the windows, or climbed to the roof. It was on this great day that the local Member of Parliament, Fr. Lieftinck, spoke to Herman Fokker Snr., words that are proof of the low esteem in which his son had hitherto been held: ' Well, Fokker, who would have thought that your son would ever fly as high as that?' Fokker senior must have swallowed hard! For Anthony it was an unforgettable day, because for once rus father did not admonish him but, on the contrary, presented him that evening with ills own gold watch. On the Sunday, he made further flights of eleven and six minutes respectively, but he thanked heaven when it was all over. He also thanked the Haarlem police for closing the road, for otherwise, as he put it, he might have made africassee of the public. A difficult time with ljttle or no fund followed. His first customer in bu iness was his old schoolfriend Fritz Cremer, who appeared unexpectedly in Mainz. He wanted both to be taught to fly and to buy an aeroplane. Fokker's business contact with Goedecker led to him flying Goedecker's aeroplanes and working for him as a flying instructor. In August he made the first trial flight with the

new Goedecker Sturmvogel, a Taube monoplane with a 70 h.p. Argus engine. On instructions from his employer, he took part in the local four-day manoeuvre with this machine, carrying Leutnant Salomon of a Pioneer Battalion as observer. Supf, in his Fluggeschichle recalling this early application of air reconnaissance reported: 'Pilot of the ~ircraft was Fokker. He executed the in truction so well that Jacob Goedecker received the Crown Order, 4th Class.' In his me sages home over thi period, Fokker did not mention the narrow escape he had on one of the reconnai sance flights. Flying over the Taunu , he suddenly felt a shaking movement in the tail of the plane. Turning his head round he noticed to his horror that the fabric of the horizontal tail unit, which at that time wa not sewn to the ribs and framework, but laced with string on to the tail, was partly torn away. If the cloth had come adrift further, he would have lost control. Fortunately, the front part of the lacing held and although a loose piece fluttered in the sliptream, he managed to make a perfect emergency landing. A representative of Goedecker in Berlin, seeing the young Dutchman fly at Gon enheim, enticed him away with flattery. Why in heaven's name should such an accomplished airman languish in the obscurity of the provinces-why not move to 10hannisthal, Berlin, the Mecca of aviation? Fokker was all for it, but there were difficulties, of whjch he made mention in a lengthy letter to rus father; an epistle put to paper in not very good Dutch. The gist of this letter was an explanation of how he and Goedecker, although on good terms socially, could not agree on business matters because each put the interest of their re pective aircraft first. Goedecker was too enthralled with de igns of his own and was blinded to the superiority of Fokker' own designs -at least that was Fokker' view. In pite of his dependence on the Goedecker works, he resolved to make the break and blandly announced in his letter that he wanted to go to Berlin with Cremer that same evening, which-and here came the sting in the letter-would mean money. To mollify his parents on that score, he explained that ill outlook needed broadening and he hopefully asked their approval to his new venture. The vicissitudes of commercial life were already affecting him as he disentangled himself financially from the Goedecker concern and planned his new venture in Berlin. He explained that hi head wa in 17

Fokker passed the test for his pilot's certificate on May 16th, 1911, all his Spill No. 2 model. Comparison of the photographs on this alld the page opposite will show some of the differillg featllres. 1\llost 1I0ticeable is the re versed caballc above the pilot.

a whirl with all the worry aoo, as if in emphasis of his state of mind-his letter was unsigned I Johannisthal, an open space in the pine woods near the German metropolis, was the 'Hendon' of Germany. On the whole, the rather pedantic and arrogant aeronautical brotherhood of Johannisthal considered Fokker's contraption, with its absence of ailerons, the folly of a countrybred Dutchman, worthy of nothing more than a jeering comment or a mere shrug of the shoulders. But after his performance in the machine, which aroused interest among the early celebrities in German aviation, such as Rosenstein and Abramowitsch, their opinions changed. Fokker pirouetted, described breathtaking turns and he showed off with a display of low-flying that amazed even the experts. The Berliner Zeilung, which had yet to learn how to spell his name, being presented to reader as Focke, thought that his flying ina strong squally wi nd was 'amazingly sure', and his manoeuvrability, 'simply splendid'. Peter Supf mentioned his unforgettable debut years later saying that he filled the Johannisthalers with amazement and fear by his

daring manoeuvres, which he executed at so little height. Young and experienced from the point of view of flying, Anthony had lost no time in making his name known to the veteran aviators who had given him a cool reception. The young Dutchman was soon putting his name to a business. On February 22nd, 1912, the Fokker Aviatik G.m.b.H. was recorded in the Trade Register at Berlin, mentioned as located at Charlottenburg, with a capital of 20,000 Marks. That name, however, was never actually used, because the firm's letter-head right from the start was Fokker Aeroplanbau of Berlin-Johannisthal, ew Slaripialz, Shed 6. Office: Parkstrasse 18. During the war the name was changed to Fokker Flugzeugwerke G.m.b.H. Early in April 1912, Fokker expressed his disappointment to his father at not being able to join in the great aeronautical exhibition, held in Berlin that month. His letter, full of youthful conceit, was annotated with acid comments byhis father on receipt, in the following manner, , . . . by not being able to exhibit I have given my firm

sic!] a certificate of inability (nonsense!), which reacts disadvantageously to prospective buyers and on credit (absurd!)'. Further sarcastic remarks from his father's pen were equally terse: 'stuff and nonsense! ' - ' big words! ' , believe that if you like I ' Wishing to present his new two-seater aeroplane in an original manner at the military trials centre of Dbberitz, he arranged to arrive with the aeroplane, its wings fastened alongsidethefuselage towed by a motor-car, punctually at a preViously announced time, and to guarantee take-off within ten minutes of arrival. For that purpose he bought a car out of the credit made available by his father, which, he assured his father, would be needed only for the trials. But father, who did not even find a bicycle a necessity, mistrusted his son's assertions, and considered the car a gross extravagance. . Anthony, full of confidence in his own ability, pleaded With IlIS father not to leave him in the lurch. Expressing gratitude for what he had so far received, he made further appeal in these words: ' As I do not possess the knowledge necessary to justify these credits in a businesslike manner as an experienced trader, J hope that you are convinced that I have always acted carefully and correctly. J make few demands for my own pleasure, having devoted all my ability and time to the fulfilment of my ideas and theories, and so far J have succeeded wonderfully. Believe me, [ have had difficult times and still have, but J hope to overcome them. J struggle with the means I have, hoping that you will replenish them.' [This drew a caustic comment from the father-who scribbled in the letter: interminably ... ] 'The main thing is, however, that you have faith in my ability and I beg you to judge any deviation from your advice mildly, for one cannot excel in every field.' In a note he added that the cinema at the exhibition showed a wonderful film of his take-off near the Mi.iggelsee and the dismantling of the wings, but this only drew the wry pencilled comment-' wonderful advertisement which gains nothing.' Having made a flight at Dbberitz with four people on board, the family were informed on the back of a picture postcard by Anthony, that he had flown with three passengers in a 100 h.p. military machine. But the father was not impre sed. To a man who had steadily made money

Tony, twenty-one years of age, after his first dernonstratioa flight at Hoar/em, August, 1911. His father (wearing top hat) rewarded him with a gold watch.

as a planter aviation, which had twice consumed sums of 25,000 guilder of his, appeared a poor sort of business. In reply to the enthusiastic news of the flight with three men aboard, he replied, with the air of a would-be expert, that a 100 h.p. machine was simply ridiculous! He ranted on, disbelieving that his son had any intention of selling the car after the tests and enquired after the state of the capital he had invested, with the caustic comment that hi son had brought spending to so fine an art, that his crowning achievement would be-bankruptcy! He refused further help even if Anthony' stood on his head '-which is the Dutch equivalent of getting into hot water! With cutting arcasm he pointed out that ifhis son's productions were as wonderful as he was wont to describe them to him, then the result should be orders, not letters of woe. A bit of a Tartar was old man Fokker! There were times when his temper got the better of him, but he was a man out of t.he ordinary, he was l11.ilitant and was gifted with a good bram; such fathers mould great sons. He wa an ardent chess-player and enjoyed puzzles; he would explode with

The third Spill, bllilt by Fokker at COllsellheim in 1911 //Sed the 50 h.p. Arglls ellgille frolll the previolls model, crashed by VOII DawlI. It was lighter alld amollg.\·r other challges illtrodllced was a pyramidical rear pylon, and a 10llg lail-skid sitllclled illl/llediately behilld the pilots' seat.

On the occasion of Qlleen Wilhelrnina's birthday celebrations in Hoar/em, Allthony Fokker was invited to give f1yillg exillbitions. The 'aerodrome ' selt'cted was dallgerOllsly slnall and this illustrarion sllOws hellF'rs ' brakillf{' his Spin No. ] while Fokker IIses fiilithrollie for take-

ofT

18

19

Onl' of Fokker's /irsl cuslo//;ers lVas Ihe Russia// {[I'ialrix, Liuba GalallschikoiT AileI' u.eeli/:g TOllY iul912al 51. Pelershllrg, she Iravelled 10 JolJallllislhal 10 purchase whal is Ihoughl 10 hm·e bee II all /11.] Iype //10110plane.

exprc ions like' Lt the bungler find it for himself' if anyone ventured to assist him with a solution. Although retired, and had earned enough to live a tranquil life, he was always busy. Ateighto'c1ock in the morning he would be at his workbench, and his friends benefited by presents of home-made chess-boards with weighted pieces that would not fall over. He never wore a hat and he defied wind, cold, rain and snow in a thin coat. Railways and trams he detested and in consequence he walked for hours. Sometimes he was called , the old Mr. Fokker '; if he heard, he would rattle his dentures and growl in a deep voice' the devil is old'. Haarlem to him was the only decent and plea ant place on earth. ot long before he died, in the latter half of 1924 at the age of eventy-three, he replied to a letter that sought information about his son as follows: ' There is 0 little to tell of Tony' boyhood. That he always failed hi exam I could not blame him, for I too failed and even more often than he. J did not want him at home loafing about-anyway, it ended well. In the beginning it wa awkward. That young man needed capital-a lot for preference-and he had no idea of accountancy and admini tration. I therefore agreed a maximum for him and a sured him that I would not go one farthing over that; if he wanted more he would have to go and fly for it, because I had no intention of being stripped.' But he did have to pay more than the original ceiling of 50,000; possibly it ran to over 175,000 guilders! Hard earned guilders too. evertheless, the son, who cau ed so much worry, paid it all back at the beginning of the war, and he also paid all the other creditors. Fokker senior lived long enough to rejoice over the foundation and the successful rise of the .V. ederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek. He even flew at least twice; in 1913 at The Hague with de Waal and six years later at the Elta in a stunt-flight with his son. On both occasions he was most enthusiastic. A few words about Anthony's mother. The spiritual affinity and the bond between mother and son was remarkable. Thi truck many people. It wa a bond that remained until the end of her son's life. Mother Anna FokkerDiemont, a descendant of French Huguenots, was Anthony's refuge in everything, his confidante and hi advocate in dealing with his trict father. ' Do speak for me', we read in one of the letters addressed to his mother-with so many problems and so many difficulties at the beginning of his

hard eventful life, he certainly needed an advocate. It was in no small way due to her intervention that the father, yet again, agreed to supply the indispen able monies which enabled his son to persevere-and win-in hi struggle. When travelling Anthony had little time for letters-or no patience to write them. But he never forgot to give a sign of life with a picture p0stcard. And on special days he sent flowers and presents to his mother. Every year at Christmas he telephoned to her, wherever he might be, and let her hear the singing of children who were visiting him. And it was his mother who launched his great streamline dream-yacht, the' Q.E.D.' which was done by radio-telephony. When he came back to his home-country, after a lengthy tayabroad, and aw his mother again, thcn his happy grceting would always include: ' Hello.... Eternal youth ... .' Mamma Fokker was nearly eighty when she died, a few months before the liberation of Holland in 1945. Another facet of Fokker's activities in the years before the World War I was hi attempt to produce a seaplane. In 1912 the flying boat was evolved in France, by DonnetLeveque and a little later in America by Glenn Curti s. Fokker, too, saw something in it and he intended to join in the first Schneider Trophy competition at Monaco. He tarted to build a flying-boat early in 1913 based on his , Spin', but it appeared a a esquiplane powered by a 70 h.p., eight-cylinder Renault driving a pusher airscrew. Certainly Fokker could build quickly; this new machine, designated type W.I, was completed in five week. Given a trial flight on the river Dahm near Kopenick, it apparently met with disaster when landing, for there is no record of any further flights at that time. It was later rebuilt and tested on the Spree, but the plan to join in the rally at Monaco with the W.I was dropped. Flugsport gave as explanation that Fokker was busily engaged in the execution of military orders, but since this work was restricted to an initial order for two aeroplanes, it would appear that Anthony Fokker pos essed the correct public relations technique from the very beginning of his career! In the latter part of May 1912, during the aviation week at Johannisthal, he went through the mo t alarming even minutes of the whole of his adventurous life: at 2,500 feet one of the two right-hand bracing wires under the wing broke, causing the wires on top to droop and so indicate to Fokker the danger. He reali ed that the wing could 20

collapse any moment. Reduc!ng speed, he started carefully to descend. He persuaded his. passenger, the twenty-twoyear-old Leutnant von Schlichtmg, to crawl out on to the \\ mg and stay on .the spar, so. that his weight, pressing it back 1I1to place, might prevent Jt from breaking, but ... the officer dJd not understand what was required of him and after kJckll1g a hole in the fabric he sat back in his seat. The \\ lI1g held as the aircraft slowly glided down, but near to the ground the an turbulence over the edge of a copse sealed the fate ~f the cnppled machine. The wing broke and the m~chll1e dropped. Von Schlichting was killed; Fokker, by a miracle, was only lightly injured. He lost consciousness as he was bell1g carned away in a car. He could only be per .uaded to stay in bed for three days, before starting work ~gall1. When later Fokker wa asked which moments of hi 1J~e had given the greatest triumph and the deepest depleSSlon, he replIed that the depression was the fall with von Schlich~ing~ be~ause he thought then that everything was lost, and hiS hIghlight wa the flight over his home-town when the people of Haarlem, who had considered him a nonentIty, acclaimed him as a hero. Accompanied by a YOUl.l~ Dutch pilot, Jan Hilgers, who h2d learnt to fly at the Blenot School in France, Fokker went to St. Petersburg, to join in a competition for the sale of aeroplanes t.o the Tsarist Army. There was no promise of a large. order: 1I11tlally I t concerned six aircraft, but it was a begJl1nll1g. A leiter in August 1912 from the Hotel Old Riga at St. Petersburg to' Dear Toosie " his sister, explained the result of the competition. Money was necded to pave the way, and he was relatively poor. The German Wright Comp~ny With the backing of German finance had much more. lI1f1uence and experience with dealing with Tsarist R~ Sla, where the quality of thc gifts to the examining commltt~e, mJght well be the deciding factor. Fokker was left out 111 the cold, but things were looking up with his German venture.

Hermall Fokker AlllhollY's falhe,': Ivllo oplimiSlically IlOped 10 elljoy a peaceful alld carefree reIiremelll ill Haarlem. fllslead his son's early caree/ in aviation became a ,fillancial burdell. He cOllslalllly alld heavily subsidised Tony who, 10 his surprise, prospered and was able 10 repay Ihe loalls willl inleresl alld confound his jalller'sjears.

21

Alllla Fokker-Diemol./ and her jamolls SOli prior al SchipllOl, Jllly 1922.

10

a jlighl

However, even though he was unsuccessful with the RUSSians, hiS worth as a designer and constructor wa about to be recogni ed in Germany. [n July Fokker completed his first delivery to the German AI:my at Doberitz, one aeroplane, and in October we find hIm-after having made an altitude flight to 10,000 feet~l11aking his first cross-country flight to Hamburg, With Leutnant von Arnim navigating becau e of his. own shortco.mll1gs as a navigator. Meanwhile pupils registered WIth him for flying training, while the ravishing RUSSian lady, LJuba Galan chikoff, known as 'Pushka', who had learnt to fly on a Farman, carried the reputation of Fokker product further bye tablishing in ovember a new altlt~de record for women by reaching over 7,000 feet, beatll1g the prevIous record held by Melli Beese. Pushka had fir t come into contact with the Flying Dutchman in St. Petersburg, where he became so enthu iastic over hi aeroplanes, that she accompanied him to Berlin to buy one, H IS attempt to obtain a Ru sian Army contract, therefore, ran a rather strange course, becau e in tead of selling ix aeroplane to a bearded Russian general, he old one to a beautIful Russian lady, who wa attractive, intelligent, spoke French and German, and was an air woman par excellence -hence her nickname' Pushka' which meant' cannon' and' a kanone ' was an' ace'. He was compensated for th~ loss of. the Ru sian military contract by falling very much in love WJth Pushka. This wa his first love affair and it hit him r~ther hard, judging Jrom what he him elf wrote about it wI.th. all frankne s in his book. However, nothing came of thl IdY.", because, as he confes ed, he could talk and think abOllt little else than aeroplanes-and Ljuba wa essentially a woma~! She emigrated to America and ran a beauty parlour 111 ew York City.

in July 1913 with an order for four aeroplanes with lorries at a price of 45,700 Marks per unit, and then a month late~ a further order for six aeroplanes, at 19,500 Marks each. With that a total amount of 299,800 Marks was involved .. An encouraging result. Father Fokker becam~ .hopeful agaIn.until the next bleeding! The German military auth?ntles had meanwillie considered that having all the aircraft builders together on the Berlin airfield, was like having all their eggs in one basket. Therefore, the~ encouraged decentralisation. How would Fokker hke the Idea of mOVIng to Schwerin in Mecklenburg? This suggestion couldn't fail to appeal to the Dutchman, because the conditions were m.ost favourable. The army would guarantee orders and thirty trainees annually for the flying school, and the local c.ouncil at Schwerin offered generous terms for the lea Ing of grounds for an airfield and con~truction ~f a factory at 10 per cent. of the building cost with an optIOn for purcha e. The move to Schwerin-Garne took place In the autumn of 1913. That was Fokker's first factory, a building 49 by J J8 feet in size with an annexe. But with all that, his financial worries increased. 'The boss' found himself once more desperately short of money because with necessary extensions and equipment, the expenses increased too, and up until then it !1ad all been financed out of family capital. Fokker SenIor had long given up the idea of sorting it out on his own and together with his brother, Anthony's Uncle Edward, who had. more than once helped privately, and ~r. Cremer Seruor, a limited company was established with a capital of 300,0.00 Dutch florins. Another six months later It was helped with another 100,000. They had faith, because the army order~d more aeroplanes, twelve this time. Private orders came In too. The factory then employed fifty-five men and gave promise of showing good profits for 1914. As to the development of the types, after the fi.rst three Fokker looping an M.5L aI"Sc!llverin, May 1914. Spin and M.2 types in foreground. Spin editions, variations on that theme appe.ared m J9121913 in the M series, the M.l to M.4. BaSically all w~re His business grew until there were eleven complete? improved' Spin' types. The typ~ of which ten were supplIed aeroplanes in his hangar, fi~e of. which were used for hIs to the army, four with a lorry, In 1913, was the M.2. The school. Orders from private individuals helped the bUSiness M.4 had a nose-wheel. In the autumn of 1913 Fokk~r had further. At the end of 1912 Hilgers left Antwerp with two witnessed at Johannisthal the renowned French airman, Fokkers in order to give flying demonstratIOns 111 the Dutch Pegoud, perform evolutions which so far had see.med posEast Indies, under a financial agreement wlth the Fokker ible only in dreams. Looping the loop, flying upSIde down, works. But unfortunately the result was a loss to the tune of falling leaves, and so on. He wanted to em~late the French40,000 guilders. . ' . man. But with what? The stable types which he had so [oar Fokker's faithful schoolfnend, Fntz Cremer, his partn~r built were unsuitable for such aerobatics. He was ~Ise in the punctureless tyre venture, became his chief pilot at his enough to realise that the Spin.' without ailerons, held lIttle flying school at Johannisthal; records show that on one day promise in the future. Lo?kIng to the French Moranehe gave eighty-three flying lessons! Then Ber~ard de Waa,1, Saulnier as an example, haVing bought one fro~ France, he who had learnt to fly at Goedecker's, came Into Fokker s therefore built a manoeuvrable monoplane, hlS type ~.5, service. From early April onwards, eight officers and t.hree powered by a 80 h.p. Gnome rotary engine. With this ~e civilians were trained, the latter being funded by the Nall.onal pirouetted through the German c~)Untr~side, with, as cluef he Na/lOnal Flugspende established in the previous year. attraction, looping the loop. It IS typical fo.r Fokker to Flugspende did much to sponsor the Interest In aer?plane. confess honestly that in the beginning he dId not really in Germany, which had been rather neglec~ed u~tIl then, execute a loop, because he was afraid of it, but once he had for too long the Germans had directed their main efforts achieved a pure loop, he mastered his fear. His a~robatlcs towards ai rs hips. . caused a sen ation at Johannisthal and one BerlIn p~~er A competition was organised in BerlIn to assess the be t reported that he had surpassed Pegoud and that th~ Blenot type of military aeroplane that co~ld be easily tran ported monoplane that famous aviator had used had not dls~layed with quick assembly and dism~ntllng. Fokker had a twosuch astonishing climbing power as.the ~o~ker machIne! ton lorry built by Daimler, specIally equipped foor transportFokker was becoming a name In aViatIOn. ing a dismantled aeroplane. The reward for hIS work came

:r

22

The Fokker Menace

CHAPTER TWO

Germany, although boldly ordering her troops to trample through Belgium and march into France in the opening stage of the great struggle of 1914-1918, was less prepared in the air than the French. With their 230 aeroplanes, composed chiefly of slow Albatros and L. V.G. biplanes and the elegant, but low and militarily unsuited Etrich ' Taubes " they were far behind the French in both quality and quantity. The national movement for aeronautic, the F1ugspende, had resulted in Germany capturing everal important world records immediately prior to the war, but it did not appreciably influence technical development in the aircraft industry. Until the spring of 1914, the German Army had not shown any interest in light manoeuvrable monoplanes like the Bleriots, Deperdussins, ieuports and Moranes of the French. These aircraft were probably out of the Germanic concept because they were not solid or heavy; that was until the Minister for War, General von Falkenhayn, had attended a sensational performance of aerobatics by a young DutCh airman, Anthony Fokker, during Whitsun 1914. The manoeuvrability and the amazing climbing power of his machine were a revelation to His Excellency and his adviser, and influenced their views. At a discussion with the military authorities a few days later, an order was given to Fokker for a light two-seater monoplane, in addition to a new type of biplane. Thus, new models in the M. eries appeared for training and reconnaissance work with the German Army. The reconnaissance machine were sometimes called cavalry monoplanes, as reconnaissance was the traditional role of the cavalry. The enthusiasm with which pilots received these light and manoeuvrable monoplane is evinced in a letter from Oswald Boelcke during December 1914, in which he wrote: ' The Fokker is my best Christmas present, in which I take a childish pleasure.' This, let it be recorded, was an early M. type machine, not the famous M.5KjMG which later became the E.I in German service. From the moment war broke out, the factory in Schwerin worked at high pressure. Fokker was, as he put it himself, scram bl ing up the ladder faster than his feet could carry hi m. High army and navy officers paid him visits and vied with each other for the limited output of his factory. Everyaircraft in building was spoken for. The first large order, for a dozen machines of the M.7 type, came from the Austrian Army, through the intermediary of the Austrian Liaison Officer, Oberleutnant Lustig, stationed in Berlin. Bulk order from the German Army followed. At first the German advance in France progressed so fast that all Germany believed that the conflict would be decided in a few months. Fokker took on new labour every day, to get the growing number of order executed as quickly as possible before the demand would cease. At the Fokker flying school, thirty officers were posted in for training. As an introduction for each successive course, Fokker would give an exhibition of stunt flying, presumably to imbue the pupils with confidence in his products, for the school used various M. types. Fokker looped, banked and side-slipped in an alarming manner. One trainee, who jotted down his views, considered that, without doubt,

Early STaff at Schweria flying-school, 1914. Left to right, Cremer, Weidner, Fokker, his compatriot de Waal and K/llllner.

Fokker was the mo t accomplished pilot of the time. Furthermore, he was not conceited or self-satisfied, for he would, if he had the time, chat with any of the pupils who ought knowledge of flying. By far the most popular man in the establishment was the unforgettable Bernard de Waal, whom the pupils called Pappa de Waa!. His pithy remarks were bywords and one pupil went 0 far as to say that the un ro e with his arrival and et with his departure. The armament of German aeroplanes in the first year of the war lagged behind the Allies. While many French and Engli h aeroplanes were equipped with a light machine-gun, on an improvi ed mounting, the only weapons of defence that the Germanairmen posse sed were a revolver or carbine. Major Siegert, who later became Inspector of Aviation Troops, reported that in August 1914 when making a flight to Belfort, he fixed an old gramophone horn to his carbine in order to frighten the bloodthirsty French flyers into thinking that he had a gun of heavy calibre! The water-cooled German machine-guns were much too heavy for use in aircraft, and a light air-cooled machine-gun was not available in quantity. This dictated the situation. Until the end of 1915, many German reconnai sance machines had only the pilot's pistol as armament. German losses in that fir t year of the war might well have been even greater if the superior armament of the French aircraft had been fully exploited. The British had several significant uccesses after the war had been in progre s nearly a year. In April 1915, a French Morane-Saulnier monoplane, the pilot of which had in a hort time fought a number of successful combats, fell into German hands in West Flanders. Before the pilot, who was none other than the famous Roland Garros, could destroy his aircraft to deny its use by the enemy, he was captured. Thu the secret of his earlier successes was revealed. Garro had fltted bullet deflecting plate to his propellor, and the Germans were not slow to copy this device. But 23

A[ [he invita[ion of [he German military au[hori[ies, Fokker se[ up a factory aud flying school a[ Schwerin in late 1913. This pho[ograph shows a visiting s[afI officer inspec[ing [he s[udent pilo[s.

their results were disappointing. Whereas the French bullets with a copper coating were effectively deflected, the German bullets, with a chrome plating, shot the blades to pieces. There was some dismay among the German Army authorities. If the French succeeded in improving their system, the consequences might be catastrop hic for the German Air Service. Fokker was sent for at Schwerin. But why Fokker? Why not one of the many German aircraft builders or armament experts? Could it be because Fokker's M-type monoplane was similar to the Morane? That may be possible, but it is more likely that the Flying Dutchman, with whom the German military authorities had been III business contact since 1912, had made a deep impression by his quick reaction, insight and his products. Also, he was the only aircraft builder who flew as only the best could fly. There had been a warning to be careful of him, because he was not a German and might be in contact with foreign powers, but this argument was waved aside by the Air Service authorities. So Fokker came to Berlin, heard what was required of him, thought a while and promised that within a few days he would devise a firing system not only equal to, but better than, the French had conceived. Until the gun taken from Garros's aircraft was shown to him, he had never had a machine-gun in his hand and he had only a vague idea of how it worked. A standard German Parabellum machine-gun was made available to him around five o'clock on a Tuesday evening and he caught the next train to Schwerin with it tucked under his arm. The following Friday he returned to Air Service Headquarters with an actual synchronised machine-gun as u ed in subsequent aerial warfare. The invention and development had all been completed in forty-eight hours of day-and-night work, after the essential method had been conceived. Fokker had connected the firing mechanism of the weapon-by means of cams and levers-to the engine, in uch a way, that it could shoot only if the propeller-blade wa clear of the barrel of the gun. Having tested the gear in an M.5K monoplane, firil\g across the Schwerin lake, he hitched the monoplane by the tail to his Peugeot touring car and set off for Berlin. As part of the efforts made in recent years to decry the Flying Dutchman and to sugge t that practically everything by which he established his fame was the work of others, it has beell said in all seriousness, by one of his critics, that after inspecting Garros's weapon, he received no instructions at all and that he did not have a machine-gun placed at his

disposal. Instead, he was supposed to have bribed an official of the arms factory at Spandau to smuggle out a machine-gun for him. A rather thin tale, for to smuggle a weapon from an arms factory in wartime, for the benefit of a foreigner, could have had far-reaching consequences for those concerned! With this gun, according to this wild story, hc could not manage to solve the problem, and armament experts designed the new system for him. However, this story neither states the identity of the experts nor does it explain the Army's reaction to his unauthorised acquisition of a gun. Fokker demonstrated his invention to staff officers, and it worked. But buoyant with his own enthusiasm and selfconfidence, he had not reckoned with the conservative military minds of the officers. They admired the drum-fire of the series of ten rounds fired, but doubted if it would continue firing a full feed of rounds and if it would function in the air. Fokker demonstrated the point forcibly. He h2..d Fokker, 1I0[wi[hs[andillg numerous (alld subsequen[!) claimants produced [he firs[ prac[ical synchronising gun gear. The purpase af [he large disc is explained on page 27.

24

some old wings piled to form a target and took off in his M.5K, then turning, headed for the target, dived and fired. The bullets, hitting stones under the wings, ricocheted in all directions, causing the assembled officers to take to their heels. At least the bullets were real! After the mechanism had been tested by Leutnants Buttlar and Wintgens, it was built into the series of M. type monoplanes designated the Fokker M.5, M.14 and M.15 which became the E series in service. Thirty sets were originally ordered and with subsequent orders that were soon placed, a new department was opened at the Schwerin factory to produce the gears. The first deliveries of the new monoplane were made in July 1915 to the flying school at Dbberitz, where plans were made to form a special section for operations at the front. However, a fatal accident on the 27th of the month, followed by another a few days later, alarmed the authorities about the airworthiness of the machines. Fokker was summoned to the school to investigate and flew one of the machines in his inimitable way to restore the shattered confidence of the pilots. A few were then issued to units at the front in August but back at Dbberitz another Fokker crashed on August 29th, which evoked an order from the Inspector of Troops to withdraw the machines from service for modification at Schwerin. They were soon re-is ued. On August 1st, 1915, Leutnant Max Immelmann had scored his first victory with one of these monoplanes and eighteen days later Boelcke also scored. At the end of October Immelmann had destroyed five, and Boelcke six, of their adversaries. Whenearlyin 1916 they each were credited with eight victories, both were honoured with the highest imperial decoration for gallantry, the Pour Ie Merite, making them national heroes and also bringing Fokker aircraft into the limelight. The 80 h.p. E.f monoplane was followed in June J915 by the E.rr, equipped with the 100 h.p. Oberursel, and in September 1916, the E.lrr appeared at the Front similarly po~ered, but with two synchronised machine-guns. Thc fin:ll development of the series was the E.IV with a 160 h.p. Oberursel and two machine-guns. Experiments were carried out with an E.IV fitted with three machine-guns but the results were di appointing. The total number of Fokker fighter monoplanes in the E. I to E. IV series amounted to 625. The appearance of these German fighters, which shot down the ploddi ng, but persistent, reconnaissance aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps, caused considerable comment in the British Press. They spoke of the' Fokker Scourge' and 'Fokker Terror '. The Times in early 1916, as well as the British trade papers, were completely in the dark concerning the secret of the success of the E-type monoplanes. They still imagined bullet-deflectors as on the Morane, and Flight in fact called the Fokker a bad copy of the Morane. The pugnacious C. G. Grey, in The Aeroplane, made scornful mention of the 'rule-of-thumb Dutchman' who had checkmated the products of British industry. The man who really put the cat among the pigeons was the adventurous, explosive oel Pemberton Billingpolitician, aircraft designer and builder, and founder of SupermarineAviation. At the by-election for East Hertford, he had offered to stand to press for reforms in the handling of aeronautical affairs. He gained a seat, only to lose it in

The Morane-Saulnier ' N' SCoU[ wi[h Lewis gun and bladepro[eCling pla[es. This was a simple and eflec[ive French ill/provisa[ion devised by Saulnier and Garros in early /9/5 as (1/1 urgen[ sohaion [0 [he problem of firing !hrough [he propeller arc. As [he pho[ograph sho ws, [riangular me[al defleClor pla[es .filled [0 each blade ellsured IIw[ bulle[s which would o[herwise have hi[ [he blades, were now diver[ed pas[, [0 left or righI, after s[nking one of [he [WO allgled faces of [he pla[es.

the next election, but his debut in the Commons in March 1916 was stormy. He claimed that the de ign from the Government factory at Farnborough were no more than , Fokker-fodder', and that sending young men over the enemy lines in such contraptions constituted-murder! An official enquiry was ordered, in which the Fokkermenace featured. While the committee deliberated, complaints continued. A reassuring statement that British aircraft were equal to the Fokker, received the retort that if that was so, why had Fokkers caused such consternation? The Aeroplane in May 1916 carried a full-page advertisement asking for financial support to build a 'Fokker fighter', a fighting 'plane capable of fighting the form.idable monoplanes of the Dutchman. Another dutiful Government statement gave the opinions of experts about the Fokkers, which were that the fore and aft control was distinctly bad, and it was a difficult 'plane in which to learn to fly. Of the original Fokker of 1910, that was probably true! 25

The German Crown Prince (cenrre) and Fokker at Stuay near Verdun in 1915.

The appearance of the E-type Fokkers had far-reaching consequences and led to the nece sity of flying in formation. In 1915, when air-to-air combats were still a rarity, it was a serious matter for the R. F.e. to lose three aircraft in one day, as happened on ovember 11th, 1915, when the B.E.2cs of 0.8Squadron, os. 1711 and 1725, and an F.E.2B of 0.6 Squadron, o. 5644, were lost. At the turn of the year G.H.Q. issued this instruction: ' Until the Royal Flying Corps are in the possession of a machine as good as or better than the German Fokker it seems that a change in the tactics employed becomes nece ary. [t is hoped to obtain very shortly a machine which will be able to engage uccessfully the Fokker at pre ent in use by the Germans. In the meantime, it mu t be laid down as a hard and fa t rule that a machine proceeding on reconnaissance must be escorted by at least three other fighting machines. These machines must fly in close formation and a reconnai sance hould not be continued if any of the machines become detached. This should apply to short and long distance reconnaissances. Aeroplanes proceeding on photographic duty any considerable distance east of the line hould be similarly escorted. From recent experience it seems that the Germans are now employing their aeroplanes in groups of three or four, and these numbers are frequently encountered by our aeroplanes. Flying in close formation mu t be practised by all pilots.' These tactics put a evere burden on the Royal Flying Corps; while the number of tactical ~ights required remained the same, many more aeroplanes were needed to carry them out. Formation flying, however, was effective to a degree; several times aeroplanes flying in close formation were attacked without success by Fokker . Typical of the situation was a flight ordered for February 7th, 1916 from General Headquarters, which required information about railway activity at a certain point behind the lines. The ingle reconnoitring B.E.2c was to be escorted by three other B.E.2cs, 26

four F.E. , four R.E.s and a Bristol Scout. That order was not, however, carried out, but as the British official historian writes: ' ... there could be no more significant tribute to the supremacy of the Fokker than is implied in thi order for twelve pilots to e cort one reconnaissance aeroplane.' Although the Fokker was an effective weapon, the part which it played in reality was rather over-estimated. In the beginning it played no part at all. Before Immelmann gained his first victory, the E-type Fokkers had been flown at the front by twelve pilots for some weeks, but the pilots did not use them offensively. Their style was cramped by the Army Command, who u ed them for reconnaissance work, or as a fighter only in a defensive role to impose a blockade of the skies, to prevent incur ions by Allied aircraft into the German air. Fokker's invention also caused a legal battle. After he had put into production his solution to the problem of firing through the propeller arc without hitting the whirling blades, a somewhat similar invention wa found to have been patented on July 15th, 1913, by the German-naturalised Swiss Franz Schneider, technical manager of L.V.G. There was, however, a vital difference. Schneider thought that he could prevent bullets hitting the blades by allowing the machine-gun to work as an automatic weapon and by blocking its mechanism whenever an airscrew blade came before the gun. With the engine turning a 2-blade propeller at 1,200 r.p.m. the gun muzzle was obstructed 2,400 times a minute, i.e. at the rate of 40 times per second. However, the maximum rate of fire of the gun was 600 rounds per minute, i.e. a rate of only 10 times per second. It is obvious, therefore, that the gun's automatic loading mechanism could not have time to operate satisfactorily, due to the' interference' of the blocking mechanism operating at 4 times the speed of the gun itself. Schneider's idea, in fact, was unworkable.

Fokker's approach to the problem was entirely different. It was simple in the extreme and a typical example of the , direct' approach of a practical engineer. He reali ed that all that was neces ary was to delay the firing of any bullet which would otherwise have hit one of the propellor blades. He therefore de igned the operative end of the rod-andlever sy tem, so as not to block the firing of the gun at the rate of 40 times a second, but to delay or 'interrupt' its firing only as alld when the bullet would have hit a blade. On page 24 i illustrated the actual test rig Fokker built to enable him to adjust the rod-and-Iever mechanism. By turning the airscrew by hand the gun fired a series of bullets through the wooden disc. It wa then a simple matter to adju t the rod-and-Iever mechanism to 'interrupt', i.e. delay the firing of the gun when holes appeared in the di c too near either of the propeller blades. Fokker's invention was a true' interrupter' or ' delayed-action' mechanism. It .ensured the firing of the bullets to miss the propeller blades, and this became generally known as a' ychronising' mechanism. To sum up, one might define the Schneider method as a firing interrupler gear, whereas Fok ker's system was an actual firing gear. Of the two methods, only the Fokker would work to the satisfaction of the German Air Service. evertheless, from the legal action which followed, Fokker was obliged to pay the holders of the Schneider patent, L. V.G., royalties. Fokker's explanation was that with his practical solution to the problem he could not avoid infringing the patent protection given to Schneider's purely theoretical gun synchronising gear. In 1933 Schneider tried, as a result of a pa sage in the book The Flying Dutchman where Fokker claimed to be the inventor of the synchronised machine-gun, to force him again to pay damages; but the claim was rejected on several grounds, one of which was that

An instructional mock-up of the Fokker gun-gear. The handle at lower right turned the cam which operated the interrupter gear through rods and levers.

The rods and levers operated by the cam on the engine crankshaft are clearly shown on this Alball'os C.I, 1915.

An informal phorograph of 1915. A youthful Tony Fokker and rhe Duke of Mecklenburg.

the invention of the claimant was merely a patent on paper which could not be realised in practice. In the months of July and August 1916, when the Battle of the Somme raged, the power of the German air arm ebbed. It had rested too long on the laurels of the E-type Fokkers and was late in introducing new type of fighters. T11e All' s, even before the first Fokker with synchroni ing gear fell into their hands on April 8th, 1916, had sent a Bristol Scout with interrupter gear to the front-indicating that the secret of the Fokker's success was known. The German' lead was surpas ed by new designs, such as the French ieuport with 110 h.p. Le Rhone and the British D.H.2 with 100 Gnome and the F.E.2B with a 120 h.p. Beardmore. There were day during the Battle of the Somme when formations of Allied aeroplanes crossed the German lines, but few or no German aeroplanes were seen. Typical of the changing cene is a combat report of the time submitted byCaptain R. E. A. W. Hughes-Chamberlain, of' B ' Flight o. 24 Squadron, the fir t single-seat fighter squadron of the R.F.e., which flew D.H.2s-' I was leading a formation detached to escort some F.E.2B machines which were taking photograph and in the cour e of the operation several Fokkers appeared but kept well out of range. On completionofthe work, when turning toward our own lines, Lt. Tidmarsh [Captain D. M. Tidmarsh, M.C.] seeing a Fokker approaching a little nearer than the rest, turned on it and dived-with the result that, although he did not fire a ingle shot, the Hun fell out of control and era hed on the roofs of Bapaume.' In the Middle East Theatre, where a hortage of aircraft did not allow large formations, Fokker monoplanes were reported active up until the end of 1916. The pilot of Martinsyde G.IOO Elephant 7467 of o. 30 Squadron, for example, reported on ovember 27th, 1916, that while escorting two B.E's, he wa attacked by a Fokker monoplane

27

At times the supply of Oberursel rotary engines failed to keep pace with Fokker's production of the , E ' types. Thir 1915 view of Schwerin shows the result of sllch an occasion. The aircraft are £.lIl's with an M.8 in the right foreground.

advantage of contacts in Berlin. Success did not necessarily devolve upon a superior design. This was evident when Fokker produced his V.I, in December 1916, a sesquiplane with cantilever wings. It was the first design of the V (Versuchs) series-a trial series-by Reinhold Platz. In this, the Army showed no enthusiasm, only doubt and mistrust. An aeroplane without connecting struts between the wing was too unconventional for them. In desperation, Fokker flew this sesquiplane as he had never flown before, turning it, so to peak, inside out. It was no good. The V.I was too far ahead of its time. But, without doubt, this aeroplane without bracing cables was much stronger than, for example, the famed Albatros D.V with its 'Vee struts' between the wings. The weaknesses of the Albatrose are confirmed in letters, notes and diaries of various German pilots. Ernst Udet admitted that the French Spad was superior. to the German Roland D.I and certain Albatros

in Turkish markings; so evidently some Fokkers, discarded by the Germans, were handed over to the Turks. The day of the E-type Fokkers had gone, but unfortunately for the Allies a second phase of Fokker's successful career was to come with the change from the E-type monoplane fighter to the D-type biplane fighters. Initially they were less successful, for their synchronised gun-gear was no longer a novelty, but they were the first step to the renowned D.VII. The change had come after Boelcke had submitted a report· to the effect that the 160 h.p. versions of the Eseries were les manoeuvrable than the 80 and 100 h.p. ersions and that the rate of climb was reduced. Boelcke suggested that biplanes might remedy the shortcomings. Partly to comply with Boelcke's advice, the Fokker D.J, \'I ith a 120 h.p. Mercedes, appeared in August 1916. The designer would have preferred the 160 h.p. Mercedes engine, but there wa an intrigue! Apparently jealous of the striking successes of the stranger in the German camp-the frank young man from the Houtweg in Haarlem-the Albatros factory had, by influence in high circles, managed to monopolise the 160 h.p. Mercedes engines, which were available only in limited numbers. It was thanks to this engine that the Albatros firm achieved results, superior to Fokker, with their D-types. The Dutchman had to rely again on rotary engines to equip his new D.1l with the 100 h.p. and the D.JfI with the 160 h.p. Oberursel. But the limited orders placed for these types did not keep the factory going at full capacity and in consequence Schwerin was classified as a secondary factory. Fokker was instructed to build 400 A.E.G. C.JV and C.TVA trainers, which was a blow to his prestige. Meanwhile, Boelcke, recalled from a tour of the B2.lkans, commenced another spell on the Western Front, achieving even greater fame and flying, at times, a Fokker D.IJI. After the D.III came the D.IV with a 160 h.p. Mercedes but only a small number went to the Front. The next, the D.V, was the first Fokker biplane with only two pairs of interplane struts. Fokker had continually to struggle to maintain his position. Only by his utmost efforts did the Schwerin factory regain a leading position, by u ing tact and ingenuity to break through the ring of competitors who enjoyed the * This report appears in detail in 'Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War.' A ' Harborough ' publication.

Lt. Miiller and his E.1V, the IIltimate model of the famous Fokker monoplane line, powered with a 160 h.p. two-row rotary engine, requiring an additional bearing at the froll!.

28

types, particularly in steep dives, when their wings were apt to break. Ritter von Tutschek endor ed this, writing that he achieved more with three aeroplanes which were a match for the enemy, than with twenty Albatros D. Vs, which could not be steeply dived without danger. Yet the Fokker, which only looked frail, and could be demonstrated to prove it strength, was not con idered. Inspired by the British Sopwith triplane, which fir t appeared at the front in June 1916, Fokker built his Dr. I triplane. But, as always, he was hampered by the lack of the latest powerful engines, and had to fall back on the 110 h.p. Oberursel. evertheless, with that engine, the triplane was a great success. Tn July 1917, von Richthofen, the German ace of aces, told the men of his Jagdgeschll'ader that they would be getting new Fokker triplanes that' climbed like monkeys and manoeuvred like the devil '. They arrived during August, at a time when the Allies were achieving parity with their new types. The manoeuvrability of Fokker's triplane was astounding and the climbing ability amazing. Perhaps the most famous exponent of the triplane, apartfromvon Richthofen, was Leutnant Werner Voss, who won respect from the Royal Flying Corps by his epic last combat, alone, against six S. E.5AS led by none other than McCudden-MajorJ.T. B.McCudden, V.c., D.S.O.andBar, M.C.andBar, M.M., C.deC. Byskilful handling, Voss twisted and turned to avoid the S.E.'s fire, but eventually his triplane was hit and Voss was killed. The wreckage fell at St. Julien within the British lines and on examination British intelligence officers were given an insight into the difficulty Fokker was experiencing in obtaining engines-for Voss's triplane was powered with a 110 h.p. Le Rhone TO. 6247, that records showed was installed in a British ieuport that was reported missing early in 1917! It had been fitted with a

Lt. Kurt Wintgens, who flew with FI. Abl. 67 and Jasta I

scored 18 victories, and won tire Ordre Pour Ie Merite, was one of many German aces who used Fokker aircraft at some period in their careers.

standard mahogany German Axial airscrew. Voss's triplane has been variou Iy reported as silvery-blue and silverygrey; apparently it was basically silver, but its wings wore functional camouflage colours, green on the upper and blue on the lower surface. The alvaged remains of the fuselage were taken for examination by the R.F.C. under the registration G.72. Figures given for the speed of the Dr. r are somewhat contradictory. Fokker wrote without mentioning any figures, that Allied airmen never had an opportunity to reali e how slow the triplane really was, because of the way it climbed, turned and stunted. Platz told the writer, when a ked about the speed, that in the old days speeds were not measured very accurately by any manufacturer, and they were usually represented to be better than they were in fact. He calculated the top speed of the Dr. I to be about III m.p.h., the Sopwith triplane did 117 m.p.h. with a 130 h.p. engine. Construction of the Dr. I was discontinued in 1918 after only some three hundred had been built. In an attempt to combat the forces of intrigue in Berlin, Fokker enlisted the upport of pilots at the front to whom it was a matter of life and death to have at their di posal, the best that industry could offer. He came into close contact with Leutnant Krefft, technical officer of the' Richthofen Circus' Jagdgeschwader Nr. 1, operating with a number of triplanes. Krefft visited the factory at Schwerin several times, and knew the firm's worth. Fokker told him his difficulties and Krefft eagerly seized the opportunity to advocate, through his seniors, open competition among the manufacturers. Eventually, intrigues were practically eliminated in an arrangement whereby a deputation of pilots from units at the Front assessed the relative merits of new design . For the January 1918 competition held at Johannisthal, Fokker's trump-card was the D.VIJ powered by the muchsought 160 h.p. Mercedes. This competition was premature for Fokker's entry, which, although flying, was far from

Anthony with the first biplane fighter, the D-1. Note the Iron Cross ribbon in his lapel, despite tire fact that he is wearing civilian clothes!

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Fokker V.I. Reinhold Platz, wllo was destined to become Fokker's best known designer from 1916 introduced the ' V' series of aircraft. Originally 'V' meant Verspannungslo or' unbraced wing' but later it was interpreted as Versuchsfl ugzeug, i.e., experimental aircraft.

satisfactory. The wings were not positioned right and the tail-fin was too small to give sufficient stability. Its flying characteristics were a tendency to dive and spin--'a machine to break one's neck with' as Fokker put it-but it had speed and a good rate of climb. Fokker, it should be remembered, was the only manufacturer who flew his exhibits in person. Determined to improve his product in the short time available, he telephoned for two of his best welders and they worked in secret all Saturday llight and half of the Sunday, to make alterations. Such modiAcations were forbidden by regulations, once the aircraft had been handed over, but that only added zest for Fokker who practically dismantled and re-assembled the machine under the pretext of essential maintenance! On test, it proved a bit fierce on the controls, but Fokker took the opportunity to slip a word to the testing pilots about its' kinks' and how to avoid them. The Fokker won. The most dangerous competitor was a Rumpler, which was considerably faster, but with radiators at the side of the fuselage, it was prone to buffeting in the slipstream. The Albatros D.VI was virtually a copy of its weak-winged predecessors. The Pfalz appeared too weak for air-fighting, whereas the L.V.G. offered a poor field of view. Finally, the A.E.G. was-in German aviation jargon -a Mistklamotte, a misfit. This situation immediately changed everything for Fokker. The factory at Schwerin, full of A.E.G. trainers under construction, was given an initial order for 400 D.VII's at a price of 25,000 Marks each, less engine. Fokker secretly enjoyed the misfortunes of the others, particularly his rivals, the Albatros Werke, which, having some ten firms building their aircraft under licence, was then forced to build Fokkers under licence. With a six-cylinder 185 h.p. B.M.W. InA engine produced by the Bayerische Motoren Werke, the D. VH had a much improved performance, particularly in ceiling and rate of climb. That the German Air Service as an arm remained operative until the end of the war, in spite of the preponderance of Allied equipment, was in no small way due to the excellence of the D.VfJ. A number of tributes were given to the D. VIr, but one of the most original was by the English pilot Shaw, brought down by the German naval ace Leutnant Theo Osterkamp. Shaw, according to Osterkamp, was given the opportunity, before being sent to the prisoner-of-war camp, to test both a

D.VTf and an Albatros D.V, after giving his word of honour that he would only stay in the ai rfive minutes at the most each time. Naturally this concession was unbeknown to hjgher authority. Shaw's opinion was: 'Leutnant Osterkamp, the Fokker is very nice, but the Albatros is s.... I'. In 1918 Fokker produced another high-wing monoplane, a fighter with a 110 h.p. LeRh6ne, the D.VnI. The engine situation caused by the short supply of new in-line engines, had necessitated the production of more rotary engines in the last months of the war. Despite the limited power, the new monoplane climbed almost as fast as its biplane predecessor. Its debut was both dramatic and tragic; a succession of wing-fractures in the air. The real reason is not easy to ascertain. Fokker explained that the service technical liaison officers, recalling the earlier failures of the Albatros lower single-spar wings, insisted that the rear spar of the wing should be strengthened, which caused an uneven deflection of the wing when a strain was placed on it, as in sharp manoeuvres. However, from remarks made by certain executives of the Arm, it would appear that the factory was to blame. The technical bral,1ch of the Air Service apparently never knew the true story, for they stressed a wing by the sandbag method and it stood up Another 1916 design was the D. V fighter of which over 200 were built. Not many saw active service, as most were used for training purposes.

30

One of the few units to fly the Fokker E VI D Vi If monoplane in 19 J8 was Jasta 6 of the RichtIIofen Geschwader. Here, pilots of this Jasta pose, seated along the wing. Lt. Neckel, with ]0 victories is immediately above Fokker.

to the required factor of six times the weight of the machine. Nevertheless, production was held up for ome time until a re-designed wing was available. In the penultimate month of the war, when the German front in France and Belgium was beginning to collapse, experienced pilots were called to Adlershof for another fighter competition. The participants included an improved type Fokker, a Pfalz and a new type of Albatros. Again the Fokker was the favourite, but the pfalz received the commendation of Ernst U det, who in victory scores came second only to von Richthofen. Later, when a ked why, he confessed that he had just received an offer of employment with that firm after the war! There were often wruspers of bribery and corruption. That the German aircraft industry was generous to the pilots, and offered them facilities when in Berlin on leave, was no secret. Most firms joined in this, in one form or another; and not least Fokker who arranged reservations in the Hotel Bristol for notable pilots on leave. Wine-and women-were all part of the service and Fokker's own temporary lodgings in Berlin were in that same establishment, but nobody thought this an unfair practice.

Fokker's amazing rise to fame as a pilot, aircraft constructor and businessman was due to his outstanding energy, zest for work and unflagging perseverance in adversity. He was like a human dynamo. Meeting staff officer in Berlin, seeing for himself things at the front, supervising the training of pilots, grappling with the problems of design, administration and particularly supply, were all facets of hi life. Although he was only in his mid 'twenties, his employees called him ' the old man', but they never really got used to his youthful appearance. A visiting Austrian Commission, conducted round the works by Fokker, enquired at the end of the tour whether they might al 0 talk to the Director, or Fokker senior! That the smiling, bareheaded young man who had opened doors for them and politely an wered their questions, could be the Director, the owner himself, had just not occurred to them. A similar error was made by the German Crown Prince, when the young Dutchman was presented to him at the Front near Verdun in May 1915, after the Prince had seen his first E.r. He asked him if the inventor of the firing mechanism was his father! The hard-working director did not live in a luxurious villa or in the wing of a palatial hotel, except on visits, but in rooms which he shared with de Waal; boarding with an admirable old lady, Frau Frieda Grabitz, he only came home to eat and sleep. Many of those under him enjoyed greater comfort. His faithful quadruped, Ziethen, a long-haired dachshund, who accompanied him each morning on his inspection through the factory, was his only close companion. When the boss was in Berlin, the dog made the same inspection tour every day, on his own initiative, along exactly the same route. Fokker thought that trus was extremely clever, but it is not improbable that the pieces of ersatz sausage which the workmen saved for Ziethen, had a lot to do with that inspection-tour instinct. De Waal amused himself with a monkey, named Cuckoo, which died as a result of his habit of stealing-it ate a blue pencil. As already mentioned, the Fokker Flugzeugwerke ran a training school. Fokker had hi own ideas about the training of pilots. He was of the opinion that instructors flew too much with their pupils and gave too little verbal instruction.

The renowned Fokker Dr. I Triplane-made famous by Freiherr MCII~fred von Richthofen and other German aces.

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modern establishment than the Schwerin works and built, apart from Fokkers, Austro-Daimler aero-engines under licence. F. W. Seekatz, who becameFokker's export manager, was in charge of the aircraft construction department of these works. The demand for gun synchronising gears grew beyond the ca,pacity of the Schwerin factory and the independent Deutsche Flugzeugbewaffnungs Ges. was formed. In July 1916 the company took over the engineering works of G. H. Zimmerman in Berlin-Reinickendorf, in order that the gears should be manufactured close to the plant where the guns were produced, the arsenal of Spandau. Many improvements and modifications were incorporated from time to time. One change was instigated by the famous Manfred, Freiher von Richthofen, who, as a huntsman, preferred a normal trigger action to operate the guns, instead of a pushbutton, which was located on the handle-grip at the top of the control-column. Perhaps the greatest improvement, effected by Fokker's technicians, Luebbe and Leimberger, was replacement of the engine-to-gun coupling by a flexible shaft instead of a lever-and-cam system. The shafting system could be adapted with relative ease to various types of engine and it became in effect a universal coupling. Fokker engineers visited other aircraft factories to instal their products and it was not long before several firms were manufacturing their own. To a nation engaged in a bitter struggle for existence, patent rights were apt to mean little; but the neutral Dutchman, forced to become a German subject as a mere formality, was scandalised and regarded such actions as piratical. Then came a further blow. Without warning his contracts for coupling gears were reduced from the normal 6,000 per month to 1,200 and the bulk order switched to a newlyformed GOmpany using a gramphone works. Here Fokker showed his cunning. He refused all further orders for gungears, but secretly had 6,000 sets of an improved version made, and waited for the initial teething troubles which his own knowledge told him would be experienced by the new firm. The result was a shortage of gears and an appeal to Fokker which was already anticipated. He then showed his

Fokker with his dog Zeithen, who habitually joined his master on their tours of inspection at the Schwerin works during the war.

He maintained that he could explain to a man better how to fly if he could discuss the problems round a table, than many instructors could do on the airfield, and he did not allow a pupil to be rejected unless he had personally investigated his unsuitability. This shows the consideration that he gave to all sides of his business, but the flying-school did not remain his throughout the war. Only a limited portion of ground was available for flying at Schwerin, so that when the Air Service in 1915 opened up the airfield at Gorries, some twenty miles south of Schwerin, a large area was allotted to Fokker. Finally, the whole school became a training school under the military authorities and it is recorded that all twenty-two training machines initially taken over were soon destroyed in crashes. The factory in Schwerin, in which 3,350 aircraft were built during the war years, was initially built far too small forthevolume of work and it had to be continuallyexpanded by adding large new wooden sheds and huts. Monthly it grew, stretching along the bank of the Schwerin lake, where a slipway was built for testing floatplanes. Little notice was taken of factory regulations and the fire-risk of the premises must have been great. To the end of the conflict the works at Schwerin remained an agglomeration of wooden buildings where heating, lighting, and other facilities were all temporary. To an extent this policy was for a time followed in the later Amsterdam factory, so that it was sometimes said of Fokker that he built beautiful aeroplanes in ugly factories. During the War, Fokker was concerned with several other enterprises. He rented the Perzina piano-works at Schwerin for constructing wings, since the piano industry had been brought to a standstill for the duration of the war. At Travemlinde, an experimental station for the construction of seaplanes was founded, and in Berlin on the Dnter den Linden, a central office was established under Wilhelm Horter, to maintain liaison with government offices, and as a buying department. In order to insure against the risk of engines not being available from Mercedes and B.M.W. in sufficient numbers, Fokker secured the majority of the shares in the Motorenfabrik Oberursel A.G. He also held large shares in the Hungarian Engineering Works, in combination with the Skoda Works. This factory was a much more

The flexible drive gun-gear introduced by Luebbe and Leimberger. /t was in every way superior to the original Fokker systern in that it operated off the camshaft and could be filled to any engine.

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improved gear to the technical department of the Air Service and promised immediate deliveries. His reward came in an official instruction to the Air Service: 'The Inspector of the Air Service has stipulated that in all aeroplanes with fixed, built-in machine guns, the Fokker central coupling is to be used. All other systems are to be withdrawn.' It remained that way until the end of the war. Early in the war, Professor Hugo Junkers had built an all-metal aeroplane of welded sheet metal, but he had met with little success. Fokker was instructed by the Flugzeugmeisterei to co-operate with the Professor and advise him. This led in the autumn of 1917 to the foundation of the Junkers-Fokker Werke A.G., the J.F.A. From this enforced collaboration little resulted. The Flying Dutchman put one-and-a-half million marks into it, but withdrew from the company after endless fruitless discussions. Junkersaccording to Fokker-stuck too much to his theories at a time-in the middle of the war-when practice was so much more important than theory. This enforced marriage broke up through incompatability. Two men of totally different natures were set to work together, one a twentyseven-year-old man full of boyish enthusiasm and boldness and with little or no scientific background, the other a fifty-seven-year-old learned professor who, although ahead of Ius times with certain ideas, showed little understanding for the practical requirements of simplicity in construction, decreed by the war-time conditions. However, in the course of time Junkers too, aided by government subsidies, found fame in his country. It has been said that Fokker, by his contact with Junkers, got to know his ' secret' of the thick cantilever wing. Platz, who should know, has called this a fairy tale. The idea of the thick wing was then in other minds too. Although Fokker does Junkers the honour of calling him father of the thick wing, the story of the parentage is slightly different. It was the famous French aircraft builder Leon Levavasseur, who had built for the military competition of 1911 the first monoplane with cantilever wing, the renowned Monobloc, of whjch pictures were published in newspapers all over the world. This beautiful, but very heavy machine did not fly because no engine of sufficient power was then available.

The flying activities and, no doubt, the young men of Schwerin allracted the local beauties! The aircraft is a Spin trainer used at Fokker's military flying school.

Fokker received several decorations in Germany. The Grand-Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin honoured him early in 1916 with the Military Cross of Merit, and two years later the Emperor awarded lum the Iron Cross, Second Class-and later that year the Iron Cross, First Class. Of the Mecklenburg Cross of Merit another fifteen were later made available for distribution among the staff of the factory, providing a difficult task to select from the 1,800 employed, fifteen who merited such distinction. Length of service in the firm was considered as a prime qualification. Thus it so happened that, on seniority, an elderly mechanic, who was responsible for the cleaning and proper working of the W.C.'s, figured on the list of those decorated! For the other fourteen vain' knights " this denigrated the award. However, the war was already lost and with gnawing hunger and the prospect of a military collapse, decorations were no longer rated very high in Germany. The Germans in the latter part of the First World War suffered winters of hunger, but less than the misery they were to inflict on occupied countries in a later war. The serious food situation led to the Fokker factory-pilots making socalled' butter-and-egg 'flights. Many a test flight ended, as a matter of course, in an emergency landing and by chance somewhere near a farm looking prosperous. When the pilot had managed to obtain provisions, the engine failure was apparently remedied! But once a pilot was missing for several days. It was feared that he might have found a cold grave in the waters of the nearby Baltic, but he turned up three days later with a live pig that he had acquired from a farmer. The sturdy animal had been so heavy that the pilot. had to wait several days for a stiff breeze, to assist take-off with his heavy load! The pig was confiscated by the factory management as punishment for the anxiety caused, and it was then presented to a visiting delegation of high army authorities from Berlin. That did not prove to be a wise move, because all the committees who subsequently visited the factory, on business, expected to go home with a pig in their retinue. The end of the war was followed by revolution in Germany; officers back from the Front were molested. Fokker himself had the greatest difficulty to escape. He

A more comprehensive view of the improved gear showing the flexible drives to the guns. Note the ammunition container with chute leading up to the gun.

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The Great Conspi racy

CHAPTER THREE

By early 1915 when Ihis pholograph wa.! laken, Schwerin \lias in JIIII prodllclion wilh a variely oj I)'pes ordered by Ihe German Cl.'ld AIISlrian mililary alllhorilies.

managed to leave his besieged house in the uniform of the son of his landlady, having walked past both guards in front of the house, who were later shot for negligence by their furiou colleagues. The faithful de Waal, standing under cover in a side-street with a motor bicycle, made his further escape possible. He drove thirty mile through the dark of night without lights and reached a railway tation, climbed on a goods train and crawled, after the train had left the station, over the roofs to the guard's van. He reached Berlin safely, and after that Holland. 'The horrors of the revolution touched me deeper than the whole war had,' said Fokker, which was understandable, becau e the war hardly touched him at all. Under these circum tance he wanted, come what may, to sell his enterprises in Germany. After some commercial plane, Ught aeroplanes and a glider on floats had been built under the management of Platz, production was terminated and Fokker Flugzeugwerke wa liquidated. The name wa altered to Schweriner Industrie Werke G.m.b.H. In order to occupy a small number of the best workers of the much reduced staff, a start was made with the construction of yachts, motorboats and canoes; but other manufacturers of war material were then doing the same, 0 that the market was flooded and prices fell. They then tried to make welded bedstead and scales. Bedsteads did not cause much difficulty to manufacture, but of weighing machines Fokker once confided to the writer that if a scales manufacturer had tried to produce aeroplanes, they could hardly meet as

many difficulties as he did trying to produce weighing machines! The war was over, Fokker had left Germany to start a new phase of his life. He left indelible impres ions. A a German historian wrote: 'The best German fighters were undoubtedly those which were built by Fokker. With these aeroplanes our three great heroes of the air, Boelcke, rmmelmann and Richthofen, gained almost all their glorious victories. The last famous Fighter of the war was the Fokker D.Vrr which our adversaries acknowledged by demanding the immediate handing over of all Fokker aeroplanes of this type at the Armistice.' rt is significant, too, that of the 200 aircraft handed over to the A merican Receiving Commission at Coblenz early in 1919, over half were Fokkers-114 D. V U's all but four of them brand new, and three examples each of the D.Vr and Dr. 1. A number of countries, including the United States of America, were to use the D.VHs as Fighters for several year. rn fact, its welded steel-tube fuselage was to have a considerable effect on that country's pur uit aircraft design. This followed a mock combat in 1921, between a Fokker D.VJI and a British S.E.5a, when a collison in the air resulted in both aircraft being wrecked-but, whereas the wooden S.E.5a, was smashed to pieces, the Fokker fuselage remained whole. Today, surviving examples of tllis type can be seen in England, the United States of America, France, Canada and Germany.

A view, laken in 1918, oj part oj the rapidly expallded Schwerin works. II was said, at Ihe lirne, Ihat Fokker built beaUliJul aircraJt in IIgly Jactories.

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The pOSI- World War I Fokker Jaclory al Veere in Zeelalld. AJrer Ihe move frOIll Sclrwerill Ihe design alld COIIS/ruclion oj aircraJI was carried 0111 al lhis former Oll/Clr Naval Air Senice base.

After Fokker had returned to his homeland, in 1919, and had decided to establish a Dutch company for the manufacture of aircraft, he had little national competition to fear. Before the war, a Dutch Firm had made an energetic attempt to build aircraft, founded by the pre-war pilot, Henry Wijnmalen, who gained international renown by winning in 1910 the Grand Prix offered by the Automobile Clu b de France for the Paris-Brussels-Paris flight. Shortly after the outbreak of war he planned to build Farman aeroplanes under licence, for which purpose he rented an upper floor of the Trompenburg motor-car factory in Amsterdam, where the famou Spyker cars were built. Soon the Wijnmalen group had the opportunity to obtain the whole factory, whereupon the name of the motor-car works was changed to Netherlands Automobile and Aeroplane Co., Trompenburg, and the factory wa considerably extended. After surmounting many difficulties, and with the cooperation of the French engineer Vannehard, a small number of Farman F.22 aeroplanes were supplied to the Dutch Government. When these aeroplanes and particularly the rotary Gnome engines began to wear out, the Firm endeavoured to produce designs of their own. Meanwhile, the etherlands Air Arm was helped to overcome its hortages in an unusual way, by what the Dutch Army pilots called , the factory at Cadzand'. Cadzand was a municipality in Zeeland, where, during the war years, a number of aircraft of the Allies force-landed. Allied and German aircraft also landed in other locations, but the neighbourhood of Cadzand, by reason of it proximity to the Belgian border, was omething of a catchment area. If the aeroplanes were not in too bad a tate, they were taken over by the etherlands government from the countries concerned, and in that way an air arm was con tituted of French, Briti h and German aeroplanes. Some forty British aircraft were interned, including, three big twin-engined Handly Page 0/400 bombers (two of which were set on Fire by their crew after landing), two Avros (type 504A and 504B) and at least one Short 184 and Sopwith Baby seaplanes.

The new types that the Trompenburg factory attempted did not compare very favourably with contemporary aircraft of the belligerents, due to lack of experience of the constructors and chiefly through shortages of the required materials. Thei r fir t design, the V.I, commenced in 1961, was intended as a Fighter; but by mid-1917 when it wa Finally completed, the 80 h.p. rotary engine with which it wa powered, failed to give it an acceptable performance for the period. Therefore, it progre sed no further than a prototype. The factory did build twenty copies of the ieuport xr as fighters, powered with 0 h.p. Thulin engines which were similar to Le Rhones. inety of these engines had been bought in Sweden. Six Morane-like Thulin monoplane were also purchased. While the Swedi h engines were quite satisfactory, the aeroplanes were not. However, in October 1917, the Netherlands army were enabled to buy ten Fokker D.rrI's, a well a twenty Oberursel engine of 160 h. p., together with forty Rum pier C. VIrI reconnaissance aircraft discarded by the Germans, for which payment was made in kind, such as the supply of 5,000 one-year-old horses. Another Fighter from the Trompenburg factory, the V.3, with a 130 h.p. Clerget, wa not completed until after the war. The factory built about a hundred dual-control trainers, the Spyker V.2, powered with 80 h.p. Thulins, but only one was supplied during the war. After comprehensive test, a production order wa placed post-war. The Trompenburg factory also tried their luck at aero-engine production, by building two hundred 130 h.p. engine similar to the 130 h.p. Clerget for 118 Spyker VA reconnaissance aircraft and eventy-eight V.3 Fighter ,which had been ordered before the war ended. With the Armistice, the Dutch did not need so large a force to protect their neutrality and the aircraft contract was cancelled, making the engines redundant. However, the Netherland Government was still committed by contract to buy all the material, to an amount of some 5} million Dutch florins. Fokker, who was then still in 35

supply to the Netherlands, the greater part of the material in the factory had been taken to safety before representatives of the Inter-Allied Control Commission arrived to inspect the works, and supervise the destruction of stocks. The management hid more than 220 aeroplanes and 400 engines in remote sheds, farms, empty cellars, or in stores. They had, of course, seen to it that sufficient was left for the hammer of the victors, in order to allay suspicions. A plan to move the whole of the inventory of the factory to Holland matured under Heinrich Mahn, chief of the transport department of the factory. It was a task enough to collect all the hidden material with lorries and cars, and still more difficult to collect the required number of railway trucks from the German State Railways. To facilitate this, appeals were made to old business acquaintances and friends, combined with a material token of appreciation, to soften their hearts. Sewing machines for the housewives, of which the factory had many, were welcome gifts, or silk which the works had had to buy during the war, in great quantities, because linen for the wings was almost unobtainable. Silk had tempted many before; during the war eighty female factory workers were caught stealing it, to provide themselves with dresses or their husbands with shirts. But there was more to it than soliciting aid. The loaded wagons had to be distributed over several shunting yards, then shunted into train loads; the important railway junction at Hannover had to be negotiated and the bottleneck between Salzbergen and Oldenzaal passed. Naturally, the German customs gave full co-operation, which was understandable because of the precarious position of German economy, coupled with a natural reluctance to help with the destruction of thei r war material, as decreed by the Allies. With cunning, the trains had been made so long that each consisted of sixty trucks, which made them too long for the checking sidings. They had to remain on the main line and after passing Salzbergen they had to go on to the Dutch border-station. Before the first transport reached the border, the Inter-Allied Control inspectors were informed that further to the south au irregular transport was trying to cross the border. This false scent was all part of Mahn's grand strategy. In six weeks the move, involving some 350 goods wagons, was completed. More than 400 aircraft engines and about 200 aeroplanes of the types D.VII, D.VrH and CI were transported, with 100 parachutes and enormous quantities of steel tubes, copper and steel fittings,

Fokker made a successful debut before Itis own cOllntrymen at the ELTA in 1919.

Germany, with a factory full of aircraft which the Germans could not longer use, heard of the Dutch contracts. Contacting the Netherlands Government, he pressed them to accept modern Fokker material, instead of the out-dated Spyker aeroplanes. This offer was accepted and Fokker set about moving the aeroplanes and engines, and a number of other items, to Holland. That agreement, however, contained an element of great uncertainty-transportation. It had been agreed that the aeroplanes would be supplied by the factory in Germany, but it was not all that certain that this would be permitted. The Central Powers were conditioned by the terms of the Armistice, as mentioned, that all Fokker D.VII aircraft were to be surrendered to the Allies. This testimonial for Fokker aircraft had its repercussions, because in the Armistice stipulations were contained instructions for the complete liquidation of his enterprise. At that time, immediately after the cessation of hostilities, Fokker had no illusions about being able to continue business in Schwerin. In view of the forthcoming

rubber tubes, sheets, screws, fabric, etc. All the trains went through without hitch, and the last, the sixth, included some thirty flat trucks loaded with fuselages covered with tarpaulins carrying in large letters the name ' Fokker Flugzeugwerke-Schwerin', because there were no plain tarpaulins available. Such blatant tactics dispelled all thoughts of unauthorised transfer! However, the writer's recent investigations into this smuggling drama reveal that the venture was not so risky as it appeared on the face of things in 1919. And less ofa risk than Fokker himself thought. At that time he was not to know that the occupying authorities had more or less connived at letting the transports through, and made no serious attempts to prevent them. Obviously, six trains of up to sixty wagons each, cannot be hidden and a venture of this magnitude, spread over five or six weeks, cannot be kept secret. The first transport had even been mentioned in the Dutch newspapers! Apart from the co-operation of the German customs and railway authorities, the affair also had the blessing of the authorities in Berlin. Wilhelm Horter, who, as related, managed the Purchasing Department of the Fokker organisation in Berlin, said that he himself had obtained written authority from the Minister concerned in Berlin! That the German Government was aware of this affair, is also evident from the fact that the transportation was linked with the deal involving Fokker, the Trompenburg factory and the Dutch Government. The aircraft in the Fokker works had to be bought, and export licences obtained. According to the Armistice terms, all these aircraft were to have been destroyed, or handed over, but the German authorities thought it more practical, and profitable, to sell as much as possible and to get it discreetly over the border. Thus the smuggling plot succeeded wonderfully well. The department which dealt with this matter was the Reichsverwertungsamt established in the Savoy Hotel in Berlin. In the mosaic of the terrace in front of the main entrance, the word Salve appeared, and seeing that the affairs of this government department differed little from 'schieben' (wangling), the Berliners read the word Salve as: Schieber aller Lander vereinigt Euch (wanglers of all countries unite). See katz, together with none other than Leutnant

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Fokker with officials at the Amsterdam aircraft exhibition.

Hermann Goring and another official, went to Schwerin, in order to list the material to be bought in order to fix the selling price. They started by taking over 92 D.VJ['s and 100 rotary engines. Not only the German authorities, but in England too, this venture was known. Even the British Government knew. The representatives of a British aviation group, at The Hague, seeing his sales prospects threatened, had given the Foreign Office in London the tip that Fokker was busily pushing his equipment over the border; but there was no reaction from the Foreign Office, and the Fokker-trains rolled on. It seems that this was later regretted, because one day the Dutch Minister of War had a visit from the British Ambassador in The Hague, who informed him that the deal with Fokker was considered an' unfriendly act', because the material was the property of the Allies and should have been destroyed; possibly this step was only taken as a matter of

Fitted wilh eilher Ihe /85 h.p. 8.M. W. 01' 230 h.p. Siddeley • Puma' engine Ihe CII a two-passenger, cabin commercial aircraft based on Ihe somewhat smaller C1 design.

The first Fokker airliner, tlte F.II with the German registration D 57, which was flown Ollt ofSchwerin 10 Amsterdam by de Waal despite a police guard around the hangers.

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form. Further evidence that the border control was not rigid, is the fact that after the Fokker venture, thirty-six L.V.G. reconnais ance aircraft, eleven complete and the remainder partially constructed, were brought over the border. They were imported by E. J. Osterman, the director of the ' leluma '-the .V. Nederlandse Luchtvaart Maatschappij-of Amsterdam, one of the many small aircraft companies which sprang up after the war. These aeroplanes were later completed at Ede by Bruno Jablonsky, a German who was living in England at the outbreak of war, and consequently interned. However, hewa ent to Holland under a Red Cross scheme later in the war. These ai rcraft were re-sold to Russia. Fokker's decision, after the war, not to share the fate of his German friends, but to return to his homeland in Holland with all his belongings, aroused severe criticism in part of the German Press. One of the papers published a caricature in which he was portrayed in an aeroplane winging its way to Holland and undertheaircraft hungasack with the amount of the contents-IOO million Marks. He did in fact have a D.Vrr converted into a two-seater with extra tanks fitted in case he should be forced to flee. Of course he took his money with him to Holland, but it did not add up to 100 million Marks. What he did manage to save of his money did not, however, cross the border by aeroplane, but partly by sea in a yacht and partly by train in a case belonging to a cook blessed with diplomatic privileges. Fokker eventually left Germany with the agreement of the Government, after having paid all outstanding taxes. But under pressure of an outcry in the Press, the German Government later made a further claim of 18 million Marks for outstanding war-taxes. Would he come and talk about this in Germany ... the Government invited? Fokker knew better. During the war he had been forced into German citizenship by the authorities entirely against his wishes. Judging from the accusations in certain German papers, add res ed to their' countryman' Herr Fokker, he could count on at least· fifteen year' forced labour! It did actually come to a discu ion, but on Dutch territory. After two days of exhausting talks in a small restaurant in Oldenzaal between two barristers representing Fokker, and three representatives of the Ministry of Finance in Berlin, it was agreed that he should pay 6 million Marks spread over five years. Then the Mark started to devaluate so rapidly, that Fokker made u e of his right to pay the whole debt at once, before a law for re-valuation of outstanding debts could be made; a few thousand guilders paid his debt. He was then once more free to enter Germany without painful consequences. The armada of Fokker aircraft and the enormous supply of materials arrived safely in Holland and were stored in the Amsterdam Petroleum haven. But now the Government, with a mass of aeronautical material for the asking, after four rather barren years of making do with whatever fell into their hands, appeared to be disinterested. Eventually Fokker agreed to take over the Trompenburg order, by supplying twenty D.VH fighters and sixty C.I reconnais ance planes and spare parts equivalent to a further twenty aeroplanes. It is interesting to conjecture how Fokker, who for the time being did not see a market for military aircraft and had

Fame and Fortune

CHAPTER FOUR

As relaled elsewhere Ihe desigll and call~ slrucliall of Fakker aircraft was ('0/11lItellced ill Ha/lalld 01 Veere. To provide adequale assembly facililies ilwasfolllld lIecessary 10 acquire Ihe bllildillgs which farllierly had housed Ihe Allislerdallt aircrafr exhibiliall, Ihe EL TA. These are i/luSlraled here, afler Iheir purchase. The various campallellls buill 01 Veere were shipped via Ihe acljacelll canal 10 A IIISlerdaln for asselltbly.

III March 1919 Fakker IItfllTied Ihe doughIer of a GerlItall gelleral, Elisabelh \'011 Margell, kllawlI 10 her jriellds as 'Tello." He had arigillally lite I her durillg Ihe war 01 a sailillg club Ileal' Berlill.

no great expectations for the construction of coillmercial planes, would have acted without the Trompenburg order, and whether he would then have undertaken his great move. Even before he married Eli abeth von Morgen, a German general's daughter, in March 1919, he had quite set plans about his future. He wanted to make a journey of several years cruising round the world, in a large three-masted schooner which lay ready in Denmark. Having worked constantly under high pressure since 1913, he looked forward to the venture as a honeymoon-trip. However, after the sensational move of the factory equipment had been completed events overtook his policies. In less than no time he was again deeply involved in the web of business. At the initiative of two enterprising flying officers, Lieutenants A. Plesman and M. Hofstee, the ELT A (Eerste Luchtvaart Tentoon telling, Am terdam), the fir t air.craft exhibition was held at Amsterdam in the summer of 1919. This wa not only an exhibition of aircraft with French, English and Italian participation, but-which was more important-a display of flying with opportunities for the public to make passenger flights. The effect was a tonic to the whole Dutch population. It broke the spell of apathy which had permeated as they watched, as neutrals, the great strides made in aviation by the belljgerents. With the ELTA came a new feeling that Holland could play an important part in aviation. This surprising outburst of air-mindedness in his own country did not go unnoticed by Fokker. He grasped his chance with both hands and with his usual flair for showmanship made full u e of it. It is of interest to observe that at thi exrubition, Fokker, the famous Dutch designer who had worked for the Germans, met Koolhoven the famous Dutchman who had worked for the British in a imilar capacity. In this new atmosphere on ] uly 21 st, 1919, the articles of association were pas ed at Am terdam for the .V. Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek, which did not for political reasons mention family names, but listed a it director a Mr.. A. H. G. Fokker, residing at Schwerin. This established Fokker's as a Dutch firm. 38

fir t a 160 h.p. Mercedes engine was used, and later a 185 B.M.W. Then, at the beginning of 1920, the Fokker Fn appear.ed. Unlike the Koolhoven machine, of which only four were built, the Junkers F.13 and the Fokker F.n were built in quantity. Because of it all-metal construction, the Junker was particularly in demand for use in tropical and arctic territories. The first F.f['s were built in Schwerin, under the upervision of Reinhold Platz, and were flight tested by Adolf Parge. Platz, who was born January 16th, 1886, at Cottbus in the province of Brandenburg, learnt in an oxygen factory in Berlin in 1904, the technique of autogenous welding then being introduced in Germany. He became very skilled at this work and instructed on the art of welding in many factories in Germany, Switzerland and Russia. In December 1912 he went to Fokker at 10hannisthal and built the first welded steel tube' Spin' fuselage. It has been said that the Fokker work were the first to apply welding in aircraft construction, but that is incorrect. Before that, Poulain, Westphal, Hanuschke and others, applied welding in Germany, but it was through Platz that the technique reached perfection. A t the end of 1913 he moved with the works to Schwerin. The first man to supervi e the con truction at Fokker's works was Palm, who put the M-types to paper. His successor was Martin Kreutzer, a promising young engineer from Cologne. He was in charge when the fir t D-type fighters were de igned. Platz spoke highly of him. But Kreutzer lost hi life at the age of twenty-five te t-flying a Fokker D.T in July 1916. Moe er and others were engaged, but none proved suitable to take charge of the de ign staff. Really competent engineers were difficult to obtain in wartime Germany. Platz suggested that he might fill the position, whereupon Fokker replied, , That is what T thought too.' And that is how the' welder' Platz, attained his responsible po ition. In 1917, when the works employed 1,600 people, Platz became works manager. One of Platz's most spectacular achievements was the

In the buildings, which in the summer of 1919 had housed the aircraft exhibition at Amsterdam, the etherlands Fokker work started their activities. But before Fokker's Dutch enterprise got going, a small number of commercial planes, F.rr's and F.III's, were built in his Schwerin factory, where also a number of warplanes, which were in course of construction at the end of the war, were completed. The first Dutch po t-war Fokkers were built at Veere, Zeeland, where Fokker had rented the buildings of a former base of the Dutch aval Air Service. The factory at Amsterdam, the former ELTA buildings, were, during the first year, solely u ed for assembling. The sensational development of aviation during the war years 1914-1918 aroused great expectations for the commercial u e of aircraft after the war. But many of the longdistance flights which were undertaken in those day proved to be a series of failures. The lucky few who reached their destination often took weeks to achieve their purpose. Whereas the majority of those inaugurating air services utilised surplus war material, there were three builders who, immediately after the war, produced completely new aircraft, designed specifically for commercial purposes. The first was designed by the former Dutchman, Frederick Koolhoven, the F.K.26 B.A.T. Commercial, a product of the British Aerial Transport Co. Ltd., London, for which designs were actually put in hand on Armistice Day. This biplane, powered by a 375 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle vnr engine, accommodated four passengers in a cabin. It was the first , pure' airliner to fly over the Channel. With Major C. Draper piloting, the writer was one of the pas engers who made a flight in it at the ELTA early in September 1919. The F.K.26 was u ed for some time with Instone Air Line. Tn 1937, Koolhoven bought the prototype, G-EAAI, as a museum piece. It perished in the German bombing of the Rotterdam airfield, Waalhaven, in May 1940. Second in line of the early airliners came the Junkers F.13, designed by Otto Reuter. This was an all-metal lowwing monoplane seating two crew and four passengers. At 39

of aircraft material was verboten. A few days after Fokker had given his instructions to Platz, who, with a small group of trusty people, kept the wheels moving at the factory, a telephone call was received from a foreigner at the Hotel iederlandischer Hof in Schwerin. Platz hurried there, presuming that it might be the director of an air-transport company, interested in the FII, and therefore someone who should not be kept waiting. It turned out to be a somewhat shabby, stout, little man wearing a coat much too small. Judging by his appearance, he might be Indian. He whispered a comic sounding German name and asked: 'Don't you know me?' Platz, who had imagined the director of an oriental aircraft company to act rather differently, replied that he had not had the pleasure. Then the Indian pulled his black beard and glasses from his face revealing-Bernard de Waal! Once more he was playing one of his comic roles. He had come to Schwerin with secret instructions to try and fly out the F.Il to Amsterdam. The difficulty was to outwit the police guard at the airfield. Two members of the workers council, Wichmann and Bolkow, together with a mechanic, Dungel, were in the conspiracy. They had rather mixed loyalties, and realised that they could not live by love for their party, but the possibility of orders from Holland did offer a livelihood. Platz departed for Berlin in order not to be involved, at least apparently, in ' the theft'. As he returned, he observed from the train, which ran by the Gorries airfield, that the hangar was empty. So he knew the ruse had succeeded. The F.n had gone! De Waal had started, with a sewing machine, of which there was shortage in Holland, as cargo, straight out from the hangar so that the police were left standing. In the factory there was consternation! Platz had to justify himself in front of the authorities in Schwerin. His' power' was Wichmann, who, as a member of the revolutionary council, carried much weight. After Platz had made his statement and had indicated to the magistrate that the workers' council was his best guarantee that nothing further would happen, the Minister started to reproach Comrade Wichmann. The latter had been waiting for that. With all the zest of an outraged shop steward he struck his fist on the table and barked and bellowed in such a way that the magistrate feared for his life; poli tely, but quickly, he dismissed the delegation from the Fokker works. However, the flight itself posed more difficulties than the escape, because de Waal went from one emergency landing to another. First, trouble with the carburettor, forced a descent while till over German territory, but, that was rerf.edied and the F. II took off again. Shortlyafterward.s he was forced to land again. Just as he bent over to examine the engine, two policemen appeared. De Waal, with presence of mind, spoke no German and pitched a sad tale in his Dutch mother tongue, that flying from Holland he had got lost over German territory. One of the two gendarmes went to obtain instructions while de Waal convinced the other of the need to test the engine, and he assisted by turning the propeller. The engine roared into life and ran so well, that de Waal at the controls thought it a pity not to let it run' Therefore, he gave it full throttle and shot up in the air leaving the policeman behind gesticulating madly. However, the odds were against him because the next emergency

Early days .. Reinhold Platz, left, in the Fokker factory, Johannisthal, period 1912-13.

building of a new mid-wing monoplane fighter in five and a half days. This was whilst Fokker was at Adlershof for the January 1918 D-c1ass fighter competition. Fokker had demonstrated a light monoplane with a 100 h.p. Le Rhone rotary engine, and he wanted to have a heavier type for the 160 h.p. Mercedes engine to display within a week. During the night, at the week-end, he telephoned the factory at Schwerin and enquired whether that could be managed. Platz assured him that it could. Because of the heavier engine, a new design had to be planned, but the drawings were ready that same Sunday afternoon. Everything needed was produced quickly, but what could not be hurried, was the drying of the glued connections, the glue in the transverse girders and the plywood covering of the wings. Varnishing the wings also, would have taken too much time for drying, and, therefore, thirty men were put to work polishing the wings. Five and a half days later, the type V.20 was ready for take-off at the airfield at Schwerin-Gorries. It was test-flown by Weidner and the next day ferried by him to Adlershof. There Fokker presented the plane in his own inimitable way. The glued connection held! The ancestoral first of the long series of Fokker passenger aircraft was the F.I1 (VA5 and last of the Versuch types' serie). Based on the cantilever wing principle of the D.VIIl fighter it looked a beautiful machine, although it stood a little high on its somewhat spindly leg. The pilot sat with a mechanic or passenger outside, under the leading edge of the wing and the cabin seated four people. Fokker, who had returned to Holland, gave instruction for the F.lI, registered 0-57, to be flown over from Schwerin to Amsterdam, to demonstrate it at Schiphol for the newly founded K.L.M. That was easier said than done, because in Germany the Spartacus Union, forerunner of the German Communist Party, had considerable power and the export

40

landing, fortunately on Dutch territory, caused so much damage that there was no question of continuing the journey. Fokker himself soon arrived at the spot and decided that there was nothing else to do, but to dismantle the aircraft. A boatman managed to get the large wing and fuselage on his barge and take it to Leeuwarden, from where it was towed to Amsterdam. On May 17th, 1920, the same day that K.L.M., the Royal Dutch Air Lines, started their Croydon-Amsterdam service using the D.H.16 G-EALU chartered from Air Transport and Travel Ltd., the Fokker FII was demonstrated at Schiphol to various authorities and the Dutch Press by making several passenger flights. Fokker himself staged the show. While he worked his large hand-operated cine-camera, he shouted in tructions to the docile historymaking Press-sheep, that they were to get in and out of the aircraft again, and on coming out look at the camera with a great big smile and walk off to the right, out of the picture! K. L.M. 's first flight to England with their own passenger aircraft took place on September 30th, 1920, with one of their two FII's, H-NABD. Nearly half a dozen times attempts were made to get to England, but every time something went wrong-the weather, a forgotten logbook, cooler trouble-mostly cooling trouble. The pilot was the Englishman, W. G. R. Hinchliffe, who had but one eye, but who flew with the best. The passengers were Pies man , who later became President of the Board of Directors, but then bore the humble title of Administrator of K. L.M., Elleman a Fokker works aircraft mechanic, and the writer. Once, having turned back, the machine touched down a little late and threatened to plunge into the wide, deep ditch along the western edge of the then still small aerodrome of Schiphol. Plesman, already the man of action, was out of his seat like a shot, with the intention of hanging on to the starboard leg to slew the machine round! At the fifth attempt, flying as customary along the Belgian and French coasts to Cape Griz Nez and then striking out on the' BICriot route' to Dover, it took over three hours to reach Croydon. There, demonstration flights were given and on October 2nd the F.Il was flown to Cricklewood, whel e it was presented to the great Fred Handley Page (now Sir Frederick), who called it a 'nice' machine; his chief executive Major Woods-

Perhaps the most controversial figure in the • Fokker story' is Reinhold Platz who joined the company in 1912 as an expert welder. His intuitive ability in the design and construction of aircraft of the period caused Fokker 10 promote him to designer in 1916, a position he held until /931.

Humphreys talked of it as 'the best machine of tllis age '. When the con truction of Fokker aircraft ceased in Germany, their manufacture was not immediately taken in hand at Amsterdam, but, as already mentioned, at Veere in Zeeland, where Fokker used a former ba e of the etherlands aval Air Service. In mid-Inl Platz, with thirty technicians from Schwerin, a few draughtsmen and orne office staff, settled in there. The strength of this taff later grew to about 150. At Veere a few F.l['s were built, as well as the last of a batch of ten Fokker F.III's started in Schwerin and destined for the Deruluft, the GermanRussian Luftverkehrs Gesellschaft, which maintained a European service to Moscow. Veere was the birthplace of two large monoplanes with cantilever wings, the F.lVs with a span of 79 feet, in which the American Army pilots Kelly and McReady, in May 1923, made their non-stop flight right across America, breaking

K.L.M.'s first Holland-England flight. The Fokker H-NABD at Croydon, September 1920. This F.JJ carried, left to right, W. G. R. Hinch/ifj'e (pilot), Bernard de Waal, Henri Hegener and S, Ellel/lCln (mechanic).

4l

The FII Iype which origill{iled from Ihe Schwerin faclory and was laler bllill ill Veere, became popular willi se"eral newly formed airlines. This aircraji, wilh windscreell added was Gern;all operaled.

1924 and completed early in the following year. Platz was then placed in complete charge of design work in the ELTA factory until Rethel, who had formerly designed for the Kondor Flugzeugwerke at Gelsenkirchen, Germany, was appointed technical manager. Speaking of Veere, Miss Gaedecke should be mentioned, because she was a very ingenious' woman' in an enterprise which included many ingenious men. She had come over from Schwerin to work in the office. 'She' had rather a manly stride and a deep voice, but she was good at her work, and in her association wi th her male colleagues, was always' every inch a lady'. Then one day the young woman announced that she had become engaged to marry a M iss so-and-so! It was then disclosed that Gaedecke was a man who during the war in Germany had hidden his manliness in skirt and blouse, becau e men were sent to the Front and women were not! The diversity of aircraft type in those fir t years was particularly impressive. Additional to those already mentioned, Rethel designed an amphibian flying boat, which appeared in 1921. This was the B.1 with a metal hull, powered by a 450 h.p. Napier Lion engine driving a pusher airscrew. A year later this was followed by the B.JI with a Rolls-Royce Eagle of 360 h.p., but driving a tractor airscrew. Again a metal hull was used, but in this case as a flying boat, not as an amphibian. When K.L.M. in mid-April 1921 resumed its activities, which had been interrupted during the winter months, the Fokker F.IJI appeared as a new type of transport. The fuselage was shorter than that of its predecessor, but a little wider, and the undercarriage was shorter. The cabin had

several world record. This F.lV is now In the ational Air Museum, Washington, D.C., where D.Vrr (O.A.W.) 4635/18 reminds the new generation of Fokker's fame of bygone days. At Veere the Fokker F.V airliner was built too, as well as two F. VI high wing monoplanes with 300 h.p. Hispano Suiza engines, which were commenced in Schwerin and completed at Veere. It may be considered inconsistent to apply the F-type designation of Fokker commercial aircraft to a fighter plane; thi was, however, done as a subterfuge at the request of the U.S. Army Air Service. The F.VI's were' mystery planes '. A few torpedo-planes, the T.II and T.lff were also built in Zeeland, and the types S.ff and S.1fI trainers, as well as the first Fokker F.Vn, which was designed by Rethel. It was at Veere, too, that the Fokker gliders were built. The first was based on the D.Vrrr and was virtually an engine-less version of that parasol fighter. In 1921 a single and a two-seat glider were built for the Rhbn contest, designated F.G.I and F.G.2 respectively. A spare-time private venture of the ingenious Platz, was a folding glider which could be transported on a bicycle by the rider weari ng shoulder-rest. Lehman tried this craft out near Valkenisse; although it was by no means a high performance sailplane, it did serve its purpose as a gl ider. The location of the Zeeland Branch at Veere was far fro:n ideal, and involved difficulties in testing land planes which were flown from the military airfield of Souburg between Middleburg and Flushing. Heavy transportation costs were also involved in parts being moved to the Amsterdam works and vice versa. Therefore, it was decided to centre on Amsterdam; the move was started in October

III 1921 Ihe F./II Iype, ,,,ilh a Siddele\' PlI1l1C1

engine, IJwcie

ils appearance. II //lay be clai//led 10 ha"e laid Ihe folllld(1/ ions for I he grail {cnlle which Fokker cOllI//lercial aircraji elljoyed.

room for five passengers, three next to each other on a bench against the rear wall and two in front, each in an armchair which was anchored to the floor by a small cable which allowed some play. The upholstery and furnishing of the cabin was Victorian. The chief feature was the placing of the pilot in an alcove made in the leading edge of the wing to the right of the Siddeley Puma engine. The instrument panel, bare by present standards, included a small ship's compass, suspended by horsehair, that fluctuated more and more as the engine revolutions increased. There was an altimeter by the pilot's head, an oil pressure gauge and behind his head a glass fuel gauge. On the wing was a speedometer, one of those primitive little mills driven by four cups. However, instrumentation did not mean much as the pilots flew by experience, and usually within sight of the ground. If it rained, the water would come over the low windscreen into the cockpit and it also dripped from the wing on to the pilot's hard wooden seat, to his considerable discomfort. As a means of navigation for hopping over the twentyone miles of the English Channel, Calais pier served as a guide for the general direction of England. The pilot flew straight over the pier, and then set off for the other side hoping for the best. Although flying within ground visibility was usually a matter of necessity, it was sometimes overdone, to show off. On one flight from Croydon to Waalhaven, with Hofstra as pilot, an F.rr flew across the Channel at such a height that to wave to the captain and mate standing on the bridge of an empty freighter, which was ploughing its way through the Straits of Dover, both Hofstra and the writer had to look up!

There was not a pilot happy with the positioning of his cockpit by the side of the engine, and neither was the Fokker factory. Platz himself was not in favour of it and said that it was an idea of the mechanic Kurth at the ELTA works. Fokker had thought it a good idea and ordered it to be incorporated. The complaint of the pilots was that one side of their bodies felt as it if was being slowly cooked, while the other side was numb with cold. But one pilot did find it an advantage on one occa ion when, through an unknown cause, the throttle lever became loose and he was enabled to work the valve of the carburettor by hand I Like all the early pas enger planes, the F.IH had other shortcoming, too. In a brochure it was said the air circulation and heating was taken care of and that in the winter warm air could be conducted into the cabin from the engine. But, whether it was summer or winter, what the engine produced as' warm air ' was in effect an evil smell! Air-sickness, chiefly caused by the bumping as a re ult of low flying, often occurred. The airline companies showed understanding for the suffering of their clients by supplying each traveller with an aluminium container which could be closed with a lid. Later, the well-known paper bags which one could deposit out of the window were introduced. The Siddeley Puma engine suffered with cracked water jackets, which according to the approved ' technical' method of those days, were sealed by letting them stand one night in an ingeniously composed bath of which horse manure and water were the main constituents! Those were the imperfections of the famous F.III in which the pilots, despite their aversion to sitting' under the bonnet " soon felt completely at home. The F.IJI was really

This FI V, purchased by Ihe U.S. Army Air Se,..,ice frO//l Fokker, broke se"eral world records when /lawn non-Slap across Arnerica by Lieulenanls Kelly and McReady in 1923.

Whell ill ils biplalle f01'l/1 as illuSlraled, Ihe F V of 1922, could carryall increased load al reduced speed. II was olhenvise a parasol monoplane. Only one was buill.

42

4~

This uncowled F.JII nose shows pilot Hermann Hess's position relative to the engine. At the time of this photograph rhis parrieular aircraft was under repair after a crash-landing.

)

the creation which laid the sobd foundation for the international fame which the Fokker commercials gained in the hands of K. L.M. pilots, for reliability and safety. They achieved wonders and glowing tributes were paid to them in the aeronautical press. In The Aeroplane, so vividly conducted by the unforgettable estor of the first generation of aeronautical writers, maestro C. G. Grey and the Croydon correspondent Geoffrey Dorman, always spoke with the greatest admiration of the work of the pilots who maintained the connection between the Low Countries and England. In the issue of April 20th, 1921, in which it was mentioned that the British pilots, Gordon P. Olley and W. G. R. Hinchliffe, flying for K.L.M., had appeared at Croydon with the Puma-engined Fokker, we read: ' All the pilots state that the machines are delightful to fly, and the passengers' saloon is certainly the most luxurious thing in that ljne which one has seen.' Later it was reported: ' The outstanding feature connected with the bad weather during the past weeks has been the remarkable regularity of the K.L.M. services. The pilots and the Fokkers combined seem to be able to penetrate any sort of weather and the line is acquiring the reputation of being highly regular and efficient and certainly the most quietly run service in existence. Moreover, they nearly always carry paying loads, either passengers or goods, or both.' The latter was not so matter-of-cour e at all. Many flights in those days were made with an empty, or as good a empty, aeroplane. Five weeks later the paper writes: 'The regularity of the Royal Dutch Air Service is still one of the feamres of the aerodrome, and it is seldom that there is any weather sufficiently bad to prevent the Fokkers from getting through-The Royal Dutch Air Service has an efficiency record of 99 per cent., for June.' In December The Aeroplane wrote: 'The K.L.M.' as usual, got through on practically every trip. the only one 44

they missed being the inward trip on Wednesday. It is amu ing to remember that until this year the Amsterdam route has always been closed in the winter, as it was said that the fogs in Holland would prevent flying. And yet this service has shown the highest percentage of reliability.' Of the missed opportunity on the Wednesday Flight explaint;d-' Even the K.L.M., who are not as a rule deterred by inclement conditions, had to call off flying on this occasion.' In The Aeroplane of December 28th honourable mention was made of pilot van der Hoop, who later became widely known for making the first Amsterdam-Batavia flight. 'On Friday the air services came almost to a standstill owing to the heavy mist and low clouds. The only machine to get through was one of the K.L.M. monoplanes piloted by Mr. van der Hoop, who left Croydon early in the afternoon and-although the rest of the pilots shook their heads and talked of suicide-arrived safely at Rotterdam.' The K.L.M. Fokkers also successfully defied the heavy Decem ber gales. After B.M.W. and Armstrong Siddeley Puma engines had powered the FUI, a new version with a 360 h.p. RollsRoyce Eagle appeared in the summer of 1922. In this version the pilot sat to the left of the engine. The wing, mounted on short struts, above the fuselage, allowed a better rearward view. This machine was larger and considerably faster than the earlier FlU, but the flying characteristics were inferior, due, presumably, to the raised wing. The pilot's position had not been moved from right to left merely to try a different way, but to facilitate an international decision to mark official air-routes and a stipulation to keep to the right on these routes; in consequence a pilot obtained a better view when placed to the left. Deruluft, the German-Russian air-traffic company, which operated a dozen F.Ul's on its Moscow service, found that aeroplanes departing from Germany sometimes required an abnormally long take-off run. Nter a while it was discovered that the pilots of the company, with an eye to making money on the side, smuggled a considerable amount of watches, perfumes, cheeses, meats, silk, etc., which were scarce or unobtainable in Russia, by hiding them in a hatch

in the Fokker's wing. At night they wcre unloaded in Moscow and sold with high profit. In the end, so many were engaged in the racket, that the secret leaked out. In Germany, Russia and Hungary a number of F.IU's were in use and K.L.M. operated sixteen. The Deutsche Aero Lloyd at Berlin-Staaken, where Dr. Ing. K. Grulich, designer ofthe Harlan monoplane before the First World War, was technical manager, built a number of Fokker FU's and F.III's under licence. In 1921 an F.IU named' The Half Moon' was sent to America but there were no buyers because airlines had not then developed in America. A Fokker F.III was exhibited at the 1921 Paris Salon, together with a glider that could be towed by an aeroplane. The entry, made by the company under its official name of ederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek, had been politely accepted; but, when it was realised in Paris that the Dutch aeroplane was a Fokker, the animosity of the war years was revived. On the opening-day when the Secretary for Air, Laurent Eynac, had arrived at the Dutch stand and, a little uncomfortably, shaken hands with the constructor, someone shouted 'A bas les boches'. That cry met with some response in the Press. In the days that followed, there were demonstrations so that the stand was permanently guarded by six policemen. The French representative of Fokkers was particularly unhappy because he knew colloquial French and realised precisely the diseases being wished upon him! The Paris police not only guarded the F.Ur, but provided Fokker himself with a bodyguard. He was constantly followed by a car of the Surete. One morning, on a trip through the Bois de Boulogne, however, he purposely sped along so fast that the pobce were out-paced. That amused Fokker. They pleaded with him to go a little steadier becau e they were responsible for his afety. In order not to run further risks, the police arranged for a faster car to be put at their disposal. Not everyone criticised. The witty Clement Vautel asked what the public were really getting excited about as close by, at the Hotel des Invalides, there had been a Fokker D.VU, a relic of the war, standing there for years and that nobody seemed to get roused by that-Fokker least of all!

Comple/nentary to the above photograph-the unusual position of the pilot in an F.III. The leading edge panelling appears ro be something of an improvisation.

Another version of rhe F.IlI, with the cockpit moved to the port side, a modification which was introduced to improve the pilot's view on air routes.

The F.III in its final form with parasol wing and Rolls-Royce , Eagle' engine. A fixed step ladder to the passenger cabin is seen at bollom right.

Fokker had in fact admired that D.VII o. 6852/18, built under licence by the Albatros works, with pride. Three years in the open air and its wing cloth and fu elage covering still in good condition. In front of the machine stood a board with his name in large letters ... however, perhaps Fokker did not appreciate the ironical fact that German pilots preferred an Albatros-built Fokker to one built at the works at Schwerin! H- ABA the F.Ur exhibited at the Salon was actually K.L.M. property, but it had been put at the disposal of N. V. Fokker by a loan agreement. Hinchliffe flew the machine back from the Paris airport of Le Bourget to Amsterdam, but before leaving he gave an exhibition of aerobatics which the French could neither forget nor forgive. A hated Fokker was flaunted in the face of the French by low loops, hair-raising banking and extremely low flying, in an area where stunting of any kind was strictly forbidden. It is said that so many writs were issued against the pilot that he would have a supply of that useful commodity, paper, sufficient for life ... The unlimited energy and matchless eagerness, which Fokker showed in this second phase of his stormy aeronautical life, was astounding. He was an active-rumbling volcano of energy. Despite increasing business activities, he found time to attend in the summer of 1922 the gliding in the Rhon competitions, together with de Waal and Seekatz. They were, indeed, a gay trio! Gbding was the rea on for Fokker's first visit to England, in which country he made his flight in a glider early in October 1922 during celebrations at the opening of the Peacehaven Hotel, near ewhaven. Using one of the two gliders which he had brought over, which had steelshod skis for running over the grass, he was towed to a takeoff by a car. Later he flew at the Daily Mail meeting at Ttford Hill wh,ere his attractive wife, with her long dark 45

AI TOllY's illvilalion, Ihe preselll wriler frequelllly accompanied Ihe Flying DUlchmall on lesl and olher flighls. Here Ihey are in all 5.11 lrainer al Schiphal dllring Ihe early Iwenties.

hair sweeping back in the slip-stream from the fast sports car that she drove, made quite an impression. The Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek did not participate in the next Salon Aeronautique at Paris, in fact, the organising body had informed the firm that their entry would not be welcomed, in view of the incidents the preceding year. But Fokker was welcomed to the International Aeronautical Exhibition and flying week held in the summer of 1923 at Gothenburg, in Sweden, in celebration of their national tercentenary. The firm's pilot, Grase, came second in the Rotterdam-Gothenburg competition flight with a Fokker D.C.1 with 450 h.p. Napier Lion, whereas Fokker, chiefly in the absence of rivals of comparable standing, gained an easy victory in stunt-flying. The chief attraction of the show was the faultless formation flying by a flight of Dutch Army D.VIf's piloted by Flight-Lieutenants Versteegh, van Weerden, Poelman and Jongbloed, and the Flight-Sergeants van der Griend and Bakkenes. A Swedish paper appraised their perfect co-ordination by the phrase-the five fingers of one hand. During the 1914-1918 War, when Fokker was in Budapest on business, he had, in a playful mood, flo\o\ n underneath the Elisabeth bridge. In Gothenburg, however, he flew over the bridges-but at a height of about fifteen feet! Not surprisingly, this was not enough for the authorities, because when he was sitting in a ball-room that

evening, watching the whirling movement on the dancefloor, he suddenly said to the writer: ' About that flying this morning-r have had complaints. I won't do it again.' That was, presumably, his last, or one of his last, wild fughts with one certain exception-his flying on the day the Swedish King visited Torslanda. Waiting at the far end of the field for the starting signal, he cursed while he was forced to suppress his urge to fly. At last the flag went down and never was a throttle lever pushed more passionately. The engine roared and he flew, lashing his 450 Napier Lion horses, straight at the Royal Box, then pulling the aircraft round into a wild bank he dragged the aircraft into the air. There followed a paroxysm of flying madness. It was again the Anthony Fokker who was flying himself out, like in the exciting exhibition days ten years before, when he did the same with far less horsepower. He threw the plane from one bank into the next, looped and side-slipped. As passengers, we were hurled and shaken as never before! Those air-shows were for Fokker a welcome relaxation from the pressure which his growing business entailed. For during that period, exceptionally large orders had come in. It was strange that, whilst the majority of factories abroad, in France, England and America, had chiefly to content themselves with the sale of their products from their enormous war stocks, so long as there remained a market for them, only Fokker produced post-war designs in large

numbers. This, was no doubt, due to the strangc political relations in the transitional period after the First World War. The countries which had been victorious did not, for the time being, require new war material, wherea the conquered Central Powers conditioned by the Peace Treaty, had been denied the right to construct or own military aircraft. The remaining countries that required aircraft, usually preferred something more modern than the French, British or Americans could offer from war stocks, or on principlc, did not wish to do business with those countries. Therefore, many orders landed with Fokker. The world reputation that he had by then achieved, was a contributory factor to his increasing success. Russia became an important customer, ordering first 92 D.VfI fighters and c.r reconnaissance machines, and later 125 fighters of the new D. X r type powered by a 300 h. p. Hispano engine. These orders were placed through the Russian trade representatives in Berlin. Furthermore, there was an order for the supply of fifty-five c.rvs with 400 h.p. Liberty engines. A control acceptance commission consisting offive Russians with a pilot, Schirinkin, had been drafted into the works at Papaverweg, Amsterdam. However, this commission, headed by Comrade Poscholkoff, became more and more obstinate and quibbling, an experience which the world has encountered ince. One morning, the canteen boy, serving coffee in the factory, noticed that Comrade Poscholkoff was spying on the Dutch military inspector Spierenburg by using a spygla from a secluded spot in the factory. While the Russian watched, the Dutch inspector rejected a length of fuel-pipe on an aircraft being built for the etherlands Army. This discovery had a profound effect on the Russians. They started to find fault ad libilum and ad infinitum. Comrade Poscholkoff, who proved himself an expert with the Liberty engine, monkeyed with a fuel-tap until it was unfit for use and then faulted the whole pipe. More and more seemed to displease the commission and the rejecting reached such proportions that production was seriously affected. The management, forced to make a firm stand, forbade the Russians entry to the factory. A great risk was taken with this measure, as the Russian order were financed on bankers' credit. The attitude of the Russians was not without some justification. There was certainly cau e for criticism, but the knowledge that a Dutch inspector, as far as they understood,

Queen Wilhefrnilla, accolllpanied by Anlhony Fokker, durillg a I isil 10 Ihe faclory in 1923.

had until then apparently not found any faults, reconciled them to the view that nothing could go wrong. But, when they saw a Dutch inspector faulting material, they decided to outdo him. They defended their actions by stating that they were doing their duty, and feared what would happen to them in Russia, if, at a further check, some fault hould be discovered. An argument developed with the Russian trade representatives in Bcrlin. In order to conduct the dispute with success, Fokker enlisted the assistance of a well-known

The Fokker asselllbly shop ill Ihe origillal EL TA buildings 1920. Nole Ihe variely of Iypes, D. VII's, D. VIII, CII's and an F.II, all of which were designed al Schwerin.

SOllie of Ihe D.Xl11 fighlers supplied 10 Hugo Slinnes in 1925. Supposedlv desliued for Ihe Argeulille, Ihey evenlually equipped Ihe secrel, re-born Germall Air Force in RlISsia.

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crates were hoisted aboard. The captain cautioned his men not to talk about the trip. Nine days later, the shipment arrived in Leningrad, where the machine-guns were received by the military and packed in cases. A shipment of fifty-five machine-guns had been transported earlier. The packages of that consignment, too, had been marked 'parts for aircraft'. During the transfer at sea, a case had dropped from the tackle and it burst open on the deck. There was great astonishment among the crew members when machine-guns were revealed! That the British suppliers did not have an easy task either, is apparent from the fact that late in July, Scotland Yard showed a lively interest in a consignment of ten cases, lying at a wharf in the Pool of London, which bore an indication that they contained engine fittings but which, when the cases were forced, proved to contain machine-guns and ranging instruments. These were for a different order, but were intended for the same destination. The supply from Italy was handled by a firm in Prague and transported via Hamburg and the Deruta, the GermanRussian Transport Company. The documents also gave , engine fittings', but each case was marked in English with the word' Gun' which confused the Customs in Hamburg. The forwarding agent explained this away-that no other cases had been available for the consignment. The steamer Duisburg into which they were stowed, was due to leave, but the Customs officials stood looking dubiously at the cases as if hypnotised by the word' Gun'. Here a dangerous game of bluff was played! The forwarding agent, who presumably was sweating blood underneath his shirt, remained outwardly quite calm, while the Customs were swayed to and fro, between doubt and belief, trust and mistrust. Then the shipping agent, to settle the matter one way or the other, broke the tension and exclaimed with false sincerity: 'Take a case for examination, but if the consignment misses this boat, you will be responsible! ' The Customs gave way, but then wanted to see the contents of the document-case which the shipping agent was carrying as the documents in that would no doubt give details? But, there were no papers in that case, only a pair of pliers! However, they finally came to the conclusion that anyone dealing with illicit traffic such as 'armaments' would hardly be likely to naIvely put' Guns' on the packing cases! The consignment was cleared and the Duisburg sailed. Ethically, the shipping agent appears in a rather sinister

Ten F.JV's were sold to the U.S. Army Air Service ill 1923 as PW-5's.

German barrister. After long and detailed discussions, the dissident customer capitulated. Later, the Commission members were accused of political propaganda and were then politely requested to leave the country. The supervision of the Russian orders was then executed by Dutch inspectors. The Russian order stipulated that the aircraft were to be supplied fully armed, which meant that for each aeroplane two Vickers and three Lewis machine-guns had to be bought. Some of these guns were obtained from a depot in Fort Aqua Santa in Italy, which formed part of the Allied Forces dumps of the 1914-1918 War, whereas the remainder came from England, not directly from a factory, but through an agent. These deals had to be handled discreetly. The Russians could buy as many aircraft as they wanted direct, or via an intermediary, from the British Aircraft Disposal Board-but not armaments, at least not officially! The Dutch forwarding agent stipulated that the English material should be received outside the three-mile zone. Transshipment from Britain was made in the coaster Helder which crossed from Vlaardingen to the English coast. At sea the letters H-D 99 were chalked prominently on the bows so that it appeared as a fishing vessel. Off the Thames estuary it had a rendezvous with a motor-vessel from which

One €if a variety of rypes which emerged from rhe Fokker factory in the early rwenries was rhe Napier'Lion'engined B.i amphibian flying boar designed by Rerhel.

role, but if it is recalled that during the Second World War the Americanand the British Governments propped the very same Moscow authorities up by gigantic supplies of arms, then perhaps these guns can be looked upon as token supplies in advance! At about this time another imposing deal was in hand, known under the name of 'the Stinnes order'. Hugo Stinnes, the financier, controlled 20 per cent of all industry in Germany after the 1914-1918 War. The negotiations were conducted by a Captain Hormel, who, as a director of the Stinnes concern, operated from an impressively large office in Hamburg. Seekatz who dealt with all export affairs, telephoned Fokker to come to Hamburg immediately. There Fokker was informed that the incredibly large order of 100 fighter planes was under discussion, viz. for fifty D.XIIl's which were to be powered by 450 h.p. Napier Lion engines and fifty D.X['s witl1 300 h.p. Hispanos. However, the order was reduced to fifty D.XIII's which, nevertheless, was an order of great size for that period. With its 171 m.p.h. the D.XIII was then the fastest fighter in the world. The destination of the aircraft was given as the Argentine and that Stinnes, who did business all over the world, should supply aeroplanes to a South American country, seemed quite plausible. But everything in connection with this order had a German flavour. All matters relating to the contract, execution, as well as supervision on construction and performances, were conducted by Major Felix WagenfUhr, who, during the 1914-1918 War, was in charge of the

F1ugzeugmeisterei at Berlin-Adlershof. The acceptance tests were performed by Hans Leutert and double-checked by Kurt Student, who achieved high Luftwaffe command in the 1939-1945 War. Whilst in Germany in connection with the Stinnes order, Fokker with Seekatz visited the old factory grounds at Schwerin. He was bitterly disillusioned. Where once was a whirlwind of activity, and where he had himself been completely absorbed in his work, there was now nothing but ruins, dilapidated buildings and sheds. There was an appressive, ghostly silence and here and there a demolition squad had already obliterated the site of the factory by which he rose to fame. Turning to Seekatz he said, , Let us go away'. He never wanted to see Schwerin again, and as far as is known, he never did. As soon became apparent to the very few initiated, the destination of the fifty fighters was not a country in South America, but to a secret German destination-in the heart of Russia! Germany and Russia, former enemies, were now apparently hatching a plot. Russia was nurturing a secret revival of Prussian militarism-and as we well know, it rebounded. The aeroplanes, paid out of the 1923 'Ruhr-fund', were shipped to a flying school established at Lipetzk, approximately half-way between Moscow and Rostov. To camouflage this purely German establishment, the Russians stationed one of their own squadrons there. The permanent establishment consisted of sixty Germans, but in the summer there were 200, which increased in 1930 to 300. There was strict Russian control, but strangely the German pilots were free to move about as they wished under the auspices of the Russian travel bureau' Intourist'. Technically, they were , tourists'. Most of the training equipment was supplied via the Baltic. Bombs were transported on sailing vessels, manned by German officers. Trained personnel returning ~o Germany were secretly landed across the dam of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, to avoid questioning by dutiful customs officers. The bodies of German pilots killed in accidents at Lipetzk, were transported to Germany in wooden cases and declared as ' accessories " via the free port of Stettin. The secret was so well kept, that the Napier engines supplied by Fokker and with which the Dutch factory had of course no further dealings, were sometimes sent direct from Russia to the factory in England, there repaired and again returned to Russia, without anyone in Britain realising that there was anything untoward in this business!

Fokker alld Seekarz ill the F.G.2 glider, at the Rholl meetillg held in 1922.

AllthollY was all active gliding enthusiast alld, using his own designs, competed in the first British Glider Competition heldat Itford Hill in 1922. This is his single-seater biplane type.

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The D.C.1 with Napier • Lion' engine, was a short span fighter-reconnaissance version of the popular C.I V which was so widely used ill its various fornls by a nutnber of countries. The particular D.C.I illustrated was the prototype and carried this civil registration when demonstrated by Grase at Gothenburg.

In the early 'twenties Russia was one of Fokker's best customers, and between 1922 and 1926 a total of ]74 aircraft were purchased. One of the types was this D.XI fighter with a ]00 h.p. Hispano5uiza engine.

The practical results of the scheme did not at first match up to expectations. The Germans were short of many things. Between 1925 and 1933 about 120 fighter pilot were trained and in the last three years approximately 100 observers. There were many crashes, but the aircraft being of true Fokker breed, could be repaired with very little effort. In 1931 new planes arrived from the revived German aircraft industry. When in the summer of 1933 Hitler came to power, the German centres in Russia which included a German gas-school in Tomka and a tank-school at Kazan, were closed. With the Nazis in full control of Germany, the Russians had misgivings and soon turned face. The Germans were forbidden to use their own aircraft for their travels through Russia, and their journeys to Moscow for the winding-up discussions were curtailed. Relations deteriorated and the Russo-German Pact signed in 1939 proved but a fa<;ade. To return to the 'twenties, the production capacity of the Amsterdam factory was insufficient to meet orders, so that the manufacture of wings and other components was put out to contract to N.V. Werkspoor at Utrecht, where in 1923-24 approximately 800 wings were built. (Later, in 1938-39, Werkspoor was again called upon to help the N.V. Fokker, to build some eighty wings for the types S.Xf, D.XXI, and G.I.) The total number of Fokker aircraft delivered to Russia, i.e. those of the Soviet and Stinnes

orders, the thirteen F.I II's supplied to Deruluft, and thirtysix L.V.G.'s resold to Russia, amounted, over the years 1922-26, to 374 aeroplanes. A considerable num ber for those days. At the same time, other countries such as Belgium, were using re-conditioned Fokker D.Vrr's of 1918 vintage, for training purposes. Apart from the countrie mentioned, Spain too, was a customer for Dutch aircraft. The firm in early 1923 joined in the competition for new aircraft required by the Spanish Army; initially five fighter and nine reconnaissance aircraft. Five countries competed: France, Germany, England, and the Netherlands, at Quatro Vientos outside Madrid. The requirements were exacting and the contest for the fighters was at first undecided, because two promising competitors eliminated themselves. The Italian-built all-metal Dornier monoplane, broke its wing, or at lea t bent it upwards at an angle of 45 degrees. It was a miracle that the Spanish pilot lived to tell the tale, yet he crept out of the wreckage. The German pilot who cra hed the Fokker D.X had a somewhat similar experience. As a result of extremely rough treatment-a roll at the top of a loop, which had been preceded by a power dive-a control surface collapsed. The machine was wrecked, and that the Fokker pilot escaped with hi life, was the second miracle of Quatro Vientos. The admi sion period had already expired, when the Fokker

Yet another Fokker type acquired by the Russians, the twoseater C.I V with a . Liberty' engine. The alleged . il'llerference' by the Russian representatives supervising the construction of these aircraft resulted in their being forbidden to enter the factory.

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was produced at the end of 1922. This was a biplane, which, by detaching the lower wing, could function as a monoplane. The construction of the fuselage was novel and consisted of a combination of a light steel tube structure stiffened with wood boarding. The writer was invited to accompany Fokker on his test-flight of the F. V which, presumably, had first been flown by the firm's test-pilot Hess. The noise in the empty hollow wooden cabin was deafening as the F.V took-off and rose steeply. Through the open cockpit-door Fokker beckoned with his arm for his passengers to come forward. Fokker was working hard with the controls. This was no joy-riding, but real test-flying, and the writer was thrown about like a cork on the sea! With the Flying Dutchman himself at the controls, however, one was never afraid. A majestic side-slip and then tbe F. V was on the ground again, in less than four minutes. Fokker fulminated; apparently the machine proved to be alarmingly tail-heavy. The F.V was not developed, but from it many lessons were learnt, which led to the famous F.VlII. Only the prototype F.V was built and this at one time carried the Russian registration RR.13. Thus, Fokker was achieving success with both military and civil ai rcraft.

D.C.I, called the C.IV with a 450 h.p. Napier, arrived in Madrid. The competition was extended. It caused some consternation to the competitors when it was evident that the late Dutch arrival, presented to perfection by Bertus Grase, surpassed all the others in rate of climb and speed. Fokker won, and thus Jorge Loring started building this Dutch aeroplane under licence in Madrid for the Spanish Army. Of the most important new types of aircraft brought out by Fokker in this period was the series of five T.II[ monoplanes, of which four were equipped with Rolls-Royce Eagle engines and one with Napier Lions. These were used for a round-the-world flight attempt by the famous Portuguese pilot, Commander Sacadura Cabral, who in 1922 made history by flying the Southern Atlantic, in stages, u ing Fairey HID floatplanes. The T.m had been designed as a land-aircraft, but it could al 0 be equipped with floats. The first two were flown to Lisbon in October 1924, the remaining three the next month. They started from the naval air station at Schellingwoude near Amsterdam, and disappeared into heavy fog near the Belgian coast. One aircraft landed at Cherbourg and another at Brest, but Cabral and his companion disappeared without trace. Later wreckage was washed up at Ostend. As a new branch to the F. class transport series, the F. V

H-NACC was the prototype Fokker F. VII which, in 1924, made the first flight from Holland to the Dutch East Indies. The engine was a ]60 h.p. Rolls-Royce • Eagle' which gare a speed of approximately 95 m.p.h.

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Spreading Wings

CHAPTER FIVE

The business execulil'es aircrafl is sOll1elhing Ihal AlllhollY Fokker Ihoughl of nearly 40 years ago! This illuslralioll of Ihe inlerior of an F. V Iype shows, frolll lefl 10 righI, F. W. Seekal::, Fokker's secrelary and Ihe wriler, on Ihe occasion of a delllonslralionflighl to Moscow inlhe early 'twenlies. (The wriler was perlIIilled 10 fly ollly as far as Berlill.)

could carry around 600 lb. more freight than the preceding F.Ur. It was, therefore, a big step forward in transport efficiency. After 120 hours' route flying during which its teething troubles were overcome, Thomassen a Thuessinak van der Hoop, with Lieutenant van Weerden-Poelman as second pilot, and van den Broeke as mechanic, flew the H-NACC, F.VIl, on their long-distance flight; but a few days later came news of an emergency landing at Philippopel. The temperature of the cooling water had suddenly risen, then the machine dived. The extra cooler fitted for the tropics had cracked so that the water drained quickly away, while the engine noise rose and sounded to the crew like doom. On reaching an emergency landing ground a hump proved just too much for the undercarriage. At the first contact with the ground the right wheel received a very hard blow; jolting and bumping over rough ground, the Fokker slowed down, but before it had stopped the right wheel collapsed and the wing-tip touched the ground. The Dutch people had entertained high hopes of this flight. A Committee had raised the money for the enterprise and were financially embarrassed by news that not only was the aircraft damaged, but the engine was completely ruined. Radio reports were then not good, so the real facts were not known until the evening papers of Monday, October 6th, when it was stated that Holland's hope had been stranded on Friday the 3rd in the Balkans. It looked as if the flight would have to be abandoned, but a few days later the Dutch illustrated weekly Het Leven spontaneously made 12,000 florins available for a new engine. On November 3rd the journey was continued and Java was reached on the 24th. The engine design was in no way responsible for the leaking cooler; in fact it functioned particularly well, for the whole journey. Indeed better than Rolls-Royce themselves had imagined, for the firm had expressed misgivings in a letter addressed to K.L.M. just two days before the journey. This letter read: 'Our

The 'roaring twenties', by their sensational longdistance flights and adventurous events in almo t every field of aviation, brought the world under a kind of aeronautical intoxication. But it had yet to reach the dramatic peak with Lindbergh's courageous non-stop hop from the New to the Old World, when, into the sphere of international aviation, two Fokker products came to the fore. They were to playa very' great part in the fast growing world of aviation: the single-engined F. VII-followed by its improved edition -the F. VIlA; and the three-engined versions of that, the F.VIlA-3M and the F.VIlB-3M. The development of the F. series was briefly halted with the predecessor of the F. VII, the F. V, failing to comeup to expectations. The transport capacity of the F.I1I which was first delivered in 1921, had gradually proved insufficient and K.L.M. in particular, the first and oldest customer which had a number, waited for something new. On December 10th, ] 923, a contract was signed by Wllich K.L.M. would order three, or possibly six, aeroplanes of the type F.VII, but they would only give a definite order after the prototype had proved itself and this took to the air in April 1924. In July it was taken into service on the London route by K.L.M. During the design of this aircraft, plans for a flight to the Dutch East Indies, dating back to the early postwar period, materialised. A K. L.M. pilot, van del' Hoop, had intended to use the Fokker F. V for this flight, but the prospect was not promising. When he became acquainted with the F.VIl, however, a more optimistic view was taken. A consideration in the design of the F.VII was that on such flights over countries with poor landing facilities, a great strain would be put on the undercarriage. The first F. VII had a specially designed straddle-legged wheel-undercarriage, consisting of a rather complicated combination of interconnected triangles and two four-sided pyramids of struts. It had a reasonably roomy cabin with two rows of four seats. Using the same Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, it 52

On Novelllber 241h, /924, Ihe Fokker F. VII, H-NACC reached Balavia, Ihus concludillg ils piolleerillg jlig/II frOIll A IIIslerdalll COIIImenced 011 OClober / st. Seen here al Ihe deparlure are, lefr 10 rig/II, I'all WeerdenPoellllall (co-pilol), vander Hoop(pilol), vall dell Broeke (mechanic), General Snydersalld AlllhollY Fokker.

fuselage bore the message' Do ot Land Before 2.30'. That information was also duplicated on Dutch fighters that flew to meet the aeroplane. The etherlands gave the pioneers of the air-route to the Far East a grand and unforgettable reception. Although, as soon appeared, the original F. vrr design required improving and H-NACK already had a simplified undercarriage, the type had that one satisfying quality which Fokker aeroplanes had over mo t other makes: their inherent stability and low stalling speed. At that particular period there was a certain disquiet in British aviation circles, due to flying accidents which were caused by unsatisfactory behaviour at low speed. In this connection, Charles G. Grey pointed out in The Aeroplane the bad flying characteristics of certain types of airliners, and made an example of the Dutch Fokker as being free from such vices. A. H. G. felt flattered, and having in mind the saying that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, he decided to show the British aeronautical brotherhood exactly what maestro Grey meant. With an F. vn powered by a 450 h.p. apier Lion he flew acro s the Channel and on April 15th, 1925,

mechanic, Mr. Green, who has had considerable experience with our engines, has informed us that, in his opinion, the machine appears too large and too heavy and that about 1,800 revolutions are necessary to keep it in the air. ]n addition to this it is understood that it is proposed that the machine shall land in India at aerodromes which are about 4,000 feet above sea-level. It seems doubtful to him whether, under these conditions, the engine would be capable of lifting the very weighty machine when starting at that altitude. Whilst regretting having to make the suggestion that your flight should be delayed, we are confident you will appreciate that it is only because we are so desirous that it should be an entire success and not a failure ... .' After the set-back near Philipopel, the flight went entirely according to plan and the Rolls-Royce Eagle engine proved even better, and more reliable than Rolls-Royce had dared to anticipate. The crew of H-NACC returned on the s.s. Palria to Marseille, from whence they made their way to Paris. A few days later, on the 18th, they were flown home from Paris in the F.Vrr, H- ACK. A Fokker C.V left Schiphol to meet them, and .in order not to disorgani e the reception, its

AlllOngsl sOllie 200 aircrafl spiriled oul of Germany by special Irains in /9/9, were D. VII fighlers. Wilh 250 h.p. BMW engines Ihey were used by Ihe DUleh ArlllY Air Corps.

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11/ order to demonslrale Ihe qualities, especially Ihat of low-speed safely, of his produCIS to the Srilish aviation circles; Fokker paid iI visit to Croydon all April 15th, 1925 ill a Napier' Lion'ellgined F. VII. His display greatly impressed Ihe many nOlable figures in {1I'ialion and the aeronaulical journalisls presenl.

at Croydon, gave a very impressive demonstration to whjch the leading national newspapers sent their aeronautical correspondents. On one of the flights which Fokker himself made, he was accompanied by Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker, Director of Civil Aviation. Brancker-who knew quite well what flying was like-got a shock, looked doubtfully at his host and instinctively bent forward as far as possible, when Fokker pulled the stick into his stomach and the F. vn pointed its nose to the sky. But this limousine, heavy with guests, did not cant viciously on one wing in the subsequent dive, but solemnly dipped, picked up flying speed, and then flew on. However, from the spectator's point of view the effect of thjs was minimised by the stiff breeze that day that enabled some other aircraft to imitate the F. vrr. In the afternoon a' Farman' 'Goliath was applauded when it momentarily hung on its propellers; the secret of its apparent success was the combination of its vast wing-area, the very strong wind and the fact that the aircraft was almost empty! The Air Ministry sent an Avro 504K fitted with Handley Page slots to Croydon to prove that a low tailing speed could be achieved with slots, but the experts realised that the F.Vn achieved the same performance without such mechanical aids. Flight gave a report of almost six pages with many illustrations of the show; while The Aeroplane, reflecting the strong personal opinion of C. G. Grey, reported: ' The one great lesson to be learned from the whole demonstration is that given competent engineering design it is possible to produce a passenger aeroplane, wILich needs precious little more skill in handling than does a motorbus. In other words, one can say about a pilot's job in the future much what Sir Samuel Hoare said in another sense, namely, that it is an example of "control without occupation ". Which of course is what The Aeroplane had been preacrung until its regular readers must be a little tired of hearing the same sermon over and over again! Therefore one takes this opportunity of tendering one's very hearty thanks to our friendly former enemy, Mr. Anthony Fokker, for having

given so much of his time and having lent hjs reputation to proving that one's own sermons on this text contain the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.' Thesecretofthe Fokker's successwa simplya thick high lift wing section, set at a certain incidence, in combination with a correctly placed tail-plane which tabilised the unit as a whole. Early in June 1923, Ir. H. Gra e, M.Sc.Eng. took up employment with the N. V. Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek. Grase, who was born in May 1891, was not only a clever aircraft technician, but was gifted with a skilled hand at flying, a combination of capabilities that, together with a strong personality, soon brought him fame. Until he entered

Strlus Grase, who was bollr a qualified engineer and a skilled pilot, joined Fokker's in June 1923. Previously employed by the Dutch Govel'll//lent Service for Aeronautical Research, it was his technical knowledge that brought about the modifications to Ihe original F. VlI with the resulling improvements in performance. He was equally well known as a demonstration pilot.

54

This is the famous, original Irimolor Fokker, the F. VIIA3M, adapled Fom a single-engine F. Vila Iype. As described on Ihis page, Fokker, wishing to do well in rhe Ford Reliabilily Trial in Ihe U. .A., foresaw the advanlages of the l11ulliengille layout. Plalz completed Ihe incorporalioll oflwo extra engines in eighl weeks.

Fokker's employment he had been working at Amsterdam with the Rijksstudiedienst voor de Luchtvaart the Government Service for Aeronautical Research, established during the latter part of the First World War, and forerunner of the present-day N.L.L. or Nationaal Luchtvaart Laboratorium, the National Aviation Laboratory. He had obtained l'lis flying certificate at Soesterberg. Before he was attached to the Fokker works he had already proved how exceptionally gifted he was as a pilot, when in the spring of 1923 he represented the Netherlands' interests at the military trials at Madrid in a brilliant manner. Bertus, as rus friends called him, had ILis own ideas about the F.VIl. It was a really good aeroplane, but ILe could foresee ways of improving it aerodynamically. After Fokker had given him the necessary authority, he replaced the square wing with a wing of similar section, but of elliptical shape as already applied to the D.XIIl fighter. The short balanced ailerons were replaced by a long narrow type, inset into the wing. By these alterations wl'lich reduced the wing surface, the weight was lowered, tILe speed increased and the manoeuvrability improved. The complicated undercarriage of the original F.VIl H-NACC, wruch in the following F.YIl's had been changed, was further simpljfied. Whereas the cruising speed of the original version was about 84 m.p.h., the improved version known as the F.VIlA, cruised at 94 m.p.h., or 98 m.p.h. when powered by a Liberty engine. In May 1925, Fokker paid his fourth visit to the New World, to explore the market and to acquaint himself with the progress of the Netherlands Aircraft Manufacturing Company wl'lich had been established in New York in 1921. There appeared to be possibilities for a long distance airliner, wruch offered a greater reliability than the current single-engine types; Fokker grasped the opportunity presented to launch a three-engined machine. The matter was pressing. Henry Ford, the motor-car magnate, was showing interest in a big way for commercial aviation by taking over the Stout Metal Airplane Company and running a trial air

service daily between Detroit and Chicago, purely for his own use and to gain experience. In his efforts to stimulate interest in civil aviation in the United States, he arranged a competition, the Ford Reliability Tour. The course ran from Detroit via Fort Wayne to Chicago, Omaha, Iowa City, St. Joseph, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cleveland and back to Detroit, a distance of some 1,900 miles. Fokker wanted to compete with something new-an aeroplane that outstripped its contemporaries and of proven reliability. At the beginning of July he cabled instructions to nis factory in Amsterdam to build an enlarged F.VIl powered by three engines. The essential details and construction particulars were mentioned in the cable, and three 200 h.p. Wright J.4 engines and the appropriate propellers were quickly shipped to the Netherlands. It is revealing how Fokker, in thi case again the originator of the idea, and Platz, the practical man in the workshop who put his ideas into effect, were complementary. Fokker had instructed that the two outboard engines were to be built into the leading edge of the wing: Platz placed them under the wing. Both were right. Fokker the man of vision, had immediately chosen tne correct solution, because subsequently the engines were positioned integral with the wing. But, Platz who had to carry out the order in only eight weeks, was faced with an urgent requirement and engines mounted 1n the wing would have involved considerable design and test work in construction, streamlining and with cooling problems. Therefore, Platz chose the course of least resistance to meet the urgent order. Aerodynan'lically, it was really the way of the most air resistance, but it offered the least possibility of unforeseen difficulties arising. He simply built a steel-tube structure to carry the additional engines under the wing, and until the integrated method was generally adopted, the' outboard' engines were employed successfully. The aircraft was completed late in August and on 55

1n 1923 FoHer's produced the D.X1 fighter, a type subsequently sold to Switzerland, Russia and the U.S.A. Normally the 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine was fitted but the three aircraft purchased for the U.S. Army Air ervice, and designated PW-7's, had the 440 h.p. Curtiss

The Fokker C. VE with the 475 h.p. Lorraine- Diet rich engine was one of several variants of the basic design. It performed twoseater reconnaissance and light bomber duties and the example illustrated is one of those used by Switzerland. Note the modified underca'Tiage.

0-12.

Thursday, September 3rd, it was transported to Sch.iphol on open barges; the next morn.ing it was unloaded and assembled and in the afternoon at 4.30 p.m. the new aircraft rose into the sky, eight weeks after design work had started! The construction period was as short as the success was great, for the F.VIIA-3M became the greatest triumph of the Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek. On Saturday the machine was flown for the benefit of Plesman and on Monday, September 7th, Fokker, back from the States, demonstrated it to the authorities and the Press. That same Monday afternoon, the machine was dismantled, everything being packed separately, provided with shipping marks, and put abroad barges on the Ringvaart bordering the aerodrome. ext day at 7.30 a.m. the vessels left and despite a delay in the small lock at Gouda, they arrived at 10 o'clock that night alongside the s. . Veendam of the HollandAmerica Line. The shipping company, in the national interest, accepted the crates that night, shortly before sail-

ing. On the 26th Fokker was flying his three-engined aircraft from New York to Detroit! The contest was not so much a competitIOn, but a demonstration of the ability of aircraft to work to a definite schedule relative to every-day conditions under which passenger trains, steamsh.ips and other forms of transport function. Therein lay the historic significance of the tour. As a test of these qualities it is easy to understand why the Reliability Tour as it was called by the Press, was-' without doubt one of the greatest steps ever taken to develop the commercial and private use of airplanes '. Together with his pilot, Lott, Fokker contrived always to arrive as early as possible at each landing place. This was facilitated at each stage by a ten minute start in the order of take-off, over the single-engined Ford. Of the slower flying machines, several could easily be overtaken and sometimes Fokker would skip an intermediate landing. Therefore, because he arrived practically everywh.ere first, most of the

This photograph depicts the C. V£ in its original form. An interesting fact concerning the C. V types generally, is that while the fuselage, tail and undercarriage remained standard no less than five different wing sets were available as required for specific duties.

56

Omaha more than an hour ahead of the other 'sh.ips', because the field at Des Moines was too small for him to land in, began passenger flights and till carried on even when the rest of the aircraft arrived over the field. The touring referee, Ray B. Collins of Detroit, prote ted about Fokker's indifference to safety regulation and wired the contest committee at Detroit, proposing that exhibition flights in other cities hould be banned after Fokker's display on arrival at Chicago, where, it was said, he flew only six feet over the heads of the crowd with his hands offthecontrols. The reliability of the three engines was the merit by which the Dutch aircraft surpassed all competitors. The , U.S. A ir Services' wrote: ' Even with two engines stopped, the ship can almost be kept flying on the remaining engine, which can be anyone of the three, without impairing the stability and control. With lightly less than full load, level flight and ordinary manoeuvring are retained while flying on one engine only. With the present day reUabiUty of high-class engines, such as the Wright Whirlwind, these characteristics simply mean that forced landings due to engine trouble are a thing of the past. A new aspect is thus put on the possibilities of passenger transportation, especially at night and over mountainous countries.' A viation wrote: 'Everyone

Press photographers took pictures of the enterprising aircraft from Holland and the reporters had written down several lines in praise of the aircraft, before the less interesting , small fry' arrived. Moreover, the Dutch aeroplane was the only three-engined aircraft; all the others being single-engi ned. Fokker presented his product at each airfield in his own manner. The noise of the three roaring engines, the impressive quick climb immediately after take-off and its manoeuvrability so brilliantly demonstrated was a revelation to the spectators, for a passenger-carrying aircraft. One of the Detroit papers described it as being handled like a small' pursuit 'plane '. In order to appreciate fully the influence of this test, it should be reaUsed that commercial aviation, as it had developed in Europe since 1919, was then unknown in the United States. The great rise in air-traffic was yet to come there, and the stimulus to airm.indedness by Lindbergh's sensational New York-Paris flight, had not then been made. As in his school-days, Fokker enjoyed life really well if he could go his own way, and by preference ways forbidden to others, so that his flying there caused some di plea ure. The Detroit Times reported that Fokker, having reached

Finland was another purchaser of the C. V type. In this case it was the 1934 C. VE variant equipped with a 730 h.p. Bristol 'Pegasus' engine. The normal wheel undercarriage was replaced by skis as necessary.

57

Comparison between this' Kestrel'-engined C. VD and that illustrated on the previous page will show how the appearance of aircraft, bearing the same variant designation sometimes differs noticeably. Installation of the 650 h.p. Rolls-Royce engine has changed the nose shape and radiator, while the rudder outline and undercarriage details have undergone modification.

Some C. V's had the , V' interplane strut arrangement as seen on this Dutch Army 7C. sesquiplane with a 450 h.p. HispanoIn uiza engine. this form the aircraft lVas intended as a two-seater fighter. In Swedish Service this version was known as the ).3.

flown the distance even minutes faster, thus winning on flying time. Anthony Fokker could not have wished for a more exciting finish. His American Press agent, however, was a little over-zealous when he presented his Dutch chief as the , father of aviation'. This caused the witty Cy Caldwell to make a report in A viation of ' the good old days at Kitty Hawk when Uncle Anthony taught the Wrights to fly'! A viation ended its extensive report of the Ford Reliability Tour with the phrase-' The Fokker Publicity Tour is ended '. Anthony Fokker's life was a constant struggle-and in his own country too. Although the Dutch Services helped to establish his factory by placing orders, the Ministry of Colonial Affairs placed its modest orders abroad, clUefly in England, with the Aircraft Disposal Company which had large stocks of 1914-1918 aircraft. The statistics shown herewith give a picture of the modest requirements of the Dutch East Indies 1919-1922.

at the airport was very much impre sed with the remarkable take-off which was carried out by this plane. Having left the ground, the plane climbed to altitude in a graccful sweeping turn wlUch fascinated everyone. There are, without the slighte t doubt, many features incorporated in the new Fokker with which all American designer would do well to make themselves familiar, for the plane is undoubtedly one of the most notable airplanes ever brought to tlUs country.' Ironically, Fokker hi mself was to demonstrate the degree of reliability between a single- and a three-engined aeroplane. Before the F.VIl-3M arrived, an F.VIlA with a single 400 h.p. Liberty engine had been slUpped to America and demonstrated at Mineola the aerodrome at Long Island, by Fokker IUmself, with many frills including ten glamour girls of the Ziegfeld Follies! That tunt was well received. The American Press considered the' foolproof plane' a revelation. But, when the machine was flown over to Detroit in order to join the Ford Tour, engine trouble over the mountain of Pennsylvania forced it to land, and it had to be towed out. The end of the tour was breathtaking. Best for flying on the clock was the Ford monoplane, piloted by Eddy Hamilton, but the Dutch-built Fokker was first to roar in for the fini h. According to William A. Mara, General Chairman of the Tour, there never was a finish so dramatic. More than 35,000 people had packed the roads leading into the airport. For hours they waited patiently in the rain and fog for the arrival of the planes from Cleveland. 0 better day could have been chosen to prove the reliability of the aeroplane. At 4 o'clock it became dark. The route from Cleveland to Detroit was covered with a smoky fog and the pilots were compelled to fly through driving rain. The great 500 million candle-power searchlight of the Ford Airport was turned on in mid-afternoon and cut the fog with its powerful beam. Then, when the crowd had almost given up the expectation of being able to witness the finish, the Fokker suddenly came diving down from the clouds of fog and rain, rending the air with the roar of its engines. The crowd went mad. Horns shrieked, while thousands of people cheered wildly. Three minutes later the Ford monoplane glided down, and raced across the finishing line. It had left Cleveland ten minutes behind the Fokker, but had

Type De Havilland 9 Avro 504K Avro 504K De Havilland 9 De Havilland 9 Vickers Viking Mk. IV Fokker D.VII (Siddeley Puma) Vickers Viking Mk. IV De Havilland 9 Avro 504K

Price Quan- each in tity guilders 12 12 12 6 8 8 6 2 10

n

26,000 17,000 14,000 15,180 15,180 86,100

Date of contract May 31st, 1919 May 31st, 1919 Dec. 18th, 1919 March 9th, 1921 April 11th, 1921 May 2nd, 1921

25,000 June 30th, 1921 86,100 Sept. 7th, 1922 24,000 Sept. 8th, 1922 15,000 Nov. 8th, 1922

About 93 per cent. of the orders in some four years were placed in England; the remaining 7 per cent. with the Netherlands home industry. Fokker also had to fight on other fronts. There was the peculiar case of the Roumanian affair. It started with discussions in Amsterdam concerning a licence to build Fokker aircraft in the Roumanian capital. An agreement had been reached when the representative of the Fokker export bureau, having arrived at Bucharest to 58

finalise the deal, was told that the Roumanian Department for Commerce and Industry had concluded a Iicenceagreement with a French firm the previous day. The Roumanian Secretary of War, however, stated that the decision had been taken behind his back and that he himself had wanted to place a direct order for aeroplanes, to ensure quick delivery. Eventually fifty D.XI fighters (300 h.p. Hispano Suiza) available from the cancelled part of the socalled Stinnes order were sold to Roumania, and these were shipped two months later in July 1925 to Constanza on the Black Sea. In the contract it was stated that the engines would come from British Aircraft Disposal Company stocks, and not direct from the manufacturer; they were nevertheless unused. Almost the whole of the international trade in aircraft engines then consisted of supplies from the enormous war dumps. After the consignment arrived, and the first half of the purchase price was deposited with the branch of the Dresdner Bank at Bucharest, complaints were received. First it was claimed that the engines were' old' and that the aeroplanes did not reach their guaranteed performance. But, the representatives of the Roumanian Air Force, who had tested several aircraft selected from the order at Schiphol, or had them tested by representation, declared that they were satisfactory, and that in some respects they had even surpassed the specified requirements. The cause of the disappointing performance of the machines in Roumania was found to be the use of a weak light fuel. Outside the contract obligations, Fokker had altitude flights made with some twenty of the aeroplanes. They proved to have a remarkable uniformity of performance in relative conditions. Later, it was stated, that the aircraft were unsuitable for aerobatics, so Grase was sent to the Balkans to turn the D.XI inside out. The Roumanians had never before seen such stunts. Soon enough the real reason became evident, a conspiracy to prevent a Dutch aircraft factory from getting a market in a pro-French Roumania, an intrusion much resented. This affair took a more serious turn; the Fokker representative in Roumania was arrested, as well as a few Roumanian officers, and the Fokker export agent was

sentenced in default of appearance, accused of intrigue and working with' baksjisj '. A military court quickly and impartially administered justice. Since no underhand deal had been made and no fraud had taken place, at least not by the accused, they were immediately released. By that time, however, the atmosphere had been so much spoiled that it would have been difficult to conduct business any further. When later the ederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek asked for permi ion to demonstrate on their own account and risk their latest two-seater reconnaissance plane in Bucharest, it was refused. However, a few years later objections were withdrawn, and Ir. Grase presented the C.VE in his inimitable manner in the Balkans. But, the influence of the competitors was by then too powerful. The payment of the second half of the purchase price of the D.XI's was delayed, but it so happened that the Roumanian Government had cast longing glances at the Dutch dredging contractors. When the Dutch Embassy in Bucharest became aware of this, they indicated that no deal could be effected unless full payment was made for aircraft supplied. Not only was a settlement reached, but with a compensating interest rate, much higher than usual in the Netherlands. It is of historic interest that in the first half of the twenties, not only the Dutch commercial aviation and aircraft industry, but also those of other countries, were in competition with the Junkers organisation. This renowned German enterprise, producing all-metal airliners of the single-engined F.l3 type and three-engined G.23 and G.2~ types, brought on the market aircraft of quality supplied at a modest cost. Having the financial support of various German towns, who were prepared to make sacrifices in order to join in international air traffic, Junkers had created the Europa Union, a brotherhood of aircraft companies flying their products. In 1925 this union had twenty members, or more correctly, Junkers' customers. Apart froma number of German companies a Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Finnish company joined the group. In that year the Dutch firm, N.V. Nederlandsche Wereldverkeer Maatschappij, joined them as well. This N.W.M. was 59

Fokker's besl known Irimolor design, Ihe F. VIIs-3M, had a larger wing and (as is well shown in Ihis photograph) a 'square' trailing edge to the centresection, compared with Ihe F. VilA-3M.

ostensibly a purely Dutch foundation, which had previously been approved by Royal Decree but which had not started its activities until mid-July 1925, when the authorities and the Press were invited to Sch.iphol and offered a complimentary flight. Their aircraft fleet consisted of three Junkers G.23's, each powered by a 195 h.p. B.M.W. engine and two 100 h.p. Mercedes engines, and they accommodated nine passengers. Their pilots, Wende, Bauer and Funck were Germans, and the manager of the company also acted as representative for the Junkers heating apparatus factory in the etherlands. The Board of Directors consisted exclusively of prominent Dutchmen, among whom were members of the Upper and Lower House. Tills debut was interesting. The secretary of the .W.M., also a Dutchman, declared to an interested Press that his company had a free choice to select its equipment, but that they had cast their eye at Junkers, because that firm produced an aircraft powered by three engines. That statement of being free in their choice wa seemingly a fairy-tale, because the object of the N. W.M. was to operate Junkers aircraft exclusively. The directors had been approached to join the Board of the limited company to guard the Dutch character of the firm and ensure that there would be a predominant Dutch influence, both in management and in direction. It was announced that the pilots themselves would without exception be Dutch-yet they commenced with exclusively German pilots! The company's secretary also stated that it went without saying that as soon as the aircraft were flying under the Dutch flag, they would be available to the Dutch Government in time of war or for any other kind of emergency. K.L.M. was not then the giant it is today, but a small ubsidi ed organisation, which had to compete for existence. They did not want competition in their own country, but they carried on with confidence. The Fokker organi ation remained silent and let the .W.M. preach the merits of Junkers all-metal construction. ot until the first meeting of .W. M. did the board of directors know who their shareholder really were. When the truth came out, it tran pi red that the company was a German enterprise, under Junker A.G., directed from Dessau. The three aircraft were not even the property of the Dutch company, but belonged to the town of Essen, which was interested in an Amsterdam-Essen-Berlin air service.

There was not a single Dutch aviation expert in the firm. However, the whole scheme fell through. Repeatedly the aircraft left without passengers and returned empty. By October, after a few weeks of its existence the Nederlandsche Wereldverkeer Maatschappij was in financial difficulties and the organisation was disbanded. So ended the Junkers bid for expansion. Later Junkers Luftverkehr, together with Aero Lloyd, were joined to form Luft Hansa, founded by the German Government. From Rethel's Fokker F.VIl came the F.VIIA version improved by Grase. The first F.VIIA supplied b~ K ..L.M., H-NACT, was taken over in October 1925. ThiS aircraft had a long and useful life until the fateful May 10th, 1940 when it was destroyed at Schiphol by German bombs. The H- ACT which was handed over at Schiphol on the penultimate day of 1955 to the trustees of the ational Aviation Museum was not, therefore, the original famous veteran; but a similar machine which in deference had been given the registration marks of the famous prototype. This machine, too, had an adventurous career, and was bought from a Danish charter company. The opinion of most Dutch airmen was that it was much too good and too beautiful for a museum. With its excellent qualities, the F.VIlA was soon making records. In July 1925, Grase made an endurance flight with it and two days later presented it to the Press and the authorities at Schiphol. The next year saw the first historic flights, the first in May 1926 sketched the framew~rk of t.he future air route to the East. Grase made tIus fllght WIth van Os as second pilot, taking five passengers and mail from Rotterdam to Marseille in 6t hours non-stop to correspond with the Dutch mail-steamer Indrapoera of the Rotterdam Lloyd. In mid-March 1927, the K.L.M. pilots Beekman and Tepas-again to study the commercial possibilities with the East-made a fast mail-flight with the F.VIIA, H- ADP, to Mar eille. A few months later an enterprising American gave a stimulus to the realisation of the Du~ch plans fo.r an air connection with their overseas realm, which at that tIme, seemed so far away. The same H-NADP, too, was to playa great part in· it. In the last week of February 1927, The Hague office of the press bureau Aneta gave the news that an American in London, who had to go quickly to Cairo and back, had asked K.L.M. to convey him. His name was Van Lear Black, 60

owner of the newspaper Baltimore SUfi and a few banks and mining companies. Through a travel agency in London he had come into contact with Air Taxis Ltd. owned by Captain W. Hope, but as Hope had not a suitable machine to offer, he passed the order on to the London representative of K.L.M., the Royal Dutch Airlines. In fact, Black had no business to see to in Cairo, but merely wanted to fly to Egypt in order to surprise an American friend of his who was yachting there! Black's first acquaintance with air travel was not altogether pleasant. After landing at Belgrade, he had to pay 250 dollars for each of the passengers and crew, because he had landed without having previously obtained permission. Then the hotel at Belgrade proved to be so unsavoury that the flight to Cairo was abandoned and he flew back to London. Black, however, understood that these Balkan incidents had nothing to do with aviation and went on flying for weeks at a time over a period of several years. His first flights were made with the Fokker F. VITA H-NACT, which was replaced later by the F.VIIA H-NADP. On his air travels Black was always accompanied by hi valet Leo Bayline; his crew were K.L.M. taff, the pilots G. J. Geysendorffer and J. Scholte and the air mechanic Weber. One evening, in May, chatting with his two pilot in the lobby of his London hotel, he spoke of future plans and of the possibilities offered by air travel. He proposed a long ocean-flight, but Scholte considered that such a trip was too risky, and proposed a flight to the East Indies. That is how the historic Amsterdam-Batavia return-flight originated. It was made between June 15th and July 23rd, 1927. It was no smooth pleasure trip, but a tiring journey, with more than one narrow escape en route. At that time no proper ground organisation existed, no weather information service was available and there was no radio-link. The aerodromes were mainly small, soggy or of loose earth. The aperiodic compa s of the Fokker went unserviceable, because the heat caused air bubbles to form in the alcohol. Oil faults also developed through the heat, and the oil-pump itself did not work. The carburettor, adjusted in the morning, would in the fierce afternoon heat require a completely different setting. During sand-storms the sandy dust, even at normal height, penetrated into the oil, setting long maintenance tasks in cleaning the engine. The man who had to work hardest on that pioneer flight, was the mechanic Weber, who had also to grind valves and change

~.

In spile of the increasing calls of business, Fokker flew at every opporlunity.

cylinders. Once, as he toiled through the night, he fainted twice. Geysendorffer wrote of him in glowing terms' the tough will-power of our unsurpassed craftsman-ills enormous devotion-this invaluable assistant '. At Sengora where the soggy field impeded take-off, the aircraft finally got clear with a desperate jerk and with only just enough speed to remain in the air. The metal Reed propeller cut the branches of trees and the tailplane actually caught in them, bending the tailplane supports. This so disturbed the balance that the passengers and luggage had to be moved quickly forward. This aircraft, H- ADP, which took five people to Batavia and back was an ordinary F.VIfA except that instead of the usual two fuel tanks, it had three, each containing 77 Imperial gallons giving a twelve hour endurance and a range of 1,000-1,100 miles under favourable conditions. 0 other standard passenger aeroplane could compete with that performance in those days. The great area covered by Black's flights throughout Europe drew much attention. Between the beginning of March and the end of September 1927, Van Lear Black flew thousands of miles with the K.L.M. Fokker. After staying in America for a few months he came back for further travels with a Fokker F.VHB-3M powered by three Titan engines, under the same registration let·ters of H-NADP. In May 1928, he started for Capetown, but en route to Khartoum

The first F. VitA purchased by K.L.M. in 1925. A modified F. VII, il inlroduced a simpler form of undercarriage and dispensed wilh the balanced ailerons reducing Ihe span to 63 ft. 4 in. A Bristol . Jupiter' engine was usually installed.

61

Belweell 1927 and 1930 Ihe Arnerican milliollaire, Van Lear Black, wilh Ihe K.L.M. pilols Ceyselldorffer alld Scholle, made sel'eral long dislance ffighls in Fokker aircraf/. The lerl1lillalioll of one of Ihese frOI1l Croydon 10 Tokyo is sho\lln here. C-AA DZ \lias an F. VIIB-3M named 'Marylalld Free Slale'.

one of the valves of the port engine broke into the cylinder. Since full-featheringairscrews were not then in use, the threebladed propellers caused further damage to the engine. The vibration of the engine became so heavy, that the pilot made a forced landing on the beach near San Remo. A new engine was quickly sent from America. On that journey Black flew 16,200 miles. He realised that he was doing pioneering work and he remained enthusiastic. Set-backs did not disturb his pleasure. At the end of May 1929, the' Maryland Free State' left Croydon for a flight to Tokio. At the Dum-Dum airfield of Calcutta the aircraft, having to be left in the open, was staked down. During the night a gale raged and when, early in the morning, the air-mechanic arrived at the airfield, the plane had disappeared. All that wa left was the mooring cables with little pieces of plywood on it. The plane was lying on its back behind a wall some 30 yards away. Still, Black was not discouraged. He returned to England where an insurance company presented him with a new aircraft and

the aircraft developed wing flutter, to such an extent that it strained the wing and the journey was abandoned. Until mid-August 1928 Black flew with his regular crew more than 23,600 miles. The Fokker factory built a new aircraft for Black, powered by three 300 h.p. Wright Whirlwind J.6 engines. This aeroplane, too, like its predecessor, was called the , Maryland Free State'. The flight made with this aircraft, however, was no longer under K.L.M.'s flag, but on the American's own account. He founded a British company, named V.L.B. Limited, of which his Fokker, H-NADP, under the British registration G-AADZ, formed one of the assets. The legal aspects of this accorded him considerable facilities when flying over territories under British mandate or administration. The pilots Geysendorffer and Scholte joined Black in permanent employment with another mechanic. During early 1929, a journey to Capetown was made from Croydon. On the journey home, Black again experienced engine trouble; when over the Ligurian Sea,

When an F. VilA-3M \lias ordered for Ihe R.A.F. Crase, demonSlraling ifs slrenglh and aerobalic qualilies, performed Ihree successil'e loops before delil'ery al Marlleshal1l Heel/h.

in February 1930 he left Croydon for Tokio, which wa reached in early April. That was another 12,860 miles. According to the logbook of the G-AADZ, which was found by a book-lover browsing at one of the book-stalls in Amsterdam, its last flight was made at the end of July 1930, when the Dutch crew ferried the aeroplane from Baltimore, where Black resided, to the Fokker works at Hasbrouck Heights for a major overhaul. Black was not of Dutch origin, as might be presumed from his name. His background and his motives for his long air travels remai}l an enigma. The suggestion that he flew to dispel boredom, without interest in gathering impressions from the far-away countries he visited, however, is quite untrue. An incident on his African flight related by his temporary secretary Rene MacColI may have contributed to this misrepresentation. It happened when approaching the mighty waterfalls of the Zambesi in Africa. MacColI exclaimed enthusiastically: 'Sir, the Victoria Fall I ' Black looked up, stared down for a moment and replied: , I couldn't care less.' Stephan, who was for so many years Deputy Director of the Fokker works, and who met the American both for business and socially, said that after a more intimate acquaintance, a completely different impression of this great airtourist was gained. He had a keen sen e of observation and was very sensitive to the beauties which the world offers. Tn particularly he loved flowers,

Black was extremely hospitable and open-handed. Tipping wa not to him a necessary evil, but more of a cult to be practised with care. When Black dined at a restaurant, he started by tipping the chief waiter. After having sat down, he pushed into the hands of the maitre d'hotel, who in fitting humility was bent over his wealthy customer with the menu, two pounds. When the meal was over, the lower table attendants, and other members of the establishment who might be in his vicinity, were also remembered. Once in Copenhagen it happened that Black tipped each of the five waiters £ I 0, a more than royal gesture which was misunderstood by one of the table servants. Thought to have been given a contemptible tip, he threw it under the table. But when the secretary whispered to him how much that piece of paper was worth in Danish money, the man made a dive under the table with the speed of a father who has seen his favourite child plunge into a canal! Black had a down-toearth opinion of tipping. When his secretary was once instructed to tip the manager of a travel bureau, he observed that the man might be offended. But Black smiled significantly and replied: 'Anyone, however rich he may be, accepts a tip. It only depends how large one makes it.' In the third week of August 1930, the life of this very remarkable man' was suddenly cut short in a tragic manner. A few weeks after completing the last flight, Reuter brought the news that Van Lear Black had inexplicably disappeared from his yacht Sabalo, off the coast of New Jersey. He

In spile oflhedisll'llsl of welding for aircrafl \IIork which was fell ill cerlain al'iel1ion circles, Ihe G1i1ogenous welded sleel lube syslelll of conslruClion \lias IIsed l1Iosl successfully by Ihe Fokker company for l1Iany years. F. VilA fuselages are illuslrel1ed here in l'ariQus slages of complelion.

The II1OS1 characleriSlic fea/ure of Ihe Fokker produclS from 1916 \lias Ihe canlilel'er Iype wing. The exlrerne Ihickness illl'oll'ed is I'ery apparenl in Ihis I'iew of an uncol'ered F. VilA wing. Aile/'OilS were sawn oul of Ihe wing and, ajier finishing were hinged back 01'1 1

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The first threeengined Fokker type, the F. VilA-3M, became a favourite with lIlany airlines in Europe. One of those operated by the Avio Linee /taliane is seen at the Berlin A irport in 1928.

often used to sit on the railings and may have been overbalanced by the swell. He was fifty-five years old. Another of the pioneer-owners of an executive aircraft was the Belgian Captain Alfred Loewenstein. His rocketlike rise to financial success dates from shortly after the First World War. At first he used special trains, fast yachts, and fa t cars for his travels, but this did not match up to his speed of doing business and he changed to aeroplanes. He contacted Imperial Airways, discus ed with them his requirement and soon he was the owner of a fleet of nine aircraft, which in England were called the' 'Loewenstein Navy'. Among them were a few Fokkers. In charge of his aircraft was the small, energetic British pilot, Captain Gordon Olley. Stephan, who met this Belgian financier for the last time at Biarritz in connection with the exchange of a Fokker F.VIIA for a three-engined F.VIfB-3M, was received by Loewenstein lying naked on his bed, while a muscular masseur worked on him. Stephan sat next to his bed, and to each side tood a secretary, one an English lord, the other a Belgian chevalier. In between treatment, Loewenstein gave in truction to one secretary about hydraulic power stations in Canada, and to the other about purchases of crude oil and cotton shares. Then he turned to Stephan to talk business and haggle over the high price which the exchange of the aircraft involved. The F.VIJA taken back made a forced landing in France, so that the deal was not a very profitable affair for the firm. The end of this magnate was as extraordinary as his life, and tragic, like Van Lear Black's end. This happened on July 4th, 1928. Piloted by D. Drew, an Englishman, Loewenstein flew from London to Brussels. The Fokker was over the Channel, half-way along the French coast when Baxter, Loewenstein's valet, saw his master get up, put his book down and walk to the toilet, smiling as he passed. When, after fifteen minutes he had not returned, Baxter got worried and went to look; returning to the cabin, he announced his alarming discovery. A secretary, Hodgson, informed the pilot, but because of the noise of the engines, he was not understood, whereupon Hodgson wrote on a piece of paper: 'Captai n gone! ' The aeroplane was at 2,000 feet. There was little hope of finding Loewenstein, so that Drew, after having searched low over the seas, flew to Dunkirk, where he reported the absence of Loewenstein. The mysterious disappearance caused considerable consternation. What was the cause? Tests showed that the

outer-door of the Fokker, when in flight, could only be opened by an almost superhuman effort. According to some reports, the Belgian magnate was supposed to be in difficulties owing to heavy speculations, so that he had deliberately used his great strength to overcome the slipstream which held closed the door. But this supposition was very definitely rejected by those who knew him well, and who were well-informed about his business affairs; they suggested it was an accident due to his pre-occupation because, even in familiar surroundings, it was said that he often barged into the wrong room or office. Only a short time previously he had nearly walked intoarevolving propeller at Philadelphia airfield. After this tragic occurrence a removable bar was put in Fokker passenger aircraft in front of the closed door, as an extra precaution. At the factory this was called the Loewenstein-bar. Mrs. Loewenstein ordered that the aeroplane should be sold. It then came into the hands of Lieutenant Commander Glen Kidston, who travelled around Africa with it hunting big game. In mid-1929, Kidston taking four passengers hunting in Central Africa, was forced to land thirty miles from Mongalla due to an airlock in the fuel system. The undercarriage and wing were damaged and the machine had to be dismantled for return to Holland. The young affluent Swiss, Willy Ziets, with a Whirlwind powered F.VIIB-3M was another enthusiastic air tourist who used a Fokker when he went on safari. The interior work of his aircraft was by the furniture factory of H. Pander and Zonen, constructors of the popular Pander light aeroplanes. It was luxuriously and tastefully fitted out in Finnish birch, a very light-coloured kind of wood with beautiful graining, and edged with red lacquered beading. There were four armchairs, upholstered in light red morocco-leather, and between each pair of armchairs was a folding table-leaf. Other prominent people in those years used Fokkers, chiefly the three-engined model, for their private journeys. The Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassi, took over a Cheetahengined Fokker from Swissair; and a former Viceroy of India, Lord Willingdon, had an Avro Ten, a three-engined Fokker built under licence in England, for his personal use. The famous Swiss pilot, Walter Mittelholzer, with Kunzle as co-pilot, made at the turn of 1929-1930 an interesting charter-flight in a Fokker F.VIIB-3M named Switzerland III with Baron Louis von Rothschild, the Austrian sportsman,

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and a few friends. This journey led to the Kilimanjaro territory, a trip of over 12,400 miles. Another person who enjoyed the pleasures of greatair-tourism to the full, was the Duchess of Bedford, although at first a a passenger, but later a pilot. This energetic old lady was an all-round sportswoman. She was a magnificent shot, adept with the rod, a champion skater, and a good swimmer; in fact she excelled in almo t everything she attempted. She adored flying, not only because she loved it from her very first experience, but because it exhilarated her and gave her renewed energy for the long hours and arduous work she devoted to the hospital at Woburn. After an attempt at a fast return-f1jght to India, he made another tryon August 2nd, 1929, with Charles D. Barnard and Bob Little, as pilot and navigator respectively. Before starting out, her machine-a Fokker F.VIIA bought from the K.L.M.-wa flown over to Holland for examination and refitted with the latest geared Bristol Jupiter XI engine with four-bladed propeller. Apart from arranging petrol supplies en roU/e and changing the name of the plane from' Princess Xenia' to 'Spider', symbol of perseverance, no other preparation were made for the flight. It was a game attempt as there was no wireless and there were no weather reports after leaving Lympne. Her Grace made the trip of 9,000 miles to India and back in less than eight days, an impressive achievement in those days.' 0 one flight in the past has done quite so much to prove the practical possibilities of aviation, in relation to the British Empire, as has this flight,' was the seal of official appreciation placed on this achievement by the Royal Aeronautical Society. A greater achievement was the flight that grand old lady made with the same crew and the same singJe-engined Fokker,G-EBTS,in April 1930, from LondontoCape Town and back in twenty days, the previous shortest time by air for the double journey being about three months. On this

Another prominent personality and Fokker custolller was the Belgian financier Alfred Loewenstein, who maintained a fleet of aircraft in order to expedite his European business trips. /n the course of a flight from London to Brussels Loewenstein disappeared in mysterious circumstances when the aircraft was in midChannel.

occasion six more different records for the England-South Africa route were made. On March 23rd, 1937, Mary, the Duche s of Bedford, took off from her private airfield at Woburn Abbey, England, for a short flight in her Moth aeroplane. She never returned. Despite inten ive earch by the R.A.F. no trace of her was found, but some struts and a badly smashed air-screw were washed up at different points along the orfolk and Suffolk coa t . The Czech shoe-king, Thoma Bata, possessed for his private use an F.VIIB-3M built under licence by Avia in Prague, powered by three Walter engines. The Bata works at Zlin in Czechoslovakia was one of the first enterprises to use their own aeroplanes; between the wars, this company had about twenty. In the winter of 1931-1932, Bata set out on a business flight of 20,000 miles to the Far East in his three-engined Fokker. Unlike Van Lear Black, whose contracts by charter with K.L.M. stipulated that flights would be left to the discretion of the chief pilot, the famous Czech industrialist had his own ideas about this. On July 12th, 1932, Bata left early in the morning from hi private airfield at Zlin, for a flight to Mohlin in Switzerland, where a new Bata factory was under construction. In the everting he wanted to return to Zlin, but when he arrived at the airfield there was a thick fog. His pilot, Brucek, advi ed him to wait until the fog would clear, but Bata was impatient. De pite the heavy fog he gave orders to tart. Some time later, the Bata paper works at Otrokovice gave the new by telephone that an aeroplane, a single-engined Junkers, had rammed the factory chimney. Both occupants were dead. either the pilot, nor the aircraft were to blame for the accident. These men, Black, Loewenstein, Bata, Mittelholzer, and others, together with that gracious lady, the Duchess of Bedford, gave air touring a tremendous impetus and all, be it noted, favoured at some time, Fokker aircraft.

Van Lear Black, an American millionaire, caused great interest between 1927 and 1930 by the series of longdistance flights he made throughout the world, always in Fokker aircraft. On most of his flights the crew was provided by K.L.M.

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Fokker ln America

CHAPTER SIX

1935. This was the organisation that produced the Noorduyn , Norseman " that sturdy workhorse responsible for sterling work, in particular in Canada's Frozen North. More than a thousand of these aircraft were built. During the 19391945 War, the factory of this energetic Dutchman built nearly 3,000 North American Harvard all-metal, advanced trainers. Fokker's first American journey with oorduyn produced a few orders which were executed in the Netherlands by the Veere branch. Rarely, if ever, have official orders been placed in such good faith. Only a few hasty sketches had reached the U.S. Army when the two F.IV's were shipped to America, and their Navy gave even further proof of confidence, by ordering a torpedo-bomber after the design basis had been worked out on a table in Fokker's hotel room in Washington; the principle details were determined at the same friendly meeting. Two F.VI fighters with 300 h.p. Hispanos were also ordered. Presumably, the F.VI was considered a secret venture as this type was disguised by the F designation of the Fokker commercial series. The first F.I1I, named the' Half Moon' after Henry Hudson's exploration vessel, was being demonstrated in America by Bert Acosta as early as the summer of 1921. To the Americans this was a revelation and it caused something of a stir. But the New World was not then air-traffic minded and the F.I11 found no market there. But the military orders for Fokkers stimulated the American constructors, who until then had not taken much trouble to create anything radically new. They put new designs on the drawing boards, preceding the Curtiss and Boeing scouts which resulted from the welded steel tube method of construction, that Fokker introduced to America. It should be realised that the American aviation industry in the early 'twenties was then still behind the Old

R. B. C. Noorduyn, manager of Fokkers first American company, the Netherlands Aircraft Manufacturing Company and later founder of the Noorduyn Company in Canada.

The establishments which Anthony Fokker founded in the United States were organised completely separate from the business in the Netherlands, both commercially and administratively. There, the Fokker characteristics, welded steel tube construction, wooden cantilever wings and the three-engine formula, all introduced from the Netherlands, together with the impact of Fokker himself upon American aeronautical circles, influenced the rise of American civil aviation from the mid 'twenties. It was not Fokker who sought America, but the New World that sought contact with him. This occurred shortly after the 1914-1918 War when through the American Legation in The Hague an order for a few C.l. scouting planes and D. VII fighters was placed. Late in October 1920, Fokker first went to the United States for an orientation trip. He was received cordially and the Army Air Corps organised for him an aviation sightseeing trip. That first American journey led to the foundation of the Netherlands Aircraft Manufacturing Company of Amsterdam, in New York. This company was not a factory, but a sales organisation and information bureau. With R. B. C. Noorduyn in charge it was well served. Bob Noorduyn, who played an important part in the American works of Fokker until 1929, was already well versed in aircraft, having worked in England with Sopwith before the war and under Koolhoven with Armstrong-Whitworth and the British Aerial Transport Company during the 1914-1918 War. After parting from Fokker, and having served for a time in the Bellanca and Pitcairn works, he founded the Noorduyn Aircraft Limited at Montreal, in Canada in

Equipped for ambulance work the T-2 (Fokker type FfV) wqs. known as the A-2. This was one oltwo FIVs purchased by the United States Army Air Service.

Although bearing the Fokker 'F' (civil) designation, the F VI was a cantilever monoplane fighter with the 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. The U.S. Army purchased ten under their designation PW-5.

Another fighter imported by the U.S.A. was this D.Xf (or PW-7) type. All three had the 440 h.p. Curtiss D-J2 engine. 'N' struts were filled to the second and third aircraft.

An original version of the Noorduyn·· designed Fokker , Universal' of1925. Later the cockpit was enclosed. With a Wright Wh irlwind 220 h.p. engine it could carry four passengers.

The Super' Universal' was virtually an enlarged and, with the 425 h.p. ' Wasp' engine, a more powerful ' Universal.' Wheels, !foats or skis were filled. Acconunodation was for six passengers.

Given the milirary designation C-2A this development of the three-engined F VII was a transport aircraft built for the U.s. Army in Fokker's American factory. Eight examples were built.

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During early 1922 General W. Mitchell with his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Bissell, paid a visit to Holland and to the Fokker works and the Dutch Air Arm at Soesterberg. He asked Stephan, who was then in charge of the technical service of the Dutch Army Air Corps, to write a memorandum on the manufacture and maintenance of welded steel tubes in aircraft construction; this memorandum was later included in detail in Mitchell's official report. It was probably due to this dynamic air-minded general that a modus was found to give Fokker a further chance to supply the American air force. In 1924 it was decided to rebuild 100 De Havilland DH-4's as DH-4M2's, replacing the wooden fuselages with welded steel tube. The contract was awarded by public tender, and it landed with Fokker as the only aircraft constructor with the experience required. Since the fuselages were replaced, it was virtually a contract for new aircraft, utilising certain components. Apart from that, Fokker received an order for thirty new aeroplanes. A start was made by leasing the empty Witteman Lewis aircraft factory at Teterboro which had an adjoining airfield at Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey (some eight miles, in a direct line from Manhattan) where a further plant was later erected. Local labour, together with a nucleus of employees from Holland, was employed. In May 1924 a new company was founded, the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, with Lorillard Spencer as President. Robert B. C. Noorduyn was General Manager and A. Francis Arcier, Technical Manager. The last-named had previously been an engineer at HandleyPage's in charge of construction of the large four-engine Handley-Page v.1500 bombers in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After that he was employed by the Witteman-Lewis Aircraft Corpn. at Hasbrouck Heights, until it went out of business. For the Atlantic Corporation, it was a favourable period to embark on the construction of aircraft as interest in commercial aircraft gradually intensified. Whilst on the 1925 visit, during a stay in New York, Fokker had wired the Amsterdam works instructions to build a three-engined version of the F.VIIA which appeared in the Ford Reliability Tour as the F.VIIA-3M. After the tour, the Fokker was put at the disposal of the military test centre at Wright Field in order that it be subjected to full testing. It was the first time that an aircraft manufacturer

Fokker lVilh Mailland and Hegenberger, who first flew the Pacific from America 10 Hawaii, 1927.

World in aircraft. This also applied to aircraft engines, a branch of industry that seemed not to have the slightest attraction to Wall Street. Mid-I922 Fokker paid his second visit to the United States, where he was received in Washington by President Harding. When the Amsterdam works later exported the DC.I 's and also c.rv's to the United States Government, the American constructors became even more irritated at the stranger in their camp. But new legislation made the position of the Netherlands Aircraft Manufacturi ng Company difficult by stipulating that government orders for other than purely experimental aircraft were to be made exclusively in America. Although it was possible to establish an American company, there were many risks attached to this, unless orders could be guaranteed. The Army Air Service cleared the way.

This photograph, taken in 1928, shows some of the members of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition with their Fokker Super 'Universal' NC4453 'The Virginian.' They are, from left to right, Dean Smith, Bernt Balchen, Harold June and Richard E. Byrd.

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[n the 'twenties a number ofcompanies purchased Fokker aircraft for business use. One such was the Richfield Oil Company of California. Their president, J. A. Talbot, is seen, left, wilh Anthony and Mrs. Violet Fokker during a flight in the company's F.l0a, 1928.

had approached the Army Air Corps with such a generous offer. There was some competition to fly the machine and since it featured a cabin with some eight seats, everyone wished to give the family' a ride'! From Wright Field the F.vIIA-3M was flown to Detroit, where Edsel Ford had a good look at ' Holland's Glory'. Ford Junior was so enthusiastic that he wanted to take it over for Lieutenant Commander Richard Byrd's attempt to fly over the North Pole, which was being financed by the Ford family. This was agreed. Named' Josephine Ford " after Edsel's youngest daughter, the tri-motor was prepared for the great adventure. Every other aircraft constructor would have been flattered enough by this transaction; but Fokker, the keen businessman, foresaw a possibility that this famous polar flight might feature purely as a Fordaffair, and that his name would hardly come into it. Therefore, before selling, he stipulated that FOKKER should be applied conspicuously on the fuselage and wings. In consequence, from whatever angle the' Josephine Ford' was photographed, the name Fokker was clearly visible. Byrd himself may have felt that he was flying to the Pole with Fokker bill-boards round his neck, for in a detailed report of the flight, written for the National Geographic Magazine, he made no mention of the name Fokker, apart from one mention in the introduction; thereafter it was referred to as , polar plane " ' Byrd plane " or the' Josephine Ford '. Meanwhile, the American factory had come out with their first creation, the' Universal' designed by Noorduyn, a high-wing monoplane with a cabin for four and an additional seat in the cockpit next to the pilot. A robust machine powered by a 200 h.p. Wright Whirlwind engine and provided with wheels, floats or skis, it played a significant part in the opening up of the rich mining districts of Canada. Atlantic enjoyed a growing market. Captain Hubert Wilkins bought a Universal as well as an F.vIIA-3M for an intending polar expedition in 1926. Western Canada started to use the Universals, as well as Colonial Air Transport. The Continental Motors Corporation of Detroit, manufacturers of the Red Seal engines for the motor industry, bought a three-engined Fokker as an 'executive transport'; this was probably the first of the considerable

number of firms who now have an aircraft for their executives. The Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, holder of the monopoly of public transport and taxis in Philadelphia, ran for five months until the end of November 1926, a service, during the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exposition, between Philadelphia and Washington with three-engined Fokkers: SIS for a single journey, $25 for a return ticket. Notwithstanding expert management, it could not profitably manage. However, this bold effort did at least draw American attention to two things: the great promise which air transport offered as a time-saver, and the name of Fokker. The Engineering Division of the Army Air Corps thoroughly tested the three-engined Fokker and no publicity manager of the Netherlands Aviation Works could have testified better to the quality of this product than the official army report. The F. VIlA-3M was brought on the American market under the de~ignation Fokker Trimotor During their European visit 1922, Fokker met General' Billy' Milchell, centre, and aide de camp, Lt. Bissell.

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The B./Va amphibian of /929 was given the designation F.IIA in America. Harold Vanderbilt and Gar Wood were private oWllers of this type alld it saw limited commercial use.

Olle of NoorduYlls l'I'1Ost successful alld widely used desiglls was the' Super Ulliversal.' This example of the float-plalle I'ersiol'l was flowlI ill Canada.

F.7, with three 200 h.p. Wright Whirlwind engInes as the normal power units. On September 16th, 1925, a new company was established, the Fokker Aircraft Corporation, which took over the stock, property, and orders from the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation of Hasbrouck Heights. It had been planned to start a new factory in Kansas City, as the constructional workshops at ew Jersey could not manage the expected orders, but this remained a project. Already, by the summer of 1926, the Fokker Aircraft Corporation in America, had eight dealers, each with their own Vniver al at their disposal. Before it got its well-earned re t in Henry Ford's Museum, the famous orth Pole Fokker made, in the last few months of 1926, a propaganda tour in a number of States, under the auspices of the Guggenheim Aviation Fund. This meant propaganda for aviation, it also advertised the Dutch product. In this connection, Admiral Byrd once pointed out the curious play of fate that whilst thi three-engined Fokker had already become a museum piece, the production versions had only now tarted as a commercial proposition. With 1927 came the peak of the fame of Fokker aircraft in their association with epoch-making flights. The historic fughts undertaken from the Netherlands have already been mentioned; in the United States the Air Corps pilots Maitland and Hegenberger flew an Army Fokker Trimotor C-2 'Bird of Paradise' from San Francisco to Honolulu, the first fught across the Pacific from America to Hawaii. That same month Commander Byrd with Balchen, Acosta

and oville leapt from ew York to France-or near enough, landing in the water ju t off the beach of Ver-surMer-in the C-2, , America'. Meanwhile, that month Van Lear Black was making his famous Far Eastern Flight in the Bristol Jupiter-engined Fokker F.VIIA ' Baltimore Sun '. Tn order to relieve the works at Hasbrouck Heights, a second factory was brought into use in 1927 to produce subas em blie at Brighton Mills near Passaic, also in New Jersey and only a few miles away. An enlarged model of the Universal made its appearance, viz. The Super Universal, with a nine cylinder air-cooled 410 h.p. Pratt & Whitney Wasp and a cabin with room for six. Tn April 1927, the first F.IO built under the supervision of the chief engineer, Alfred A. Gassner, left the factory at Hasbrouck Heights. This was an airliner for twelve passengers, powered by three 425 h.p. Wasp engines. The fir t three were ordered for Western Air Express, for their showline Los Angeles-San Francisco, which was run with a subsidy from the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the promotion of aeronautics; the fund met the initial cost of the aircraft. Pan American Airways flew F.IOA's, an improved model with seating for fourteen, between Key West and Havana, Cuba, across 110 miles of sea. For the Army and avy a few variations were introduced on the three-engine theme. TIle largest of all oceans, the Pacific, was first spanned by a three-engined Fokker, an event on par with lindbergh's courageous non-stop New York-Paris flight in the single-engined Ryan ' Spirit of St. Louis'. This flight of 7,000 miles by Kingsford Smith, VIm, Lyon and Warner

The F.IO, all Americall-built Fokker type, was a twelve-seater airliner operated all the Los Allgeles-Oakland route by the Western Air Express twice-daily service for some years from

was achieved in three mighty hops, from North America to Australia via Honolulu and Suva, between May 31 st and June 9th, 1928. The F. VIIB-3M used was an early Americanbuilt model that had been taken over, minus engines, from Sir Hubert Wilkins, after it had crashed on ice. Named , Spirit of California " it had been used for an endurance record attempt, and took off with the unprecedented wingloading of 19'5 Ib./sq. ft. Re-named' The Southern Cross' it achieved world fame with its Pacific crossing and now graces a museum at Canberra. June ~f 1928 almost rivalled June of 1927. That arne month of the epic Pacific flight by Stultz, Gordon, and Amelia Earhart with a F.VIIB-3M, , Friendship', a name which was later chosen for the first post-war turbo-prop airliner. Miss Earhart was not then the famous woman pilot of later days, but an enthusiastic novice. This three-engined Fokker was the first floatplane to fly the Atlantic, originally it had been part of Byrd's first South Pole expedition equipment, but at the Last moment Byrd changed to a FordTrimotor. To have Fokkers first over the South Pole as wellas the orth Pole would have been too much to expect! The American Company flourished and the prospects were so encouraging that in December 1927 it was reorganised and re-named the Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America. The works at Hasbrouck Heights were extended, but even with the branch at Passaic, all the bu iness could not be adequately handled, and, in consequence, a third factory opened at Glendale, ten miles south of Wheeling, in West Virginia. The Glendale factory was opened with a

festival in August, 1928, in the presence of 3,000 people. The autogenous welding of steel tubes which at first had been resisted in professional circles, because the method was not trusted, became generally accepted. The view was expressed in the British aeronautical press that the fact that most military aircraft in the United States had steel tube construction was due more to Fokker than anyone else. When Fokker displayed his latest models at the Chicago Exhibition in 1928, the F-IOA Trimotor, the Super Universal and F-IIA Amphibian, were the most advanced designs exhibited in the civil field. In those early days most of the wings came complete from Holland, because plywood of the necessary quality was not available in America. It took the American plywood manufacturer many months before they could equal the quality of the veneered Lithuanian birch which Fokker had used in Holland. The Amphibian with a 525 h.p. Pratt & Whitney pusher airscrew Hornet engine on top of the wing and a cabin for seven passengers, was the only monoplane amphibian developed up to that date. Here, too, the Amsterdam Works lent a helping hand, for the all-metal hull was constructed in Holland: further proof that Fokker had long appreciated metal hull construction, but that he only applied it where he considered it useful and profitable. The wing was of normal wooden construction covered with veneered sheeting. An interesting detail was the combination of movable sponsons, for lateral stability on the water, with the wheel landing gear. With t.he wheels down for landing on terra firma, the hinged bottom stub wings sloped downwards and formed a part of the landing

Byrd's Atlantic flight, Roosevelt The Field, /927. C-2 'America,' was all American version of tire F. VllA-3M. The illitial bellefit of the ramp made this an assisted take-off!

1927.

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In its floatplane form the F. VIIB-3M was used by Amelia Earhart who, with pilot Wilmer Stultz and engineer Lou Gordon, flew the Atlantic in June 1928. This aircraft, named , Friendship', seems to have been destined for fame, as it was originally intended (or Byrd's Antarctic Expedition.

board-room curtain down, because his master was constantly gazing outside at the aeroplanes undergoing test. He also had the habit of sucking on a lump of sugar during conferences, which were invariably called for Saturday afternoon as he generally took Wednesdays off. His business capital was increased to a million dollars in ordinary shares, and plans were made to establish the largest aircraft factory in the world in California, but this came to nought. Nevertheless, his olid achievements were impressive for the period. By 1929 the Fokker Corporation had 906 employees; in April 1929 N.V. Algemeen Trustkantoor introduced American Fokker shares on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. That year the American Fokker enterprise took the lead in passenger aircraft construction. While the factories at Hasbrouck Heights and Passaic together produced an aeroplane a week, additionally, every fortnight a three-engined Fokker left the Glendale works. A little later came specialisation, with the Teterboro hangers utilised purely for experimental work or modification, wing assembly at the Hasbrouck Heights factory, and fuselage construction and assembly at Glendale, Wheeling. The Fokker Corporation order for 350 Pratt & Whitney Wasp and Wright Cyclone engines, was the largest order that had been placed in America for civil aircraft. Orders came from orth and South America as well as China and Japan. Airlines, such as Western Air Express, Universal Airlines,

gear, the outer end of the wheels being supported by shock absorber strut running to the front wing spar. In the up position for use on the water, the stub wings were nearly horizontal. A cleverly thought out arrangement of hinges in the shock absorber struts made it possible to put the wheels into a horizontal position in a recess in the tip of the stub wings, to improve streamlining. Both the millionaires Harold Vanderbilt and Gar Wood owned an F.IIA. They were also used by Air Ferries between San Francisco and Oakland, but on the whole interest did not match expectations, so that the factory in Amsterdam was left with two dozen unsold metal hulls on their hands. Fokker, in his scramble for even greater success, was forced to be versatile, and he found it quite wearying to think up new ideas, finance and promote them. He wished that people would leave him alone so that he could devote more time to the technical side of the business, instead of dabbling in all aspects of his organisation. The fact is that he remained youthful in spirit and so approachable that he was constantly being consulted and dragged into everything. There were his drawbacks, too; although an astutue businessman, he was not a born leader or administrator. He had little power of oratory and he did not appear to dominate his organisation like other chief executives. His heart and soul was in the practical side to such an extent that, during a conference at Hasbrouck Heights, his secretary let the

Left to right: Brassen, Fokker, Byrd and Balchen. A photograph taken in 1927 during the preliminary preparations for the transAtlantic flight to France by the Fokker C-2 'America' under the command of Richard Byrd. The duration of the flight wasjorty hours -all in very bad weather conditions.

airliners appeared. The parasol-winged F-14 mailplane with the pilot's seat behind the cabin, and the gigantic fourengined F.32 which made its first flight in the middle of September. The four 525 h.p. Pratt & Whitney Wasps, later replaced by four Hornets of 575 h.p. each, were suspended in tandem under the wooden wing, two with pusher and two with tractor propellers. The fu elage had four compartments of eight seats, each with individual appointments. This was the last Fokker transport type built in America until the Friendship, twenty-eight years later. Of the F.32 type, ten were built. Unfortunately, the prototype, destined for Universal Air Lines, crashed in Novem bel' 1929 in the neighbourhood of Roosevelt Field on Long Island, when the two port engines, one after the other, failed during take-off. The aircraft slewed and sideslipped, crashing on to some houses. The occupant managed to scramble out before it burst into flames. Universal did not, in consequence, take delivery of the five they had ordered; Western Air Express took two into service for their San Francisco-Los Angeles line, found them satisfactory and later ordered another three. During seven months of 1930 two F.32's were in the air for five hours per day, and made the return journey San Francisco-Los Angeles twice a day; where previously aircraft utilisation had been only two hours per day. In general these four-engined giants appeared before their day. The fuselage of one of these aircraft finished up as a petrol 'station on Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

Southern Air Transport, Standard Air Lines, National Park Airways, Mid-Continent Air Express, St. Tamanygulf Coast Airways, Pan American Airways, Western Canada Airways, Dominion Airways and Westcoat Air Transport, were among the customers, as well as other businesses and individuals. The main interest was centred on the Universal and Super Universal of which over 100 were sold. Over 40 per cent. of the transport aircraft used by American airlines were Fokkers; of the remainder, of various makes, possibly Ford had the greatest share. It may be said, without exaggeration, that the Fokker product was one of the two main pillars of civil aviation in the United States-the other being the products of Henry Ford. Later, Ford's aircraft plant, the Stout Metal Airplane Company, built 196 all-metal Trimotors up to 1931, to Fokker's 176 for commercial customers only. But for the late 'twenties, the Fokker organisation in America was estimated to be the largest aircraft manufacturing concern in the world. In the first week of 1929 the duration flight of 150 hours and forty minutes of the Air Corps C-2A ' Question Mark " under Commander Carl Spaatz, made front-page publicity on a large scale. Other members of the crew were Captain Ira C. Eaker, Lieutenant Harry Halverson, Lieutenant Elwood Quesada, and Sergeant Roy Hoe. This was a nonstop flight with refuelling during the flight, then still a sensational novelty. The 'Question Mark' made thirtyseven contacts in the air taking in 4,190 gallons of fuel, plus oil and stores, etc. In that year new American-built Fokker

The largest American designed and built Fokker type was the F.32 fourengined airliner of 1929. Several of these thirty-two passenger aircraft were operated by Western Air Express.

Perhaps the most famous individual aircraft ever to carry the name of Fokker. This F. VIIB-3M, . outhem Cross,' was the recordbreaker flown by Sir Charles King5!ordSmith.

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73

American Misadventure

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lefl 10 right: Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, vicepresident, Fokker CorporCllion; Sir Hubert Wilkins, Arclic explorer; Lt. Harry Johnson, pilol; A. A. Gassner, chief engineer; Anthony Fokker; W. T. Whalen, vice· presidenl and general manager of rhe Fokker Corp.; D. W. Jones, presidell1 of Universal Aviation Co.; C. W. Y. Currie; E. L. Schuren, general easlern rraffic representarive of Universal Avialion Corp.

In May 1929 came radical changes. The industrial giant, the General Motors Corporation, acquired 40 per cent. of the shares of the Fokker Aircraft Corporation. Carried on the wings, or rather the wheels of this mighty automobile concern, which sold to more than 100 countries and annually paid 300 million dollars in salaries and wages, aircraft construction was bound to soar. Fokker, who owned 20 per cent. of the shares, was appointed Technical Director for a five-year period at a salary of $50,000 a year. To the original Fokker Directors were added: C. F. Kettering, Fred J. Fisher and C. E. Wilson all Vice-Presidents of General Motors, and W. T. Whalen who was Vice-President and General Manager of the General Motors Export Corporation and who became General Manager in the Fokker team. Edward V. Rickenbacker, from the Cadillac Works, was later appointed Vice-President of the Sales Department. This new team, a combination of prominent and astute men of the automobile world did not, however, fully appreciate that automobile construction and aircraft construction were rather different propositions, each having

their own particular problems and each requiring a specialised business policy. The whole affair within two years proved an enormous failure. In the beginning the new masters showed their ineptitude for commercial aviation when General Motors directed their market analysers to gauge the future possibilities of aeronautics, which resulted in an elaborate book with impressive graphs showing the probable development of the market. The compilers, completely misled by the prevailing' Prosperity boom', reached as a result of their statistics, the almost fantastic conclusion that in the near future everyone would own their own aircraft, that even the automobile industry would feel the draught, and that the railways were already an anachronism! But the Flying Dutchman himself entertained high hopes from his new combine with General Motors, which he imagined to be omnipotent, and that as partner with them, he cherished hopes of outwitting his mighty rival-Henry Ford. However, not only was a striking success not forthcoming, but Fokker experienced the most unproductive period of his whole career. Just as Henry Ford, despite all

the genius and invested millions at his disposal, could not produce anything original and lasting in aircraft construction, and could do no more than produce aircraft similar to Junkers and Fokker types and sell his aeroplanes at dumping prices; so, too, the mighty General Motors concern created nothing original. And the impulsive Dutchman, who was still bursting with energy and who had previously enjoyed almost complete independence, became subordinated to tllis gigantic concern. The result was friction with his masters. After a year of the new combine, in May 1930, it was announced that the name Fokker Aircraft Corporation would be replaced by that of General Aviation Corporation: Fokker, dismayed, could do notlling but agree, being faced with the possibility that General Motors could establish a completely separate aircraft company in opposition. In this way the Fokker Aircraft Corporation at least remained a holding company. He was even further dismayed by a proposal to acquire the Dornier Company of America which, however, came to nothing. The alliance jogged on, until a tragic air crash brought things to a head. On March 31st, 1931, a Fokker Trimotor of T.W.A. crashed in Kansas during a thunderstorm, after a wing collapsed. This accident caused a deep disquiet, not on account of the number of victims, but because among the seven passengers killed was Knute Rockne, a famous sportsman and coach of the renowned Notre Dame football team. In that way, the crash caused a national shock. Successively, for seven days, this accident was head-lined. The Department of Commerce presumed that the accident was due to strain when the pilot levelled out, which

Fokker wilh some of his Hasbrouck Heighrs sra/I wilh Ihe firsl F.IO, produced in 1928.

could happen to any aircraft if mishandled. Then the Department announced that an engine had been found minus the propeller and that the cause of the accident may have been caused by the propeller breaking up. Soon after that, however, the propeller blades were discovered deep in the ground, below the engine, with no evidence of fracture. The press and the public were non-plussed. Then came a devastating blow for Fokker himself. Five weeks after the accident, on Monday, May 4th, 1931, the evening papers brought him the news that all 1929 three-engined Fokker aeroplanes in use were not considered safe and were to be grounded immediately for inspection at the works. This decision hit Pan American Airways, Western Air Express and American Airways particularly hard; in all thirty-five aeroplanes were concerned. Such a drastic step was then probably without precedent in America; and therefore it made a profound impression. Later such bans were to occur involving other renowned make. But it hit the Flying Dutchman first. Hjs aeroplanes had always been considered the safest in the world and now his prestige was at stake. He rampaged into Washington and upbraided officials, accused the Goverllfl1ent of indecision and demanded to know why, jf there were ground for the ban, the Government had not stated precisely the cause. His friend, Frank A. Tichenor, of Aero Digest, tried to calm 1lim and advised llim to let James Schoenmaker, Jm., President and General Manager of General Motors, speak for llim. Time referred to him as ' explosive Tony'. The Department of Commerce had stated that it was maintenance, not the principles of construction, under dispute; action to ' ground' was therefore directed against

The F.II A amphibian was filled wilh adjusrable sfJonsons illlo which Ihe wheels rerracled.

A 1930 Fokker In ililary design was rhe XA-7, an experimenIal all {neral allack aircrafl. Cooling Iroubles wirh Ihe Curl iss engine, however, reS ull ed in fu r I her developmenl of Ihe type being abandoned.

74

75

A U.S. Army contract which Fokker Aircraft Corp., obtained was for the YO-27, a twin-engined reconnaissance bomber type of Ivhich fourteen were budt about 1930.

and Fokker was unavoidable, because profitable cooperation no longer existed. Both sides realised that they had made mistakes. Matters reached a head. One day it was rumoured that Fokker was to withdraw from the technical lead of his American enterprise; but this he emphatically denied. However, next day, July 10th, 1931, discussions by the Board of the General Aviation Corporation decided the fate of the company. It was a stormy meeting. Nevertheless, General Motors had a placid announcement prepared that Fokker had retired as ' Director of Engineering' and that the conference had proceeded in harmony. In fact it was a verbal fight with vitar issues at stake. General Motors did not easily give up a name, they used Buick, Chevrolet, aIds, etc., and Fokker, a famous name in aviation, was the only name in aviation they could exercise. On the other hand, they were adamant that Fokker himself would have to go. Fokker, realising this, was out to get the maximum of conces ions and his Attorney, Wallace Zachry, represented him well. As a result, he retained entitlement to his pay of $50,000 per year for the five-year contract period and also obtained unrestricted right to use his trade-name Fokker. On the debit side he lost the physical assets of his company. Never backward in publicity, Fokker outdid the industrial giants, General Motors. His story was in the papers first. Fokker had already acquainted editors with his propositions and a casual 'phone message from the board-room to a friend that he would meet him that evening in an amusement park, was the tip-off signal to the papers that his case was successful. After the meeting broke up, and the directors left the 29th floor of 1775 Broadway, they met in the street newsboys selling the evening edition-with the result of their meeting! General Aviation completed the current contracts for fifteen two-engined reconnaissance-bombers for the Air Corps and five GA-15 twin-engined flying boats for the Coast Guard, which was done at a loss; with that, the construction of Fokker aeroplanes in America came to a halt. Perhaps one of the causes of the breach was that America, with Ford all-metal aircraft and steel Pullman trains, was metal-minded and considered Fokker's use of composite materials an anachronism. When his views were

users of Fokkers, not the makers. But, either way it was detrimental to Fokker's trade. Since the Department of Commerce announced its decision to ground the threeengined Fokkers on May 5th, five weeks after the accident, a fantastic suggestion gained som credence-that the grounding was a deliberate retaliation for Fokker's, attack in his autobiography just then published, on America's public hero, the polar explorer Admiral Byrd. Fokker having read Byrd's own account of his transatlantic flight and then heard a rather different version from someone else, was moved to present' the truth'; conveniently forgetting that some details of his life in his autobiography were a travesty! Byrd was represented as having panicked-rather in the same way that Byrd suggested Fokker did when Byrd accompanied Fokker on the test-flight of the machine which had ended in a crash. However, the ban on the Trimotors was lifted within two weeks, proving that the thirty-five wings concerned had not been considered weak. The only recommendation issued, concerned the balancing ofthe ailerons by counter-weighting, possibly to justify the condemnation and because weighted, balanced ailerons were quite new. Actually, the wing had undoubtedly broken, and the splintered remains were evidence; this ruined the reputation of the composite Fokkerconstruction, but the fact that even the best cars will overturn if a bend is taken too fast was not considered. That Fokker plywood-covered wings were weak seeped into the minds of airline executives and they replaced their aircraft by others. In fact, the workmanship of the Wheeling plant operatives was suspect, but Dutch-built wings and those produced by the Teterboro plant were considered sound. Nevertheless, irrespective of origin, T.W.A. burnt several of their F.lO's at their Kansas City base, having removed engines and equipment. How completely unfounded was this mistrust, was proved by the brilliant record of the Fokkers on K.L.M.'s Holland to Java route, then the longest air route in the world. And five years later, on November 12th 1935, the U.S. Air Corps gave a written testimonial for the fifty-five Fokkers of ten different types supplied to the Corps 1923-1932 that the wooden wings had been as satisfactory as could be expected. Irrespective of the Fokker crash and the Byrd clash, a rupture between General Motors 76

sounded out on this he declared that he was not opposed to using metals but that it presented difficulties by complications in preparation and machining. Since his aircraft were being constantly improved, involving alterations, metal was not sufficiently adaptable and also much more expensive to work. Nevertheless, he did once advise General Aviation to take over the Pittsburgh Metal Aircraft Corporation with their technical manager H. V. Thaden and concentrate on all-metal production at Hasbrouck Heights. He also made announcements to the Press that his design projects envisaged a series of military and transport aircraft years in advance of their time. That Fokker, who had grown up with the composite construction methods and owed his success to it, would not easily change, is understandable. Especially since the applications of Bakelite, plastics and new, effective gluecompounds were offering great possibilities with wood. (As was later demonstrated during the 1939-1945 War in such excellent aircraft as the De Havilland Mosquito.) But fashion demanded metal construction for passenger-carrying aircraft-rather too soon for Fokker's interests. TI1e split between General Motors and Fokker should not be ascribed primarily to friction between Fokker and General Motors, but to the position of the market which forced manufacturers to sell at less than cost-price. General Motors had entered into aircraft construction during the boom years of 1928-1929, when aviation promised well for the future, but the Wall Street collapse of the early thirties had its repercussions in aviation. To keep things moving drastic price reductions were announced in April 1930; a year earlier the Ford Motor Company had considerably reduced the prices of their already low priced all-metal Trimotors. Ford then dropped $7,000 on their Trimotor 4.AT (twelve passengers) to $42,000. Their 5.AT (fourteen passengers) was quoted $10,000 lower and cost $55,000 and their 6.AT (fourteen passengers), after a reduction of $8,000, fell to $50,000. Although at this time production of the three factories at Hasbrouck Heights, Passaic and Glendale was curtailed, considerable unsold stocks were held, left over from the years of prosperity when in their optimism they had introduced large-scale construction. In May 1930 therefore, the American papers carried advertisements of Fokker

aeroplanes such as the Standard Universal, the Super Universal, the F-14A Mailplane, the F-10A Trimotor, the F-lJA Amphibian, and even the large four-motor F-32, offered at bargain prices: Aircraft Type

Capacity

1929 Price

Standard Universal 7 seats Super Universal 7 seats EI4A Mailplane 9 seats E II A Flyingboat 8 seats EllA Amphibian 8 seats F-IOA Trimotor 14 seats F-32 Fourmotor 32 seats

1930 Price 11,000 17,500 22,500 32,500 33,775 ·54,500 110,000

Payment could be made on the attractive General Motors instalment plan system! Ford started building aircraft after Fokker appeared on the American market and stopped building them when Fokker did, after being forced to sell Trimotors at less than cost price. While this giant of the motor trade failed to build up a permanent business in aircraft construction, the other giant, General Motors, failed to maintain themselves in the field. The latter, at Dundalk nr. Baltimore, under the ·technical direction firstly of the specialist in metal construction, H. V. Thaden, and later under Colonel V. E. Clark, made vain efforts to regain the old Fokker markets with the all-metal Clark GA-43 and a twin-engined version the GA-38, before they too, deserted aircraft building. They went into liquidation at the end of 1934 and moved with their new chief, James H. Kindelberger, late of the Douglas Corporation, to California. General Aviation became the Manufacturing Division of North American Aviation, which acquired the assets still as a holding company. In 1935 North American became a working company and is now one of the largest aircraft factories in the world. Years later, many old Fokker employees were still being employed by North American. It is evident that Fokker did not realise soon enough that composite construction was going out and that the future was in the all-metal aeroplane. It is also certain that Fokker's career in America would have taken a totally different course, had he remained a free agent and not been hamstrung in an alliance with the automobile tycoons.

The Pjol/tying-boat, developed /rom the original B.! V design, was supplied to the U.S. Coast Guardfor patro! and rescue duties. Note the integra! beaching gear.

77

Fokker and K.L.M.

CHAPTER EIGHT After Fokker's retirement from the post of Director of Engineering wilh Ihe General A viat ion Corporalion ill July 1931, Ihis compally cOlltillued ill business for ollly three more years. Dne of Iheir trallsporl designs was this GA-43.

The Flying Dutchman, a foreigner to the Americans, was little more than a pawn to the automobile giants. He was tossed aside. Weeks of tension, following the crash enquiry, the constant quarrel with the General Motors executives, and the reaction of his regained freedom, left their mark. His judgment was impaired and he failed to takea realistic view of his po ition when he held a Press conference on his yacht Helga on the afternoon of the parting. With typical optimism he spoke of a scheme for the formation of an International Fokker Company, for the time being only a holding company in which hi various world interests in the field of aircraft construction would be concentrated. But, having slept awhile, his new situation dawned upon him. Despite the large amount of cash in hand, his regained liberty, the retention of his patents, and also the fact that he kept his place on the Board of Directors with 20 per cent. of the shares, he no longer had a factory or company in the United States. He did not even have a workman or a work-bench, and therefore if he wanted to persevere in that country, he would have to rebuild again. Seeing the circumstances of 1931 unfavourable to him from whatever angle he looked, there was no question of a fresh start. A few years later, with the appearance of the sensational Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed transports, this was endorsed. Fokker had missed the boat. It cannot be said that Fokker always conducted his business with elegance or tact, but he was always ready to

acknowledge the merits of his competitIOn. Fokker's ingenuity and passion for work made a great impression on Henry Ford during the Reliability Tour and one American newspaper reported Ford as saying of Fokker: ' I wish you were my son, and that you would stay in America for good.' If Ford was thinking in terms of business relations, then he would have been mistaken, since a combinatioR of these two differing characters would have had as little result as the Junkers-Fokker combination. Fokker, too, appreciated Ford. He wrote: 'It has always been thought that I wa very much set against Ford imitating my three-engined airliners. That he did copy this 'plane in metal, was a help to me. In aviation the main aim is not to fight one's competitors, but united co-operation for the benefit of the indu try as a whole. The Fords have, as far as I know, up till now never made any profit in the aviation industry. If I have helped them, then on the other hand their interest for aviation has helped and benefited me.' It had not been all work and no play in America. ext to aircraft Fokker loved boats and his transatlantic crossings allowed him to indulge his interests. He sailed the Atlantic at least once in every large liner and it would not be Fokker if he had not inspected the Queen Mary from stem to stern and discussed the ship with the captain, Sir Edgar Britten, in his cabin. On occasions his motor-vessel Helga, flying the Dutch flag, would meet on the Hudson. This vessel, with comfortable apartments, also served as a residence.

General Avialioll were 110 more successful wilh Iheir military designs Ihan with their civil ones. An example of the former is seell in Ihis photograph of the only XFA-I built. It was intended for the U.S. Navy and appeared in 1932.

78

In June 1930 Ihe . Soulhem Cross,' a Fokker F. VllB-3M, completed an easlto-west crossing of the Allanlic, one of the mallY great flights made by this famous aircraft. The crew members on tltis occasion (seen with Allthony Fokker, celllre) were, left to right .. Stannage, KingsfordSmith, Van Dyk, and Saul.

Van Lear Black, Loewen tein, Bata, Kidston, Mittelholzer and others were the pioneers who spread the fame of the Fokker Trimotor as a touring and business aircraft. Kingsford-Smith and Ulm; Maitland and Hegenberger; Byrd, Bennett and Balchen; Stultz and other great airmen established its fame by their historic flights over continents and oceans. But, first and foremost, the three-engined Fokker was an airliner and as such it has a place in the history of civil aviation. The fast return flight in October 1927 of the F. VTIA-3M Poslduif (Carrier Pigeon) to the East Indies initiated by the Dutch military pilot, Lieutenant G. Koppen, who was accompanied by G. Frijns of K. L.M. as co-pilot and Fokker's chief fitter, S. Elleman, clearly indicated the promises this aeroplane held for the transportation of passengers and mail. Ten days from Amsterdam to Batavia and back again in twelve was a remarkable achievement for that time. The two pioneering flights in 1927 to the East Indies, the one by K.L.M. for Van Lear Black and the other by Koppen's Poslduif, stimulated K.L.M. to attempt two return mail-flights in the latter part of 1928 with a three-engined Fokker, preceded in September and October by the delivery flights to the East Indies of four F. VIla-3M Fokkers, destined for the Koninklyke Nederlanes Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij (K.N.T.L.M.), the Royal Dutch Indies Air Line. K.L.M. knew well the art of financing such pioneering flights, wholly or for the major part out of the profits of transporting mail, which attracted philatelists. The first mail-flight was made in October 1928 and the aircraft returned in mid- ovember. However, objections were raised from British taging posts against proving flight during the monsoon period, and a nine months lapse followed. ext year, a further series of flights preceded a regular fortnightly service. In May 1931 the first return test-mail flight from Batavia to Melbourne and Canberra

was made with a F.VIla-3M, Abel Tasman of K.N.I.L.M., piloted by Captains Pattist and Moll. Steadily the service to Java from Europe developed and a once weekly service was maintained with the Fokker F.XVIIl until June 1935 when American Douglas D.C.2 aeroplanes operated a twieeweekly service. In many other countries the F. VIla-3M pioneered. Pan American started its activities in October 1927 with a three-engined Fokker between Key West in Florida and Havana in Cuba, which were also the first regular commercial flights abroad ever undertaken by an American company. SABENA, the Belgian Air Line, chose the same type of Fokker for its service to the Congo; the Swiss flew them and they were also supplied in numbers to Spain, Poland, Italy, Czecho-Slovakia and Hungary. The British flew them, too, and built them under licence. One Lynxengined F.VIlA-3M was ordered by the British Air Ministry for testing at Farnborough. When the aircraft arrived over Martlesham Heath, where it was to be delivered, the playful Bertus Grase roared low over the aerodrome at top speed, causing everyone to run outside. Grase enjoying himself, turned to Stephan and asked permission to loop. Stephan nodded in assent. The almost empty plane looped impressively-quite an achievement for a tri-motored aircraft. But, it was not quite empty. * After looping the pilot suddenly remembered that itting in the back of the cabin was an Armstrong Sidde ley works mechanic, flying back home! He looked omewhat green, but fortunately the three successive loopings had been executed so perfectly that he had not fallen from the top of each loop on to the ceiling and then back again into his chair-or next to it! The R.A.F. applauded the feat warmly, but the Command• As the Air Ministry intended to install testing apparatus in the cabin, it had stipulated that the normal cabin chairs, though belonging to the delivery, should not be fitted and thus no safety belts were available! 79

An Avro-ten purchased for the Royal Air Force was intended for test purposes primarily and one of these involved the fitting of a Monospar wing to the aircraft. Note the altered tip shape.

The greatest triumph Fokker lived to see, was that eventually the French too bought his aeroplanes. Even the French! France, Marianne-herself, the cradle of Aviation, was finally convinced of the superiority of the Fokker airliners. It was CIDNA, the Compagnie Franco-Roumaine, flying from Paris to the Balkans, that first sought governmental approval to use Dutch material in 1924, but the mere question of using foreign material was then considered heresy. The Parisian weekly Les Ailes had at that time posed a pertinent question, asking why French airlines were always losing money, yet the Dutch K.L.M., which did not receive a third of the amounts French companies received in government subsidies, could show a profit. However, some years later CIDNA obtained permission to order a number of F.VIlA's and F.VIlB-3M'S and when put into service they surpassed all expectations. France was beginning to realise that she no longer led the world in aviation. In the early 'thirties, Fokker aircraft predominated on the European air routes and were well represented in other spheres. Of 596 land planes in services on the various European airways in 1933, no fewer than 172 were Fokkers; the remaining 424 were made up of thirty-two different makes. Second in importance came Junkers with 114 machines and third the French Latecoeres with eighty-one machines. But, whereas seventy of the 114 Junkers were used in Germany and all eighty-one French machines were in the service of a French company Lignes Aeriennes Latecoere, only forty of

ing Officer told off the pilot in no uncertain manner about this breach of regulations-low flying aerobatics. This aircraft in silver finish, with R.A.F. roundels, bore the serial J7986. British licence to build the Fokker F. VIla-3M was acquired by A. V. Roe & Company Limited for sale in the British Empire, excluding Canada which came in Fokker's American sphere. The first models built, Avro Type 618, were known as the Avro Tens, by virtue of their ten seatseight passenger and two crew. G-AADM, the British prototype, went to Australia as VH-UMF 'Southern Cloud ,* flagship of the Australian National Airways fleet which operated six other Avro Tens. Two others went to Imperial Airways and two served in the Royal Egyptian Air Force as F.200 and F.20J. A scaled-down version for a pilot and four passengers, designed by Roy Chadwick, was known as the Avro Five and a further version of intermediate size, the Avro Six. A development of the Avro Fokkers was the Avro Eighteen, an eighteen-seater, high-wing, twin-engined transport. It is perhaps not generally realised that the ultimate development of the series in a low-wing monoplane configuration, resulted in the Avro ' Anson,' of which no less tha:l 11,020 were built. * The' Southern Cloud' disapp<:ared with its crew and six passengers on March 21st, 1931 on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne. The wreckage was discovered 28 years later in the Snowy Mountains, east of Albury.

the 172 Fokkers were held by Dutl.:h companies; 132 Fokkers were held by sixteen foreign enterprises all over the world. Of seventeen European countries operating landplanes, thirteen used Fokkers. Fokker's world success during the early 'thirties was largely due to simplicity in construction, using a basic formula of steel-tube, wood and fabric. rngredients unchanged in a quarter of a century of Fokker's productivity, that facilitated ease of production, and enabled alterations to be made in the development stages with the minimum of expense. This simple formula was not restricted to small aircraft which at times were required at short notice, but applied also to such machines of impressive size as the F.IV and the American F.32. Draughting work was thus reduced to a minimum, few jigs or special tools were required and little turning or milling was involved since standard tube sizes could be used; and the timber required was readily available. This all added up to economical construction, which was doubly important when a variety of types was offered in small quantities. These simple, yet strong, constructional methods also meant low repair and maintenance expenses. If a steel tube or a part of the fuselage was damaged, it was a simple matter to saw out the damaged members, and replace them by welding in new tubing. Any metal worker who had mastered welding techniques, together with a carpenter who knew his trade, could, under supervision, repair a Fokker. These factors were of great importance at a time when commercial aviation was trying to stand on its own feet. The same advantages applied to Fokker's military aircraft of the early days. The construction of their welded steel airframes was so simple, that various kind of engines would be readily adapted to a Fokker fighter or reconnaissance plane, which assured him of a world-wide market and a great number of licencees. By 1932 no less than seventeen firms or national establishments had obtained licence to build Fokker aircraft, a world record, that in the present state of the world and the aeronautical industry, is likely to remain. Nor is it likely that sensational record flights will ever again capture the headlines as did the three-engined Fokkers in the years 1925-1930 when they spanned oceans and flew over the inaccessible land tracts, even the remote North Pole. Such flights no longer have any significance. Before the F.VIlB-3M reached its final developm~nt, the

The crew of the F.XVIII 'Pelikaan.' Left to right, Smirnojf, Soer, Crosfeld, Beukering.

first Fokker F.VIIl appeared in 1927, powered by two 425 h.p. Bristol Jupiter-engines, with seating for fifteen passengers. K.L.M. put eight of these into service and they were also flown by an Hungarian airline. In Britain, Geoffrey Dorman wrote enthusiastically: ' The cabin is the finest thing of its kind yet seen. The effect is that of being in a comfortable room rather than being made to sit in a corrid0r, which is the effect in most machines. Comfortable and roomy armchairs rather like the old Alhambra stalls are fitted, and the whole effect is one of Dutch roominess and solidity which cannot fail to inspire its occupants with a feeling of safety.' K.L.M. over the course of years favoured the F.VIlI and when the licence-built Gnome-RhOne Jupiters became outdated, the airframes were in such good condition that they were given a new lease of life with the latest type of American engines; first with two Pratt & Whitney Hornets, then with Wright Cyclones, and later with Pratt & Whitney Wasps. The shape of the enginenacelles was altered in consequence, and the F.VIlI was the first K.L.M. aircraft to be fitted with a Townend-ring and later the N.A.C.A. cap. A more radical alteration on the F.VIII PH-AEH (later PH-OTO), was integrating Wright Cyclones into the wings at the Fokker works, as a study project for the planned four-engined machines. This F.VIlI was destroyed by the German bombs on

Wooden wings. Some interesting constructional features are illustrated in this view of Fokker wings being covered. Note the centre section panels and leading-edge covering of plywood, also the wire forming the trailing edge.

Metal fuselages. A view ofthe interior of the factory at Amsterdam, probably about 1925. Steel tubed fuselages of two-seater C. I V types are under construction by the usual Fokker welding process.

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The FYllltype was the firsttwin-engined airliner, designed by Fokkers. 11 entered service in 1927 and carried fifteen passengers «nd two pilots.

This 1930 design, the F.XII, was a further improvement of the F. VllB-3M. It was IIsed by K.L.M. and A.B. Aerotransport. The wheel 'spats' were later omil/ed.

ordered by them as a freight-carrier, due to the trade depression that developed in the early 'thirties. The Fokker works then rebuilt the aircraft for passenger-carrying, but as mentioned, it did not prove successful. There were in that period also, design projects F.XVA and F.xVB for aircraft to operate on the East Indies route, but later these were considered too large. There were also advance-designs for a fast single-engined mail-plane or small passenger liner, the types F.XVIIA, F.XVIlB and F.XYIIc as well as the F.xIX a small four-engined machine powered by Titans. During 1932 when the last F.XIl's were brought into service, the first F.XVIII was delivered. This new type followed the proven construction principles of the first Fokker airliners, i.e. the FJI's built of steel tube, wood and fabric-covered. Powered with three 425 h.p. Wasp engines it has a range of 930 miles, and could develop a maximum speed of 149 miles per hour; its cruising speed was 129 miles per hour. K.L.M's five F.XVIII's incorporated all the refinements in instrumentation and equipment which fifteen years of experience in air-travel had bestowed. During 1932-1935 these five aircraft operated 17,535 flying hours for K.L.M. i.e. 3,507 flying hours per aircraft. Two achieved particular fame, the Pelikaan and the Snip. Of the Snip it was said that it had the best Fokker-wing ever made up to that time. Fokker wings were always strong, although their strength was doubted at times, even by technicians. However, those organisations operating Fokkers, testified that the wooden construction had never been a cause for complaint, and that if something did break, structural failure was never the cause. The wings of the five F.III's sold second-hand by K.L.M. to Balair in May 1926 were later thoroughly examined by the Swiss Air Board. They proved to be as good as new and there was no evidence of loosening of glued

Waalhaven airfield during the 1940 invasion of Holland. The F.YIlI was not used on the Amsterdam-Batavia service and its successor, the Fokker F.IX, only experimentally. With its 89 foot span, the FIX was a strikingly large machine and accommodated twenty passengers and two crew. Three 500 h.p. Gnome-Rhone Jupiter engines were standard at first; three Pratt and Whitney Hornets were later used and also a combination of two 650 h.p. Hornets outboard, with a central 690 h.p. Wright Cyclone. Flight in May 1930 expressed their opinion in glowing terms: 'The arrival of the Fokker FIX aroused great interest and admiration-she really is an amazing piece of aero-engineering and an example of Dutch thoroughness and ingenuity.' At the Paris Aviation Salon it won the Grand Prix de comfort et d'elegance d'avions de transport offered by the French papers L'Air and I'Auto. K.L.M., however, put only two of them into service. For their Far Eastern service, K.L.M. operated the Fokker F.XII which had appeared in 1931. K.L.M. had nine of these three-engined aircraft, powered by 425 h.p. and later 500 h.p. Wasps, max. speed, 151 m.p.h. Theycarried seventeen passengers. The F.XII Ekster operating on the Amsterdam-Malmo run.,. was the first K.L.M. Fokker to have a built-in kitchen. Because of considerations of weight, and possibly for economy, a full-time steward was not employed; this duty of serving refreshments fell to the mechanic-after washing greasy hands-but on the Java run the mechanic served food prepared before flight and carried in baskets. Other types were not so successful, such as the FXIV and the three-engined version, the F.XIV-3M represented by PH-AEW Watersnip. K.L.M. lost interest in the F.XIV

Only two F./X's were constructed in HoIland. This 1928 replacement for the F. VIIB-3M was, however, licence-built in Czechoslovakia.

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tide flight arose from the fact that the shipping companies Stoomvaart Maatschappy Nederland and the Rotterdamse Lloyd were jealous of K.L.M's mail-contracts with the Dutch Government. The man who had taken the initiative was the Flight Lieutnant Dick Asjes. He advocated the principle that mail transport was best served by using special fast aircraft, solely for transportation of letters. For this purpose the Pander works had built the' Postjager', a special mailplane powered by three 420 h.p. Whirlwind engines with which a 195 m.p.h. cruising speed was obtained. The hipping companies were the financial backing behind this scheme. K.L.M. naturally wishing to retain their mail contracts set out to prove that normal passenger-carrying aircraft could ensure mail deliveries as fast and at a lower cost. To present their case the new Fokker F.XX, ZilvermeeulV, was selected. There was a great quantity of Christmas mail, all destined for Java, and therefore certain passenger stages were cut out. It was left to the pilot's discretion to route the journey in the fastest time. Unfortunately, on the morning of departure, a serious defect was found in the centre Cyclone engine. Plesman at once gave instructions to transfer the mail to the F.XVIII Pelikaan, due to leave Amsterdam three days later on the normal weekly service. The crew, under Ivan Smirnoff, the Russian Air Ace of the 1914-1918 War, were naturally disappointed to be relegated to an aircraft 30 m.p.h. slower. But they did it; the F.XVIIl saved the day for K.L.M. and flew to Java and back in record time, making an amazing return to Schiphol through low clouds and fog which that evening, two days before the end of 1933, lay

joints; finally, when one was tested to destruction, the wood broke-but not at a joint. After thirteen years' experience in operating Fokkers, Guilonard, chief of K. L.M. technical services, stated that even with continuous service on the Far East route, not the slightest difficulty had been experienced with Fokker wooden wings. He considered their useful life unlimited. 111at the Snip had a particularly strong yet light wing, was due to progress in wood-working technique. The Fokker works applied a new process, using a Bakelite plywood combination, consisting of three layers of only 0'8 mm. thickness glued together. First, as a trial, the part of the wing behind the rear main-span was covered with it. Then, later, the whole wing. The Dutch Aeronautical Research Establishment had displayed considerable interest in Fokker wing construction, and had done much to achieve a practical assessment of its safety factor. Since the days of the early Fokker types F.Il and F.IlT speeds and weights, and con equently stresses, had considerably increased; yet the construction of the wings had remained basically the same. However, the scientists of the Establishment confirmed that the safety factor of the wings was greater than the factory were led to believe by their own tests. There was still a considerable margin of safety that would allow a much increased all-up-weight without any modification to normal wing-constructional methods. With the F- VIII Pelikaan an unprecedented fast return mail-flight was made in December 1933 from Amsterdam to Batavia, 8,915 miles distant. The inducement for that Yule-

A 1929 al/ell/pt to inreresr rhe airlines in a freight carrying aircraft failed and the sole example of the F.XI V design was com'erted inro a three-engined rype.

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Dutch Doldrums

CHAPTER NINE

Plesman, like Fokker, was a genius-and afflicted with the habits and peculiarities of a genius. As the builder of a great commercial enterprise, it was expected that he would be a businessman, but he held idealist views far removed from business. Aviation to him was a high calling, its servants a fraternity with idealistic principles. He considered that while commercial use of aircraft produced losses, as indeed it often did, the industry should bear a share of those losses -a view hardly compatible with Fokker's outlook! Perhaps the most convincing proof that the great Plesman was an idealist, is the fact that although he received a very modest salary for directing K. L.M., he made no attempt to have his salary raised. He was content to receive sufficient for his needs, and to raise his own standard at the expense of K.L.M. was to him, unthinkable. Being an idealist, he thought it just that others should be forced to make similar sacrifices in the interests of aviation. Thus, in a letter of December 30th, 1920, to the Fokker works, he blithely asked them to take back two F.Il's bought earlier in the year, at the same price that K. L.M. had paid for them! He gave as his reason the fact that K.L.M. wished to purchase the later F.III's and that it was in Fokker's interest from the publicity angle, that K. L.M. showed off to the world the latest and best that Fokker could offer. True it was, that K.LM.'s display of Fokkers was a form of advertisement, but the analogy of a customer taking back a pair of worn shoes in order that he might purchase a new and better pair, rather stuck in Fokker's throat. PIes man's 'reasoning' was not appreciated, his proposal was rejected, and K.L.M. was obliged to retain the F.lI's until 1927, when they went to S.A.B.E.N.A. Throughout the years, PJesman's constant aim was to obtain aircraft at the lowest possible price-or rather airframes, for K. L.M. bought engines, propellers, instruments and certain components separately, and also arranged for cabin outfitting. The clipped prices that K.L.M. tried to impose were a constant source of bickering between the producer and his main customer and rarely, if ever, was the final transaction to the mutual satisfaction of both parties, as Fokker once told the press. Another source of friction which manifested itself in an increasing measure in the early thirties was that Plesman constantly requested alterations to be incorporated in an already submitted new design. Which sometimes led to an entirely new design. Further: apart from the fact that he endeavoured to secure his aircraft at the lowest possible price, he also wanted to have them delivered in the shortest possible time! Exasperated, the Fokker management in September 1934 wrote to van Doorninck, the Government liaison officer, that well as the firm understood the rapid strides being made in the development of aircraft, leading to desirable modifications, no manufacturer could achieve favourable production with low prices if they could not with some certainty plan a production programme. In the end, price fluctuations, modifications, and production dates, no longer had any influence on the final result -the delivery-because there were no more deliveries. After 1933 this brought about, for several years, the farce of only submitting designs.

A 1932 developmelll of the F. VIJ series, Ihe F.XV1JJ was among Ihe more famous of the later Fokker types operated by KL.M. of Ihefive built, two, the , Pelikaan' and the , Snip' made record long distance flights to Batavia and the Caribbean respectively.

over the airfield of the capital. It could almost be said to be a day of national tension, with forty minutes of extreme tension when the Pelikaan repeatedly flew round, but dare not venture too low in the fog. Some 20,000 people who thronged Schiphol s11ared the tension with hundreds of thousands at home sitting by their radios. At the aerodrome itself, silence had been requested in order not to disturb wireless reception, while the Pe/ikaan hovered above, the crew seeking a clear spot in the fog. At last the pilot observed a transient clear patch and came in. To the intense surprise of the spectators, who had become used to the drone of the engines, it suddenly loomed from the fog a few feet above the ground and then rolled to a safe landing. K.L.M. had proved their point in spectacular style. The unfortunate Posljager later burnt out at Allahabad, during the 1934 England-Australia Air Race. Exactly twelve months after Pe!ikaan's epic flight, J. Hondong and J. van Balkom, as first and second pilot respectively, made an historic ocean flight from Amsterdam

to Curar;ao, via Casablanca, Porto Praia and Paramaribo with Sl7ljJ, extending K.L.M's interests into the Carribean. Snip remained in the West and was joined in July 1935 by the F.XYfll Oehoe, transported by boat. When the Oehoe first arri ved in Curar;ao, some of the local people were hesitant to fly in it; for Oehoe, the owl, was an omen of bad tidings, UQt a symbol of wisdom, to the local people. When Oehoe ignominiously stood on its nose, although nobody was hurt, it endorsed the local view! For that reason, Oehoe was changed to Orio! and after that this bird became as popular as the faithful Snip. The F.XX introduced new constructional methods using a patented system of pyramidical girder framework. It was the first Fokker transport with retractable undercarriage, the wheels being housed, when -etracted, under the two engine nacelles. Only one F.XX, PH-AIZ, was built, and then production of airliners lapsed and orders for military aircraft comprised the main output until after the war.

The F.XX was the most streamlined aircraft thaT Fokkers had produced up to 1933. ITS circular-secTional fuselage, retractable undercarriage and three X 640 h.p. Wright' Cyclone' engines, gave promise of a successful operational life. However, the all-metal era le/Tnofurther chance/or The Fokker concepTion; only one was builT.

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Dr. Alberl Plesman, the founder of KL.M. purchasers 0/ so many Fokker airliners. He waged a constant campaign for improved aircraft.

Anthony Fokker, who for nearly twenty-five years continually evolved new aircraft designs, disappeared completely from the sphere of aeronautics in the mid-'thirties. This was hardly by choice; it was forced by circumstances, and the reason lies mainly in the relationship between Fokker and Plesman of K.L.M. From the beginning of Dutch civil aviation Fokker and K.L.M., the two great powers of Dutch aviation, had mutual interests. While K.LM. reaped the benefit of easily maii1tained, economically-run and safe Fokker aircraft, the spreading wings of K.L.M. on their airline networks pubLicised in a most practical and convincing way, the excellence of the Dutch product. At the head of their respective concerns, Fokker and Plesman were compelled to meet. TI1ey met officially and semi-officially, but rarely socially. Often they discussed business on the grass of the Schiphol airfield. Plesman, ' de PIes' to his friends, in his characteristic pose-thumbs in waistcoat armholes, would stride about vigorously, causing Fokker, the shorter of the two, to quicken pace. But Fokker's own boundless energy was evident from the way he switched the grass with his walking stick. Both gave the impression of power and, indeed, in these talks were laid the foundation of Dutch aviation. Their views were rarely in complete harmony and their opinions diverged over the years almost in direct opposition.

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PH-AlA, the only F. XXX VI built, was a 32 seat airliner of 1934 and was used only on European routes. During the 1939-1945 war it was used by the R.A.F. as a fiying classroom.

As tllle number of applications for passage on the East Indies route increased to such an extent that out of every ten applications six had to be refused, PIes man favoured a completely new design: a four-engined aircraft to replace the F.XVIII. This was first discussed with Fokker on June 6th, 1932, and on the following Septem ber 29th, in a letter to the Fokker works, a production order of a pos ible six was mentioned. TIus design, originally known as the type F.Y., was the F.XXXVI which, it was envisaged, could transport thirty-two passengers on European routes and would have sleeping accommodation for sixteen on the East Indies run. For the latter route, Plesman particularly favoured a large machine as the hipping companies, ederland and Rotterdamse Lloyd, were jointly studying the possibility of an airship service to the East Indie . He hoped to better this by having an aircraft flying at 155 m.p.h. through the night with its sixteen passengers compared to about ixty-two m.p.h. of an airship such as the LZ.127 Gra! Zeppelin. In ovember 1932, a mock-up of the F.XXXVI fuselage wa built, and in 1933 construction began in earnest. On June 22nd, 1934, the F.XXXVI registered PH-AJA and named Arend was -test-flown by Meinecke at Schiphol. The F.xXXVI was then the largest airliner built in the Netherlands and the first aeroplane there to be fitted out for four crew members; two pilots, a navigator and a steward. It was to prove that a new design of tllis size entailed problems and expenses which, without cost-sharing by interested

partie, or a Government subsidy, was too great for the manufacturer alone to bear. The machine went through a lengthy and difficult nine-month testing period and it was not taken over by K.L.M. until mid-March 1935. In late September 1934 during tests, a demonstration fught was made with Arend to London by a small Fokker team. It was flown in turn by Fokker, Meinecke and the K.L.M. pilot Sillevis. Among the passengers given flights in it at Croydon were many distinguished pilots, sucll as Jim Mollison, Amy Johnson, Air Commodore H. G. Brackley of Imperial Airways with whom Fokker dined in London, and others. One member of the Fokker team, strolling around the airport, was accosted by an agent for one of the small firms offering two-guinea joy-rides. But he was deaf to the explanations of the wonders and thrill of flying; in point of fact the agent was rather wasting his time with Meineckechief test pilot of the Fokker work ! The giant F.XXXVI, ymbolic of the fame of Fokker aircraft, marked the end of an era. An American aircraft of advanced design, twin-engined all-metal, stream-lined, retractable undercarriage, brake flaps, and variable-pitch air crews, was to have marked effect on Dutch aviation and on Fokker in particular. It had first taken the air at Santa Monica in 1933 a the Douglas DC.l and went into production as the DC.2. Later a further development, the DC.3 evolved-this was the Dakota. PIes man, with his ear to the ground as usual, could not fail to hear of it. He

This photograph, taken at Schiphol in 1936, shows Meinecke, a German testpilot employed by Fokkers at that time, seated in (or should it be, on?) the replica of Anthony's third model 'Spider.' Compare this illustration with those on page 18.

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his own firm's design, would involve almost complete retooling before production could commence and in that too much time-and money-would be consumed. He then made a bold decision, and bid for the construction and sale rights of the Douglas; rather as Douglas, many years later, did, when they acquired con truction rights for the French Caravelle. On October 27th, 1933, Fokker had cabled to Douglas, Santa Monica, to obtain construction rights for the Douglas transport, twelve days before Piesman sent his cable. The day that Douglas received Plesman's wire, they were cabling provisional approval to Fokker. Five days after Fokker had acquainted Plesman of his new role of agent, they again met. Plesman told Fokker that K.L.M. wished to acquire one Dougla experimentally and requested Fokker to arrange the purchase. Accompanied by

became more than interested-Ile became so impressed tllat his interest in the latest Fokker waned, as he contemplated the possibilities of small, twin-engined aircraft running a biweekly service to the Far East. On November 8th 1933, he wired the Douglas Company at Santa Monica, to enquire if K.L.M. might acquire licence to construct DC.2s. Although K.L.M. has no facilities for building themselves, he had in mind the Maatschappij voor Vliegtuigbouw Aviolanda at Papendrecht, which having formerly built all-metal Dornier flying boats, might well be suitable, and possibly the Fokker works at Am terdam could also take part in the work. Two weeks later, on November 23rd, before he had received an answer to his cable, and the following letter, Fokker gave him the surprise of his life. Dropping in on Plesman's office, he announced, with an ill-concealed smirk,

Some idea of the size of the Fokker airliners of the midthirties (the F.XX11's and the F.XXXV1) may be had from this illustration of the uncol'ered wing of the laller type whilst under construction. The span was 108 feet and the wing area 1,851 square feet. The extreme thickness of such a cantilever wing in the region of the centre-section is clearly seen.

one of his technicians, G. Bender, Fokker left the next day for Cherbourg via Paris to board the Bremen. During the voyage the two studied the blue print of the new transport, which had been sent confidentially to the Fokker factory. On December 4th they arrived in New York. Not wi hing to commit himself until he was absolutely convinced, Fokker visited Curtiss-Wright and flew the Condor, and paid visits to General Aviation, Lockheed and orthrop. On January 15th, 1934, having been convinced of the merits of the Douglas, the contract was signed by which Fokker gained rights to produce and sell the DC.2 in the European sphere. It was a deal to their mutual sati faction. Even a British firm was interested in obtaining DC.2and Fokker-manufacturing rights. This was the Airspeed Company at Portsmouth. The firm negotiated direct with Fokker himself and agreement on Douglas DC.2 and certain Fokker type manufacturing rights was reached in January 1935. Thus, whereas the well-known Oxford, of which 8,751 were built, was the Airspeed Type A-S.IO; the Types

that he had become an agent for Douglas and had an option for the construction in the Netherlands of the aircraft. Plesman was speechless. Fokker had beaten him to it-but how on earth had Fokker got wind of his ' secret love' for the epoch-making American aircraft? It was Plesman himself who had prompted him to take action! Apparently, the idea of applying for Douglas rights had been in Plesman's mind for some time. It happened that an old friend of Fokker's, an old employee in fact, had met Plesman and talked over a drink. Later, the man met Fokker for lunch and in conversation casually mentioned that he had bumped into Plesman who had di cussed with him the possibilities of having the Douglas prod uct built by Aviolanda and possibly in Fokker's own work. Fokker paled, even the food was forgotten! He thought of his ventures, the F.XXII and F.xXXVI, and his plans for large-scale production, vanishing. His losses would be enormous. He left the table prematurely. His quick mind made an appreciation of the situation. To compete with a similar all-metal aircraft of 87

K.L.M. purchased fourteen DC-2's through Fokker who held the Douglas agency for Europe. This aircraft, PHAJU wonfarne when finishing second in the 1934 MacRobertson, EnglandAustralia air race.

A-S.15 to A-S.22 were allotted respectively to Fokker types F.XXn, D.XVII, D.XVIl development, D.XIX, F.XXXVI, D.XX, and C.X floatplane. A-S.23 was allotted to the DC.2. At the same time as this agreement was reached, the services of Fokker were obtained as technical adviser. The director of the British firm found Fokker a strange colleague. They could rarely get hold of hjm by arrangement, for he would flit from place to place, leaving even hi efficient secretary bewildered as to h.is whereabouts. Then, quite suddenly, he would turn up; perhaps inviting his colleagues to lunch at a restaurant, even though afternoon tea was being served! While his associates ate, Fokker would talk business and sip milk, but eat nothing himself. Business was conducted in London, Am terdam, in Fokker's mansion at St. Moritz, and in Newcastle. The last-named place had particular significance in a grandiose Fokker scheme. The Airspeed Company was then backed by the great ship-building firm of Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., and a scheme was mooted, with Fokker's advice, for building giant flying boats in the depressed ship-building areas in the region of Newcastle. But such were the varying techniques in boat and aircraft building, that the initial outlay would have been enormous. The scheme in any case, was killed in another way. With rearmament, the shipyards received large Admiralty orders for ships and the flying boat scheme lapsed. Re-armament had an adverse effect on the relationship with the Dutch firm. Airspeed's had an initial order for 136 (L4534-4669) Oxfords from the Air Ministry and hoped for further orders, but their other projects were subject to the Official Secrets Act. The A-S.15 was a day and night bomber design, the A-S.27 a special air defence project for towing barrage cables by Irving biplanes, the A-S.29 was a tender to meet Ajr Ministry Specification Bl/35 for a bomber, the A-S.30 was a radio-controlled gunnery target of which seven were eventually built and the A-S.31 a fighter project of twin-boom configuration with the pilot housed in a nacelle in the tailplane. Fokker was not only an alien, but history had left a pro-German stigma to the name, and there were several Germans in Fokker's employment. Consequently, Fokker had to be excluded from certain of Ajrspeed's board meetings. However, the Fokker schemes came to nought. No DC.2s or Fokker types were built in Britain. The nearest it came was negotiations with Greece for British-built Fokker D.XVII's, but this, too, fell through.

Fokker's part was restricted to advice on civil aircraft, when the outlook was decidedly for military orders. Even before the first Oxfords were coming off the lines, the Ajr Ministry asked for fifty (L9635-9660 and L9680-9703) more, with a promise of further orders. At least Fokker could console himself with his own astuteness, whereby, under the agreement he had with Airspeed, he benefited by each aircraft produced, irrespective of type. Trust Fokker for that. The discovery that his costly scheme for the giant F.XXXVI had come to nought and that Plesman, who had inaugurated it, now shunned it, was such a shock and disillusionment to Fokker that his business relations with K.L.M. deteriorated. Although in the pa t, some of his own deals had not been above reproach, there is in this case grounds for sympathy with Fokker's point of view. The F.XXXVI had been built to meet Pies man 's own req uirement. A letter from him to the chief of hjs technical service, Guilonard, dated Novem ber 7th, 1932 testifies to this, for therein Plesman writes: ' As you know, I am of the opinion that the East Indies route should, in 1934, be run with four-engined aircraft, Type F.XXXVI. It could be said that Fokker persisted too long with composite construction, but a complete change to all-metal would have been beyond the financial resources of the company unless large orders could be guaranteed, and this K.L.M. were loath to give. Their outlook was unrealistic. When PIes man once gave l1jS estimate for development costs of the Fokker F.XXII he quoted a modest sum which the company had contributed towards development, whereas the true amount was over ten times as much. For the F.XXXVI development costs ran to nearly half a million guilders. Thus Fokker was not prepared to finance a radical change in construction. His business, which until then w~s still a private company, became an open limited company in May 1937. But even when the Fokker Works were able to offer an ultra-modern American all-metal design, negotiations were protracted by a haggling over sale prices. The fir t offer was for fourteen DC.2s to be built in Holland at a basic price of Hfl. 160.000 each. But Plesman, accustomed to dictating his prices to Dutch industry, let the firm know that he refused to pay more than Hfl. 125.000 (including Hfl. 3,300 in royalties due to Junkers). This sum later rose to Hfl. 135.00. However, Plesman could not afford to playa waiting game, hoping that in time Fokker's would meet him on that 88

One of the three F.XXlltype airliners built in 1935 and flown on their European routes by K.L.M. It was a smaller version of the F.XXXVI and carried twenty-two passengers.

• I

issue. The DC.2 had received a great publjcity boost in the I934England-Australia Air Race and became even more in demand. To keep up with other airlines, K.L.M. wanted their Douglases quickly, so that they tried to negotiate with Douglas direct. The American firm refused, and the final result was that K.L.M. had to buy American built DC.2's through Fokker at tte original price, plus transportation and insurance costs. Although Fokker had paid $100,000 for the licence rights, no Douglases were in fact built in the Netherlands. K.L.M. by their purchase of fourteen Americanbuilt models, gave the lead to other interested European airlines, all of whom wanted early delivery. Thus there was not much point in starting production in the Netherlands, not only because of production delays, but because an improved, larger edition was on the drawing-boards. This new model wluch appeared in 1936, was the famous DC.3. In all Fokker sold thirty-nine DC.2s and forty-six DC.3s, most of them by that great aircraft salesman F. W. Seekatz. Great results could have been achjeved in the Netherlands if the two giants, Fokker and Plesman, had worked in unity and in the national interest. If they had jointly developed their four-engined aircraft and if capital could have been attracted for a transfer to metal construction, either privately or by government support, the Netherlands could have led the world again in transport aircraft. K.L.M. as a concern subsidised and partly owned by the state, could not easily break the ties with the national industry. Yet, its equipment was now being purchased in America; four Lockheed Super Electras were added to the Douglases. Meanwhile all that the Dutch industry could hope for was promises-and these were unfulfilled. Between 1935 and 1939 Fokker explored no less than twentytwo different designs at the instigation of K.L.M. for which no remuneration was forthcoming. Negotiations for twoengined aircraft came to a dead end in 1938. Plesman stated that he was only prepared to continue negotiations if prices were lower, to which Fokker replied that no factory would be able to accept his price level. In July 1936 Plesman had held a meeting of Government representatives and the aircraft businesses of Aviolanda, Fokker, Koolhoven and the De Schelde shipbuilding company, with the object of promoting a transatlantic aircraft. One of K.L.M.'s engineers, van Lammeren, had subnUtted a design, but Plesman was not enthusiastic and

invited anyone present with a better design, to have a talk with him. Whereupon the De Schelde representative put the pertinent question, in the minds of all-will Plesman still keep us on a string? • In May 1939, after five years of fruitless discussions, van Tijen, then manager of Fokkers, pleaded once more for some co-operation with the national industry. Plesman spoke up plainly and stated categorically that he was not prepared to buy aircraft on paper. That put an end to the farce of submitting projects for design study. Finally, the Government were forced to break the deadlock, by setting up the so-called Contact Commjttee, under the chairmanship of Dr. Ir. J. Ringers. However, at first, the comnuttee meeting went anything but smoothly. Then Fokker ]umself took a hand, hitting out in his old way. Presumably, as long as he could still sell American aircraft to Plesman, he had resigned hjmself to the fa rce of projects. But when in March 1939, DC.3 deliveries seemed to be coming to an end and K. L.M. announced interest in the DCA at the same time that a Dutch military committee prepared to go to the United States to buy aircraft, Fokker started a campaign. He protested and agitated by calling in the Press which was ready enough to champion the home industry. Fokker went further and sought an interview with the Prime Minister. Not only Fokker, but Koolhoven, who by orders from abroad had been able to considerably extend his factory at Waalhaven, lined up with Fokker. The result for the N.V. Fokker was a scheme to enable them to build four all-metal two-engined F.XXIV airliners and that the State would contribute eight hundred thousand guilders for development and four hundred thousand guilders in construction costs. As fate would have it, the contract was signed a few days after Fokker's death. rt looks as if Fokker was destined to die before the Netherlands Government could be moved to assist his organisation in developing prototypes. Whereas for the present successful ' Friendship " the Netherland Government contributed no less than 27 million guilders, Fokker hjmself could not even get twenty-seven guilders for developing his F.XXff and F.XXXVI. At the same time that the agreement for the XXIV design was brought about, plans were made for the Holland-America Siupping Line to produce the all-metal four engined F.180 Intercontinental design. But as a result of the invasion in May 1940, these plans were never put into effect. After the war they were out-dated. 89

Mainly Military

CHAPTER TEN

In 1924 Major Zanni of the Argentine Army Air Corps made Ihe long flight from Amsterdam to Tokyo. The aircraft was a C.I V type used altemalively in its landplane and floalplane form, i.e., a C.IV-W.

he was deserting a sink.ing ship. The daily Press actually wrote of the Flying Dutchman who was too big for his own country and was following the example of others by going to the New World, causing members to ask questions in the House. Aeroplane in England even wrote of Fokker as emigrating to America leaving only a framework of his original Dutch factory. However, withjn a few months Fokker was back; new designs, the EVIl, F.VIlA and F.VIlA-3M appeared and Fokker's stock soared. Civil aircraft saved the day and then these were supplemented by new military aircraft. Popular with several foreign air forces was the C.IV reconnaissance aircraft powered by various engines, such as the 400 h.p. Liberty, the 360 h.p. Rolls Royce Eagle, or in the case of the DC. I version, the 450 h.p. Napier Lion.

Whatever the vicissitudes of the commercial aircraft market, the construction and sale of military aircraft was of equal importance to the Company. Following the modest start in Holland after the 1914-1918 War, the Russian, the secret German, and then the Roumanian orders of the early 'twenties, whipped the factory into feverish activity; and the scale of construction was such that Fokkers exported more new aircraft than the American or the British aircraft industry, which were then concerned mainly with re-conditioned wartime aircraft. A decline in 1925 continued into 1926, when only forty-five aircraft were exported from Holland and of these eight were K001hoven FK.31 s supplied to Finland, and five were F.IIIs sold by K.L.M. to Switzerland for Balair. It was not surprising that the prospects for Fokker changed as more countries developed national aircraft industries, often obtaining licence to build foreign designs. Other countries looked in a particu lar di rection for thei I' aircraft-and that was not to Fokker, nor yet Holland; the British Commonwealth countries, for example, traded with their Motherland. The once great Germanic Empire, conditioned by the Treaty of Versailles not to build military aircraft, established subsidiary companies in Switzerland, Sweden and Italy. Added to this, the one section that would be expected to patronise Dutch industry, the Dutch services, Army and Navy, placed their orders, albeit small orders, abroad. Four Fairey IIlD floatplanes (Dutch Navy FI-F4) were ordered from England and Dornjer Wal flying boats from Italy. Fokkers were harG. put to produce designs that could compete in world markets with British and American industries, both of whjch were backed by a wealth of experience in wartime production on a large scale. Then there was the price war. When the Italians submitted a tender, they often offered the aircraft without engine, for half the price quoted by the Netherlands concern! Furthermore, some foreign faotories, unlike the Dutch, received construction and development subsidies from their respective governments. Fokkers experienced a depression. Fokker hjmself caused the picture to look blacker than in fact it was, by a somewhat dramatic elegy to the Press on the eve of departure for America, giving the impression that

Bellinzona to learn that he had made the best flying time but that because of the conditions, the race was cancelled! He protested, but in vain. The race was reflown on Saturday, August 20th, with Schott again entering, but not before he had telephoned around to get a picture of the weather! This time he deservedly came first; a Pole was second and a Swiss third. It was also the second time that the Round the Alps Tour had been won with a Fokker, the previous occasion being in 1922 by the Swiss, Captain Bartsch, who flew a D.VIl. To return to the factory. With the frequent absences of Fokker himself, chiefly due to his increasing business interests in the United States, Ir. B. Stephan, who until then had been chief of the technical service of the L.V.A. at Soesterberg, was appointed Deputy Director of the Nederlandse Vl.iegtuigenfabriek. Stephan started Ius new career under rather difficult circumstances, because he entered the firm at a time when it was adapting itself to a changing situation of reduced turn-overs and the worries of finding new markets. His start in office was also compljcated by the absence of any

This was followed by the C.V, an economical two-seater with excellent flying qualities, that enjoyed world-wide popularity, being supplied to the Netherlands Army, Navy, and Colonial Forces as well as to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Bolivia, China and Japan; while various versions of it were built under licence in several other countries. Some sixty were manufactured for the Swiss Government and hundreds were built as the Ro.l under licence in Italy. The C.VA, C.VE and C.Ve variants had rectangular wings with balanced ailerons while the C. VD and C.VE types were sesquiplanes with tapered wings and built-in ailerons. In some cases new wings were ordered so that the aircraft could be modified. Several famous flights were made with C.V's, including the rescue of the explorer Nobile after he had successfully flown over the North Pole in the llalia. This airship crashed into ice on May 25th, 1928, causing it to shed a gondola and then rise into the air carrying six men to annihilation. Nobile, in the gondola, was rescued next month by a Swedish pilot flying a sk.imounted C. V. That year a flight of nine C. V's flew to Italian

Fokker at various timesin his career experimented with the construction offlying-boats, generally lVithalit commerclCll success. Tlus was the B.lIl of 1926 of which only aile was built.

Jonkheer G. Sandberg who followed Bertus Grose, after the latler's dealh in 1929, as the Fokker lest pilot. He had already gained some fame as a pilot in the Dutch Army team at the Ziirich competitions of 1927. /n 1935 he was killed in a crash in Turkey.

90

Somaliland from their homeland. When Denmark received theirfirstC.V's, five C.Ve models R-l to R-5 in 1925, they were so impressed that they bought two VE conversion wing sets and attempted a long-distance flight the next year. Unfortunately, R-2 was damaged in Thailand and had to be flown back, but R-l, piloted by Captain A. P. Botved, did a round trip to Tokio, retunung via Russia. A flight of Dutch Army pilots, led by Captain Steup, consisting of Lieutenants Sandberg and Schott, and FlightSergeants Bakkenes and Mutsaers, were the lughlight of the 1927 Zurich international competitions in their C.V's. In the renowned Alpine fught they persisted particularly well where others failed. Twenty-one set off from Dubendorf and two dropped out in the first lap to Thun. The weather then deteriorated, forcing eleven to return to Dubendorf. Lieutenant Schott of the Dutch contingent carried on, flying by watch and compass. Estimating that he was above Ius next staging point, after half an hour's flying, he descended. This was a nerve-wracking business; with peaks of some 7,000 feet around him, he dived through a sea of cloud. For a nunute he flew in darkness-and fear-then at 3,900 feet the black earth became visible with a steep wall of rock on his left, from which he hastily veered. He arrived fourth at

terms of reference, through the sudden departure to America of his 'chief'; for although the business was in name a limited company, in reality it was mainly A. H. G. Fokker's personal property. The company's business necessitated considerable foreign travelling by Stephan from whose resulting fund of anecdotes, told to the writer, one is quoted. When visiting the Avia works in Prague, wluch were following licencebuilt F. VIlB-3M aircraft with a batch of F.IX bombers for the Czech Army, Stephan, entering the cabin of a service aircraft discovered a mysterious pipe with a strangely shaped funnel. Presuming that tills was a bomb-sight he bent over the funnel, but the Colonel accompanying lum, pulled him rather abruptly away. Stephan, jumping to conclusions, apologised, added that he had no idea that it was secret equipment. Whereupon the Czech Colonel burst out laughing and explained that there was no question of any military secret; it was for the convenience of the crew when on long fljghts! Bertus Grase, the Fokker test pilot, perhaps the only Dutchman outside the Services who combined the rare qualities of scientific training with those of a born pilot, died of a cancer growth in the summer of 1929. It was a loss 91

The D.XXl fighter, designed ill 1935, served ill the air forces of Holland, Den//lark alld Finland, the last-named country building //lOllY themselves. The example illustrated is a Dallish aircraft.

difficult to replace. The German pilots employed by Fokker were good, but not of the calibre required to give a lead in test-flying and assessment. For that reason the N.V. Fokker borrowed pilots from the army and naval flying services, but, lor representation abroad, tlus involved difficulties. However, Lieut, Jhr. Sandberg, who was then engaged, proved to be an exceptionally gifted pilot. He was sent to China with Rasch, then the manager of the export department, to pre ent the military types C.V and D.XVI to the Chinese Army. He had an adventurous eight-month journey, but negotiations were most difficult. The Fokker team had to work through interpreters, some times even two, whereby the Chinese told his story to a Russian, and the Russian then repeated it to someone else who could translate the words into Dutch, English or German. Inevitably this Jed to misunderstandings and Sandberg assumed an error of translation when he was blithely asked to demonstrate an inverted landing! One day when Sandberg nosed hi Fokker down to attack a target on a sandbank, during a firing demonstration, he noticed to his horror, three men run for their lives from the target area. They included the Fokker export manager! -again the arrangements had gone astray through a translation error! In the summer of 1925 Fokker officially gave up house in the Netherlands and settled in America, in the State of New York. Of his temporary sojourns in his Netherlands, Ius return in early 1928, is the most notable. After a series of records achieved by aircraft bearing his name and with his products known world-wide, he was treated as a celebrity and was feted in Amsterdam, at The Hague, and in his hometown, Haarlem. An absence of some twenty months followed, possibly the longest period that he was ever away from his homeland. When returning again, in late October

1929, his F.fX chartered from K.L.M. to bring him over from Croydon, was actually given an escort of Dutch fighters to Schiphol, where a reception committee and his fanuly, awaited. The company management and the Dutch press greeted him warmly. His return was connected with the tenth anniversary of the N.V. Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek. A month later he left again for the ew World, where his lucky star was approaching its zenith. In March 1931 Fokker's faithful collaborator and head of the design office, Reinhold Platz, left the company. The time had come to replace the master-craftsman with the scientist, since construction and design was no longer a matter of' know-how', and trial and error, but a series of interconnected problems that demanded a scientific approach. The new chief designer was F. H. Hentzen, from Focke-Wulf of Bremen. He served the company for three years. In those years several new types were produced, including some exceptionally sound designs, but sales were limited due to the hopeful policy of disarmament then prevailing. Amongst the naval aircraft types appeared the twoengined T.IV destroyer (1927), as well as the C. VIl-W (1928) and the C.VIlI-W (1930), one being a trainer on floats which was supplied to the Netherlands Navy in numbers, and the other a three-seater sea-reconnaissance float plane. In 1926 the flying boat fanlily was increased by the longdistance reconnaissance aircraft, the RIll with a 450 h.p. Napier Lion engine and a series of other nlilitary machines as listed in the appendices. For an industry built up to cater for an international market, orders received were insufficient to keep the factory fully employed. Both in military aircraft and airliner construction, trade slumped. One annual budget, Holland allotted only sufficient funds to the Army to enable the

Thirty-follr bombers of the T. V type were built from 1937 011 wards. They compared very favourably with contemporary bombers of other Europeall lIations.

X-2 was the registration of the prototype Fokker G-I twoseater fig/ller which first appeared at the 1936 Paris Saloll.

purchase of, at the most, three aircraft! Since the firm was only kept going by dipping into the reserves, Fokker and K.LM. addressed the Goverment in May 1934 to explain the deplorable situation of the Dutch aircraft industry, and sought governmental co-operation. The Government was sufficiently impressed to set up a Committee, chaired by Van Doorninck, to examine and report on the industry. If assistance was forthconung, the prime problem was the allocation of funds. The aircraft industry, at that difficult period, consisted of four main factories, viz. Aviolanda Fokker, Koolhoven and Pander. Aviolanda at Papendrecht were licencees and had built six American Curtiss fighters and forty-one Lorrainepowered Dornier Wal flying-boats, but were not engaged on construction at that time. At the Koolhoven works at Waalhaven in Rotterdam, some fifty people were employed under a technical staff of two designers, a works manager and four draughtsmen; whereas the Fokker factory had 375 people in their employment in July 1934 against a maximum of 595 in 1929. The relative importance of Holland's second largest ma~uf~cturer in relation to Fokker and the latter's gradually shnnking output can be gauged from the following sales statistics:

Fokker reached his lowest depths in his life as an aircraft constructor and even con idered di banding lu design office and concentrate on licence-production and agency work. A few weeks after the efforts of the van Doorninck Committee had failed, Fokker, at Di.ibendorf, had his attention drawn to a new type of aircraft landing, to which, with annoyance, he retorted, ' Don't talk to me about aeroplanes '. This was not the Fokker of old, he was becoming embittered. He was absolutely fed-up with the way he was treated by what he called the Hague officialdom. In ovember 1935 Bruno Stephan resigned from his position of Deputy Manager at the Works, a position he had held for ten years. Stephan is one of those remarkable personalitie in the world of international aviation. From 1904 until 1907 he was an engineer apprentice at the once famous Spyker motor works, the Trompenburg Company at Amsterdam. After the 1914-1918 War he became head of the techlucal services of the Dutch Army's air arm and for a time worked for the British Aircraft Disposal Company. After leaving Fokkers he went as technical adviser in aeronautics to the Turkish Ministry of ational Defence. WIulst with Fokker he had experienced lean years, butlus successor, van Tijen, came at a time when general re-armament gave new life to the aircraft industry. A business man, having been export manager for van Houten's Chocolate factory at Weesp, van Tijen had learned to fly at the ationale Luchtvaart School at Schiphollate in 1929. He glided, took part in the Gordon Bennett balloon contests and even flew solo a single-engined Pander from Amsterdam to the Dutch East Indies. As a temporary member of the crew, he crossed the Atlantic in the famous LZ.I27 era! Zeppelin to South America. Although Fokker produced original ideas for design planning and was a brilliant pilot, he was not a good organiser. When van Tijen took up hi managerial post he had but a superficial knowledge of the workings of the firm. Fokker, reassuring him on this aspect, invited him to St. Moritz to brief him, but that international playground was not conducive to study, and Fokker needed little excuse to find di tractions so that business di cussions were rather crowded out. As a pastime, Fokker had himself made a motor S110Wplough, which he pretended he needed to keep the private road clear between Ius chalet and Suvretta Haus. With special gripping wheels and a big fan that cast up snow in waves, like a de troyer at full peed, it was somewhat characteristic of Fokker! In later years at St. Moritz, Wing Commander orman Macmillan met Fokker. He wrote that he landed on the

Orders executed by Koolhoven Year Type

Totals

1929

1930

1931

1932

1933

1934

I FK.40 I FK.42 I FK.45 1 FK.43 3 FK.43 5 FK.46 I FK.41 I FK.44 1 FK.43 1 FK.47 1 FK.41 I FK.46 I FK.48 2

2

2

2

6

5

Orders executed by Fokker Year

1929

1930

1931

1932

1933

1934

Total All Types 76(33)

49(29)

37(9)

24(4)

18(7)

16(13)

N.B.-Figures in bracket give the number of the total exported, Dougla aircraft sold by Fokker are not included.

Fokker-according to the report-possessed an excellent technical staff, which Koolhoven lacked in numbers. A fusion of companies with the Fokker firm as the nucleus was mooted, but the position that Fokker himself would hold was not clear. As it was it came to nothing. At this time 92

93

The Dutch Navy ordered 36 T. VIII- W seaplanes. This was a reconnaissance, bomber or torpedo aircraft, and in the early part oj the 1939-45 War was used by both the R.A.F. and the LuJtwaffe

Platz, left in March 1934 and his place as designer was taken by Schatzki. Formerly, the chief designer had the responsibility for the finished product and it was customary to link h.is name with the new type. It had, however, become increasingly difficult to say exactly who was responsible for the idea for any particular new type of aeroplane since the design was no longer the work of an individual, but of a team, headed by the chief designer. As a result a design was inevitably credited less and less to anyone man. Early in 1936 Fokker introduced a new fighter, the D.XXI with a 760 h.p. Bristol Mercury engine, which was first ftown at Welschap airfield, Eindhoven. This had originally been built for the Ministry of Colonial Affairs and it proved to be even faster than had been stipulated in the contract; but the customer then informed the factory that no production order would follow immediately, as existing funds were needed to purchase bombers first and these would be bought inAmerica! The acqui ition of these Martin 166's gave little encouragement to the home industry. Fortunately, the Dutch air arm gave the considerable order of thirty-six, for the D.XXI. It offered various alternative armament arrangements, including a 20 mm. cannon in the fuselage and two or four machine-guns in the wing, or two 20 mm. cannons could be built into the wing and two machine-guns in the fuselage. The licence for the D.XXl was obtained by Finland and Denmark. The Fokker G.I, which appeared in the same year, was developed as a private venture. It was a twin-engined twoseater attack, reconnaissance or light bomber aircraft. It drew much attention at the Paris Salon in December 1936. Of it a French newspaper wrote that Fokker had once more hit the bull's eye-and that compliment was not thought up by the firm's publicity agent! With frontal armament of t\\ 0

frozen lake at Samaden, about 6,000 feet above sea level, which served Swissair as a winter landing ground near the fashionable St. Moritz. His aircraft was a Douglas DC.2, making the first non-stop ftight from London to St. Moritz. Fokker came down from his villa above the lake, attracted, as usual, by an aeroplane. Macmillan, suggesting that the age of 48 seemed early for semi-retirement in Switzerland, though that possibly Fokker sensed the coming 1939-1945 War, and that he did not want to be in on the wrong side again! Switzerland was a good seat for neutrality. Fokker liked people around him, and the first winter at his chalet Ober A/pina, he had a house-warming party that lasted the season. His relationship with the City Fathers of St. Moritz was friendly, in spite of the liberties, which being Fokker, he sometimes took. An'S '-bend between his chalet and the village particularly annoyed him, so, with a number of friends, he straightened the road, uprooting trees in the process and applied council materials to surface the widened section. The council politely pointed out that road maintenance was their prerogative! On the mountain slope in front of his chalet were a series of wooden poles, anchored in concrete blocks, that once supported a fence to keep out the cows grazing on the slopes. Fokker and his party set to digging them out, going from one to the other. Once loosened by digging, a long rope was fastened to the top of the pole and Fokker, below on the road, would tow it out with his car. As the poles slithered or rolled erratically down the slopes, Fokker would laugh uproariously. Some Italian labourers watching, were bewildered that some men could find so much enjoyment in such work. To return to the works. Hentzen, who took over from

Thefirst post W, W,2 Fokker design was the S.II • Instructor', a primary trainer with side-byside seating. Licence built in Italy, it was called the Macchi 416. Its successor, the S./2, had a tricycle undercarriage.

Madsen 23 mm. cannons and two machine-guns operated by the pilot, and a 7'7 mm. Madsen gun for the observergunner mounted on a pivot in the rotating perspex rear section of the fuselage, the G.I's maximum speed variedaccording to the engine installed from 267 to 301 m.p.h. Under the threat of war, the Dutch air arm expanded and sixteen twin-engined T. V bombers, powered by 925 h.p. Bristol Pegasus engines, had been acquired. The Netherlands military authorities, wishing to develop from this a fighter-bomber, suggested that a 20 mm. Solothurn cannon be mounted in the nose of the aircraft, but the project was not successful. The first standard T. V's went into service early in 1938. Concurrent naval aircraft produced included twenty-four Wright Cyclone powered C.XI-W catapult ftoatplanes for the Dutch avy, as well as the light reconnaissance aircraft and trainer, the C.XIV-W with a 425 h.p. Wright Whirlwind. In 1938 the T.VIII-W appeared, an aircraft destined to be used both by the R.A.F. and the Luftwaffe! This was a torpedo-bomber ftoatplane powered by Wright Whirlwinds. The Dutch avy first ordered a trial series of five followed by a production order for thirty-one. Of these, twenty-four were of composite construction, with wooden wings, and the remainder all-metal: In 1938 a new type of trainer, the Fokker S. IX appeared. Designed for the Dutch Air Arm, it was powered by a 165 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley Genet Major manufactured in the Netherlands under licence by the marine engine works of Kromhout, Amsterdam. Early in 1938 the designer, Schatzki, left Fokker to go to Koolhoven at Rotterdam, and was succeeded by M. Beeling, a veteran in the industry, who had first joined Fokker early in 1923 as a university-trained design assistant to Platz. About this time, the Reserve-I st Lieutenant,

Gerben Sonderman, joined the works as test pilot, having completed a course in England. The latest fighter, the D.XXIIJ, of which a mock-up had been exhibited at the Paris Salon late in 1938, made its first ftight in May 1939, but there were two snags. By its unorthodox design, being a twin-boom monoplane with a tricycle undercarriage, the pilot was situated in a central narcelle between two 525 h.p. Walter-Sagitta engines, driving pusher and tractor airscrews. This meant that th;) pilot had little chance of safety if baling out! Also, since the Munich crisis, and later the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, there were difficulties in obtaining engines for production. The political situation was having its effectsthe ituation deteriorated. Fokker last visited Holland in April 1939. He had been suffering slightly from a thma of late, but one day it seemed to trouble him much and he found it difficult to mount stairs. That day he chatted with the writer. Aviation or business was no longer his main topic; he discus ed the possibility of war and prophesied that it would come without formal declaration, launched with the main attacks directed against airfields. Then he changed the subject to talk, with a trace of boyish shyness, about religion. He had started to read the Bible, which has a place in the rooms of many hotels in America. He found it difficult to believe and accept what he read in the Scriptures, but in his usual way, he broke each problem down to its simplest form and then tried to understand it. Perhaps in the end he was convinced of the Great Truth. He was very tired that afternoon and soon retired to a divan to re t. From Ilis few words that day it was evident that he was sensitive to understanding and kindness and that inwardly he was lonely, despite all that life had offered him.

The world's first jettrainer, to be built as such, was the Fokker S.14 oj 195/. K-I \Vas the first production model Jor the Dlllch Air Force.

The Jirm's last fighter design, the D.XXIII 1939. No production ensued as the prototype was destroyed in May 1940.

94

95

Fokkers at War

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Dallish AmH' were users of Fokker Iypes for mallY years. Through Ihe period 1928 10 1940 Ihey operated modified .1.1' wilh Ihe 220 h.p. 8.M. W. ellgine, as illustraled, alld ji'0/1/ 1932 a singleseater version of Ihe same basic design. A few C.ls were slill serving when Denmark was illvaded ill 1940

When Britain declared war on September 3rd, 1939, tension on the continent had already led to partial mobilisation of Dutch forces, alerted to preserve their country in it accepted policy of neutrality. As part of the precautions, a freeze was imposed on the movement and sale of aircraft outside the country-at the very time negotiations were being conducted by a British buyer for the Fokker F.XXXVI and two F.XXIIs, replaced on K.L.M. routes by DC.3's. However, the British broker cabled England for the purchase price to be credited immediately to K.L.M.'s bank. Thus, when officials tried to stop the Fokkers being ferried over to England, Plesman was able to explain, and prove if nece sary, that the aircraft were not his, having already been sold to a Mr. W. S. Shackleton of Britain. There were three aircraft involved: Fokker F.XXfI PH-Al R Roerdol71p (Bittern) which as G-AFXR went first to British American Air Services Ltd. of Heston, until joining the F.XXTT, PH-AlP, Papegaai (Parrot) and F.XXXVI, PH-AlA, Arend (Eagle) which became G-AFZP and G-A FZR respectively with Scottish Airways Ltd. at Prestwick. All three were converted for navigational training and camouflaged in brown and green. While K. L.M. had conducted a profitable deal in the nick of time, Fokker's were looking ahead to a gloomy future and took precautions with their finance accordingly. Van Tijen, after a visit to Germany, had been afforded an insight into the grip the azis had on the German people, and it was clear to him that this would eventually lead to war, involving the invasion of the Low Countries. So convinced was he that disaster would befall, that, together with the firm's secretary, lanse, he took over 3 million guilders of capital to the safety of a London Bank. Moved in secrecy without police protection to a bank near Piccadilly Circus, it was conveyed in a lorry and a horse and cart. Fokker executives paid several subsequent visits to the bank, just to assure themselves that it was still there! When a rumour wa in the air that the Briti h Government would use gold belonging to occupied countries, the money was transferred to Ameriea. But even on the other side of the Ocean the cash was not considered safe. A possibility was foreseen whereby

Holland was occupied and the invaders, appointing a management of their own, could issue instructions to transfer the money to, say, a bank in Japan. Would the bank act on such in tructions? Van Tijen was prophetic on that point, because after occupation by the Germans, every factory and busine s of any importance had a Verwafter allocated who took all decisions of importance for the displaced management. Fortunately, Van Tijen had enquired by cabling several banks in America, about their reaction to instructions to transfer monies from a management appointed by an occupying power. They all replied that they would obey such instructions-except one. The exception was the New York branch of a Canadian bank. They replied that it would not occur to them to conduct any such transfer, unless it was backed by a court decision. That bank had a safe which did its name justice. Therefore the money was exchanged into dollars, and depositecf at the Canadian establishment in ew York. It remained there, not without a form of interest, because each dollar in relation to the guilder which depreciated meanwhile, meant a good profit in the rate of exchange. This capital helped considerably to get the business going again after the liberation of the Netherlands. The problems of aerial defence of a small country bordering on a powerful Germany were almost insuperable. o advance warning of attack could be given and once enemy machines were over the border, it was too late to alert fighter patrols to intercept before vital targets would be reached. Standing fighter patrols could not be maintained with the limited numbers of aircraft available and it was necessary to conserve fuel. Fokkers tackled this problem and came to the conclusion that adequate defence could only be provided by a barrage; but instead of adopting the usual ballon for cable carrying, Fokker's devised kite units. Based on glider construction, tests were made with kites of biplane configuration having a 21 foot span, spaced at 1,500 foot intervals along a cable. With eight to a cable, it was estimated that heights of up to 15,000 feet could be covered. The scheme, however, did not get under way before the bombers came. The Fokker works took air-raid precautions seriously96

as indeed they might-but the arrangements were complicated by the fact that Schiphol itself is below water-level and underground shelters would tend to get waterlogged. Concrete pyramid shelters were erected for key personnel of the passive defence services-fire brigade, salvage, and first aid parties; while the drill for the rest of the employees on the sounding of the warning, was a scamper to the bicycle sheds and to pedal away in all directions to achieve dispersal. Later, more concrete shelters were erected. It was during this anxious period that Fokker died in America. Because Fokker aircraft in America had passed their hey-day and due to the tense situation prevailing, the passing of Fokker had no impact on the world, nor yet on aeronautical circles. For some time, Fokker had not been the man he was. Fokker aircraft were by then already in action. During the' winter war' of 1939-1940 when the Finns gallantly made a stand against Russian invasion, Fokker D.XXI's formed a not insignificant part of Finnish aerial defence. Seven (FR-76 to FR-82) had been bought from the Fokker works in 1938 and a further thirty-eight (FR-83 to FR-120) were built in Finland under licence up to 1940. Fokker C.V'sandC.X'swerealso used during the war. It is recorded that one e.x (FK-lll) not only survived the war, but flew 'Jntil it crashed early in 1958! Several Finns qualified as aces flying D.XXIs. On March 28th 1940, Dutch Fokkers claimed their first victim in the Second World War, an R.A.F. Whitley V, 1357 of No. 77 Squadron. Engaged on a ' nickel' operation over German territory-the code name for pamphletdropping-it strayed over Rotterdam on the way back. Flying low, it was intercepted and shot at by Fokker G.I's whose pilots were intent on maintaining Dutch neutrality. Harassing the Whitley, they forced it to land. Unfortunately, the observer jumped out at 60 feet, but the rest of the crew, remaining in the aircraft, survived the crash-landing. They were interned, but they only had some six weeks to' wait for release. Confidence in Holland keeping out of the war was shattered in April 1940 by the azi attack on the two Scandinavian neutrals, Norway and Denmark. The latter soon succumbed to overwhelming superiority on land and in

This Iwo-sealer reconnaissancefighter-bomber, Ihe C.X, was flown by bolh Ihe Dulch and Finnish Air Forces from 1935. The engines inslalled, were Ihe Rolls-Royce Kestrel and Ihe Bristol Pegasus respeclively. The Finnish Iypes were often equipped wilh ski-undercarriages.

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the air. Fokkers had been traditional with the Danish Air Arm since an airworthy D.VII and a damaged one for spares had been purchased from Dansk Luftrederi in 1922 after they had been used for joy-riding. By the time this D.VII (Danish o. F-l) was written off, after crashing at Kastrup in September 1927, other Fokker types had been acquired including two C.Is in 1923. In 1940, a few C.Is of a modified type were still serving as trainers. During the actual German attack, the Danish Air Arm suffered most at their main base at Vaerloese. Over the base, one Pegasus-engined Fokker C.V. was shot down, and on the ground six C.Vs (three with Pegasus and three with Jupiter engines) and a D.XXI were destroyed and six C.Vs (Pegasus) and four D.XXfs damaged. In orway the fighting was prolonged for several weeks. The orwegian Army still used Fokker C. Vs for reconnaissance and several were destroyed both in the air and on the ground. o. 389, built as late as 1939 at Kjeller, wa shot down by a Heinkel He IlIon May 4th, 1940. When the final collapse came, Fokker C.VE aircraft were among others that flew to internment in Sweden. At 3 a.m., shortly before dawn, on May 10th, 1940, the Germans launched their massive attacks in the west by land and air, ending at a stroke the inactive phase of the war for Britain and France and involving the hitherto neutral Low Countries. By the judicious use of airborne troops, dropped at strategic points, the Germans calculated that Dutch resistance could be broken in a matter of hours. For this operation, a special grouping of Luftwaffe units was organised, involving nearly 500 Junkers Ju52j3M transports with Messerschmitt MellO fighter escorts. At the same time bomber formations ranged over Holland and Belgium, with Schiphol Airport and the Fokker works among the targets sought. Junkers and Fokkers were again in confuct, but this time it was not in a commercial sphere. While the Junkers played an important part in the invasion of Holland, Fokkers were predominant among the aircraft types defending Holland. On the day of the attack, of the 132 front-line aircraft available to the Dutch Army, 105 were Fokkers of various types. Unfortunately, only the G.Is could be called modern and there were only twenty-three of them; the other Fokkers comprised of twenty-nine D.XXls, twenty-eight

After impressment into R.A.F. service in WW2. Three large Fokker types at Prestwick, Scotland, 1940. Front to rear: F.XXXVI (ex-PH-AJA), F.XXII (ex-PH-AJP) and F.XXII (ex-PH-AJR).

C.Vs, ten C.Xs, nine TV and six D.XVIfs. Of other makes, there were eleven Dougla 8A-3 light attack bombers and sixteen Koolhoven FK.51 artillery observation bi-planes; since most of the former were destroyed on the ground by bombing at Ypenburg and the remainder soon succumbed when used in desperation as fighter, and the latter were virtually defenceless, only Fokkers were left in the field to bear the brunt of the German on laught and inevitably they too were overwhelmed after five days of fighting. Many aircraft were destroyed on the ground; thi was the fate of the veteran F. VIII PH-OTO during the bombing of Waalhaven. The Fokker TV bombers made repeated attacks on the Meuse bridges in an attempt to stem the tide of inva ion, until only one remained for the final surrender. The Fokkers were decimated-in the literal sense of the word. Antiquated C.V and C.X reconnaissance biplanes even operated in a ground attack role. One D.XXI pilot achieved two victories in an amazing way. Beset by Mel09s, the pilot, to facilitate his bale-out when the inevitable coup de grace was delivered, jettisoned his cockpit hood. This, whipping back in the slip-stream, slammed into the propeJler of a pur uing Me109, which promptly went down in an uncontrollable dive. A moment later, as an Mel09 appeared in the pilot's gun ight, a quick burst of fire sent that too, hurtling down. A third Me I09, however, made a hit on the fuel tanks of the Fokker which blew up. The pilot, blown from the cockpit, descended safely by parachute. The Fokker G.Ts, as the only modern fighters, bore the brunt of the attacks. Twelve were with the 4th Fighter Group at Bergen airfield near Alkmaar and eleven with the 3rd Fighter Group at Waalhaven. Both Groups went into action on May 10th and the G.Ts hot down severalJu52j3Ms, but a few G.Is were de troyed on the ground and two in accidents. By the fifth day of fighting, only one remained. The Fokker works tried desperately to complete a maIler ver ion of the G.I, then under construction for the Finns (this was known as the G-l B to distinguish it from the Dutch service version which was retro pectively designated G.I A). Cannon guns unfortunately could not be obtained, 0 Fokker engineers fitted a number with four machine-gun. By the time the collapse came, three had been test-flown and impressed into Dutch service and the original G-l prototype X-2, had been completed to production standard as 0.341. The fifth and final day of resistance, two C.Xs were

ordered up on reconnaissance to report on German units closing on Rotterdam. One landed back at base, the pilot having located enemy column by the anti-aircraft fire his aircraft had attracted; the other C.X, in which the occupants reali ed full well that further resistance was futile, set course for England, where they became the first Dutchmen in the Free Dutch Forces. At the flying schools the equipment was mostly of the Fokker types S.IV and S.IX. When the collapse came, pupil-pilots flew their machines to France in the hope that their aircraft would be dismantled, crated and shipped to the Dutch East Indies. The etherlands aval Air Arm was equipped almost exclusively with Fokker types, C. VII-W, C.VIII-W, C.XI-W, C.XIV-W, T.IV and TVIlT-W. Designed chiefly for reconnaissance, they were of little use in a defensive role. On May J 4th, all surviving naval aircraft were ordered to fly to France, and they stayed in Boulogne harbour next morning en route for Cherbourg where they hoped to reorganise. For a few day they flew sorties along the French coast, but when it became evident that France too, was going to fall, they flew to Britain, arriving at Calshot on May 22nd. Altogether, twenty-six Dutch naval aircraft reached Britain, all floatplanes and all Fokkers. Twelve were C.XIV-W biplane floatplane of recent construction, suitable for training or reconnaissance, comparable to the Fairey Seafox Generals Udet and Christiansen both aces of WWI inspect the Fokker works in WW2. Seekatz, on right.

When The DuTell Air Force wenT inTo acTion in May 1940 The besT fighTer available was The G.IA. Most of The fighTing fell TO The more nllll/erOIlS D.XXl's, howel'er, a Type ouTclassed in speed and arJllaJllelll by The opposing Me 109's and 110·s.

of the Fleet Air Arm; these, together with the single C.XI-W that escaped, were crated for shipment to Surabaya,in order that the Dutch Navy would be able to use them again in the Dutch East Indies. The five C.VIU-Ws were flown to the Marine Aircraft Experimental E tabli hment at Felixstowe for evaluation, but being nearly ten years old and lacking spares, they were condemned as unfit. However, the TVIII-W torpedo-bomber floatplanes were taken on R.A.F. strength; R-l, R-3, R-6 to R-Il became respectively AV958-965 in R.A.F. service. Flying with No. 320 (Dutch) Squadron, operating from Pembroke Dock, they proved their usefulness as early as July 13th when the crew of one, sighting a periscope, bombed the spot. But operations took their toll. AV964 (ex-R-IO) was lost on July 26th when, for some reason unknown, the pilot appeared to 10 e control and the Fokker plunged into the sea; exactly a month later AV693 (ex-R-9) disappeared from patrol over the Irish Sea. The prototype, AV958 (ex-R-I) was lost on ovember 28th when it ran out of fuel over land after an operational patrol; a safe landjng with floats wa too much to expect, and R-I crashed near Sudbury, Suffolk. One Fokker went back to Holland! It was a T VIrI- W used in an attempt to pick-up four Dutch secret agents, but the trip to Tjeuke Lake was abortive as contact could not be made. Setting out a second night, the pilot made contact and

landed. A mall boat put out as expected, but when nearer machin -gun fire from it raked the Fokker. The rendezvous had been betrayed. Immediate return-fire from the Fokker's gunner spoilt the German attackers aim and amid a blaze of searchlights that were uddenly switched on, the Fokker raced aero s the lake, took off and headed for home-where it was greeted by ri fle-fire from Home Guards! Gradually the Fokkers were replaced by Ansons and then Hudsons; by 1941 none remai ned in q uadron service. Meanwhile, the Fokker airliners purchased on the eve of war, were busy on war work. The F.XXXVI had a short life with the R.A. F. Taking off from Prestwick, on May 21 st, 1940, then a small grass airfield, it failed to rise in time and over hot the field. Damaged, with no possible means of obtaining spares from Holland, it was scrapped. The two F.XXn had more eventful lives in Britain. They were impressed into the R.A.F. in October 1941 and went to Abbotsinch in Scotland to serve in 0.) 680 (Western Isles Communication and Transport) Flight wruch had a mixed equipment of Harrow, Dakotas, Walruses and Dominies. On July 3rd, 1943, HM 159 (ex G-AFZP) caught fire in the air, exploded, and fell into West Loch Tarbert. HMI60 survived the war to bear the post-war orange and silver livery of Scottish Airways and was charted to British European Airways on the Prestwick-Belfast run until

A ToTal of Twelve D.X VII singleseaTer fighTers was supplied To The DuTch Air Force and, alThough a 1931 design originally, some of The fourTh varianT, wiTh The Lorraine engine, remained in lise unTil 1940, when six were STili ill service.

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Alter 1919, the ELTA exhibition buildings were used by Fokkers as assembly shops. The main buildings at this time were the two large sheds at top left in this photograph. Further additions in later years resulted in this 1940 appearance.

versions. The remainder of the Finnish contract for twentysix G.IBS was also ordered to be completed, equipped for Luftwaffe use as fighter-bomber trainers. They were completed in the spring of 1941. On May 5th, the last two of the batch were ready for test by Fokker test-pilots before being flown to Germany. Fuel for only half an hour's flight was allowed to restrict flying distance, but with the aid of loyal Dutchmen, the Germans were tricked and the fuel allowance was doubled. Two men* got into the machine, made for the clouds, and set course for England. A patrol of Hurricanes intercepted the G.I over Yarmouth, and had its undercarriage not been down, denoting an intention to land, it would have been shot down. After crash-landing, the G.I was carefully examined by technicians from the Royal Aircraft Establi hment and finally it was allotted to Miles Aircraft who were contemplating building a fighter-bomber in wood. The Nazis fully intended that the Fokker organisation should work for their benefit. F. W. Seekatz, who was of German descent, and had been in charge of the export department, was placed in charge of the works over van Tijen. The latter was arrested in ovember 1940 by the azis for being unco-operative, but he was released later because of lack of evidence. In June 1940, the German Air Ministry appointed Dr. Ing Pleines as technical manager to • P. Vo , chairman of the Fokker board of directors and H. Leegstra, the company test-pilot.

August 1947, when a complete lack of spares precluded any possibility of further use. What had happened to Schiphol and the Fokker works? Eighteen K.L.M. aircraft, mostly D.C.2s and D.C.3s purchased through Anthony Fokker were wrecked, and the eleven that remained undamaged or repairable were soon seized by the azis. Fourteen others were out en route, and did not fall into German hands. Shortly before the end, Plesman had cabled through to his representative in Batavia, saying, in effect, ' Over to you-it's finished here '. Nearby the Fokker hangars, the single T.IX bomber attracted the attention of the Germans, but it was considered inferior to German bomber types and it was placed into storage at the works, but not before its Bristol Hercules engines, its one attribute that intrigued the Germans, were removed. These engines were crated and sent to Germany for examination. Later the fuselage was damaged slightly in counterraids by the Allies. Another prototype damaged in its hangar was the prototype D.XXIII fighter. Then, during the autumn that followed, the R.A.F. attacked the works in an attempt to deny their use to the Germans. When the Germans first inspected the factory they set the firm the task of completing the remainder of the order for the thirty-six T.VIII-W torpedo-bomber f1oatplanes. One of these, designed for Finland with a normal wheeled undercarriage, as Type T.VIII-L, was taken into Luftwaffe service GH, together with a number of the floatplane as KD

+

The effect of the camouflage was to give the impression from the air of a number of sma/lhutments instead of the original large buildings. However, the German efforts notwithstanding, British and later American aircrafr found and bombed the factory!

works on July 25th, 1943. A particular target was the power station that supplied the works and a coal elevator there was actually hit. Then on December 13th, 1943, 199 aircraft of the United States TXth Bomber Command dropped 400 tons of bombs on targets, including the works, in the Amsterdam area. Shortly after the occupation of Holland by Germany in 1940, both the Junkers and Messerschmitt concerns tried to obtain the services of Fokker's complete design staff. Both promised high wages and congenial working conditions in Southern Germany. However, the Luftwaffe High Command decided that the entire technical department should remain in Holland. After the big air-raid of July 25th, 1943, the Germans ordered decentralisation. This was implemented literally and departments of Fokkers were dispersed throughout Amsterdam and other cities and towns. In November 1943 these Fokker ' settlements' were located in at least forty-three different places. Greater damage was yet to follow. In September 1944 when liberation was in sight-almost literally-Dutch collaborators and Germans ransacked the works and took tools and materials for transportation to Germany. When the war ended, the Fokker factory was bare. There was one bright spot; the loyal, industrious van Tijen was found alive when the horrified American troops entered the Buchenwald camp. He was nursed back to health.

assist Seekatz and plans for increasing production were speeded up. But, in spite of increasing the staff from a May 1940 figure of 1,700, to a 1944 complement of 5,000, production was less than half the pre-war output. In spite of factory guards, the passive resi tance of phlegmatic Dutch saw to it that little useful work was achieved. The design office, which hitherto had been an integral part of the factory, was isolated to work on Messerschmitt and Junkers projects. The works were then forced to build German types, including Arado Arl96 floatplanes and D024 flying boats were assembled, while main production centred on Bucker Bul81 trainers, which being of composite wood and metal-tubular construction, the firm was well equipped to build. Various odd components were built, including skis for Ju88's to operate from snow in Russia, but these being made to the wrong dimensions, they proved difficult to fix to the aircraft. Van Tijen by then had disappeared. His secret work in aid of the Allies was discovered and the Gestapo had knocked at his door. He was incarcerated in the notorious concentration camp at Buchenwald. It should be explained that the main works were some distance along a canal from Schiphol where the Fokker works had assembly sheds. Airframes and wings were transported from the factory to the assembly bays by barge. Both parts of the factory were earmarked as targets by the Allies and R.A.F. Mitchells made a daylight raid on the

This view across the roof of the factory, taken 0/1. February 14th, 1941, demonstrates the walfle and hessian nature of the call/ouflaged COIIstructioll of the dummy buildings. The apex of each of two of the sheds below is clearly seen. This was to no avail; see the photo above, taken during a raid.

This photograph taken on December 31st, 1940, shows the elaborate measures being taken by the Germans to prevent the bombing of the Fokker factory which they intended to use for repair work. The' rows of calfages ' were built on the shed roofs, as also the trees bearing leaves in December!

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Post War

CHAPTER TWELVE

AfTer WW2 The facTory locaTions used prior To and during The war conTinued To be used buT The expansion of business necessiTaTed a change in The policy of building aircrafT in AmsTerdam and shipping Them ouT To Schiphol by canal for assembly and flighT-TesTing. The answer was This magnificenT new faCTory, opened in 1951, aT SchipllOl.

Grunau Baby and Olympia and the Govier side-by-side trainer-were built at the Amsterdam factory alongside a production line of motor coaches, taken on to retain employees that would be required later when new aircraft were ready for the lines. As in pre-war times, so in post-war years, K.L.M., competing internationally, could not wait for the Fokker factory to design and build airliners, so again they turned to America, ordering Convair 240s. With pre-war designs outdated, and a wartime design staff controlled by the Nazis, the Fokker firm was forced to start from scratch on that aspect too. By the end of 1946, there were six designs in hand and plans were announced early the following year to build a jet trainer, but before this materialised, a primary trainer was put in production-the S.11 Instructor, with side-by-side seating and an optional third seat in the rear. Two prototypes were ordered by the Dutch Government in 1946 and construction commenced in 1947 on a production batch of 100 to meet the estimated requirement of seventy for private sale and a firm government order of thirty (ten each for the Netherlands Air Force, East Indies Air Force and the National Flying School). On December 18th, 1947, Sonderman took the prototype, PH-NBE, onits maiden fught at Ypenburg. When originally designed in 1945, a D.H. Gipsy Major engine had been envisaged, but a 190 h.p. Lycoming engine was used. The first production model of this metal-framed, fabric-covered trainer was delivered early in 1949. Production was complete in 1952, but S.I1's were built later both in Brazil and Italy. The third S.11 built, PH-NDC, was mounted in February 1949 on a tricycle undercarriage by placing the main wheels farther back and fitting a nose-wheel. This was designated the S.12. In the F. series, the first post-war aircraft built was the F.25 Promotor, a four-seat twin-boom touring and business aircraft, somewhat underpowered by a 190 h.p. Lycoming 0-435-A or 185 h.p. Continental engine. This was an a11-

Reconstruction work was energetically put in hand immediately after liberation. Starting again, almost from scratch, machine tools were acquired, as available, from Britain, the United States and later Czechoslovakia and Germany. The main factory, although it included large draughty sheds, was ready for production work within a year. War had brought its changes. The post-war Dutch aircraft industry was placed on a completely new footing. Government backing was essential to success and governmental controls, lacking with deplorable effect in 1936-1939, became part of the new order. A Government committee approved and subsidised development work and tried to bring Fokker, Aviolanda and De Schelde into co-operative agreements, under the name of Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek Fokker. The pre-war licence for Douglas aircraft building and selling rights was revived and the firm became the Douglas agents in the European sphere. Their first task was the conversion of military DC.3 Dakotas for passenger-carrying to meetK.L.M .'simmediate requirements. Further conversions were then put in hand for Britain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Finland, Switzerland, Norway and Yugoslavia. By 1949 a hundred Dakotas had been converted and similar work was in hand for the conversion of DCA Skymasters. North American Aviation Inc., who had been a holding company for organisations including the Fokker Aircraft Corporation of Passaic, New Jersey until 1935, renewed an association by granting the re-constituted Dutch company licence rights to manufacture Harvard spares, enabling the Amsterdam works to overhaul fifty of these trainers for the SwissAirForce. The re-formed Belgian Air Force, using exR.A.F. Ansons, Oxfords, Harvards and Spitfires placed a repair and overhaul contract with Fokkers. At the same time, the finn built seventy-two gliders of four different types -the enclosed E.S.G. primary glider, Dutch versions of the 102

wood aircraft, except for a metal nose-cap. At first it was planned to build 100, but only twenty were constructed. A smaller aircraft of similar configuration, the P.l Partner, was planned, with a novel feature in that the cockpit canopy folded forward to permit access, but it did not evolve beyond the paper stage. An ambitious project, the F.26 Phantom, a small twin-jet pressurised airliner with accommodation for seventeen passengers and a crew of three, was another project that did not reach the production lines. However, there were other types on the lines. The S.14 Mach Trainer was the first jet aircraft designed at the outset as a trainer. Design considerations were for the handling characteristics of a jet aircraft without vigorous reaction following mishandling and free from all vices. Side-by-side seating was another requisite. As well as meeting requirements for jet conversion training, an annament training role could be met by the carriage of eight 3 in. rocket projectiles, eight 25 lb. practice bombs or two 20 mm. cannons in a detachable belly-pack. Significant of its qualities, Fairchild in the U.S.A. acquired a licence to build the S.14 in the United States in July 1952; although none were in fact built, a month later Fairchild became sales agents for all Fokker designs in the American continent. Production S.14s went to the Dutch Air Force, the first one, making its initial flight on January 15th, 1955. During the time the S.14 was under development a small order for the construction of six SAA B Scandias to be delivered in 1954, was placed with Aviolanda who built the wings and fuselages on jigs from the Swedish firm, and the assembly was done by the Fokker works. While the S.ll, S.12 and S.14 trainers went into production, the S.13 Universal Trainer remained at the prototype stage. This twin-engined all-metal general purpose trainer was initiated in 1946, possibly as a result of the Airspeed Oxford overhauls for the Belgian Air Force. The prototype, D-I01 of the Dutch Air Force, first flew in March 1950 and it was anticipated that the Dutch Air Force would order forty to meet their requirement for an aircraft of tl'lis class-but this was met by a gi ft of forty Beechcrafts from

the United States. Thus, only the prototype was built and this was used as a personal transport by the Dutch Royal Family; in February 1953 it was engaged for photographing the floods in Holland. While firms in other countries negotiated for Fokker manufacturing rights, Fokker's were building the designs of others! This resulted largely through the international organisations, Western Union and later the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. During 1949 construction commenced on the first of twenty-four Sea Fury F. B.51 fighters for the Dutch Navy, following a licence agreement with Hawker Aircraft of England. ext came the famous Gloster Meteor. Both the Dutch and Belgian Air Forces under Western Union agreements standardised on Meteors as front-line fighters in 1948. The Dutch Air Force ordered forty FAs from the Gloster works and acquired six F.3s from the R.A. F. Plans were put in hand for the Fokker works to build a hundred to meet joint Dutch/Belgian requirements, but this contract was su bject to so many changes that the F.8 version was available before any materialised. However, in 1950, a start was made on F.8s and by J953, when it went out of production, 330 had been built. Thirty were delivered incomplete and despatched to Avions Fairey at Gosselies for completion and delivery to the Belgian Air Force. The Fokker works built the airframes except for the Dowty undercarriage and nose-sections, which arrived complete from the Aviolanda works at Papendrecht. The British Ministry of Supply placed orders with the Fokker factory for certain components for the Vickers Valiant, while they were changing over from Meteor to Hunter production. The arrangement whereby aircraft were built in Amsterdam and ferried along the canal for erecting or flight-testing at Schiphol was clearly an unsatisfactory arrangement and when Fokkers expanded and built a new factory, SchiphoJ was the obvious choice for the site. Opened in 1951, it was first used for repair and overhaul work and it was here the Dutch and Belgian Hunters were built. Fokkers were the co-ordinating factory for construction of Hunter FA and F.6 fighters of which 460 were built for the Belgian and Dutch Air Forces. Other manufac-

In common with many firms, Fokker's became interested in the requirement for a Douglas Dakota replacement. The resulT of their efforts along These lines from 1950 to 1955 was the F.27, known as the Friendship. This was the world'sfirst twinturboprop airliner, the prototype of which, PH-NIV,firsT flew Oil November 24th, 1955.

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turers in the programme were Aviolanda, S.A.B.C.A. and Avions Fairey, and certain components were sub-contracted to Werkspoor and Hispano-Suiza Nederland. Special equipment such as ejector-seats was produced under licence in the Netherlands and jigs and tools were sub-contracted to some twenty firms in Western Europe. Fokker's as an organisation expanded in other directions. In 1954 they acquired the former aviation section of the De Schelde factory at Dordrecht and the Avio-Diepell Industrie Mij. N.Y. at Ypenburg. At the latter site, Fokkers have a contract for the repair of Republ.ic F-84F/RF-84F fighters. To produce a 'Dakota replacement' has been the ambition of many aircraft firms in several different countries, and it was fitting that Fokker's, the pre-war agents for the Dakota, should be successful in their venture to provide a robust, versatile airliner, with a large freight-carrying capacity, suitable to replace the Dakotas plying throughout the world. This was the Fokker F.27 Friendship, the world's first twin turbo-prop airliner. During 1950 the firm had been considering airline operators' requi rements for a , Dakota replacement' and following their market research, a design team set to work to produce what proved to be the first Fokker airliner to appear for twenty years. With the firm's experience of the quality of RoJJs-Royce engines, not only over forty years, but currently with their S.14 and Meteor production, it was not surprising that the design was woven around two Rolls-Royce Darts as the power units. Characteristics considered were a high-wing configuration to facilitate ground loading by offering easy access and this would appeal to passengers who would have an uninterrupted ground view; a high aspect wing ratio was essential

to emulate the take-off performance of the Dakota and cabin pressurisation was considered necessary. From May 1951 onwards wind tunnel tests commenced at the National Aeronautical Laboratory in Am terdam, and continued for two years. During 1952, wh.ile detail design work was put in hand, a mock-up fuselage was built, arranged to seat twenty-eight passengers for market research requirements that showed a need for a 28-32 seater, for use on routes of about 300 mile stages. That year a decision was taken to construct an unpressurised prototype; this, PH-NIY (C/N 10001), made its first flight on November 24th, 1955. For early trials this prototype was fitted with Dart 507s, wh.ich were replaced in March 1956 by Dart 511 s-the Dart R.Da.6 of production versions. Meanwhile a second aircraft (C/N 10002) had been built, but was unregistered as the airframe was set aside for fatigue, wing-loading and water-tank pressurisation tests. The fuselage of the third, which left its jig on April 24th, 1956, had a three-foot extension to accommodate four extra passengers. This aircraft, PH-NYF, the second to fly, was pressurised, fitted with full de-icing equipment, and was fully furnished; it was extensively used on Fokker sales tours to many parts of the world. To ensure the success of the structure, the fourth production airframe was also set aside for static-fatigue and component testing. Tests, lasting nearly two years, resulted in no retirement life being imposed. Production aircraft followed. Some novel features were incorporated in the construction of the basically all-metal Friendsh.ip, in which Redux metal bonding was used to a greater degree than on any previous aircraft type. R. J. Schlieckelmann, head of the

structural research department, spent several years studying the application of Redux, produced by Aero Research Ltd. of Duxford, Cambridgeshire. Extensive use of this product enabled rivetting to be dispensed with over extensive surface areas of the stressed skin. The nose section of reinforced fibre-glas , resin-impregnated, gave a superfine finish, but on late production models tills has been replaced by a metal radome. A panel of fibre-glass has been placed on each side of the fuselage, in line with the engines, as a protection against ice thrown against the cabin. Several specialist components are of British manufacture, but standard radio installations are American, as on many K.L.M. aircraft. This airline, incidentally, placed a goodwill order for two Friendships at an early stage of the development. By April 1956, orders totalled th.irty for seven different operators, by which time its succe s was more than doubled, for in December 1955 the Fairch.ild Engine and Airplane Corporation announced plans for licence production of the F.n Friendship in the United States. Agreement on th.is venture was reached in April 1956, whereby Fairchild would build to supply orlh and South America with the exception of Brazil. By that time Fokkers planned to build fifty and Fairchild a hundred. On March 23rd 1958, the first production F.27 (C/N 10005) EI-AKA, bearing the emerald green of Aer Lingus made the first flight. After delivery and trials, and further deliveries, Aer Lingus put the F.n into service on the Dublin-Prestwick run. By typical American hustle, Fairchild"s first production model, N.I027, first flew on April 12th, 1958; this was joined by their second model, N.20n, for maker's trials. OnJune 10th, 1958, the first delivery was made, N.2700R to Piedmont Airlines.

At Schiphol design work continued to improve the Friendship and to adapt it to meet the various requirements of operators. Modifications included provision for pylon aux.iliary fuel tanks, the installation of weather radar, a version for combined passenger and freight work. A Friendship de Luxe, PH-PBF, was handed over to H.R.H. Prince Bernhard at Soesterberg for the use of the Dutch Royal Family. , Dakota replacement' is a term that has been loosely used, but th.is was literally so in the case of 0.334 Squadron of the Dutch Air Force, for which twelve Friendships were ordered to replace their Dakotas. The Philippine Air Force also uses Friendships. Work continues on this airliner and there is promise of much more work in the future. OnMarch21st, 1960 the Republic Aviation Corporation announced a joint programme with the firm for future cooperation and as a result Fokkers may manufacture spares for the large numbers of Republic F-84F/RF-84F fighters still in service in the Benelux countries. It is likely too, that the F-l 05D Thunderchief will join U.S.A. F. lI1lits in Western Europe and that spares and overhaul work will be a Fokker responsibil.ity. Republ.ic have acquired a minority interest in the firm and have brought to the firm some of their' knowhow' on vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The two firms are to collaborate in a supersorlic VTOL strike aircraft project which they will subnlit for general N.A.T.O. use. A probable characteristic is a variable-sweep wing. Tllis project will take some three years to evolve and Republic have several other projects, including a Mach 7 bomber to be powered by two nuclear ramjets, for 19701975 presentation. The association with Republic may, therefore, have a profound effect on the future of the firm.

In additioll to the works ilillstrated Schiphol coverillg approxill/ately 750 acres and having 3.f.O employees, there are tlVO brallches at Dordrechr alld Vpellbllrg ell/ployillg staffs of 800 and 650 respectively. In recellt years several aU/side designs have bee,[ bllilt IInder licence for the Bellelllx colllltries and for N.A. T.O.

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105

EPILOGUE

This view oj the assembly shop at Schiphol shows the production line oj Friendships when Jour (ZK-BXA - D, the 166th to 169th) were under conslruction Jor the alional Airways Corporalion oj New Zealand. Besides ilS mosl Jrequent use as Gil airliner the F.27 is a popular execulive Iransporl, e pecially ill Ihe U.S.A. The /irst oj I hese was delivered in December 1960.

Fokker engineers has been sought to design, develop and build the centre wing section and nacelles for the Breguet 1150 Atlantic. Then, for the Friend hip itself, there are future plans, resulting from joint Fokker/Fairchild development. A short landing and take-off version (STOL) is flying experimentally to meet military requirements. A long-fuselage version is projected, with accommodation for forty-eight passengers; Dart R. Da. 7/2 or R. Da 10 engines may be fitted, depending on operator's requirements, as the latter engine, while giving an increased cruising speed, wou Id reduce the 755 mile range of this version, by ixty miles. A high-density Friendship, with a re-modelled cabin is offered with fifty-two passenger seating. Thus, the Friendship is likely to remain in production for several years yet ... and then ... perhaps a ' Friendship replacement' will be on the boards? With the various projects that the firm are tackling there is no doubt whatsoever, that the future of Fokkers is well assured.

While de ign staffs are thus engaged, the manufacturing side will start new work this year (1961), as a re ult of the decision of the Dutch and Belgian to follow the lead of Western Germany, in adopting the Lockheed F-I04G Starfighter as a standard fighter. A group of factories will produce these aircraft in Western Europe, with Fokkers building the wings, rear fuselage and tail unit and a sembling and flight-testing. Initially Lockheed will supply components for assembly and the first European-assembled model is sched uled to fly in February 1962 and the first fully European-built Starfighter the following June. An order for 375 has been provi ionally placed. Fokker's are now steadily building up a sub-contract and supply organization, which includes the firm of Wilton in the Netherlands and the Crarnic and eil Tool Companie in Britain. Already work has commenced on a new electronic test-centre. From another source, France, the expert knowledge of

Allhough Ihe /irsl order for Ihe Friendship came from K.L.M., Aer Lingus received Ihe /irs I production model, EI-A KA, from Ihe Schiphol Jaclory on Novernber 191h, 1958.

General Mason Patrick, ex-Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Air Corps, said in a tribute to Fokker, ' Ordinary rules did not apply to him. You can't confine genius and Fokker was a genius.' Stephan, who was for over ten years Deputy Director of his Dutch establishment once said to Fokker ' I have never met anyone like you who at one moment fills'me with the greatest annoyance and the next moment with boundless admiration.' To which Fokker replied, 'That i because I am no ordinary man. One ha to take me as I am, because any rise is due to special gifts.' The American weekly The New Yorker in 1930 wrote, ' Competition has sandpapered his ego. But at forty years of age Fokker remains an en/anI terrible, a temperamental enigma to friend and foe " a pronouncement that hints at eccentricity. And C. G. Grey wrote, ' Naturally, Anthony Fokker had plenty of enemies. I believe he made rather a hobby of collecting them, as I do myself. He had simply made up his mind to a certain line of action and went along that line regardless of everybody. He was a law unto himself and always had been.' In his youth, the relationship between father and son had been one continuous battle, because the symptoms of the bonl genius were misunderstood, and led to bitter words. Things did not go smoothly at school either. He appeared unwilling to learn and sometimes lazy and unteachable, but he was neither the one nor the other. He steered a purposeful, individual course and with a turbulent, lively mind, he had an active dislike against being taught and preferred to find out things for himself. He was attentive, nevertheless, to subjects which held his interest, but because those interests were outside the school's curriculum, he was often distracted. From his earliest days he had a natural flair for handling woodworking tools, and he soon became proficient in metals. Provided by his father with a workshop and encouraged to make the most of his inherent abilities, he soon had a model railroad operating in the attic of his father's house. By the time he was twelve years old he had designed and built a canoe. An early example of the boy's ingenuity was his method of satisfying his teacher in examinations with the necessary minimum number of marks to avoid being' kept in' after his schoolmates had finished their lessons. Well known for his ability with hand tools, no particular notice was taken of the increa ing number of carvings which adorned his desk. But there was a method in these carvings! Suitably incorporated in various design was an incision about I inch long and inch wide but which on the underside opened out to more like 2 inches long and! inches wide. This incision was in fact a slot through the full thicknes of the top of the desk, on the underside of which was mounted a revolving cardboard disc on which the cunning Anthony had inscribed as many an wers as he could anticipate to his examiner's question. But this was not aU! Operated by an appropriate movement of the boy's body, a piece of thin wire would draw into the slot a piece of wood so as to close the aperture when it was not required to select answers! Fokker has said that he enjoyed the whole tbing because 'it was a test of skill between me and the teachers.'

Anthony Fokker-one of Ihe rare studio portraits available oj Ihe Flying Dutchman.

Similarly, at conferences, he listened carefully to all that interested him, but if the subject did not fully occupy him, his thoughts would often wander, and this sometimes created the impression that he was undecided. But he was not generally indecisive; he considered what he wanted and would suddenly come to a decision. He was never afraid to change his plans, and a genius often does change his mind, because such people are never quite satisfied with what they have achieved; therefore, they are called' capricious and incalculable '. This was certainly so with Fokker in planning his travels; one never quite knew where one stood with him until the last moment! As a businessman, he was more of an improviser than an organiser.. He was more interested in quick returns and looked to short-term profitable policies, rather than longterm planning that would give a firm foundation. He had the intuition of the clever businessman who gra ps at the opportunities presented; that is until the era of all-metal construction, which took him by urpri e. In his book Fokker said, , My chief purpose in life has never been to earn much money'. All hi life he regarded money as a means, rather than a a purpose. For him the real payment was in the sheer satisfaction of winning a cause. At first he was na'ive in financial matters, but he soon learnt from the harp practices of certain bankers of whom he wa a victim. There is one rather strange aspect ofFokker as a financier; from a remark in the van Doorninck report of 1935, it appears that Fokker had the habit of placing both

*

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107

fore, he cannot have meant it that way. If, however, the sentence is not taken out of context, there is some truth in the statement. This was the time that his business was becoming an industry, before Platz took charge, when less gifted designers were employed. Then, Fokker had to have his finger in every pie and make all decisions himself. .Reinhold Platz did not get the recognition he deserved in Fokker's book The Flying Dutchman, where an impresion was created that there was no other designer than the director himself. But, it should not be inferred that Platz was deliberately kept in the background. Platz was a free man to move where and how he liked. He was in no way hidden, but Platz himself hid. He was completely absorbed in his work. His work was his life. He published nothing and gave no lectures. Thus, an incorrect picture has been formed, crediting Fokker with too much and Platz with too little. But his existence was certainly not unknown and there was no secret about Platz in Germany or in Holland. Jane's All the World's Aircraft of J920 credits him as the chief designer of the Fokker F.II. That Platz, by preference, did not take part in the discussions with the authorities in Berlin was presumably because he did not possess any commercial insight, which in view of the keen competition presented, was of great importance. It has also been said of Fokker that he was a Bastler, a potterer. Strictly speaking, that was correct during his early years in aviation. Many experts began as potterers, such as Junkers, the learned tinsmith. During the glider competition of the Daily Mail in England in 1922 where he created such an impression, someone asked the writer if Fokker was an engineer. The reply was in the negative. Fortunately, he was no engineer; Platz was not either. Had they been engineers, their training might have acted as a brake to their ventures. As it was, they relied on imagination, and aviation needed at that time men with imagination. The two men worked well together, they were indeed complementary to each other. Platz a first-class welder and a good' rule-of-thumb ' designer; Fokker a first-class test pilot with an extraordinary flair for basic design. Fokker's Dutch Manager, B. Stephan, informed the writer, in regard

Fokker, seen here in Ihe U.S.A., in 1922, was always a keen pholographer. His excel/en I movies laken during WW1 on Ihe German airfields and depicling many famous pilols including von Richlhofen and Voss, show Ihe high slandard he aimed for and achieved. Nole Ihe simple, yel ejficienl , resl ' he developed.

his private money and the business capital of the Fokker limited company in one account. This had first to be sortedoutbefore the Government could find a suitable basis for negotiations for arranging subsidies. Without his financial adviser, Elekind, who e financial policies often caused differences of opinion and friction, his financial affairs-particularly in mixing private property and company finances-would have been in a hopeless tangle. As an aircraft constructor, he differed from his contemporaries. He used his eyes and ears better than others. Of the 1914-1918 War one former engineer of the Flugzeugmeisterei once said that, whilst the various German aircraft manufacturers were self-satisfied in presenting their creations; the Dutchman, Fokker, was an exception. At the Adlershof competitions for fighter aircraft Fokker would study carefully the entries of his competitors and photograph them with his pocket-camera. It was said that Fokker then stole like a magpie; but magpies do not steal, they collect. That is exactly what Fokker did. He may well have used the valuable details of others; the same as others later copied his ideas, but in general, the range of Fokker projects showed too much originality for Fokker to be labelled a copyist. To photograph what interested him was his hobby. He took photographs and films left and right. He made miles of film of ships, but he was not a professional shipbuilder. Unmistakable proof of his greatness is the criticism 0 one ever bothers with the directed against his greatness. mediocre. As early as July 1912, Lieut. Jhr. A. van Bose defended his countryman by protesting against the way in which Fokker and his work has been criticised in various Dutch quarters. Then, eighteen year after his death, a reader in the British publication Aeromodeller of January 1958, wrote that Fokker unjustly claimed in his autobiography that he himself was the designer of his aeroplanes, where it read :' I had to do everything, from designing the smallest part to negotiating for the largest contracts.' Taken literally, this assertion is of course nonsense. It is utterly impossible that he could have done everything himself. There-

Gliding was anolher hobby of Anthony Fokker. This is his single·seater F.G.1 of 1922.

to a suggestion that Platz !lad been badly treated by Fokker keeping him too much in the background; that this was certainly untrue, and that Platz when he left had no reason either professionally nor financially to be discontented. Like many other early aircraft constructors, Fokker had a basic knowledge of aero-dynamics, but in organizing his increasing business activities it seems unlikely that he had much opportunity to develop and extend his theoretical knowledge. It would, therefore, seem obvious, if not inevitable, that the various designers who worked with, and for, Fokker right from his early days must have been responsible; and that Fokker's own contribution consisted of suggestions for the preliminary layouts and various improvements indicated by test flights. That these were substantial and not less than major contributions to the development of Fokker aircraft, no one would gainsay, and full credit for this work must fairly be given to Fokker. Furthermore, Fokker had a flair for the practical solution of problems in a broad sense; , He flew by the seat of his pants'. An example of this is shown by the way he dealt with the initial longitudinal instability of the prototype D.VIf. After several test flights he issued an instruction that the side area of the aircraft must be increased so as to give a greater measure of rudder control. Only his extensive test flying experience could enable him to diagnose immediately and accurately the one fault with the aircraft. But by how much was the fuselage area to be extended? And what other de ign problems would be involved in making tlus increase once its extent had been decided on? There i no evidence that Fokker took any part in re-designing the fuselage, and thus it must have fallen to Platz to have made the neces ary, and indeed correct, calculations required to eradicate this particular fault from the aircraft. Fokker had several peculiar traits that suggest his boyishness persisted into middle-age. He enjoyed getting in anywhere without paying. ot from meanness, for he would no doubt have the entrance fee ready in his pocket. Such tricks were to him the spice of life and he would explain them by some such observations as: 'You just watch, the majority of the ticket collectors are half asleep. You need only say" Press" and you get in with any old bit of paper.' Sometimes it worked, sometimes it did not. A man who

took pleasure in such jokes, could not be haughty. In the early 'twenties, when he still worked on the airfields, just as in the days of Gonsenheim and Johanni thai, he took mechanics for trips with him in his car. In Paris during one of the aviation exhibitions he once lunched with six of his office and works staff and drivers in a select restaurant at the Champs Elysees. Afterwards they all went on a trip through the Bois de Boulogne. He was al 0 one of the very few great constructors who meet the young enthusiasts with a kind word and a joke. , His genial personality and democratic manner " said the junior activities' editor of Aero Digest, 'have made it possible for many newcomer in the aviation game to make Jus acquaintance. He seems particularly to like talking to boys who are studying aviation. Perhaps this is true, because he is even now a boy at heart; Jus enthusiasm is boundless.' A boy! At least he still was at the age of forty-when he-even if it was really for the last time-proved that he had not yet lost his youthful wildness. After the ocean-flight by

AJier aircraft, Fokker's greal imeresl lI'as, undoubtedly, in boals. From his schooldays he had owned and sailed Ihem and in laler years in Ihe U.S.A. he spenl much of his leisure al this hobby. mOl 01'QUI-board boat racing was one form of Ihis pursuil.

/

108

Violel Eastman of Winnipeg, Canada, became Fokker's second wife. She died as the resull ofa fall from her fiG! window in 1929. NOl very much is known of Anlhony's matrimonial affairs bUI, by his own admission, his complele preoccupation with avialion made him an unsafisfactory husband.

109

Fokker did not smoke, nor drink, but he loved Haagsche Hopjes. But that fondness for sweets, as a compensation for no tobacco and alcohol, had to be dropped, because of his figure. He was known for his ' advance sleeping '. He could fall asleep in the middle of the day, sometimes even during a discussion, and then in ten minutes he was quite fit again and could go on working far into the night. He sometimes enjoyed a good sleep in the cinema, irrespective of the film. He rose early and would write in a bold hand, using many sheets of paper, putting down his thoughts and plans. Alternatively, he would spend the first hours in contemplation. Of these early morning sessions, he wrote: , Often I do more in the first two hours, than in all the rest of the day.' If he read, then he preferred detective stories. He was mad about cars and he used one after the other. He enthused in particular over a pre-production Lancia Lambda he managed to get from Turin. His wardrobe was modest. The art of a West-end tailor was wasted on him and suits had to be measured in the shortest possible time. He preferred tweed-suits which, fitting easily, guaranteed him three-dimensional liberty of movement. And they had to have many pockets in which he could put notepads, cameras and other things. But he did have friends who wou ld draw his attention to striking deviations from the current standards of fashion. Wim van Neyenhoff once said to him, 'Surely you're not visiting Douglas in that silly hat!' Whereupon Fokker answered, obviously astonished and hurt: 'Isn't it good enough?' Of course it was a good hat, but it was much too large for rum. Evidently the shopkeeper, glad enough to be able to sell an expensive hat, had not dared to contradict, when the customer declared that this head-cover-which rested almost on his ears-fitted comfortably! Fokker, the man, comes close in that remarkable document humain, The Flying Dutchman which is his autobiography dictated by h.im, and put in writing by Bruce Gould. The author tries to analyse his real inner life with dashing frankness. Sometimes he elevates himself, and other times he confesses his own shortcomings. Unfortunately there are contrad.ictions and this leaves the reader a little bewildered. It concerns only his professional life, the life

A rare and informal occasion-Anthony is seen here with Charlie Chaplin.

Kingsford Smith and Van Dyk, during a gathering of those connected with the flight, it was mooted that Fokker's flying days must be over. Fokker heard. He jumped into a light aircraft, and performed ome of his beloved low flying aerobatics of his Johanni thai-days. Tt became a sheer frolic. He whipped round the hangars, raced over them and flew low over the heads of the onlookers. He landed twice and twice shot up in the air again. The airfield official who finally reached him, was practically out of breath with agitation and informed him that he had committed not one breach of the regulations, but a whole string, totalling $500 in fines. However, they could not take his flying certificate away-because he did not possess one at the time, his previous certificate having lapsed' He turned again to boating and his triple-screw cruiser, Q.E.D., launched in 1938, was fated to have a short life. Having been lent by Fokker the following year to friends, to use during their honeymoon trip, it burnt out and sank. Ever searching for new ideas, Fokker conceived a revolutionary type of yacht, with hollow masts through which sails could be drawn, to combine the best of wind and mechanical propul ion.

A marine experiment of Fokkers was the' Q.E.D.', a three-engined, triple-screw cruiser built for hilll ill 1938. It was 112 feet long and largely constructed of ' Weldwood.'

110

The Fokker family valllt, near Ham'lem, Holland, in which Anthony's ashes were interned after being brought back from New York where he died on December 23rd. 1939.

that proved rum unsuitable for matrimony. His first wife, El.isabeth von Morgen, was divorced from him, whereas his second wife, Violet Eastman from Winnipeg, Canada, lost her life at the beginning of 1929 when she fell from the window of her flat. These issues are avoided. They are glossed over in the passage-' I have in my life had several more Jove-stories which ended the same way as that first one, really because I thought there was nothing more important than my aeroplanes. I have always been too much engrossed in my own interest to satisfy the women with whom I was in love. I suppose I was too self-centred. Having become wiser by experience, I now know that in love too, one has to use one's brains, the same as in business and probably even more.' It is a pity that Fokker did not carry out his plan to publ.ish a sequel to his Flying Dutchman. That would have caused a stir, too, and would have raised a good deal of dust ... and it would have exposed certain people. As he once said to C. G. Grey: ' That book I am going to write when I am too old to be put in prison, and too rich to fear action for libel.' On December 23rd 1939, Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker died in the Murray Hill Hospital at ew York, at the age of only forty-nine years. He died from an infection, after a nose-operation. The illness hit him suddenly and within twenty-four hours he became unconscious. He

never regained consciousness. He had the best doctors, the latest treatment and a blood-transfusion, all to no avail. The funeral service was held at his house at Nyack, the day after Christmas. The lounge was full of flowers from his friends and business relations from all parts of the world. The Rev. Mitchell conducted the service, which was simple and touching in character. The ashes of the great Flying Dutchman were brought back on the S.S. Vo/endam by Van Neyenhoff to his home-land, where they were deposited in the family-vault at Driehuizen-We terveld, north of the town of Haarlem. C. G. Grey wrote a long obituary. In it he said; , To say that he will be remembered by a host of friends would be untrue, and Anthony would resent the idea. He never played for popularity and rather liked being unpopular. Yet tho e who knew him well, liked him well, for his many unu ual qualities. Those who worked with him trusted him and were trusted by him-as may be judged by the number of men who have built and old Fokker aircraft for many years, some of them, since he was in Germany during the last war.' The obituary ended with the words: ' Tony must have been a rich man. His death in a hospital in a foreign country emphasises the platitude that riches are not everything. I hope that some of his friends were with him at the finish, for he did not really enjoy being lonely.' R.I.P. III

SPIN I

SPIN III VARIANT

The first Fokker aircraft, October 1910

The second 1912 modification on the Spin Ill.

112

113

M.I0Z (B-ll)

A German Army trainer aircraft is illustrated. 114

M.14 (E-II)

The E-II 37/15 was flown by Oswald Boelcke 115

M.20 (D-IV)

The D-IV was Martin Kreutzer's last design.

116

V.I

This initial design by Platz introduced the use of the cantilever wing to Fokker aircraft. J 17

V.13 (D-VI)

V.4 (Dr-I)

144/17, flown by Lt. Stapenhorst of the Richthofen Geschwader, had black and white checks on an all-red aircraft. After limited use as a fighter the D-VI became a trainer in 1918. 119

118

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V.24 (D-VIIF)

V.28 (D-VHf)

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This D-Vn, with a BMW engine, was evaluated in the U.S.A. after 1914-18 War

This example of the last of the Fokker 1914-18 War fighters had an Oberursel engine.

120

121

V.38 (C-I)

Although it was a 1918 design, the C-I was used for some years post-war by the Dutch Army Air Corps. '

122

H-NABD , an F-II of KLM , rna d· e Its fit t Holland-England flight in September, 1920.

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The aircraft in which Us. MacReady and Kelly made their non-stop flight from New York to San Diego in 1923.

F-JV ('1'-2)

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This 1922 Dutch Army Air Corps training aircraft was powered by a Thulin-built Le Rhone rotary engine. 126

C.IV

Major Zanni of the Argentine flew this G.IV from Amsterdam to Tokyo in 1924. 127

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One of the D.XIII fighters built in 1924 and purchased by Russia. 130

The versatile C.V design is represented here by a Dutch Army Air Corps C.V-D 131

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Western Canada Airways Ltd., operated the Noorduyn-designed Universal, as shown here.

SUPER UNIVERSAL

The example illustrated is an aircraft of Western Canada Airways Ltd.

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This Dutch Army training aircraft had an Armstrong-Siddeley , Mongoose ' engineone of several types installed. 137

Fokker's third flying boat design was a three-seater for reconnaissance duties.

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Fokker's most famous commercial design, the F. VlIBj3m in the colours of Ad Astra Aero A.G., a Swiss airline company in 1929.

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F.14 C.VII-W

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Advanced seaplane training for the Dutch Naval Air Service utilized the C.XIV-W type.

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A number of T.VIIl-W's were operated by the RAF early in the 1939-45 war. An example is illustrated.

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The S.IX (Menasco' Bucaneer ' engine) flown by the Dutch training aircraft. This aircraft is the first of a batch of thirty-six G.IA's used by the Dutch Army Air Corps prior to the 1939-45 war.

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PART THREE A type-by-type review of over two hundred aircraft designed and produced by A. H. G. Fokker and his companies. Compiled by E. F. Cheesman. In certain instances a design may rightly be included in more than one series, in which case the more comprehensive notes and data will be found under the first appearance of the type in these series, which are in alphabetical order. A final section contains the information on those Fokker products used and built in the United States factories of the company. The sequence of information given below each aircraft illustrated is as follows: (1) The Fokker series, and number in that series, foHowed, in brackets, by the military and/or

(2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

6754. Max. Speed 112. Biplane. Similar in appearance to the B.l, this flying-boat was, in its military form, intended for long-range reconnaissance duties. It carried a crew of three. The top wing was of mixed fabric- and plywood-covering, the lower being of plywood throughout. Only one RIJI was built.

civil designation given to the type, viz., M.15 (E-IV). After W.W.l Fokker aircraft retained the company designation throughout all subsequent service by military, civil and foreign users. The year in which the type first appeared. Number and type of engine(s). Dimensions in feet and inches, printed thus, 23.6, i.e., 23 feet 6 inches. Empty and gross weights in pounds. Maximum speed in miles per hour. Notes providing general information on the type.

this type, the wing of which were built in America while about twenty hulls were constructed at the A msterdalll works. This illustration shows Anthony Fokker leaving the cockpit of a sponson-equipped B.TVa after a test-flight.

B SERIES

C SERIES

After W.W.!. the Fokker company introduced a new series of company designations for their various models and amongst these were the B series denoting flying-boats and/or amphibians. The complete line extended over the years 1922 to 1930 and numbered four basic types in all. In each case, the construction utilised a duralumin hull and wooden wings. In general these types were not built in numbers until the last of them, the B.IV, found some success in the U.S.A. The B series marine aircraft could be equipped for either civilian or military use and were demonstrated as such, although, in fact none were used extensively in the latter capacity.

The aircraft which appear under the above Fokker classification comprise two multi-seat reconnaissance, light bomber and fighter-bomber types. The reason for the use of this letter of nomenclature was probably Anthony Fokker's desire to continue with the already well-established designations introduced in Germany in W.W.1

B.IlIc 1926. Engine 450 h.p. Napier 'Lion '. Span 59.0, Length 39.1, Height 13.0. Weight (Empty) 4115, (Gross) 6810. Max. Speed 112. Biplane. A civil adaption of the above type with cabin accommodation in the centre of the hull.

B.Il 1923. Engine 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce 'Eagle' VILl. Span 44.3, Length 32.6, Height 12.6. Weight (Empty) 3740, (Gross) 5290. Max. Speed 118. Biplane. A light reconnaissance flying-boat which was intended to be carried on warships if necessary. This sesquiplane carried a crew of only three. lts tractor engine was mounted immediately upon the upper surface of the top wing which was fabric-covered unlike the lower plywood-wing.

C.l B.IV (F.I])

]919. Engine 185 h.p. BMW. Span 34.5, Length 23.8, Height 9.4. Weight (Empty) 1881, (Gross) 2761. Max. Speed 110. Biplane. The early production of this type took place at Schwerin in the 1918-1919 period as is also described under the Y.38 design. Assembly was continued in Holland and a number of different engines were fitted in 1920 and the years following. These versatile aircraft continued in use until 1940 (in Denmark), performing a variety of duties from advanced training to reconnaissance. Armament was one fixed gun for the pilot and one free gun for observer. A unique local modification of the C.I, by the Danish Army, resulted in a single-seater version, eight of which made their appearance in 1932. Engines subsequently installed in C.Is were 160 h.p. BMW, 160 h.p. Mercedes, 220 h.p. BMW and the 160 h.p. OberurseL. Russia is known to have purchased many C.Is, as did Holland, who used 59 of the type. Denmark also built them under licence.

1928. Engine 525 h.p. Pratt & Whitney 'Hornet '. Span 59.0, Length 45.3, Height 14.9. Weight (Empty) 4849, (Gross) 7273. Max. Speed 112. Monoplane. This cantilever monoplane flying-boat with wooden wing was designed for the American market and provided a cabin to seat six passengers. The pusher engine was strut-mounted above the wing. Alternative engine fitted was the 450 h.p. Bristol' Jupiter '. Only one B.IV was built.

B.I 1922. Engine 450 h.p. Napier 'Lion '. Span 59.5, Length 39.4, Height 10.10. Weight (Empty) 5480, (Gross) 7260. Max. Speed 110. Biplane. The first of the B series, designed by Rethel at Veere·. It was an amphibian, equipped with retracting wheels and had a pusher-propeller. Of sesquiplane wing form, both were plywood-covered. Intended as a military type, the first B.I ·was flown by the Dutch Navy, in the East Indies, for many years from 1923. Auxiliary controls were fitted in the observer's cockpit in the nose. Crew, four.

RIll 1926. Engine 450 h.p. Napier 'Lion '. Span 59.0, Length 39.1, Height 13.0. Weight (Empty) 4115, (Gross) 178

B.IVa (F.lla) 1928-29. Engine 525 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Hornet '. Span 59.0, Length 45.0, Height 13.0. Weight (Empty) 4500, (Gross) 7200. Max. Speed 120. Monoplane. The amphibious version of the above aircraft which, under the designation Ell a, was sold in some numbers, both commercially and privately, in the U.S.A. Seven passengers could be carried. Sponsons were first fitted on 179

1924. Engine 450 h.p. Napi~r ' Lion'. Span 37.6, Length 30.0, Height 11.2. Weight (Empty) 3080, (Gross) 4026. Max. Speed 148. Biplane. A short-span fighter/reconnaissance development of the C.lY was given this designation to denote its dual purpose (D = fighter, C = reconnaissance). The Dutch Army Air Corps used ten of the type in the East Indies.

purposes but stipulated that they be equipped with the Hispano-Suiza engines. This type was then known as the C III although in all other respects it was si milar to the c.I.

Cia 1929. Engine 200 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley 'Lynx' or , Mongoose '. Span 34.5, Length 23.9, Height 9.4. Biplane. Modernised version of the CI with modified rudder. The above quoted contracts no doubt include some of th is type. C.l.-W 1919. Engine 185 h.p. BMW. Span 34.5, Length 25.8, Height 11.6. Biplane. A floatplane version of the C.I intended for sea reconnaissance and advanced pilot training. This aircraft was actually built at Schwerin and test-flown in Germany.

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ClY 1923. Engine 450 h.p. Napier' Lion'. Span 42.4, Length 29.8, Height 11.2. Weight (Empty) 3278, (Gross) 4994. Max. Speed 138. Biplane. The C.I was, by 1922, too small an aircraft to adequately carry the necessary equipment for up-to-date observation duties and thus a new de ign was put in hand. This was the C.IY which proved to be a most successful and saleable model. Various changes were introduced. To fulfil the military requirements for wllich the type was intended, the fuselage was made more roomy and thus lost some of the streamlining affect of the Cl. Innovations were, the replacement of the nose radiator by retractable side coolers, the elimination of the fuel tank on the axle and an increase in wing span and length. The width of the fuselage was also much greater. Pilot's annament was one or two fixed machine-guns, and observer's two free guns on the rear cockpit gun-ring. The 400 h.p. , Liberty' and 360 h. p. Rolls-Royce' Eagle' engines were alternative engines used in the C.lY. A total of 139 aircraft of the type was built by the parent company, and many more were licence-built in Spain. Users of the C.lY were Holland, Russia, Argentine, Spain, Italy and U.S.A., where the prototype was demonstrated to the Army as the XCO-4. C.IYA 1924. Engine 450 h.p. Napier' Lion'. Span 39.7, Length 29.0, Height ll.5. Weight (Empty) 3080, (Gross) 4444. Max. Speed ISO. Biplane. Wings of different span were available for the CIY to be used on aircraft performing specific duties. This type was a short-span fighter/reconnaissance version intended for the Dutch East Indies (KNIL).

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C.Il 1920. Engine 185 h.p. BMW. Span 34.10, Length 24.5, Height 9.3. Weight (Empty) 1819, (Gros) 2600. Max. Speed 112. Biplane. This was a three-seater civil version of the C.J, having an enclosed cabin seating two passengers. A number of these were built and sold in Holland, the U.S.A., South America and Canada, where the normal wheel undercarriage was replaced by skis. A 230 h.p. Siddeley , Puma' engine was sometimes fitted to the CII. ClLI 1922. Engine 220 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. Span 34.5, Length 23.9, Height 9.4. Weight (Empty) 1880, (Gross) 2760. Max. Speed J 15. Biplane. Spain obtained a number of CIs for advanced training

CIYC 1924. Engine 450 h.p. Napier' Lion '. Span 46.10, Length 29.0, Height 11.5. Biplane. A long-span reconnaissance version used by the Dutch Army Air Corps. CY-A 1924. Engine 420 h.p. ' Liberty'. Span 39.4, Length 30.10, Height 12.3. Max. Speed 145. Biplane. The advantages of various wing-sets of different spans which became apparent in the C.IY model caused Fokker to continue this policy in its successor, the C.Y. The first three wing sets used on the C.Y were known as A, B or C wings and these designated the variant of the C.Y when thus fitted. The fuselage, tail unit and undercarriage remained standard throughout. Another aim of the designers was to achieve interchangeability of engines in the 250-500 h.p. range. It was considered that wings and engine could be changed in one hour. This cantilever wing two-seater, with fabric-covered tubular-framed fuselage, proved extremely successful in its various roles and the 154 aircraft of the type, built in the parent factory, were purchased by Holland, the Dutch East Indies, Finland, Bolivia, China, Japan, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Hungary and Italy. The five last-named countries also licence-built variants of the C.lYs, the Italian product being known as the Ro.t. i.e. Romeo. The CY-A was a tactical reconnaissance type with one or two fixed, and two ring-mounted, machine-guns.

C.lY-W 1923. Engine 450 h.p. Napier' Lion'. Span 46.10, Length 34.7, Height 13.2. Weight (Empty) 4928, (Gross) 8228. Max. Speed 130. Biplane. The floatplane version of the C.lY reconnaissance type above with plywood floats and strengthened fuselage. ]n this type Major Zanni flew to Tokyo from Amsterdam in 1924. Alternative engines; 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce' Eagle' and 400 h.p. 'Liberty'.

C.IVB 1924. Engine 450 h.p. Napier' Lion'. Span 42.4, Length 29.0, Height 11.5. Weight (Empty) 3190, (Gross) 4356. Max. Speed 130. Biplane. With either the Napier 'Lion' or a 360 h.p. RollsRoyce' Eagle' this was the long-span CIY used in quantity by the Dutch East Indies and many other countries. 180

CY-B 181

1924. Engine 450 h.p. Lorraine-Dietrich. Span 43.8, Length 30.10, Height 12.3. Weight (Empty) 2970, (Gross) 4730. Max. Speed 135. Biplane. Of much greater pan the C.V-B was intended for strategical reconnaissance work. Alternative engines were the 250 h.p. BMW and the 450 h.p. Hispano-Suiza.

C.V-E 1926. Engine 475 h.p. Lorraine-Dietrich. Span 50.2, Length 31 A, Height ll.6. Weight (Empty) 3047, (Gross) 5247. Max. Speed 136. Biplane. The light bomber/strategical reconnaissance model with , E' wings. Alternative engines used were the 450 h.p. Hispano-Suiza, 450 h.p. apier' Lion' and the 450 h.p. Bristol' Jupiter'. Some later C.V-Es had strengthened undercarriages with streamlined struts from axle to under urface of the top wing. In 1934 anum bel' of improved C.V-Es with the 730 h.p. Bristol' Pegasus' engines were adopted by the Scandinavian countries. In Finland some of these had ki undercarriage, and fought in the war against Russia, possibly until 1944. C.V-W 1925. Engine 500 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. Span 47.10. Biplane. A floatplane version of the C.V-c. Experiments with shock-absorbers incorporated in tloatstruts proved these to be unnecessary 0 rigid strut continued to be fitted. A 400 h.p. 'Liberty' engine was alternatively installed.

C.V-C 1925. Engine 500 h.p. Hi pano-Suiza. Span 47.10, Length 30.10, Height 12.3. Weight (Empty) 3168, (Gross) 5368. Max. Speed 146. Biplane. A reconnai ance and light bomber u ed by the Bolivian Air Force. The Dutch aval Air Service also flew this variant with a 400 h.p. Lorraine-Dietrich engine.

C.V-D 1926. Engine 450 h.p. Hi pano-Suiza. Span 41.0, Length 31A, Height 11.6. Weight (Empty) 3124, (Gross) 4224. Max. Speed 200. Biplane. The success of the alternative wing-sets used on the C. V-A, Band C types encouraged more re earch along the e lines and as a direct result different shapee wings were designed, based upon those of the highly satisfactory fighter types, the D.XI to D.XIlL This further development produced two more sets of wing which were intended for two- eater fighter/tactical reconnaissance use (the 'D' wings) and light bombing/ trategical reconnaissance dutie (the' E' wings). Jn these two form the C. V became a sesquiplane. With the Hispano engine the C. V-D was a twoseater fighter with' V ' struts replacing the standard' type, and a tactical reconnaissance type when fitted wi th the 450 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley 'Jaguar'. Bristol 'Jupiter' and Rolls-Royce' Kestrel' engines were also installed at later date.

C.VI 1926. Engine 350 h.p. Hi pano-Suiza. Span 41.0, Length 31A, Height 11.6. Weight ( mpty) 2750, (Gross) 4070. Max. Speed 140. Biplane. C.VL was not a Fokker company designation but merely one applied to the 350 h.p. C.V-D type by the Dutch Army Air Corps at Soesterberg to distinguish it from the standard 450 h.p. Hispano-Suiza-engined model. It was a two-seater, light, observation sesq uiplane. Twenty-six were built. 182

C.Vll-W 1928. Engine 225 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley , Lynx '. Span 42A, Length 31A, Height 13.2. Weight (Empty) 2640, (Gross) 3740. Max. Speed 100. Biplane. A light reconnaissance, or advanced training, f1oatplane of which thirty were constructed. It was designed and built from the beginning as a seaplane. This two-seater could be equipped with either wooden or duralumin floats. The wing covering was of plywood and fabric. The welded steel-tube fuselage was also fabric covered. A load of bombs could be carried and defensive armament was one fixed, and one or two free guns for the observer. A later version, in 1929-1932, had the 280 h.p. Lorraine-Dietrich , Mizar' engine, but the design envisaged the installation of any air-cooled engine of about similar horse-power.

C.VllI-W 1929. Engine 450 h.p. Lorraine-Dietrich. Span 59A, Length 37.9, Height 12.6. Weight (Empty) 4221, (Gross) 6062. Max. Speed 121. Monoplane. A f10atplane version of the C.VIll used for sea reconnaissance duties by the Dutch Navy who purchased nine of the type. These were numbered G.l to G.9. Comparison with the C.VIlI above shows that, in addition to the increase in size, con iderable relocation of the cockpits took place . in the seaplane version.

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C.lX 1930. Engine 650 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. Span 50.6, Length 32.9, Height 12.0. Weight (Empty) 3740, (Gro s) 5720. Max. Speed 146. Biplane. A total of six C.lXs was built-five for the Dutch Army Air Corps and one for the Swis Air Force. It was a two-seater reconnaissance se quiplane, visually quite similar to the C.V-E serie. Armament was the usual one or two fixed guns plu two free guns for the observer.

C.VlII 1928. Engine 600 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. Span 49.2, Length 32.10, Height lOA. Weight (Empty) 3637 (Gross) 5510. Max. Speed 144. Monoplane. A three-seater reconnaissance and light bomber. The semi-cantilever wing was plywood covered and the steeltube fuselage by fabric and aluminium sheet. Armament was one downward firing gun in rear cockpit plus two ringmounted machine-guns in the central observer's position. This type was designed in accordance with a Dutch Army Air Corps request for a larger reconnaissance and ob ervation aircraft than had been available up to 1928. Originally, the wing span was 46.0 but this was increased to 49.2 ~ith a consequent improvement in performance. Only one example was built and this was numbered ' 651 ' by the Dutch Army Air Corps.

C.X 183

1934. Engine. 650 h.p. Rolls-Royce' Kestrel'. Span 39.7, Length 29.0, Height 10.10. Weight (Empty) 3190, (Gross) 4950. Max. Speed 198. Biplane. A two-seater fighter reconnaissance/bomber. Thirtysix of the type were built in Holland, four being purchased by Finland and the remainder by the Dutch authorities. In addition, the Finns licence-built thirty-five of the 'Pegasus'engined versions. One C.X had a 925 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine, incorporating a ' moteur-canon'. A modified type of C.X. was equipped with enclosed cockpits. This model used the 650 h.p. Rolls-Royce' Kestrel '.

D SERIES As with the C series Fokker continued to use the German W.W.1 classification letter in the case of the fighter aircraft that he built at Veere and Amsterdam from 1919 onwards. Thus a D series appears and, to preserve the continuation of the numbering applied during W. W.1 to his fighters (the last of which was the D-VIII) his next fighter bore the number D.IX. It should be noted that the interim period 1919-1922 saw the use of the last two Fokker D types used in Germany, viz. the D-VII and D-VIII, by a number of countries who obtained these aircraft in various ways. Some were abandoned by the German forces on their retreat, some took the form of reparations or were surrendered aircraft, some were purchased from Fokker, being those that he removed from Schwerin and the final source of supply was the newly set-up factory in Holland which continued the building of the D-Vll type. Such aircraft were in use in the following countries, Holland and the Dutch East Indies, Poland, U.S.A. Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Rumania, Russia and to a lesser extent Denmark, Finland and Italy, who also had a number of the D-VIII type. These D-VlIs were merely re-engined versions of the 1918 design using the 250 h.p. BMW or 230 h.p. Siddeley , Puma '. Some, however, continued with the 160 h.p. Mercedes or 185 h.p. BMW while a number of experiments were carried out with Packard, Liberty and Hall-Scott equipped D-VIIs of both single and two-seater type. In addition to the military use of the D.Vll at this time quite a number were in the hands of private owners-this was especially the case in Belgium and Holland.

C.XI-W 1935. Engine 775 h.p. Wright' Cyclone '. Span 42.7, Length 34.3, Height 14.9. Weight (Empty) 3780, (Gross) 5610. Max. Speed 174. Biplane. This two-seater, reconnai ance and light bomber, f10atplane was designed for naval use from shore bases or catapult-equipped warships. The two box-spar wings were partly plywood, partly fabric-covered and the fuselage was of fabric-covered steel tubing. In addition to the small bomb load the C.XI-W carried one fixed pilot's gun and one free gun for the observer. A total of fourteen was built, most of these being purchased by the Dutch Navy.

D.IX (PW-6) 1922. Engine 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. Span 29.6, Length 23.4, Height 9.0. Weight (Empty), 1926 (Gross) 2763. Max. Speed 138. Biplane. One of Fokker's first post W.W.l designs in the fighter field was this development of the D-VII. Only one example was built and this was eventually purchased by the U.S. Army Air Service and known as the PW-6. Certain changes appeared in the D.lX from the D-Vll (apart from its greater size) chiefly in the tail unit and undercarriage. A fuel tank was incorporated in the latter in its original form but this was removed when it became the PW-6. Wing construction was of the D-VII type and the steel-tube fuselage was covered by fabric, plywood and aluminium sheets. As the PW-6 this aircraft was equipped with a Wright (Hispano) engine of 330 h.p. Armament, two machine-guns.

C.XIV-W 1937. Engine 425 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind'. Span 39.7, Length 31.4, Height 14.0. Weight (Empty) 2904, (Gross) 4290. Max. Speed 143. Biplane. A two-seater f10atplane of similar construction and appearance to the above aircraft. It was, however, not intended as an operational type and was confined to training although similar armament to the C.XI-W was carried. All twenty-four aircraft built were purchased by the Dutch Navy and numbered Fl-F24. 184

D.X 1~23. Engine 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. Span 45.11, Length 26.3, Height 9.8. Weight (Empty) 1896, (Gross) 2746. Max. Speed 140. Monoplane. Developed from the D-VllI through the VAl, this monoplane fighter was built for Spain who purchased ten of the type. Wing and fuselage construction was of the usual Fokker practice but an innovation was the use of two radiators on the fuselage sides instead of the normal location in the nose. Armament was two forward-firing machineguns.

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D.Xll 1923. Engine 385 h.p. Curtiss. Span 37.9, Length 22.11, Height 9.10. Weight (Empty) 2200, (Gross) 3086. Max. Speed 156. Biplane. Further development of the D.lX through D.XI resulted in this sesquiplane fighter which differed from its predecessors in having fabric covered wings. It was hoped that this design might find favour in the U.S.A. but orders did not materialize and only three aircraft were built. Considerable changes were introduced in the two aircraft following the prototype, particularly in the shapes of wings and tail unit. The' V ' interplane struts of the prototype were replaced by those of' N ' shape. Two machine-guns.

D.Xl (PW-7) 1923. Engine 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. Span 38.0, Length 22.11, Height 9.6. Weight (Empty) 1907, (Gross) 2755. Max. Speed 140. Biplane. This sesquiplane was built as a result of the experience gained from the D.lX fighter. The cantilever wings were plywood covered and although the earlier models had balanced ailerons these were subsequently modified as was the wing shape which became tapered towards the tips. A total of 177 D.Xls was built and supplied to Switzerland, the U.S.A., Spain, Argentine, Rumania and Russia. A number of changes in tail-unit, wing and engine cowling shapes took place within this production figure. The three examples purchased by the U.S. Army Air Service, and designated PW-7, received the Curtiss D-12 engine of 440 h.p. and the undercarriage was modified to eliminate the axle. The D.XI was one of the types which were destined to equip the illegal German Air Force nucleus being trained in Russia between 1925 and 1933. Two fixed machine-guns formed the armament.

D.XIll 1924. Engine 450 h.p. Napier' Lion '. Span 36.1, Length 25.11, Height 9.6. Weight (Empty) 2609, (Gross) 3637. Max. Speed 160. Biplane. Another sesquiplane fighter-virtually a re-engined D.XII. This type gained the approval of Russia who purchased a number. Alternative engines fitted were Lorraine-Dietrich and Hispano-Suiza. A total of 50 D.Xlll was completed. Two machine-guns. D.XIV 1925. Engine 400 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. Weight (Empty) 2095, (Gross) 2976. Max. Speed 170. Monoplane. A return to the low-wing monoplane layout saw the introduction of the D.X1V. The semi-cantilever wings were in two halves and plywood covered. Fuselage was of usual fabric-covered steel-tube construction. The engine bearers were such that a variety of engines might be installed. Despite a satisfactory performance the D.X1V did not go 185

into production due to its rejection by the military authorities and only the prototype was built. Armament comprised two machine-guns. D.XV 1928. Project only. This de ign was a small, light fighter of braced biplane layout. Manoeuvrability was the primary objective. A super-charged air-cooled engine in the 230-300 h.p. range was to have been fitted.

D.XVll 1931. Engine 580 h.p. Rolls-Royce' Kestrel '. Span 31.6, Length 23.7, Height 9.10. Weight (Empty) 2425, (Gross) 3262. Max. Speed 208. Biplane. As noted above, ' F-32 ' became a D.XVlI type and was in fact the prototype of the twelve which were built. It was hoped that the Dutch East Indies Army, who issued the specification for the type, might be a customer for the D.XVII but instead an order for eleven came from the Air Corps in Holland. These were equipped with various engines-Hispano-Suiza, Lorraine-Dietrich, but more usually the Rolls-Royce' Kestrel' and proved so popular and long-lived that some were still in service in 1940. Construction was of the usual Fokker type, plywood and fabric covered wings and fabric and steel tube fuselage. A projected canopy-enclosed cockpit version was cancelled at the design stage. Two machine-guns. D.XIX A fighter project. No details available. D.XX A fighter project. No details available.

D.XVa 1928. Project only. A heavy cantilever wing biplane fighter with water-cooled engine of 500-700 h.p. This design was considered to be a further development of the D.XLlI. Both the above types were designed to Dutch Army Air Corps specifications but this ervice became more interested in the contemporary D.XVI design so Fokkers did not proceed with either the D.XV or XVa.

D.XVI 1929. Engine 460 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley 'Jaguar '. Span 30.10, Length 23.8, Height 8.10. Weight (Empty) 2182, (Gross) 3086. Max. Speed 205. Biplane. A light, manoeuvrable, braced sesquiplane which combined the qualities of the previous two projects. Twentyone of the type were built, of which fifteen were adopted by the Dutch Army Air Corps, four by Hungary and one aircraft each by Italy and China. The Hungarian aircraft had Bristol' Jupiter' engines installed. A prototype with a Curtiss' Conqueror' engine was built in connection with the re-equipment programme of the Dutch East Indies Army. This was serialled 'F-32' but when no orders materialized it was modified to become a D.XVII type. Armament, two machine-guns.

D.XXl 1936. Engine Bristol' Mercury'. Span 36.1, Length 26.11, Height 9.8. Weight (Empty) 3196, (Gross) 4520. Max. Speed 286. Monoplane. Resulting from specifications from the East Indies Army, the D.XXI proved to be a very satisfactory design, and, after rejection by the above service due to a change in policy, was accepted and flown by the Dutch Army A.C., Danish and Finnish Air Forces. Finland (91 aircraft) and Denmark (10) built the type under licence and Spain was 186

,.

preparing to do so when the civil war intervened. Altogether forty-three were built in Holland. The wing, fin and rudder were of wood construction and the fuselage steeltube frame covered by aluminium sheeting forward and fabric to the rear. Armament was four 7.9 mm. machineguns, two firing through the airscrew arc and two located in the wings outboard of this. Later, licence-built Finnish models had all four guns in the wings. In its production forms the D.XXI used the 830 h.p. Bristol 'Mercury' engine (Holland) 645 h.p. Bristol' Mercury' and 1050 h.p. Pratt & Whitney Twin' Wasp' (Finland) while provision was made for future in tallation of the Rolls-Royce' Kestrel " Hispano-Suiza and Bristol' Perseus' power units. VaLInet O/Y., a Finnish aircraft constructor, tried out an experimental retracting undercarriage on a D.XXl but this proved to have no advantages over the standard fixed 'spatted' type and was not adopted. In Finland's snow, skis often replaced the wheels. In Holland the two squadrons equipped with D.XXI fighters put up a gaUant if unavailing fight in 1940 against the heavier-armed and more manoeuvrable Bf. 109s and Bf. 1lOs of the Luftwaffe. The Finns, probably by virtue of later developments, continued to use the type against Russia until 1944 and possibly later.

right up to W.W.2 and, in fact, to be resumed afterwards. The F series, predominantly large commercial monoplanes, proved most successful and contributed as much to the fame of Fokker, in this period, as his fighter aircraft had done during W. W.l. Some designs of these types emanated from the company's factory in the U.S.A. and these have been Ii ted with Arabic designations in place of the usual Roman style. After W.W.2 the Arabic system was resumed and, applied to designs of any series, viz., F.n, S.l4. F.I 1919. Engine 185 h.p. BMW. Span 56.7. Monoplane. Foreseeing the possibilities for civil transport aircraft, Fokker, at the end of W. W.I, commenced the design of a suitable type for this work. This was originally the V.44 or, in the newly introduced civil classification of the company, the Fr. Possibly, this five-passenger (in an opencockpit) design appeared, on reflection, not such an attractive idea and the aircraft was never completed. This work took place at Schwerin as did that of the following type, which then used the wing of the V.44. This application of the term F.I should not be confused with the 1917, Fokkerinitiated, designation applied temporarily to the V.4 Triplane in its first few production models.

F.U 1919. Engine 185 h.p. BMW. Span 56.7, Length 33.9, Height 10.5. Weight (Empty) 2640, (Gross) 4180. Max. Speed 93. Monoplane. The FII was an enclosed-cabin, cantilever-wing monoplane, the prototype of which, known as the V. 45, incorporated the F.I wing. It first flight was in October of ]919 by Adolph Parge, at Schwerin and after receipt of a German Airworthiness Certificate, it was regi tered , 0-57 '. The FIl was the last design by Platz at Schwerin and the aircraft which cau ed Bernard de Waal so much trouble en route to demonstrate to KLM at Amsterdam. A number, possibly twenty-five to thirty, of the type were constructed at Schwerin in ]919 and sold in Germany. KLM also bought two. It has been rightly claimed that the early Fokker F types led the way to all subsequent airliner development. One might justifiably select one aircraft as deserving of this honour-the FII.

D.XXIll 1939. 2 X 528 h.p. Walter' Sagitta' Engines. Span 37.9, Length 33.2, Height 9.8. Weight (Empty) 5115, (Gross) 6614. Max. Speed 326. Monoplane. Like the G.l, the D.XX£lI type was first seen in public at a Paris Aeronautical Salon, that of November 1938. It was a private venture of the Fokker Company of revolutionary de ign being a twin-boom monoplane with the pilot seated between the two engines driving tractor and pusher airscrews in the centre nacelle. The fir t flight of the prototype (only one example was built) was in May 1939 when Sonderman flew it at Schiphol. Cooling of the rear engine and feathering of this propeller caused some initial troubles, and before a modified production model could be built the bombing of Schiphol in ]940 destroyed this aircraft. The armament was to be four machine-guns. The experimental registration ' X-4' was allocated to the D.XXm. F SERIES In ]919, having already decided to enter the market for civil aircraft, Anthony Fokker allocated the letter F to distinguish these types from future military aircraft the company might build. An exception occurs in the case of the F.VI fighter which was given the F series classification for a special reason. This series was destined to continue

FIll 187

One of these aircraft later became an A-2 when converted for' Ambulance' duties carrying two stretchers. The other gained fame as the aircraft in which Lts. MacReady and Kelly flew non-stop to San Diego from New York, and later created a duration record of thirty-six hours.

1920. Engine 230 h.p. Siddeley 'Puma' Span 57.9, Length 33.9, Height 12.0. Weight (Empty) 2645, (Gross) 4190. Max. Speed 95. Monoplane. A slightly larger and more powerful development of the F.II. It seated five passengers in the cabin which had been widened by about one foot. Construction followed the usual Fokker practice but an interesting feature was the placing of the pilot on the starboard side of the engine, which was in some instances the 350 h.p. BMW. In 1922 a Rolls-Royce' Eagle' engine of 360 h.p. was adopted and the pilot's cockpit moved to the port ide of the fuselage. A final form of the F.Ill was introduced having the wing mounted on short struts above the fuselage (top of page 45). The F.IlI was another very popular type with KLM and other airlines, between 30 and 40 being built by Fokkers and an unknown number under licence by the German firm of Grulich. These latter used the 185 h.p. BMW engine.

F.V 1922. Engine 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce' Eagle '. Span 53.4, Length 39.4, Height 13.1. Weight (Empty) 4122, (Gross) 7040. Max. Speed 93. Monoplane or Biplane. Although the F.lV had proved to be too large an aircraft to attract the airlines some increase in the five passenger capacity of the EIIl was needed and to meet this, Fokker designed the F.V, an 8 seater (plus two pilots). The wing wa of normal construction but plywood replaced the fabric covering of the steel-tube fuselage. This type was designed as a biplane which might be converted into a monoplane of higher speed but carrying a smaller load. To achieve this the lower wing was made easily detachable. In its monoplane form the EV weighed 5852 lb. and had a maximum speed of 109 m.p.h. Improved facilities for passenger comfort and the storage of luggage were provided and these were later incorporated into all subsequent F series designs. The cockpit had dual controls. Despite its promise, the F.V was not proceeded with due to the difficulties in its construction, maintenance and the use of the detachable lower wing. Only one of the type was built and this was eventually sold to Austria.

F.lll-W 1921. Engine 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce' Eagle '. Monoplane. A float plane version of the F.lll, with rudder redesigned and a fin added. Also with Siddeley 'Puma' engine.

ElV F.Vl (PW-5) 1921. Engine 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. Span 39.4, Length 26.1, Height 9.0. Weight (Empty) 1935, (Gross) 2686. Max. Speed 144. Monoplane. The basic design of this parasol-wing fighter dates back to 1918, at the Schwerin factory. It has been referred to as the V.40 but this is incorrect, as this was a very small, low powered, sports plane. The EYI was, in fact, a development of the V.37 but no specific series number was allocated. The classification letter F instead of D is accounted

1921. Engine 420 h.p. 'Liberty'. Span 81.4, Length 49.1, Height 11.10. Weight (Empty) 5627, (Gross) 10750. Max. Speed 96. Monoplane. Hoping to interest airlines in a much larger type of aircraft than had up to then been available, Fokker produced the F.IV which was to carry ten passengers. No orders were forthcoming-business at that time did not justify the operating of such a large aircraft-and the two examples built were sold to the U.S. Army Air Service who designated them T-2s, they being in the Transport class. 188

for by the fact that the company were requested to apply this designation (meaning' Fighter ') by the U.S. Army Air Service authorities who purchased all twelve of the type and eventually called them PW-5s. The amlament was two fixed machine-guns.

Either air-cooled or liquid-cooled engines were fitted and thi point alone made the F.VIIA an attractive proposition to airlines who wished to elect (or were obliged to use) engines other than the type installed by the con tructor. Forty-two F.VIlAs were built by Fokker and these were operated extensively by KLM, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Several of these countries also built the type under licence.

F.vn

F.VIlA-3m 1925. Engines 3 X 240 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind '. Span 63.4, Length 47.10, Height 12.10. Weight (Empty) 5060, (Gross) 8 00. Max. Speed 118. Monoplane. As described in the main text of this book, the prototype of the F.VlIA-3m was merely a standard F.VIlA with two additional engines mounted below the wing, for participation in the Ford Reliability Tour. This particular aircraft was later purchased by Ed el Ford and used on the Byrd Arctic Expedition of 1926 with a ski-equipped undercarriage. It is now on display in the Ford Mu eum. The success of the original three-motor F. VIIA was such that production commenced on this type at once. The contemporary-built single-engine EVIls were from then on equipped with fittings on the wing lower surface so that, jf necessary, they could be converted to three-engine types. The 220 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley , Lynx' proved to be a popular alternative engine. It is not po sible to name which of many countries operated this type, as the records do not differentiate between the trimotor VlIA and VUS versions, merely quoting 'F.VlI-3m '. Certainly a considerable number of the 116 aircraft of these two designs, which were built both in Holland and under licence elsewhere, were F.VlIA-3ms.

1924. Engine 360 h.p. Roll -Royce' Eagle '. Span 72.2, Length 47.6, Height 13.1. Weight (Empty) 5113, (Gros ) 8140. Max. Speed 97. Monoplane. This first example of the famous F.Vn series wa an eight-pa senger high-wing monoplane de igned by Rethel, which reverted to the usual fabric-covered steel-fuselage after the lack of success with the F.V. It was intended as a longer-range airliner than had as yet been built and the proof of its quality in this respect was very soon apparent through a flight from Amsterdam to Batavia by the first of the type, H-NACC, in 1924. Two pilots were carried. An innovation was the wide track undercarriage (of over 13 ft.) built up of numerous steel-tubes. Another engine installed in the F.VIl was the 450 h.p. Napier' Lion '. A total of five aircraft of the type was built and all were acquired by KLM.

F.VIlA 1925. Engine 480 h.p. Bristol' Jupiter '. Span 63.4, Length 47.6, Height 12.10. Weight (Empty) 4298, (Gross) 7935. Max. Speed 118. Monoplane. At the suggestion of H. Grase the EVIl design was much cleaned up aerodynamically and became the F.VIIA. The balanced ailerons were modified to give rounded wingtips, and the original, somewhat' spidery', undercarriage was replaced by a simple three strut type for each wheeL A factor of great importance which considerably influenced the sales of this type was the interchangeability of engines in the 350 h.p. to 525 h.p. class which were then available.

F.VUA-3m/M 1928. Engines 3 X 220 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley , Lynx '. Span 63.4, Length 47.10, Height 12.10. Weight (Empty) 6160, (Gross) 9020. Max. Speed 115. Monoplane. 189

passengers were carried and one or two pilots in the t:Ilclosed cockpit. In the six passenger type with a 480 h.p. Gnome-Rhone 'Jupiter' the maximum speed was 127 m.p.h. and the gross weight became 5510 lb. The wing was built in two halves, which were attached to the upper longerons, otherwise the construction followed the usual Fokker practice. Few F.Xls were built-only three by Fokkers. These were purchased by Alpar (Switzerland) and a Hungarian company, Malert. So far as is known the Swiss purchase, after more than thirty-two years' service, is now grounded, lacking spares.

struction designed by H. J. Stieger using a Warren-girder spar of duralumin. Only the one example, J7986, was converted in this way. It is illustrated on page 80. F.VllB-3mjM 1929. Engines 3 X 300 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind'. Monoplane. A bomber version of the standard civil model.

Converted from the civil registered H-NAEA ('Postduif') this aircraft became an experimental bomber with racks fitted below the fuselage and other military modifications. No production of this model took place in Holland but some of the licence-built bombers con tructed in Poland may well have been F.VlIA-3mjMs.

F.VlIB-3m 1928. Engines 3 X 300 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind'. Span 71.2, Length 47.7, Height 12.10. Weight (Empty) 6722, (Gross) 11461. Max. Speed 129. Monoplane. Amongst the first purchasers of the new trimotor Fokker (the F.VlIA-3m) was Sir Hubert Wilkins, the explorer. He requested that one should be built with an increased span for use in longe-range exploratory flights. This was done and later the U.S. Army ordered another of the type which, in addition to this greater span, had other modifications for military use and was designated the C-2 in the U.S.A. Thus was introduced the F.VILB-3m which was to become the most popular and widely used of the entire range of Fokker airliners. It was an eight or ten passenger aircraft with a crew of two pilots. In addition to the seventy-four built by the parent company it was also constructed under licence. Countries which adopted the type were Holland, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Spain and Switzerland. Licences for building were held by companies in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, England (by Avro), France, Italy and Poland. The F.VIIB-3m also gained fame as the record-breaking aircraft used for numerous long-distance flights of the late twenties and early thirties. Construction of the type followed the usual Fokker practice. Various engines were fitted, amongst the many being, the Armstrong-Siddeley 'Lynx', GnomeRhone' Titan' and the Walter' Castor'. To assist the reader in readily differentiating between the F.VIIA-3m and the F.VIIB-3m it should be pointed out that in the former the wing trailing edge was straight and unbroken from wing-tip to fuselage. In the latter, that section of the trailing edge between the engine nacelles, was squared-off i.e., at right-angles to the wing chord. The licence-built F.VlIB-3m, by Avro in England, was called the Avro Ten. Amongst other slight modifications was the downward tilted installation of the nose engine. About twelve of this type were built with 3x 2\5 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley , Lynx' engines. . F.VIlB-3m (MONOSPAR) 1929. Engines 3 X 220 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley 'Lynx'. Span 71.2, Length 47.7, Height 12.10. Monoplane. The Royal Air Force, having purchased an F.VIIB-3m for experimental work had this aircraft fitted with an ST-2 wing, built by the Monospar Wing Company in England. This was of fabric-covered, cantilever, con-

F.VllB-3mjW 1928. Engines 3 X 300 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind'. Monoplane. The floatplane conversion of the standard F.VIlB-3m. An example of this type was' Friendship', the aircraft used by Amelia Earhart in her trans-Atlantic flight of 1928.

F.IX 1929. Engines 3 X 450 h.p. Gnome-Rhone 'Jupiter'. Span 88.7, Length 60.8, Height 15.11. Weight (Empty) 11460, (Gross) 19836. Max. Speed 132. Monoplane. Reverting to the trimotor layout Fokker's next design was intended for either long- or short-range routes. For Far East run only four to six passengers were carried but as many as eighteen seats were available on the shorter distances. Two pilots and a mechanic comprised the crew. The F.IX was not widely adopted by KLM and only two were built in Holland. A long-nosed version, having more powerful engines, also appeared but was no more successful. Avia, in Czechoslovakia, built the F.IX under licence, where it was known as the F-39 (Avia). This model had three Walter' Pegasus' engines of 635 h.p. each. F.IX-M (F.39) 1939. Engines 3 X 635 Walter' Pegasus'. Monoplane. A heavy bomber version of the F.lX built and used in Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Crew of two pilots with gunners in dorsal and ventral positions.

F.xn 1930. Engines 3 X 420 h.p. Pratt & Whitney 'Wasp'. Span 75.6, Length 58.4, Height 15.6. Weight (Empty) 10896, (Gross) 17050. Max. Speed 137. Monoplane. An enlarged and modified development of the F.VII trimotor series. In its original form it carried fourteen passengers but with the installation of more powerful engines (500 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Wasp' and 485 h.p. Gnome-Rhone 'Jupiter') this was increased to sixteen. On the earlier production models wheel-fairings were fitted but these were later discarded. Eleven F. XIIs were built in Holland and two licence-built in Denmark. They were flown by KLM, Danish Air Lines, and later, two were used by British Airways Ltd. on cross-Channel flights.

I

F.VlIl 1927. Engines 2 X 450 h.p. Gnome-Rhone 'Jupiter'. Span 75.5, Length 55.1, Height 13.10. Weight (Empty) 7383, (Gross) 12783. Max. Speed 118. Monoplane. In response to a demand for a large capacity passenger aircraft by K.L.M., Fokkers designed the F.VII!. This was initially a twelve-seater but was later adapted to carry fifteen pas engel's. It was a twin-engine aircraft (Fokker's first of this type) but otherwise almost identical to the preceding design. The Gnome-Rhone-built Bristol , Jupiter' engines were later replaced by Pratt & Whitney , Hornets' and Wright' Cyclones'. Of the nine F.VIIIs built in Holland, seven were operated by K.L.M. and two by Hungary where they were licence-built by the Manfred Weiss Company who were also respon ible for a bomber version which had nose, dorsal and ventral gun positions. One example of the F.VlII, PH-OTO, implemented, in 1932, Fokker's original plan to instal engines in the leading edge of the wing. This is sometimes referred to as the F-VIllA. It was later used for survey work and had 2 X 690 h.p. Wright' Cyclone' engines. 190

F.XIV 1929. Engine 450 h.p. Gnome-Rhone 'Jupiter'. Span 68.7, Length 48.2, Height 12.10. Weight (Empty) 4408, (Gross) 8816. Max. Speed 115. Monoplane. In an attempt to popularise purely freight-carrying aircraft, Fokkers designed this single-engine, cantileverwing type. The loading was affected by means of large doors on either side of the fuselage. A crew of two was carried. No orders for the F.XIV were forthcoming, however, as with the trade depres ion at the time potential customers decided against freighter-aircraft. Only the one example was built and this is illustrated on page 83. F.XI 1928. Engine 240 h.p. Lorraine. Span 53.9, Length 36.5, Height 10.2. Weight (Empty) 2920, (Gross) 4\87. Max. Speed 109. Monoplane. This semi-cantilever monoplane was intended more as a charter or taxi aircraft than an airliner. It was in many ways, similar to the American-built 'Universal', but, although the same name was applied to this Dutch-built type it should not be confu ed with the American' Universal' (which is described in the American Fokker section) as they were not one and the same design. Four to six

F.XrV-3m 191

1931. Engmes 3 x 370 h.p. Lorraine' Algol '. Span 68.7, Length 48.2, Height 12.10. Monoplane. The above type was converted into a three-engine, eight-passenger aircraft when it became apparent that the freighter version had no future. This was registered PHAEW and named' Watersnip " in which form it finished its career. F.XVA: FXVB 1931. Design projects for airliners for the East Indies route. These were cancelled when it was decided that they were too large for this purpose. F.xVIIA: F.XVIIB: F.XVIIC 1931-32. Design projects for a small, passenger-carrier or fast single-engine mail-plane type. These too, were abandoned.

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X

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F.XXII 1935. Engines 4 X 525 h. p. Pratt & Whitney 'Wasp'. Span 98.4, Length 70.6, Height 15.1. Weight (Empty) 16390, (Gross) 28600. Max. Speed 165. Monoplane. An interesting feature of the F.XXII design was the building of the engines into the leading edge of the wing. It will be recalled that Fokker had advocated this policy as far back as 1925 for the 3-motor F.VIIA and later attempts to achieve this layout was the F.VIIIA in 1932. No serious attempt, however, was made to produce a design with this feature until the F.XXII. This four-engine design, as its number implies, was a twenty-two seater airliner. In certain features it was similar to the F.XX but the use of a fixed undercarriage seems to have been a retrograde step. Four of the type were constructed, 3 for KLM and one for Sweden. The KLM aircraft were used on European routes only and two were eventually sold to British companies. They were impressed into R.A.F. service during W.W.2. F.XXIII 1937. Engines 4 Gnome-Rhone. Monoplane. Project only. Development of the F.XXII. Twentytwo passengers. Crew of four or five. F.XXIV 1939. Engines 2 X 750 h.p. Wright 'Cyclone '. Span 108.3, Length 71.10. Max. Speed 292. Monoplane. An all-metal twin-engine, twenty-four or thirty-six passenger, high wing monoplane. Four of this type were to be constructed by Fokkers, aided financially by the Government. Tooling-up started in 1939 but was cancelled with the coming of W.W.2. The design was improved during the war but as April 1949 would have been the earliest delivery date, KLM, in urgent need of modern types in 1946-7, had to purchase American ai rliners.

F.XVIII 1932. Engines 3 X 425 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Wasp '. Span 80.4, Length 60.8. Weight (Empty) 9570, (Gross) 16610. Max. Speed 149. Monoplane. Five aircraft of this type were built by Fokker and all were adopted by KLM who used them throughout the years 1932-35. They were thirteen-seat airliners of the orthodox Fokker trimotor design, but larger than the F.VIl series or the F.XIls. For use on the Far East service their seating capacity was reduced to six. Many excellent flights were made by these aircraft in both range and speed. F.XIX 1931-32. Design project for a small four-engine airliner using Gnome-Rhone' Titan' engines of250 h.p. each.

1933. Engines 3

reinforced bonded metal, thus eliminating much rivet work. Reinforced fibre-glass, too, is widely used and these two features have enabled additional strength of construction to be obtained together with an excellent finish. In five years the F.27 has been developed into many different versions ranging from a thirty-two seater to the 'Long Friendship' with fuselage lengthened to 84 feet and a capacity for up to 64 passengers. The 'Freightship' is another model of interest in this range, as is the primarily military variant, F27M 'Troopship.' Rolls-Royce 'Dart' engines, used throughout, include the R.Da.6, R.Da.7/1 and 7/2 and the R.Da.10. The Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corpn. of Maryland, U.S.A., build the F.27 under licence in several versions adapted to the American market requirements. Many of these were of the executive transport type. The' Friendship' has had world-wide sales and by May of 1960 firm orders for the type were, 95 to Fokker and 86 to Fairchild. In addition to these, many provisional orders had been placed with both companies.

Length 54.9, P~ight 15.9. Weight (Empty) 14201, (Gross) 20680. Max. Speed 192. Monoplane. A cantilever high wing monoplane with retractable undercarriage (the wheels being housed in the engine nacelles) and generally much more streamlined than any previous Fokker commercial type. As explained in the text, it had an unfortunate start to its career, nor does this twelve-seater appear to have proved a success later, as after comparatively short service with KLM it was sold to a French company. Only one F.XX was built and this was registered PH-AIZ.

F.XX 640 h.p. Wright' Cyclone '. Span 84.3, 192

F.25 (' PROMOTER ') 1946. Engine 190 h.p. Lycoming. Span 39.4, Length 28.0, Weight (Empty) 2IJ5, (Gross) 3140. Max. Speed 140. Monoplane. Immediately post-W.W.2 Fokkers had plans for a number of designs, the first of these being the F.25. This was a four-seater, twin-boom, pusher touring aircraft of wooden construction. It had a tricycle undercarriage which was retractable. An alternative engine was the 185 h.p. Continental. Twenty of the type were built, the production models having more pointed fins and rudders than the prototype, PH-NBA. P-I (' PARTNER ') 1946. Span 32.10, Length 22.4. Weight, (Gross) 1545. Max. Speed 112. Monoplane. Design only. Although it was officially known as the P-I this aircraft's similarity to the F.25 warrants inclusion of these notes at this point. The design of the P-l was based upon the F.25, being of similar layout, but of smaller dimensions. It was a side-by-side, two-seater for touring. The canopy folded forward to permit access.

F.XXXVI 1934. Engines 4 X 750 h.p. Wright' Cyclone '. Span 108.2, Length 77.4, Height 19.8. Weight (Empty) 25388, (Gross) 36300. Max. Speed 186. Monoplane. A cantilever, high-wing, 32-passenger airliner, the F.XXXVI was designed for use on either European or Far East routes. It was of normal fabric, steel-tube and wood construction, and the design originated in 1932 when a possible order for six of the type was mentioned by KLM. One aircraft, PH-AJA, in fact, was built, but the appearance of the all-metal Douglas DC-2 caused further production of the F.XXXVI to be stopped. This aircraft was never flown on the East Indies route (in this role it would have carried sixteen passengers) and eventually was sold to a British company in 1939. It was used by the R.A.F. in W.W.2., as a navigational trainer.

F.26 (' PHANTOM ') 1946. Engines 2 X 5000 lb. s. t. Rolls-Royce' Nene '. Span 59.9. Weight (Pmpty) 13900, (Gross) 25360. Max. Speed 500. Monoplane. An ambitious project of 1946 was this small twin-jet, pressurised airliner to carry seventeen passengers and a crew of three. Very much before its time, the F.26 was abandoned before reaching the prototype stage.

F.XXXVII 1937. Engines 4 X 750 h.p. Wright' Cyclone '. Monoplane. A project for a commercial monoplane to carry thirtytwo passengers by day and sixteen by night. No further details available. F.LVI 1937. Engines 4 Hispano-Suiza. Monoplane. A project for a commercial monoplane to carry fiftysix passengers by day and twenty-eight by night. No further details available. G SERIES The uses of, and requirements for, military aircraft in the' attack' category (i.e. light-bombing and cannon or machine-gun attack on personnel and ground targets),

F.27 (' FRIENDSHIP ') 1955. Engines 2 X 1600 s.h.p. Rolls-Royce' Dart '. Span 95.2, Length 75.9, Height 27.6. Weight (Empty) 22250, (Gross) 35700. Cruising Speed 270-305 according to engines. Monoplane. The world's first twin-turbo prop. airliner. This allmetal, high-wing, 32-40 seat design was intended as a short to medium range airliner and, as such, a replacement for the DC-3. It is a rugged, versatile, pressurised aircraft in the construction of which extensive use has been made of 193

1937. Engines 2 x 830 h.p. Bristol' Mercury'. Span 56.3, Length 37.9, Height 11.1. Weight (Empty) 7410, (Gross) 10582. Max. Speed 295. Monoplane. From the above prototype G.I were developed two production versions both of which were ordered and built in some numbers, the G.IA being the type in use by the Dutch forces at the outbreak of W.W.2. A a fighter or attack aircraft it carried eight machine-guns in the nose, 660 lb. of bomb, plus a crew of either two or three. The thirty-six G.IAs in service were allocated the serials 301 to 336. Experiments in dive-bombing carried out with one of the first G.I As received in service proved the type's adaptability to this duty, if necessary. A further venture was that of fitting a large perspex canopy below the fuselage for trials in observation duties which caused the aircraft to be named the' bath-tub G.I '.

though appreciated in the U.S.A. ince the 1920's, were not recognised in Europe at such an early date. Indeed, not until 1930 and onward was this duty considered to warrant a special design. It wa to fulfil such functions that the Fokker Company brought out, in considerable secrecy, their one and only design of thi type, the G.I which made its appearance at the 1936 Paris Aeronautical Salon. The overrunning of Holland in 1940 and the taking over of the Fokker factory by Germany prematurely terminated a very promising line of development from thi initial design, which proved its versatility in the five day war over Holland when many of the 62 G.I s built demonstrated their capabilities again t the Luftwaffe. The G.2, scheduled as the next stage in the design, was never, therefore, more than a project.

G.I 1936. Engines 2 X 750 h.p. Hispano-Suiza. Span 54.2, Length 33.9, Height 11.1. Max. Speed 280. Monoplane. A two-seater, twin-boom, cantilever mid-wing monoplane intended for fighter or ' attack' dutie . The wing was of the two box-spar type and entirely covered by bakelite plywood. An aluminium nose section housed the armament of 2 X 23 mm. Madsen cannons plus 2 X 7.9 mm. machine-guns of the same make. A moveable 7.9 mill. Mad en formed the rear gunner' armament in the tail cone. 880 lb. of bombs could be carried. The twin tail-boom were all-metal but the fuselage aft of the nose was of wood (being part of the wing) and metal in the region of the gunner's po ition. The first flight was made on March 16th, 1937 and the official regi tration ' X-2 ' was allocated. At a later date thi prototype was modified up to G.IB standards and emerged as a production model.

G.IB 1938. Engines 2 x 750 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Wasp '. Span 54.2, Length 33.9, Height 11.1. Weight (Empty) 6945, (Gross) 9700. Max. Speed 268. Monoplane. This model, the G.I B, was virtually an export version of the type and wa ordered by Spain, while Finland contracted for twenty-six. These were llJ1der construction when W.W.2 commenced (for Holland) and the Dutch authorities took over the twelve which had been completed. They were numbered 337 to 348 and included, as 341, the modified prototype' X-2 '. Although the Finnish order required 2 x 20 mm. cannon, plus 2 X 7.9 mm' machine-guns in the fixed forward armament, these cannons were not yet available and only three of the e aircraft could be used with four machine-gun nose armament improvised by the Fokker engineers. Bomb load was 880 lb. On taking over the factory the Luftwaffe ordered the completion of the Finnish order and themselves used these G.l Bs as fighter trainers. One of the last of this order was. , stolen' by Leegstra and Vos for their escape to England. Denmark, in 1939, obtained licence production rights for the G.I B but the occupation of the country by Germany stopped this projected building programme.

'SPI

'SERIES

No contemporary or subsequent specific designations were applied to the earliest Fokker types of the monoplane configuration built between 1910 and 1913. For this reason, the practice of referring to anyone of them by the term 'Spin' (Spin=Dutch: Spinne=German: Spider=English) has resulted in some confusion as to which particular model

G.IA 194

was meant. Even Anthony Fokker himself, in later years spoke of one Spin type when quite another was intended! It is hoped that the following table, which classifies the three basic models and the variou sub-types, will differentiate between, and clarify the history of, these interesting but almost unknown Fokker designs.

SPI III August, 191 I. Engine 50 h.p. Argus. Span 36.0, Length 25.5, Height 9.10. Weight (Empty) 550, (Gro s) 880. Max. Speed 55. Monoplane. Originally this model had ailerons but it was soon converted to the wing-warping control system. The tailkid was repositioned to a point immediately behind the pilot. Goedecker is thought to have been largely responsible for the construction of the Spin HI which was a smaller and more lightly constructed version of the Spin II. The Spin JlI, placed in the Zeughaus, Berlin, by Goring was destroyed in the 1914-]8 war.

SPI 1 October, 1910. Engine 50 h.p. Argus. Span 42.7. Monoplane. Thi single-seater de ign had no ailerons, nor originally, a rudder, though one was subseq uently fitted. Its twowheel undercarriage was ituated below the engine and between tubular skids, under the wept-back wings. Short duration, straight' hop , only were flown in this type, its chief value being in the information it provided for succeeding types. This Spin 1 was Fokker's very first design and was built at Baden-Oos in partnership with von Daum who eventually wrecked it, in late 1910. The aircraft, which according to many accounts accepted up to the present day, Fokker flew at Haarlem was the Spin] but this is quite incorrect and no doubt stems from Fokker's habit of referring to that aircraft as though it was the only one of the type built. Comparison with the later Spin models shows the great improvements effected.

1st 1912 SPIN VARIA T January, 1912. Engine 70 h.p. Argus. Span 36.0, Length 26.0, Height 9.9. Weight, (Gross) 902. Max. Speed 55. Monoplane. A Johannisthal-built two-seater used for training. Three are thought to have bcen built and flown. SPIN II May, 191 I. Engine 50 h.p. Argus. Span 42.7. Monoplane. This improved design had ailerons, a triangular rudder and an orthodox two-wheel and skid undercarriage. The swept-back wing were braced through two pylon, one triangular, the other square-shaped above the fuselage. The pilot sat below the latter which by its shape provides the chief vi ual difference between this and the Spin III type. Goedecker, who built this aircraft, probably assisted in its design. It was a two-seater, on which Fokker taught himself to fly and on May 16th, 1911 passed his pilot's licence tests. One month later von Daum crashed the Spin II and it was not rebuilt.

2nd 1912 SPIN VARIANT May, 1912. Engine 70 or 100 h.p. Argus. Span 43.3, Length 27.10, Height 9.9. Weight, (Gros ) 902. Max. Speed 50. Monoplane. 195

A later Johannisthal-built, two-seater, traIning type, with nacelle body. It was a variant of Spin III with' stick' control. Only about two were constructed and one was the aircraft in which four people were flown at Doberitz. The German Army purchased one of this type.

1st 1913 SPIN VARIANT 1913. Engine 50 h.p. Argus. Span 36.0, Length 25.5, Height 9.10. Weight (Empty) 550, (Gross) 880. Max. Speed 55. Monoplane. Two-seater trainer built and used at Fokker's flying school. Six of this type seem to have been constructed. A11 had open fuselages.

1913. Engine 70 h.p. Renault. Monoplane. Approximately as 2nd 1912 Variant. The last unclassified design. Similar to the above type, with nacelle body. M SERIES The M, or Military series of designs which emerged from the Fokker factories at Johannisthal and, later, Schwerin between 1913 and 1916 certainly laid the foundations of the company's success as constructors of military aircraft for the German and Austrian Air Forces. This series included both monoplane and biplane types and, if not all of them were accepted for service, the majority were put into production. The best known of the M series were undoubtedly those which gained fame under the German military designation of ' E' class aircraft, and, together with the fixed machine-gun, revolutionized military aviation in 1915. In the M series a total of twenty-two designs and/or variants are found, many of great similarity, and it was these basic types which became directly, or after some modification, the miutary designated A, B, D, E and K classes. The interpretation of these symbols is as follows: A= Unarmed Scouting monoplanes. B= Unarmed biplanes, originally observation types but later trainer aircraft. D=Armed single-seater biplane fighters. E= Armed single-seater monoplane fighters. K=Kampjflugzeug or 'Battle Aeroplanes (a designation later cancelled) were twin-engine, armed, multiplace biplanes.

M.3 1913. Engine 100 h.p. Mercede or 70 h.p. Renault. Span 43.3, Length 27.10, Height 9.9. Max. Speed 60. Monoplane. Very imilar to the M.2 type but with a slab ided fuselage. Th is Palm design of Septem ber, 1913 was not suitable for the army and further production was stopped.

M.5L (A-H) 1914. Engine 80 h.p. Oberursel. Span 31.4, Length 23.9. Max. Speed 80. Monoplane. Shou Ider/mid-wing single-seater based on the secondhand Morane-Saulnier, Type H, purcha ed by Fokker. It appeared in May, 1914, and wa the first design of Martin Kreutzer. Approximately twenty were built. The wing was termed' long-span " hence the suffix' L' meaning Lang, I.e. Long, and the tall pylon over which the twelve warping cables were operated, for the top of the wings, was a characteri tic of the type. This model also used by the Au trians for reconnaissance duties.

M.I 1913. Engine 100 h.p. Argus or Mercedes. Span 43.3, Length 27.10, Height 9.9. Weight, (Gross) 902. Max. Speed 50. Monoplane. For details and illustration of this type see notes for 2nd 1913 Spin Variant. M.3a 1913. Engine 95 h.p. Mercedes or 70 h.p. Renault. Span 43.3, Length 27.10, Height 9.9. Monoplane. A more streamlined version of the M.3, again with rudders above and below the fuselage. Produced about October, 1913, only one wa built and this wa apparently sold to a Russian purchaser who crashed it whilst undergoing instruction at Schwerin.

2nd 1913 SPIN VARIANT (M.I) 1913. Engine 100 h.p. Mercedes or Argus. Monoplane. Dimensions and data approximately as those of 2nd 1912 Spin variant. Two-seater trainer, private owner and military type based on Spin III design. Originally about five were built. The Fokker miutary flying school at Schwerin used this version and two were purchased by the German military authorities and received the designation M.I. All had nacelle bodies.

M.5K (A-Ill) 1914. Engine 80 h.p. Oberur el. Span 28.0, Length 22.2, Height 9.6. Weight (Empty) 788, (Gro ) 1239. Max. Speed 82. Monoplane. Contemporary with the 5L, the 5K (. K '=Kurz= Short) was the short-span version. It is thought that about ten of the type were built and it was to one of the e that Fokker fir t fitted his interrupter gear u ing a ingle Parabellum 08/14 machine-gun. It was originally in use a an unarmed reconnaissance type by the German Army.

tM.2 1913. Engine 100 h.p. Argus or Mercedes. Span 43.3, Length 27.10, Height 9.9. Weight, (Gross) 1265. Max. Speed 63. Monoplane. Low-wing monoplane with streamune steel-tube, fabric-covered fuselage. Some M.2s had a rudder both above and below the fuselage. This was a design by Palm, in fact, and with it the military competition, which called for an ea ily transportable aircraft, was won. The Army ordered ten M.2s in July and August 1913. For transportation purposes these aircraft had easily removable wings which were packed alongside the fuselage on a specially designed truck built by the Daimler Company. 196

M.4 1913. Engine 95 h.p. Mercedes. Monoplane. Built in November, 1913, the Stahltaube, as it was c~lled, was a two-seater shoulder-wing monoplane with aIle.rons, no.sewh.eel and orthodox tail-skid. Though varIOUS modIfkatlOns were tried the single example built was not militarily acceptable.

M.5K/MG (E-I) 197

1914. Engine 80 h.p. Oberursel. Span 31.4, Length 23.9. Max. Speed 84. Monoplane. A genuine shoulder-wing monoplane of September, 1914. It was both a trainer and an artillery-spotter and between thirty and forty were built. This two-seater was also constructed under licence by Halberstadt by whom it was termed the Halberstadt A-I.

1915. Engine 80 h.p. Oberursel. Span 29.4, Length 22.2, Height 9.5. Weight (Empty) 788, (Gross) 1239. Max. Speed 82. Monoplane. As a result of the above successful armament experiments in April, 1915 the thus-modified M.5K types were taken into military service as single-seater monoplane fighters of which this was the first of several models. Standard armament was one Spandau (Maxim) machine-gun.

M.9 (K-I) 1915. Engines 2 x 80 h.p. Oberursel. Biplane. April, 1915, saw the introduction of this twin-fuselage, three-seater experimental fighter. The engines were mounted tandem fashion in the central nacelle which housed the pilot. Each fuselage carried a gunner in the nose. The type was dismantled after a few flights had proved it unsatisfactory for military purposes.

M.6 1914. Engine 80 h.p. Oberursel. Monoplane. In June, 1914 this shoulder-wing, two-seater monoplane was completed. The one example of the type was crashed and destroyed at Schwerin. Note that the method of supporting the wing slightly above the fuselage on short struts:qualifies th is type to be a parasol monoplane.

M.7 (FOKKER B) 1915. Engine 80 h.p. Oberursel. Biplane. This two-seater, single-bay sesquiplane, of which about twnty were built, was intended for observation duties. A dozen were sold to Austria and these w.ere known as Fokker B types. It first appeared in January, 1915 but was not one of the company'smoresuccessfultypes.

M.10E (AUSTRIAN B-1) 1915. Engine 80 h.p. or 100 h.p. Oberur el. Biplane. Introduced in April, 1915. This was a two-seater trainer or reconnaissance aircraft used by the Austrians. It had single-bay wings and could be distingui hed from the M.7 by the two additional struts in the front centre section. The suffix' E ' is the abbreviation of Einstielig and indicates , one bay' wings.

M.I0Z (B-Il)

M.8 (A-I) 198

1915. Engine 80 h.p. or 100 h.p. Oberursel. Span 39.0, Length 24.7, Height 8.2. Biplane. Th is two-seater trainer, reconnaissance and artillery aircraft was virtually a two-bay version of the M.lOE, hence the suffix' Z' meaning Zweistielig i.e. 'two-bay'. It first appeared about May, 1915. Some were fitted with the extra centre-section struts and, when required, a free gun was operated on the horizontal rail mountings on either side of the cockpits. M.ll (B-ll) 1915. Engine 100 h.p. Oberursel. Biplane. Modified version of the M.l OZ. Engine change.

M.12 AND M.13 Details of these two types are unknown but two M.IO experiments with (I) the 100 h.p. Mercedes and (2) the 100 h.p. Goebel I engines may have made use of these M numbers. lllustrated is a modified M.IO (C/N 169) with the former engine installed.

M.14 (E-ll) 1915. Engine 100 h.p. Oberursel. Span 31.2, Length 23.7, Height 7.9. Weight (Empty) 880, (Gross) 1340. Max. Speed 87. Monoplane. Developed from the M5K/MG (E-I) and armed with a fixed Spandau, this was the first single-seater fighter built as such in number (23). Jt made its appearance on the Front in September, 1915.

M.14 (E-JII)

1916. Engine 100 h.p. Oberursel. Span 31.2, Length 23.7, Height 7.9. Weight (Empty) 876, (Gross) 1344. Max. Speed 87. Monoplane. Like the E-II, the E-Tll, with the ame dimensions and sharing the same M number, was a further development from the E-I and was armed with one Spandau gun. It went into service in August, 1916. About 130-150 were built.

M.15 (E-IV) 1916. Engine 160 h.p. Oberursel. Span 32.9, Length 24.7, Height 9.0. Weight (Empty) 1025, (Gross) 1593, Max. Speed 99. Monoplane. The aircraft illustrated is that of Oswald Boelcke the first German ace who initiated the use of fighter aircraft in formations. He was far from happy with the E-IV despite its more powerful engine and made a very adverse report on the characteristics of the type. This carried much weight with both the High Command and his fellow pilots and virtually damned the E-IV. This was the final model 0 f the early E series and about thirty were constructed, normally with two Spandau guns. One aircraft fitted with three guns, for Immelmann, proved to be an unsuccessful experiment. This type of engine also proved to be very unsatisfactory in service. A total of 625 Fokker monoplane fighters in the E-1 to E-IV series was constructed.

M.16E 1915. Engine 100/120 h.p. Mercedes. Biplane. Named the 'Karausche' (Carp), thi single-bay, ex-peri mental, single-seat figh ter was a late 19 15 design with 2 Spandau gun. It was not put into production. 199

19l6. Engine 80 h.p. Oberursel. Span 25.0, Length 21.0, Height 7.4. Max. Speed 82. Biplane. Thought to have been developed from the M.17E but with the top wing raised above the fuselage by an orthodox system of centre-section struts. About fifty , Baby Fokkers', as they were called, were supplied to Austro-Hungary primarily as scouting aircraft though some were later armed with one Schwarzlose machine-gun either synchronised or mounted above the top wing.

A two-bay, single-seater fighter, with twin Spandau guns. This early model had wing-warping.

M.18ZF (0-1)

M.16Z (AUSTRIAN B-IU) 1916. Engine 160 h.p. Mercede or 200 h.p. Au troDaimler. Biplane. This two-bay, two-seater of February-March, 1916 was eventually used by Austro-Hungary and equipped with the Austro-Oaimler engine. Thirty were purchased.

../;

M.17E 1915. Engine 100h.p.Oberursel. Biplane. The rotary-engined·· version of the M.16 . It carried one Spandau but was not accepted for prod uction. Three famous personalities of the W.W.I years at Fokkers are shown assembling this aircraft. They are, from left to right, Platz, Schmidt and Kreutzer. Kreutzer wa at this time the duef designer at Fokker, soon to be followed by Platz, who was his assistant. Schmidt, a long ti me employee of the company was the chief mechanic.

M.I7ZF (O-I!) 1916. Engine 100 h.p. Oberur el. Span 28.8, Length 20.ll, Height 8.4. Weight (Empty) 1018, (Gross) 1502. Max. Speed 93. Biplane. A two-bay, single-seat fighter with one Spa"dau gun which entered service in early 1916. Probably due to the trouble in obtaining Mercedes engines the D-U preceded the 0-1. A total of 132 were built. The second suffix letter, ' F " signified that wing-warping control was used. M.I7ZK (0-11) 1916. Engine 100h.p. Oberursel. Biplane. As M .17ZF but with ailerons, as denoted by suffix' K '.

200

M.19K (0-111) 1916. Engine 160 h.p. Oberursel. Span 29.8, Length 20.7, Height 7.6. Weight (Empty) 994, (Gross) 1562. Max. Speed 99. Biplane. As M .19F with ailerons. About 160 of the two versions were built. The aircraft illustrated is in Dutch markings. A number of the type were purchased by that country.

M.18ZK (0-1) 1916. Engine 120 h.p. Mercedes. Span 29.8, Length 20.11, Height 8.4. Weight (Empty) 844, (Gross) 1267. Max. Speed 93. Biplane. As M.18ZF but with ailerons. 1I1ustrated is the prototype 0-1 experimentally fitted with aileron controls.

M.18E 1916. Engine 100 h.p. Mercedes. Span 28.8, Length 20.11, Height 8.4. Weight (Empty) 844, (Gross) 1267. Max. Speed 93. Biplane. This single-bay, single-seater greatly resembled the M.16E type, but introduced, for the first time on a Fokker design, a fin of triangular shape and an unbalanced rudder. As an experimental fighter it carried two Spandau guns. No further production took place, however, as it was not accepted by the German military authorities.

M.l7K (AUSTRIAN B-ll)

1916. Engine 120 h.p. Mercedes. Span 28.8, Length 20.11, Height 8.4. Weight (Empty) 844, (Gross) 1267. Max. Speed 93. Biplane. In general form this aircraft was similar to the D-U. It had one Spandau gun. Approximately twenty-five were built but after testing the type Boelcke rejected if for the early Jagdstajfe/n as being too stable. The prototype had ailerons, cube-shaped radiators on both sides of the fuselage and a square rudder. The production versions had oblong radiators, the well known' comma' shaped rudder and, initially, wing warping control. It later became a trainer.

M.20 (O-lV) 1916. Engine 160 h.p. Mercedes. Span 31.9, Length 20.7, Height 7.10. Weight (Empty) 1333, (Gross) 1850. Max. Speed 100. Biplane. Two-bay, single-seater, with aileron control and two Spandau guns. Thirty-three built-three with longer span and unsymmetrical strutting.

M.19F (D-IJI) 1916. Engine 160 h.p. Oberursel. Span 29.8, Length 20.7, Height 7.6. Weight (Empty) 994, (Gross) 1562. Max. Speed 99. Biplane.

M.21 201

1916. Engine 100 h.p. Oberur el. Span 28.8, Length 19.10, Height 7.6. Weight (Empty) 798, (Gross) 1245. Max. Speed 106. Biplane. Prototype of the D-V. Single-bay, single-seater with swept-back wings, ailerons and slab-sided fuselage. Horseshoe-shaped engine cowling and ' reversed' centre-section struts. A second model had a fully enclosed engine, large spinner and a rounded fuselage.

1924. Engine 130 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley , Mongoose '. Span 36.9, Length 26.3, Height 10.6. Weight (Empty) 1653, (Gross) 2270. Max. Speed 93. Biplane. The success of the previous design encouraged the further development of this model in the form of an aircooled engined type, the S.lV. Such engines in the range of 110-130 h.p. were more readily available than similar water-cooled types. Here, too, was an opportunity to reduce, still further, the aircraft weight. Other engines used were the 110 h.p. Siemens, 130 h.p. Bristol 'Lucifer', the 110 h.p. Oberursel or the 130 h.p. Clerget. Thirty-one aircraft of the type were built, to be used mainly by the Dutch Services schools.

this work during the period 1920-1938 and the company continued with further designs for training aircraft after W.W.2. This was the S series and, although originally heir use was ab initio training the later designs have had a pronounced trend towards military requirements in the preparation of pilots destined to fly jet or other high performance aircraft.

S.lIA 1922. Engine 200 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley , Lynx '. Span 36.1 I, Length 23.8, Height 9.2. Max. Speed 85. Biplane. By enclosing the gap between the fuselage top and the upper wing with perspex panels and redesigning the cockpit, the space being now converted into a small cabin, Fokker produced this' Ambulance' aircraft. S.1 (TW-4) 1920. Engine 90 h.p. Curtiss. Span 41.8, Length 28.0, Height 8.5. Weight (Empty) 1342, (Gross) 1947. Max. Speed 87. Monoplane. This was a two-seater parasol-wing monoplane with side-by-side seating for instructor and pupil. [t was derived from the V.43 of 1919 wh ich may be claimed as its prototype. No great number is thought to have been built but in 1922 one was purchased by the U.S. Army Air Service and designated the TW-4. The construction of the S.l followed closely the lines of Fokker's cantilever monoplanes of W.W.I.

M.22E (O-V) 1916. Engine 100 h.p. Oberursel. Biplane. As second model of the M.21 but with centre-section struts reverting to normal 0-1 to O-IV system. Armament was two Spandau guns. The first design of Reinhold Platz, it appeared in late J916. About 250 were built and were used mainly for training duties.

M.22Z 1916-17. Engine 100 h.p. Siemens-Halske 1. Approximate dimensions; Span 30.0, Length 20.6, Height 7.6. Weight (Empty) 950, (Gross) 1400. Max. Speed 95. Biplane. This was a two-bay, wing-warp control, version of the M.22 with streamlined fuselage, enclosed engine in a louvred cowling, spinner, and a simplified undercarriage of the D-III type. It was a Platz experiment, with two Spandau guns, and approximated to the D-l to D-IV models in dimensions. There was no production of this type.

S.U 1922. Engine 110 h.p. Le Rhone. Span 36.1 I, Length 23.8, Height 9.2. Weight (Empty) 1804, (Gross) 2651. Max.· Speed 87. Biplane. In an attempt to satisfy the military authorities, who showed a preference for biplane trainer aircraft, Fokker introduced the S.lI type which again had a side-by-side seat layout. It was a cantilever biplane very reminiscent of certain of his wartime designs, but as far as is known only one model was purchased and that by the Dutch Army authorities. An alternative engine fitted was the Swedish, licence-built, Le Rhone of 110 h.p., the Thulin. 'X' struts were also experimentally fitted in place of the' N ' type.

S SERIES Anthony Fokker, having been associated with the requirements of flying training since he opened his school at Schwerin-Gorries in 1913, was well aware of the potential market for specialized aircraft in this field. Consequently he initiated the design of a number of types suitable for 202

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S.IX/l 1937. Engine 165 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley' Genet Major '. Span 31.4, Length 25.1, Height 9.6. Weight (Empty) 1529, (Gross) 2145. Max. Speed 115. Biplane. This two-seater biplane wa designed to provide both an initial and aerobatic trainer. The fu elage was of welded steel tubes covered partly by sheet metal and partly by fabric. The wings, both of one-piece construction, had two box-spars and the covering was of bakelite-plywood and fabric. Twenty Armstrong-Siddeley-engined S.lX's were used by the Dutch Army Air Force from J938 to J940. A number ofS.IXjls were built in Holland by the firm of Kromhout-an example is depicted above. The engine installation enabled either radial or in-line power plants to be used.

S.Il[

1923. Engine 120 h.p. Mercedes. Span 36.9, Length 28.0, Height 9.2. Weight (Empty) 1672, (Gross) 2332. Max. Speed 100. Biplane. Another change of mind in aviation circles concerning the location of seats in training aircraft cau ed the Fokker company to design the S.UI which reverted to the tandemseat layout. The advantages quoted for this were' steadier flying, a better field of view on both sides for the pupil during landings and an improved aerodynamic form for the fuselage.' F urthermo re, withou t acri fici ng strength, the weight of certain components was reduced. The result was a strong, though lightweight, stable aircraft. A number of alternative engines could be fitted such as the Curtiss OX-5, Renault or 200 h.p. Wright' radial'. Some twentytwo S.Uls were built.

S.IXj2 1938. Engine J68h.p. Menasco' Buccaneer'. Biplane. A re-engined version of the above type. The Dutch Navy purchased all fifteen of thi model.

S.IV 203

1950. Engines 2 X 600 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Wasp'. Span 63.0, Length 44.3, Height 17.1. Weight (Empty) 9207, (Gross) 12705. Max. Speed 220. Monoplane. This was an all-metal, civil and military, pilot- and crew-trainer. An expected order for this tricycle-undercarriage type did not materialize and only the one example (0.101) was built.

S.II 'INSTRUCTOR' 1947. Engine 190 h.p. Lycoming. Span 36.3, Length 26.1 J, Height 7.3. Weight (Empty) 1782, (Gross) 2420. Max. Speed 130. Monoplane. The first post-W.W.2 product of the reborn Fokker company was this side-by-side primary trainer which appeared in 1947. It was of metal-frame fabric-covered construction and normally carried instructor and pupil. A third optional seat was available. One hundred S.II s were built by Fokker in Holland, while a further 150 were licence-built by Macchi in Italy (where they were known as the 'Macchi 416') and 100 more in Brazil by Fokker Industria Aeronautica of South America.

T SERIES Aircraft built by the Fokker company for torpedo, bombmg and reconnaissance duties were given the reference letter T In the main the e were Aoatplanes and they made thei I' appearance between 1921 and 1939. The earlier designs were not widely u ed and only in the later years of this period do the production figures indicate a greater interest being evinced in this eries. T.l 1920. The initial model in the series never progressed past the design stage which, due to the availability of superior engines, together with other factors, was then shelved in favour of an improved type.

Tlll-W 1923. Engine 450 h.p. Napier' Lion'. Span 69.6, Length 46.2, Height 11.1. Weight (Empty) 5676, (Gross) 80679698. Max. Speed 98. Monoplane. . The floatplane form of the T.ll 1 for torpedo-d ropping. Either plywood or duralumin Aoats could be used. The armament was two machine-guns. Dual controls were fitted on both the land and Aoatplane versions.

S.14/1 'MACH TRAINER' 1951. Engine Rolls-Royce 'Derwent' 8. Span 39.5, Length 43.8, Height 15.6. Weight (Empty) 8283, (Gross) 11800. Max. Speed 445. Monoplane. The Mach Trainer was the world's first jet trainer designed as such. This low-wing side-by-side two-seater type was originally flown as a prototype, registered 'L-I " on May 20th, 1951 when it was engined with a RollsRoyce' Derwent' 5. The production version which followed had the' Derwent' 8 engine. Including the prototype, twenty-one S.14s were built in Holland plus parts for five which were sent to Brazil where a further forty-five were constructed.

S.12 'INSTRUCTOR'

""""" T.ll (FT SERIES) 1921. Engine 400 h.p. Liberty. Span 65.4, Length 41.3, Height 11.7. Weight (Empty) 5654, (Gross) 7260. Max. Speed 93. Monoplane. A three-seater, low-wing monoplane,Aoatplane, carrying a crew of two or three. Torpedo-dropping or bombll1g were its duties. The gunner had one free machine gun in the rear cockpit for defensive purposes. The twinAoat were of plywood construction. Only one ai rcraft of the type was built and this was purchased by the U.S. Navy, and de ignated as an ' FT' class ai rcraft. The wing of the T rr was constructed in three parts, namely a centre-section and two outside sections. All were plywood covered.

--

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-

T.IV 1927. Engines 2x 450 h.p. Lorraine-Dietrich. Span 84.7, Length 37.8, Height 19.8. Weight (Empty) 9587, (Gross) 14767. Max. Speed 124. Monoplane. . Twin-engine, shoulder-wing, torpedo/bomber/reconnaIssance Aoatplane with a crew of three. Nose and rear gun posItIons were provided plus facilities for firing below and astern from the latter. Bombing or torpedo dropping was done from the nose cockpit. Eighteen T1Vs are reported to have been built, for Holland and the Dutch East Indies. The designation TIV and not T1V-W is applied in this II1stance to a seaplane design, probably because, unlike others of the series, it was basically such a type and not derIved from a landplane.

1949. Monoplane. The advantages of the tricycle undercarriage system in a training aircraft, together with the nece sity of preparing pupils for more advanced types thus equipped, resulted in the further development of the S.ll design into a nose-wheel version. This was the S.12 which was built and used by Brazil, fifty being con tructed.

TW S.14/2 ' MACH TRAINER' 1953. Engine Rolls-Royce' Nene' 3. Span 39.5, Length 43.8, Height 15.6. Weight (Empty) 8875, (Gross) 12230. Max. Speed 536. Monoplane. An experimental version of the S.14 re-engined with the 5100 lb.s.t. Rolls-Royce' Nene' 3 engine. Other innovations were a pressure cabin, revised canopy, reshaped fuselage aft, to house the larger tailpipe and extensive control. modifications. This aircraft, with a much enhanced performance, was allocated the registration

, K-l '.

S.13 'UNIVERSAL TRAINER' 204

1922. Engine 450 h.p. Napier' Lion'. Span 69.6, Length 46.2, HeIght 11.11. Weight (Empty) 5140, (Gross) 73179565. Max. Speed 105. Monoplane. A somewhat larger development of the TH, this was a three-seater land-plane for bombing duties. Various engines were fitted, experimentally, one of the e being the 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce 'Eagle'. The Portuguese Navy purchased four T.Ills in 1924 with interchangeable landing wheels and Aoats and in the course of several long flights confirmed the soundness of the design. Armament was two machine-guns. Four of the type were built.

T-23

T.lVa 205

TV

1935. Engines 2 x 750 Wright' Cyclone '. Span 86.5, Length 37.8, Height 19.8. Weight (Empty) 10265, (Gross) 15840. Max. Speed 160. Monoplane. This was a streamlined development of the above type with more powerful engine, enclosed cockpit and gunturrets. About twenty-four of this model were built and used in the Dutch East Indie and numbered Tl-T24.

1938. Engines 2 X 425 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind'. Span 59.4, Length 42.10, Height 16.6. Weight (Empty) 6820, (Gross)) 11000. Max. Speed 175. Monoplane. Cantilever, mid wing monoplane ftoatp1ane, for torpedo and reconnaissance duties. Crew of three. The construction of wing and fuselage was as in the T-V. and the floats were of duralumin. The armament was one fixed machine-gun (in the port side of the fuselage and operated by the pilot) and one free gun for the wireless operator/gunner at the rear of the canopy. A torpedo or bombs were also carried. A total of thirty-six T VIlI-Ws of all types was built. TVIII-W/M 1940. Engine 2 X 425 h.p. Wright' Whirlwinds '. Span 59.4, Length 42.10, Height 16.6. Weight (Empty) 9955, (Gross) 15400. Max. Speed 175. Monoplane. Similar in all other re peets to the above type the T Vlll- W/M was an all-metal ver ion of that aircraft. Twelve of these were bu iIt.

TV 1937. Engines 2 X 925 h.p. Bristol' Pegasu ' Span 68.10, Length 52.9, Height \6.6. Weight (Empty) 10230, (Gross) 15950. Max. Speed 255. Monoplane. Cantilever, midwing monoplane, landplane bomber for medium- or long-ranges. The wing construction was of the two box-spar type with a covering of bakelite-plywood. A light monocoque metal no e with wooden central section and fabric-covered steel-tube rear, formed the fuselage. A crew of five was carried, pilot, nose and rear gunner, second pilot/gunner and wireless operator/gunner. The second pilot was situated above the wing behind the pilot. His cockpit had dual controls. This position is not discernably in most photographs as normally the aperture was closed by a sliding roof and retracting wind- creen. Armament was either six movable machine-guns or one 20 mm. Solothurn cannon (in the nose turret) plus four machine-guns. About 2200 lb. of bombs could be carried. The undercarriage was retractable. Thirty-four T.Vs are known to have been built. The eight TV. aircraft which were available to a group of the 1st Air Regiment in Holland's brief fight against the Luftwaffe were used on variou duties due to the circumstances but were oon reduced to a ole survivor as a result of the gallant attempts to use them on varied duties by their crews in the face of overwhelming odds.

V SERIES

The V Serie of Fokker designs covered the years from late 1916 to 1919 and for the mo t part may be attributed to Reinhold Platz, the chief designer at that period. The number ran from one to forty-five, but, as will be seen, there are a few instances where no detail are known of the types to wh ich certain numbers in the series refer. These were probably project only and upon cancellation, or change in design of a significant nature, the original number was abandoned and a new one introduced. Certainly many V eries numbers were used for modified, and developed, basic designs. The interpretation of the letter V of this serie has been variously given as Verspannungslos, Versuchsjlugzeug, or Versuchsmaschine. The probable explanation is as follows- Verspannungslos which implies' a wing without external bracing " was applied (and correctly 0) to the early types of the series. Subsequently, and with the introduction of interplane struts, this original term lost much of its meaning. At the same time these design, which were appearing at frequent interval, formed the basis upon which the eventual operational models were built. They were, therefore, in the nature of prototype or experimental aircraft as indicated by Versuchsjlugzeug or Versuchsmaschine where Versuchs mean 'experimental'. The significant characteristic of the V series aircraft was the cantilever sy tem employed in the wing con truction, giving a ' thick' wing appearance resulting from the use of deep box pars of pine and birch plywood. Contrary to the prevalent idea that Junker (or even Fokker and Platz) invented this method of constructing wings, it was the Frenchman, Leon Levavasseur, who demon trated it as early as 1911.

V.2 January, 1917. Engine 120 h.p. Mercedes. Biplane. A development of the V.I with engine change and of slightly greater dimen ions.

V.3

T.Vlll-L 1939. Engines 2 X 1375 h.p. Bristol' Hercules'. Span 65.7, Length 49.10. Monoplane. T.VlIl-W/C=f1oatplane A Finnish order for a landplane version of the T.VIII was being fulfilled when the German took control of the factory and this aircraft, the only one of its type, was impressed into Luftwaffe service.

1917. Engine 100 h.p. Oberur el. Span 22.0, Length l8.10, Height 9.8. Max. Speed 115. Triplane. The original, cantilever, single-seater triplane. Strutless, unbalanced ailerons and elevators. Lower wings were of equal pan. 0 lower wing-tip skids. Semi-enclo ed cowling which became standard on future rotary-engined Fokkers of W.W.\. This design was not offered to the authorities so wa never rejected a has been widely stated. Some wing vibration was experienced and the following model introduced the interplane truts to eliminate this trouble.

V.I

T.lX 1919. Engines 2 X 1375 Bri tol 'Hercules '. Span 81.6, Length 52.9, Height 15.6. Monoplane. This all-metal, midwing bomber was built for use in the East Indies. Crew, four or five. Little more is known of this aircraft as only the prototype was completed, the war interveniRg before production could be started.

TVlII-W/G 206

December, 1916. Engine 100 h.p. Oberurel. Span 25.10, Length 16.5, Height 9.0. Max. Speed 108. Biplane. , Floh ' (' The Flea ') was the name given to the first unaided design by Platz. A strutless, single-seat, sesquiplane with streamlined fuselage of teel-tube, and thick, tapering, plywood-covered cantilever wings. Orthodox ailerons were not fitted-in their place were pivoting wingtips having the same effect as balanced ailerons. Although satisfactory test flights proved the practicability of the cantilever system, the V.I was not accepted for the German Army. Two machine-guns were fitted at one stage of the tests.

V.4 (F.I., later Dr.-I) 207

Spring, 1917. Engine 110 h.p. Le Rhone or Oberursel, Span 23.7, Length 19.0, Height 9.9. Weight (Empty) 893. (Gross) 1289. Max. Speed 114. Triplane. The modified version of the V.3 from which the F.I and Dr.1 were derived. In addition to the mainplane struts, balanced control surfaces were incorporated and the centre wing span was increa ed. In the first production models (F.l 101/17 to F.I 103/17) no wing-tip skids were fitted but these appeared on all subsequent aircraft which, coincidentally, became known as Dds. The F designation was a short-lived nomenclature introduced by Fokker which was very soon uperceded by the necessity to conform to standard military classification, i.e. ' Dr.' signifying armed triplane. Monthly production figures indicate that, between mid-1917 and May, 1918, when production of these triplanes cea ed, a total of 320 were COn tructed. Standard armament was two machine-guns. V.5 Summer, J917. Engine 160 h.p. Goebel. Length 20.1J. Weight (Empty) 968, (Gross) J397. Max. Speed I J8. Triplane. As the VA, but fitted with the J60 h.p. Goebel 111 engine for entry in the fir t fighter competition at Johannisthal in January, 1918. 0 production.

Summer, 1917. Engine 120 h.p. Mercedes. Quintuplane. Using some of the V.6 componen\ this quintuplane was completed under Fokker's orders bue in spite of Platz's better judgement. The addition of the' biplane' wings at the mid-fuselage position was revolutionary and quite unsuccessful. Report state that after two flights by Fokker it was·abandoned.

V.13/2 ovember, 1917. Engine 160 h.p. Siemens-Hal ke. Biplane. part from the engine thi model was as the 13/1 but wa not developed after the January competition. V.14 No record of u e of thi number. V.15 No record of u e of this number. V.16 No record of use of thi number. V.11 Late 1917. Engine 160 h.p. Mercedes. Span 29.2, Length 22.1, Height 9.7. Biplane. Bearing con iderable resemblance to the V.9 but equipped with' N 'interplane struts and a 160 h.p. Mercedes engine, the V.II wa the real prototype of the famous D-VII, winner of the January fighter competition.

V.9 Late 1917. Engine 80 and 110 h.p. Cberursel. Biplane. In the Autumn of 1917 this orthodox, semi-cantilever, sesquiplane appeared. The normal triplane fuselage, tail and undercarriage seem to have greatly influenced the design but the wings showed several innovation being of two- and one-spar con truction for top and bottom respectively. , V ' interplane struts were fitted and, for the first time, the characteristic Fokker centre-section-strut layout appeared. In many respects the V.9 was the progenitor of the D-Vl. It wa another entry by Fokker in the January fighter competition after being equipped with the 110 h.p. Oberursel in ovember, 1917.

V.6 Summer, 1917. Engine 120 h.p. Mercedes. Triplane. An enlarged version of VA with 120 h.p. Mercedes D.lI. No production. V.7 1917. Engine 145h.p.Oberursellll. Dimensions as for VA. Weight (Empty) 946, (Gross) 1375. Max. Speed 115. Triplane.

./

V.12 No record of u e of thi number. Po ibly an abortive development tage in the D-Vll de ign.

V.17 December, 1917. Engine 110 h.p. Oberursel or Le Rhone. Monoplane. A midwing, cantilever (single-spar) monoplane using some VA components which also appeared at Johannisthal in the January competition. ot developed further.

V.13f1 November, J917. Engine 110 h.p. Le Rhone. Span 25.1, Length 2004, Height 8.0. Weight (Empty) 865, (Gross) 1283. Max. Speed 125. Biplane. With a fuselage based on the standard triplane design the 13/ I became the prototype of the D-VI seen here. It had' N' strut-braced wings of cantilever design with two spars each. Note its Close resemblance to the V.9. The D-VI, as it became known, was yet another Fokker entry at the January competition in 1918, and though the type was used at the Front it suffered by comparison with its stablemate, the D-VB. A number of D-VIs had the 160 h.p. Goebel engine. Standard armament was two guns.

V.18 (D-Vll) December, 1917. Engine 160 h.p. Mercedes. Span 29.3, Length 22.9, Height 9.2. Weight (Empty) 1540, (Gross) 1936. Max. Speed 116. Biplane. A final tage in the development of the D-VII. Thi was the actual model taken to Johanni thai and differed from the production ver ion in it rudder and fin outlines, lack of axle fairing and greater chord aileron. After modification of these feature it became the D-Vll seen below.

V.IO

Summer, J917. ngine 160 h.p. Siemens-Halske. Span 23.7, Length 20. I I, Height 10.3. Weight (Empty) 1080, (Gross) 1509. Max. Speed 120. Triplane. As VA, but with four-bladed propeller. The normal aerofoil covering of the axle doe not appear to have been fitted on this experimental model which also participated in the first fighter competition, January, 1918. This aircraft, in all other respects like the V.5, had lengthened undercarriage leg which increased the height by approximately six inche , a modification made necessary by the use of the large diameter propeller.

V.8 208

D-Vl 209

Again, variations on the original theme. In this model dihedral in the upper wing was introduced and a fourbladed airscrew with blade angles of 70 deg.jll0 deg. reminiscent of Austrian practice. It is reported to have been converted into a two-seater aircraft subsequently.

V.19 No record of use of this number.

V.20 January, 1918. Engine 160 h.p. Mercedes. Monoplane. A somewhat larger version of the V.17 with the rotary engine replaced by a Mercedes. A single-spar, cantilever, wing was again used and it is reported that this aircraft was constructed in five and a half days for the fighter competition in January, 1918.

V.23 Early 1918. Engine 160 h.p. Mercedes. Monoplane. A further development of the mid wing Y.20 with inset ailerons, two spar plywood covered wings. This aircraft participated in the second fighter competition.

V.24 (D-VIIF) Spring, 1918. Engine 185 h.p. B.M.W. Span 29.3, Length 22.9, Height 9.2. Weight (Empty) 1513. (Gross) 1993. Max. Speed 124. Biplane. Known as the D-VlIF, this derivative of the standard D-VII was experimentally equipped with the 220 h.p. Benz engine, but in production the 185 h.p. B.M.W. With the latter, the prototype aircraft, which had the factory number 2612, took part in the second fighter trials. B.M.W.engined D-VII's were superior to the Mercedes model and were built and used in numbers at the Front. They carried twin machine-guns.

V.21 Early 1918. Engine 160 h.p. Mercedes. Biplane. In all other respects similiar to the standard D-VII, this particular aircraft, which carried the factory number 2310, was equipped with tapered wings, top and bottom, for entry in the second fighter competition, April, 1918. It was not developed further.

V.22 Early 1918. Engine 160h.p. Mercedes. Biplane.

V.25 210

March, 1918. Engine 110 h.p. Oberursel. Max. Monoplane. This cantilever, low-wing, monoplane was mental model derived from the V.4 fuselage but V.23 wing, head-rest, and a D-VII-type fin and was a competitor in the second fighter trials, but no fBrther.

Speed 124.

April, 1918. Engine 195 h.p. Benz. Monoplane. An enlarged version of the V.26 with an 8-cylinder ' V ' engine. It was entered in the second fighter competition. Subsequently it was converted into an armoured, singleseater, trench-fighter and was re-numbered V.37 in this series. Finally, it became the prototype of the post-war Fokker F.Vls purchased by the USAS by whom it was designated PW-5. The factory number of the original V.27 was 2734.

an experihaving the rudder. It progressed

V.26j1 March, 1918. ngine 110 h.p. Le RhOne. Span 27.4, Length 19.2, Height 9.2. Monoplane. Prototype of the E-VjD-VIII ingle-seater fighters, this cantilever-wing, parasol monoplane in its original form had no tail-plane bracing struts and at one stage had unbalanced elevators.

V.28 (D-VIII) Spring, 1918. Engine 145 h.p. Oberursel. Max. Speed 124. As the V.26, with engine change. Factory number 2725. It was demonstrated at the second fighter competition. The designation D-VlIl was officially introduced to replace E-V in the Autumn of 1918 for military reasons and did not indicate a new design, although reversion to the original Fokker wing design after the structural failures of some of the early E-Vs in August coincided with this new classification. In time D-VlIIs with both Le Rhone and Oberursel engines were produced simultaneously. Entered for the third fighter competition, this aircraft was equipped with a 160 h.p. Siemens-Ha1ske rotary and for an experimental period, it had the 160 h.p. Goebel as shown here. Richard Scholz, the famous test pilot of that period, states that with the 160 h.p., the airframe of the V.28 was intended to be the Fokker D.IX. After flying this aircraft he claimed that it was the best fighter he had flown, but suitable for experienced pilots only.

Y.26j2 (E-VjD-VIII) April, 1918. Engine 110 h.p. Le RhOne. Span 27.4, Length 19.2, Height 9.2. Weight (Empty) 891, (Gross) 1331. Max. Speed 115. Monoplane. The same type as above, but with balanced-elevators and strut-braced tail-plane. This was the E-V, later designated D-VIII, which reached the Front in August, 1918. It was soon withdrawn due to a number of wing-failures in combat, but re-issued after this trouble had been overcome, unfortunately, too late to see much service.

V.29 Summer, 1918. Engine 160 h.p. Mercedes. Monoplane. This was a larger version of the V.26jV.28 type. It was later powered with a 185 h.p. BMW engine and in this form appeared in the third fighter competition, after which no further development took place.

V.27 211

V.34 Summer, 1918. Engine 185. h.p. BMW. Span 29.3, Length 22.9, Height 9.2. Biplane. This single-seat fighter .design was derived from the V.24. It introduced the oval shaped radiator and had an angular rudder like the V.33. Considered to be a stage in the C.l development it may have appeared in two-seater fonn later. Not put into production.

V.30 Summer, 1918. Span 2704, Length 19.5. Monoplane. A parasol wing glider thought to have been created for , stand-off' bombing to which the ingenious Anthony Fokker had given some thought, according to an interview published in 1919. It was intended to be towed to the target area by a D-VII type and then cast-off. Constructed from wing and fuselage of a V.26, explosives were to have been carried in the nose section. The military authorities showed little or no interest in its operational possibilities, however, and no further work was done on this project by Fokker. In 1921 the V.30 was exhibited at the Paris Aeronautical Salon as an orthodox, piloted glider and created a furore amongst the French who could plainly discern the German cro es through the hurriedly-applied top-coat of dope! V.31 Summer, 1918. Engine 185 h.p. BMW. Span 29.3, Length 22.9, Height 9.2. Biplane. A modified D- VllF intended as the towing vehicle for the V.30. It was thus a development of the V.24 to which it was identical except fOf the addition of the towing gear.

V.39 Late 1918. Engine 110 h.p. Le Rhone. Monoplane. Based on the 0- VIII design, th is was a smaller version built by Fokker after the Armistice and intended as a light sports aircraft. Many components of the wartime types were utilized and various engines such as the 110 h.p. Oberursel and the 50 or 80 h.p. Gnome were fitted experimentally.

V.37 August, 1918. Engine 195 h.p. Benz. Monoplane. Developed from tbe V.27 thi aircraft was an armoured trench-fighter. The pilot and engine were enclosed in, and protected by, armour plating. An unusually large spinner on the propeller improved the treamlining and enginecooling was augmented by a large fan mounted immediately behind the propeller. No further development took place, but two examples, fitted with the 330 h.p. WrightHispano engine, were purcha ed about 1921-1922 by the U.S. Air Service. These had two .30 Browning machine-guns and may have been listed under the incorrect de ignation VAO. They were the first two aircraft of the twelve known as PW-5s. See also F.VI information.

VAO Late 1918. Engine 35 h.p. Anzani. Monoplane. An ultra light parasol monoplane for porting flying, this was again smaller than the V.39 type and had fabriccovered wings. It is reported to have been flown until 1920. VAl Late 1918. Span 45.11; Length 26.3, Height 9.8. Monoplane. A parasol-wing fighter designed at Schwerin but only partially built when the company moved to Holland where it was completed in 19 I9 as the prototype of the D.X. Spain purchased ten D.Xs, as the type was called, in its production form.

V.35 1918. Engine 185 BMW. Biplane. Possibly a long-range, two-seater version of the V.24 as used, post-Armistice, by F. W. Seekatz (pilot, Ddet) between Berlin and Schwerin.

V.32 No record of use of this number.

V.38 (C-I)

Y.36 June, 1918. Engine 185 h.p. BMW. Span 29.3, Length 21.2, Weight (Empty) 1401, (Gross) 1916. Max. Speed 125. Biplane. A somewhat modified Y.24 with oval radiator, fuel tank in the axle aerofoil and of less wing area. It proved superior to the D-VIIF and appeared in the third fighter trials.

V.33 Summer, 1918. Engine 110h.p. Le RhOne. Biplane. A development of the V.9 but incorporating the following modifications; rudder of new shape, unbalanced, inset ailerons, no vertical fin, two-spar lower wing. It was not accepted for service and eventually was taken to Hollanq where it continued to be flown until 1922 by Fokker. 212

September, 1918. Engine 185 h.p. BMW. Span 34.5, Length 23.8, Height 904. Weight (Empty) 1881, (Gross) 2761. Max. Speed 110. Biplane. Virtually an enlarged D. Vll-certain components of the latter were, in fact, used-the V.38 was the prototype of the C-I, two-seater, armed, general-purpose aircraft which was identical with it. Although a number of the type were ordered, the Armistice was signed before they became available at the Front. Some eventy were eventually taken to Holland. These were sold to the Dutch Army and Naval Air Forces as well as to several foreign countries where they remained in service for over ten years in some some instances. The chief visual characteristic of the C-I was the fuel tank in the axle-aerofoiL Armament in W. W.I was to have been one Spandau gun for the pilot (on the port side of the coaming) and one ring-mounted Parabellum, operated by the gunner/observer. About 250-300 C-ls were eventually built.

VA2 213

January, 1913. Engine 70 h.p. Renault. Biplane. This two-seater, single-engined pusher flying-boat was the intended entry for the 1913 Schneider Trophy Contest. It was crashed during flight trials on the river Dahm and later rebuilt and flown off the Spree, but the plan to race it at Monaco was cancelled.

1919-1920. Span 22.0. Monoplane. A land- and later flying-boat glider built at Veere in Zeeland. It was tow-launched by motor-boat and after unmanned flights with ballast was successfully flown by Adolph Parge. These experiments continued until 1921. VA3 1919. Engine 75. h.p. Mercedes. Span 41.3, Length 27.10, Height 8A. Monoplane. This was a side-by-side training aircraft which was the prototype of the S.1. It continued in use until crashed at Amsterdam in October, 1921. See under S.I for illustration. VA4 (F.I) 1919 See F.l type.

J 9 J 5-1916. Engine, Mercedes or Oberursel. The designation WA applies not to an aircraft, but an experimental hydroplane or 'skimmer' which was built in the J 915- J 9 J 6 period, using anum ber of components from the W.3. Jt was virtually an open-framed platform mounted on Roats and the motive power was obtained from a pusher-propellor situated at the stern.

AMERICAN FOKKER TYPES

November, 1913. Engine Two- eater Biplane. A tractor biplane floatplane, the work of Palm & Kreutzer, which made a few flights of short duration. These comprised its active flying life and it was then taken to pieces. Whereas the W.I had wing-warping control the W.2 was fitted with aileron.

VAS (F.II)

The purchase of Fokker-de igned and built aircraft in the early post-W.W.I years in the U.S.A. was carried out through the sales organisation under R. B. C. Noorduyn and known as the Netherlands Aircraft Manufacturing Company. In 1924 this arrangement was changed and, until 1932, actual designs and build ing took place in the factories acquired by the Fokker Company which went under the succe ive names of, the Atlantic Aircraft Manufacturing Company, F kker Aircraft Corporation (in 1925) and General Aviation orporation (in partnership with General Motors). J n thi peri d a variety of successful, original design, or m difications of Dutch types, made their appearance. It is these types which are discussed in, the following notes.

F.IO and F.IOA 'TRlMOTORS ' 1927. Engines 3 X 425 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Wa ps '. Span 79.2, Length 49.11, Height 12.9. Weight (Empty) 7600, (Gross) 13000. Max. Speed 140. Monoplane. A high-wing, twelve passenger commercial aircraft designed and built at the Hasbrouck Heights factory. It was of the usual Fokker construction and followed the design of the F.VJl series do ely. A small number were flown on U.S. airline routes before an improved version, the F.IOA appeared. This carried fourteen passengers and was widely used on the internal air routes. With the designation C-5 it was tried by the U.S. Army and a number were flown by the USMC as RA-4s. The F.IOA was known as the' Super-trimotor ' and had a modified wing and fuselage. An experimental twin-engined bomber conversion was also built from the F.IOA.

1919. See F.1l type.

W SERIES Jt would appear that Anthony Fokker's earliest interest in marine aircraft stemmed from the time when he became a potential entrant in the first Schneider Trophy race, held at Monaco in April, 1913. For this he built a small flyingboat but it crashed during early trials thus missing the race. For some years after this disappointing start, Fokker appears to have made only spasmodic attempts to design and construct either Rying-boats or floatplanes and the W (Wasser- Water) types total a mere four. These were all designs completed prior to or during W.W.I at Johannisthal or Schwerin, and did not show promise enough to warrant further development. No doubt, his pre-occupation with the M and, laterV types, which were being demanded in ever-increasing quantities by the military authorities prohibited him from devoting the necessary time, finance, and factory space to the marine aircraft field despite his own wish to do so. The latter is proved by the purchase of a seaplane factory at TravemLinde, as a preliminary step. Unfortunately, Fokker's plans for this never reached the state of fruition and it functioned primarily as a naval pilot's school.

.

W.3 March, 1915. Engine 80 h.p. Oberursel. Two-seater Biplane. Basically an M.7 development with two-bay wings, the top one being of considerably greater span than the lower. This aircraft, of which only one example was built, was equipped with the floats of the W.2. The W.3 is reported to have been reconverted to an M.7 type after a few Rights in its Roatplane form.

. WA

W.l 214

-- --.... -

~~-~-~ ..-."

--

.....

-

....

__

.

C-2 and VARIANTS 1926. Engine 3 X 225 h.p. Wright' Whirlwinds '. Span 71.2, Length 48A, Height 12.7. Weight,(Gross)9715. Max. Speed 115. Monoplane. This was a development of the original F.VIlA/3m and initially had the same dimensions. A explained in the F series notes, a larger wing was then incorporated, and in this form the type became very popular with both the U.S. Army and a number of air lines. The company designation of this type was the F.9. The success of the larger wing led to Fokker continuing with this model in full production as the F.VIlB/3m. The C-2, in fact, differed considerably from the trimotor F. VIIs in internal fuselage details and should be regarded as another design. When used by the U.S. Navy it was designated RA-I and later RA-3 after installation of different engines. An experimental twinengine version of the C-2 was built in 1928. This was the XL B-2. A further development called the C-2A (illustrated) with an increased span of 72.10 appeared in 1928 and was subsequently much used by the U.S. Services . In the U.S. Navy it was known as the RA-2. The C-2B was merely a C-2A with 3 X 300 h.p. 'Whirlwind' engines installed. The eventual replacement of the original engines in C-2As with the 300 h.p. 'Whirlwinds' introduced the C-7 (1929) while the C-7A, of 1930, was a further improvement of the C-7. All the e types were used for military transport duties.

F.IIA 19n. Engine 525 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Hornet'. Span 59.0, Length 45.0, Height 13.0. Weight (Empty) 4500, (Gross) 6350. Max. Speed 120. Monoplane. This amphibian Rying-boat is described more fully under B.IVA. An experimental twin-engine type, mounting these in tandem, was built but not proceeded with.

F.14 and 14A :415

1929. Engine 525 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Hornet '. Span 59.5, Length 43.4, Height 12.4. Weight (Empty) 4346, (Gross) 7200. Max. Speed 137. Monoplane. This seven to nine passenger monoplane had two distinctive features in the positioning of the wing above the fuselage and the pilot situated to the rear of the passenger cabin. Construction was of the normal Fokker type but the fuselage top was of corrugated duralumin. This aircraft was followed by a more powerful version, the F.14A, with the 575 h.p. ' Hornet' engine. Dimensions remained the same but top speed was increased to 145 m.p.h. and gross weight became 7450 lb. In addition to its civil use the F.14 was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1931 who flew it as a cargo and a transport aircraft the C-14. One of these Y 1C-14s, as they were originally designated, was converted into an ambulance aircraft, carrying four stretchers. This was the Y 1C-15 type. The majority of the military models had the 525 h.p. Wright-' Whirlwind' engine installed but a few variants were experimentally fitted with other types, viz., YIC-14A (575 h.p. Wright 'Whirlwind '), C-14B (525 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Hornet '), and the C-15A (575 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind ').

1923. Engine 440 h.p. Curtiss D-12. Span 38.4, Length 23.11, Height 9.4. Weight (Empty) 2271, (Gross) 3176. Max. Speed 151. Biplane. See D.XI for data and notes.

GA.15 and VARIANTS 1931. Engines 2 x 420 h.p. Pratt & Whitney , Wasp '. Span 74.2, Length 55.9, Height 15.6. Weight (Empty) 7000, (Gross) 11200. Monoplane. Based on the earlier F.lIA amphibian design, but much larger, five of this type were built for the U.S. Coast Guard authorities by General Aviation Corporation. They were twin-engined pusher or tractor types with side-by-side engines, pylon-mounted, above the wing. One version, a pusher, designated FLB (Flying Life Boat), had two 420 h.p. Pratt & Whitney 'Wasp' engines. An identical model, illustrated here, was known as the PJ-I, while the tractor version was the P J-2. The P J types used two 525 h. p. Pratt & Whitney' Hornet' engines. All three were fitted with integral beaching gear. The GA.15s were the last of all Fokker types to be built in the U.S.A.

reduced to 128 m.p. The construction of the Super Universal was exactly as its predecessor but it was somewhat larger and the spidery undercarriage of the Universal was replaced by single and more treamlined struts, incorporating shock absorbers. In addition to its widespread use by civil operators the Super Universal was used by the U.S. Navy on transport and cargo duties. The Nakajima Aircraft Company of Japan built forty-three of the type under licence. Most of these were for Japan Air Transport Company Ltd., in 1929, but some were flown by Manchurian Airlines and the Japanese Army Air Force.

TW-4 1922. See S. T. for data and notes.

PW-5 1922. Engine 330 h.p. Wright-Hispano. Span 39.5, Length 27.2, Height 9.0. Weight (Empty) 2170, (Gross) 3015. Max. Speed 137. Monoplane. See F.VI for further data.

F.32 1929. Engines 4:< 575 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Hornets'. Span 99.0, Length 69.10, Height 16.6. Weight (Empty) 14200, (Gros ) 22500. Max. Speed 140. Monoplane. A thirty-two passenger airliner for day operations, or sixteen-berth sleeper at night. This was the last Fokker commercial design built in the U.S.A. The use of the number ' 32' was the result of a request from Western Air Express (who purchased the first two built) for a designation which indicated the seating capacity. The F.32's correct number in the Fokker (American) series should have undoubtedly been twelve following as it did the F.II A amphibian. Two interesting features introduced in the F.32 were the tandem-pair mounting of the four engines and the u e of balsa wood in the fuselage as a method of sound-proofing. The cooling of the rear engine of each pair appears to have produced problems that were never completely solved. Various streamlining methods were tried on the undercarriage, viz., 'spats' and' trousers '. The U.S. Army tested one F.32 using the designation YC-20 but no further order was given. A total of ten F.32s were built but only Western Air Express seem to have operated the type with any success. This was on their San FranciscoLos Angeles route in 1930.

PW-6 1922. Engine 330 h.p. Wright-Hispano. Span 29.6, Length 23.4, Height 9.0. Weight (Empty) 1926, (Gross) 2763. Max. Speed 138. Biplane. See D.rX for further notes.

PW-7 216

UNIVERSAL 1925. Engine 300 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind'. Span 47.9, Length 33.6, Height 8.6. Weight (Empty) 2482, (Gross) 4300. Max. Speed 130. Monoplane. Fokker's first American product, the four- or sixseater Universal was designed by Noorduyn and was a cantilever high wing monoplane which, in its original form, had an open pilot's cockpit. Subsequently this was enclosed and 300 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind' replaced the earlier 220 h.p. engine of that type. The wing was of wooden construction and the fuselage and tail unit of steel tube covered with fabric. The wheel undercarriage was interchangeable with floats or skis and this factor helped make popular the type in Canada where it was widely used, a well as on a number of domestic airlines in the U.S.A. A unique feature of the control system was the provision of double rudder controls but only one joy-stick for the use of the two pilots. A tricycle undercarriage was fitted to one' Universal '. SUPER UNIVERSAL 1927. Engine 410 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Wasp '. Span 50.8, Length 36.1 I, Height 9.1. Weight (Empty) 3250, (Gross) 5550. Max. Speed 138. Monoplane. This was a development of the above type with a more powerful engine and a modified undercarriage. It was used as both land- and floatplane and carried six passengers and one or two pilots. As a floatplane the top speed was

XA-7 1930. Engine 600 h.p. Curtiss' Conqueror'. Span 43.11, Length 31.11. Weight, (Gross) 5770. Max. Speed 190. Monoplane. An experimental all-metal two-seater low wing monoplane for' attack' dutie. Steel and aluminium replaced the wood and fabric construction system of Fokker types up to this time, but, possibly due to the engine cooling troubles encountered, only the one experimental model was built. Both 'spat' and 'trouser' fairings were tried in the treamlining of the fixed undercarriage. XCO-4 and VARIA TS 1922. Engine 420 h.p. Liberty. Span 41.10, Length 29.8, Height 10.10. Weight (Empty) 3020, (Gross) 4500. Max. Speed 130. Biplane. See CIV notes. The type XCO-4 wa entered in the 1924 McCook Field trials held for aircraft then being offered to the U.S. Army for' observation' duties. As a result three XCO-4s were purchased as experimental corps

217

observation aircraft. They differed in various details due, to the incorporation of modifications requested by the purchaser. Later, five examples of the type CO-4A were obtained, these being of increased length (to 30.4) and having the 435 h.p. Liberty engine. Fokker, using the same basic dcsign as the XCO-4, also produced an artillery observation aircraft, designated 0-1, for the above trials. This was a private venture on his part and was not accepted by the U.S. Army authorities. It was finally modified to become a CO-4A.

]929. Engines 2x 600 h.p. Curtiss' Conqueror '. Span 64.0, Length 47.4, Height 15.0. Weight, (Gross) 8918. Max. Speed 160. Monoplane. This three-man observation aircraft introduced a number of intere ting features, chief of which was the placing of the engines almost entirely within the wing, in an attempt to reduce drag. The XO-27, con tructionally, followed the usual Fokker wood-wing and fabric-covered steel tube fuselage and tail practice. Two of the type were built, one became an XO-27 A (with geared engines) and the second one was converted into an xperimental daybom ber-the X B-8, of ] 931. ] n 1931 and 1932 twelve YO-27s (illustrated) \o\ere purcha ed, the e being the ultimate development of the type. In them the wingspan was increased to 64.7 and the maximum p ed to 117 m.p.h.

C-l.

C.IX. 650 h.p. Hispallo-Slliza. Switzerlalld.

185 h.p. B.M. W. Hollalld.

C.1 V. 450 h.p. Napier' Lioll'.

c.x.

Holland.

920 h.p.

Bristol 'Pegasus'. Ski-eqllipped Finllish aircraft.

XFA-I 1932. ngine 300 h.p. Pratt & Whitney' Wasp'. Span 25.6, Length 20.3, !-leight 7.0. Biplane. An experimental all-metal ship-board fighter for the U.S. avy. It was not adopted and only the one was built. Armament, two machine-guns. This design had been commenced shortly before Fokker Aircraft Company became General Aviation. Experiments were continued under the new organization on this type, intended for use from aircraft-carriers.

XO-27 and Variants

C.XI-W. 775 h.p. Wright' Cyclone'. Camollflaged for lise by the DIIICh East Illdies Forces.

C. V-D. Ski-eqllipped aircraft. Norway.

FUr/her examples of Fokker production and nperimental t)'pes. eV-D and ex. Experimental modifications to basic designs are covered by the D.XXI, G.IA, S.II, S.14, Hall-Scott engined two-seater D.VIf, XLB-2, C-2A, twinengined F.IOA, F.IIA, AO-I and XB-8. Amongst the variant which could not be illustrated in the preceding section but whose importance should not be overlooked are the C -7 A, Y IC-15 and PJ-2. This section also affords the opportunity to give altel native illustrations of those type previously shown including the el, elX, eXI-W, D.X, F.XXrr, M.9, S.14 and the T.nI. Finally, a number of notable individual aircraft are depicted such as the first F.Ilr demonstrated in the U.S.A., the ambulance version of the F.rV and the fir t F.VIfAj3m. Perusal of the eand preceding illustrations emphasises the international use of Fokker aircraft.

The policy followed by Fokker, throughout the twenties and thirties, of designing aircraft in which a wide variety of engines might be installed not only enhanced their chances of sales but re ulted in certain models having quite a different fuselage appearance. This is best seen in the ubiquitous ev. series in which almost any air- or liquid-cooled engine of the period was fitted at some time. The illustrations of such types elsewhere are augmented by those in the ection whjch occupies the next five pages, the purpose of which is to demon trate variations on basi'.:: designs, and to give the reader an even more comprehensive pictorial coverage of the aircraft already described. A number of prototype aircraft such as the C.IV, D.XXI and S.lff are shown here together with such interesting departures from the normal as the ski-equipped 218

0- VlI.

C. VI. 400 h.p. Armstrollg-Siddeley 'Jaguar'. Ellgille change. Hollalld.

219

230 h.p. Armstrollg-Siddeley 'Puma'. Post 19141918 war experiment ill Holland.

D.X. 300 h.p.

Hispano-Suiza. From the HoI/and.

D.XXI.

VAl design.

Valmet-built

prototype lVith carriage. Finland.

retractable

luulerF.lX. 3 x 450 h.p. Gnome-RhOne' Jupiter'. Hal/and.

M.9. 2 x 80 h.p. Oberursel. Germany.

F.III. The first Fokker airliuer demonstrated in the U.S.A.

D.XVI. 400 h.p. Armstrong-Siddeley 'Jaguar'. HoI/and. Production \'ersion.

F.X XII. 4 x 525 h.p. Prall & Whitney' Wasp '. SlVeden. 5.11. 90 h.p.

Curtiss

0 X5. Experimental 'IX' Hal/and.

struts.

1 D.XVI. Gnome-Rhone' Jupiter' engined persian for Hungary.

F.IV. 420 h.p. Liberty. The ambulance conl'ersion, A-2, for the U.S.A.5.

G.I A. 2 x 830 Il.p. Bristol 'Mercury'. The' bath-tub' G.I. Hal/and. 5.111 Prototype. 90 h.p. OX5 Curtiss. Hal/and.

D.XVII. 600 h.p.

Curtiss 'Conqueror'. HoI/and.

F. VilA-3m. 3 x 220 h.p. Wright ' WhirllVind'. Fokker's first tri-motor at the Ford Reliability Trial. U.S.A.

Engine change.

220

M.2. 100 h.p. Argns or Mercedes. An M.2. on its Daimler transport. Germany.

5.14/1. Production

221

Model Rol/s-Royce Hal/and.

'Denvent

8'.

FilA. 2 x 525 h.p. Prall & Whitney . Homet·. Experil/lell/altaudem engine layout. US.A.

Unil'ersal. 300 h.p. Wright 'Whirlwind'. With enclosed . .A. cockpit alld' spCllted' wheels.

XLB-2. 2 x 525 h.p. Prall & Whitney' Wasp'. The twinengined I'ersion of the C-2. U.S.A.

YIC-14A. 525 h.p. 'Wri[!hr 'Whirlwind'.

US. Arm.. ·.

C-2a. 3 x 225 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind' An experimental model with port and starboard engines located further outboard. US.A. Super

Uni'·ersal. 410 h.p. Prall & Whitney akajill1a-built. Japan.

Whirlwind'. A four-stretcher YIC-15. 525 h.p. Wright ambulance plane. U.S. Army.

TIVa. 2 x 750 h.p. Wright' Cyclone'. Dlltch East Indies.

C-7A. 3 x 30011.p. Wrigllt' Whirlwind'.

US. Arm)'.

AD-I. 435 h.p. Libert)'. U.S.

• FORKER D- VII. 200 h.p. Hail-Scali. Sometimes known as' D- VilA'. A two-seat cOIII'ersion, after the 1914-1918 War, in the U.S.A.

F10A

222

2 x 300 h.p. Wright' Whirlwind'. An experimental twill-engilled I'ersioll. US.A.

Pl-2. 2

525 hp. Prall & Whitnel' 'Homet·. Coastgllard. .

US. XB-8.

223

2 x 600 Cnniss ' Conqueror'. US. Arm)'.

'Wasp'

Fokker- The Man and the Aircreift Page

Pages ABRAMOWITSCH, S. Acosta, B. Arcier, A. F. Arnim, Lt. v. A jes, FIt. Lt.

18 70 68 21 83

BAKKE ES, FIt. Sgt. 46,91 Balchen, Bernt 68. 70, 73, 79 Balkom, J. van 84 91 Bartsch, Capt. Bata, J. 79 61 Bayline, L. Beeling, M. 95 21 Beese, M. Bender, G. 87 Bennett, F. 79 81 Beukering, C. van Bernhard, H.R.H. Prince 105 Bissell, Lt. 68, 69 Black, Van Lear 60,61,62, 63, 70, 79 Boelcke, O. 23, 25, 28, 34 Bolkow, Herr 40 108 Bose, Lt. Jhr. A. van Botved, Capt. A. P. 91 Brackley, Air Comm. H. G. 86 Brancker, Sir Sefton 54 73 Brassen, A. Broeke, Van den 52, 53 Buechner, Bruno 13, 14, 16 Buttlar, Lt. 25 Byrd, Richard E. 68,69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 76, 79 CABRAL, Cdr. S. 51 aldwell, Cy. 58 hadwick, Roy 0 110 Chaplin, Charlie Cllri tiansen, F. 98 Clark, Col. V. E. 77 Collins, R. B. 57 remer, F. 12,14,17,22,23 urrie, . W. Y. 74 20 urtiss, Glenn

Donnet-Leveque Doorninck, van Dorman, Geoffrey Draper, Major C. Drew, D. Dyk, E. van EAKER, Ira C. Earhart, Amelia Elekind, F. Elleman, S. Eynac, Laurent

14, 15, 16, 17, 18 20 85,93, 107 44,81 39 64 79,110 73 71,72 108 41,79 45

FALKE HAY, General von 23 74 Fisher, F. J. II, 12, 14, Fokker, Anna 15,20,21 Fokker, Cato II, 12,21 Fokker, Elizabeth 38, 45, 46,110 Fokker, Herman 1 1-21 Fokker, Violet Eastman, 69, 109,110 Ford, Ed el 78 Ford, Henry, 55, 73, 74, 78 Frijns, G. 79

Pages Levavasseur, Leon Lieftinck, Fr. Lindbergh, Charles Loewenstein, Capt. A. Lorin, J. Lustig, ObIt. Lyon, Capt. H.

GAEDECKE, , Miss' 42 20,21 Galanschikoff, Ljuba Garros, Roland 24, 25, 27 Gas ner, Alfred A. 70, 74 61, 62 Geysendorffer, G. J. Goedecker, Jacob 15,17 Gordon, Lou 71, 72 Goring, Hermann 37 Gould, Bruce 14, 110 Grabitz, Frau Frieda 31 Grase, H. 46, 50, 54, 55, 59, 60, 63, 79, 90, 91 Grey, C. G. 25,44, 53, 54, 107, III Griend, FIt. Sgt. van der 46 81 Grosfeld, J. Grulich, Dr. Ing. .K. 45 Guilonard, H. 83,88 HAILE SELASSr, Emp. 64 Halverson, H. 73 Hamilton, Eddy 58 Handley-Page, Sir Frederick 41 Harding, President 68 Hawker, Capt. L. G. 23 Hegenberger, Lt. 68, 70, 79 Hegener, Henri 41, 43, 46, 52 92,94 Hentzen, F. H. Hess, Herman 44, 51 Hilgers, Jan 21 Hinchliffe,W.G.R.41,44,45 Hoare, Sir Samuel 54 73 Hoe, Sgt. Roy Hofstee, Lt. M. 38 Hofstra, J. 43 Hondong,J. 84 Hoop, A. van der 44, 52, 53 Hope, Capt. W. 61 Hormel, Capt. 49 Horter, Wilhelm 32, 37 Hughes-Chamberlain, Capt. R. E. 27 IMMELMA

DAUM, Obit. von

INDEX

MAcCOLL, Rene 63 McCudden, Major J. T. B. 29 MacMillan, Wg. Cdr. Norman 93 41,42 McReady, Lt. Mahn, Heinrich 36 68, 70, 79 Maitland, Lt. Mara, W. A. 58 M ecklen bu rg-Sch weri n, Grand Duke of 27,33 Meinecke, Emil 86 Mitchell, General William 68, 69 Mitchell, Rev. III Mittelholzer, Walter 64,79 Moll, Capt. 79 Mollison, Jim 86 Miiller, Lt. 28 91 Mutsaers, FIt. Sgt. NECKEL, Lt. U. 31 Neyenhoff, Wim van 110,111 91 Nobile, Gen. mberto oorduyn, R. B. C. 65, 67, 68, 69,70 oville, G. 70 OLLEY, Gordon P. Osterkamp, Lt. T. Osterman, E. J.

38 96 86 74 74 46 68 33

Q ESADA, Lt. E.

KELLY, Lt. 41,42 Kettering, C. F. 74 Kidston, Lt. Cornnl. Glen 64,79 Kindelberger, J. H. 77 Kingsford-Smith, Sir Charles 70, 73, 79, 110 Koolhoven, Frederick 38, 39, 66, 89 Koppen, Lt. G. 79 Krefft, Lt. 29 Kreutzer, M. 39 Kuntner, F. 23 Kiirth, Mech. 43 LAMMEREN, van Lenman, H. Leutert, H.

89 42 49

44,64 30 38

PANDER & ZONEN 64 39 Parge, Adolf Patrick, General Mason 107 Pattist, Capt. 79 Peereboom, R. 17 Pegoud, A. 22 Pemberton-Billing, Noel 25 Platz, Reinhold 28, 30, 33, 39, 4~ 41, 42, 43, 55, ~~ 9~ 95, 108, 109 Pleines, Dr. Ing 101 Plesman, Dr. A. 38,41,56, 83,85,86,87,88,89,96, 100 Poscholkoff, I. 47

N, Lt. Max. 25, 26, 34

JABLONSKY, Bruno Janse, L. Johnson, Amy Johnson, Lt. H. Jones, D. W. Jongbloed, FIt. Lt. June, Harold Junkers, Prof. Hugo

33 17 57, 70 64,79 51 23 70

73

REI HOLD, Dr. T. 13, 16 42,49,60 Rethel, H. 39 Reuter, Otto Richthofen, Manfred von 31, 32, 34 Rickenbacker, Capt. ddie 74 89 Ringers, Dr. Jr. J. 75 Rockne, Knute 18 Rosenstein, K. Rothschild, Baron Loui von 64 SALOMON, Lt. Sandberg, G. Saul, J. P. Saulnier, R.

224

17 90,91,92 79 25,27

Pages Schatzki, E. 94, 95 Schirinkin, 47 Schlichting, Lt. von 20, 21 Schlieckelmann, R. J. 104 Schneider, Franz 26, 27 Schoenmaker, J. 75 cholte, J. 61,62 Schott, Lt. 91 Schuren, E. L. 74 Seekatz, F. W. 32, 37,45, 49, 52, 89, 92, 98, 100, 101 Selasinsky, ObIt. 15 Shackleton, W. S. 96 23 Siegert, Major Si lIevis, L. 86 Smirnoff, Ivan 81, 83 Smith, Dean 68 Snyder, General 53 SoeG P. 81 Sonderman, G. 95, 102 Spaatz, Carl 73 Spencer, Lorillard 68 Stannage, J. W. 79 Stephan, Ir. B. 63,64,79,91, 93, 107, 108 Steup, Capt. 91 Stinnes, Hugo 47,49 Student, Kurt 49 Stultz, Wilmer 71, 72, 79 Supf, P. 17, 18 THADE , H. V. Tichenor, Frank A. Tidmarsh, Capt. D. M. Tijen, van 93,96, 100, Tutschek, Ritter von UDET, ER ST Ulm, Charle P.

77 75 27 101 29

28,31,98 70,79

VA

DERBILT, HAROLD 71,72 Vautel, Clement 45 Ver teegh, FIt. Lt. 46 Vos, P. 100 Voss, Lt. Werner 29

ERRATA AND ADDENDA

Page o/ullln Line 41 FUght 1 41 aption to bottom photograph

139

Should read: , -Humphery' 'Standing by the F.Il are, left to right, W. G. R. Hinchliffe (pilot), Bernard dc Waal, Henri Hegener and S. Elleman (mechanic) Right 7 ' Four countries competed' Right 10 ' Modus Vivendi.' (' ... was found, etc.') Right 16 'The F.VlJA-3m was sold .. .' Left 14 ' first ever twin turbo prop. airliner.' Right 24 ' in America for civil aero-engines.' Right contracts for fourteen two-engined 8 lines from' bottom ' Caption to bottom ' ... third model" Spin ".' photograph Right 12 , position of Deputy Director ... .' , Mr. W. S. Shackleton of London' Left 14 15 , under the name N. V. Verenigde Left Nederlandse Vliegtuigfabrieken ' , ... was purchased in the former verDrawing caption sion .. .' Drawing caption , .... Hungarian Air Transport Company

143

Drawing caption

50 68 69 71 72 76 86 93 96 102 129

161 169 174 190 193 193

WAAL, B RN RD de 22,23, 31, 36, 40, 41, 45 49 Wagenfiihr, Major F. Warner, J. 70 61 Weber, Mech. Weerden-Poelman, FIt. Lt. van 46, 52, 53 Weidner, H. 23 Whalen, W. J. 74 Wichmann, Herr 40 Wijnmalen, H. 35 Wilhelm, Crown Prince, 26, 31 Wilhelmina, H.M. Queen 47 Wilkin, Sir H. 69,71,74 Willingdon, Lord 64 74 Wilson, C. E. Wintgens, Lt. 25, 29 Wood, Gar 71, 72 Woods-Humphreys, Major 41 Wright Bros. J1 ZACHRY, WALLACE Zanni, Major Ziets, Willy

76 90 64

193 204 204 204

' ... most famous pre-1939 commercial design .. .' Drawing caption ' utilised .. .' Drawing caption ' Buccaneer .. .' Drawing caption ' The Royal Netherlands Air Force .. .' Left 20 (F.VllB-3m) ' ... of all pre-war Fokker airliners ' Left 9 lines from (F.27) add' ... or 2 x 1910 s.h.p.' bottom Right 12 (F.27) , ... Fairchild Stratos Corporation of Maryland .. .' Right 17-18 ' ... by July 1961, 184 had been sold in 20 countries; 98 by Fokker and 86 by Fairchild.' Left 5 (S.II)· ... first post-World War II, product of their own design of the Fokker ' 10 (S.II) , a further 160 were licenceLeft built ... ' Right 1I (S.14/1) Ol/lil • plus parts .. .' to end.

"

THRII MORI flNI BOOKS ABOUT THI MIN AND THI AIRCRAfT Of THI 1914-1918 WAR PIRIOD A~:£i:l Di' '!:Il!: 3f>3.(1..;lf);lS 'WAJ!

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This is the story of von Richthofen's The 256 photograph in the book conlife from boyhood, his early days before stitute a 'collector's album', many never he found fame, and how he succeeded in having been previously publi hed. The space available in some 224 pages destroying eighty aircraft. Although Richthofen is the central figure, some has enabled the compilers to describe no two hundred pilots who served under him less than eighty-four aircraft most comare mentioned by name, and the history of prehensively in text, photographs and the 'circus' is narrated from its inception 1/72 scale three-view full-page drawings. to its disbandment. The reader will find included operational, While presenting the German point of near-operational and experimental view to air fighting, and giving an intimate fighters. However, this is by no means picture of life 'from the other ide of the total contents of the book. There are the lines,' particular attention has been / a number of very complete tables of given to the impact of von Richthofen dimensions and performance figures of and his Geschwader upon the tactics of each aircraft incorporated. A list of all The Royal Flying Corps and later upon units known to have been equipped with the Royal Air Force. each of these aircraft is also included. Finally, and this is in the nature of an innovation which will be of special interest to builders of solid scale models; there are about 150 close-up photographs of parts of aircraft, such as machine-guns . and various types of mounting, engines, engine installations and exhaust systems, cockpit layouts and undercarriage arrangements; together with a selection of individual aircraft markings. A total of more than seven hundred photographs of aircraft and parts thereof, will be of special use to modellers, and of great interest to general aviation enthuiasts. Every detail it is possible to obtain is included in one copiously illustrated volume, making a complete record of all the fighters of the 1914-1918 War period.

Books on aces have been popular for the last thirty yean>, but never has the subject had so wide an appeal as now, an interest intensified by the appearance of the first fully documented account of the life and death of Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen. Not that this new aces book originated from that demand, but in anticipation of it steps were taken to assemble a team of writers competent to tackle such a task, and the result is eight books in one, written by authors well known for their authoritative approach, ....... 'and under the editorship of the renowned :..L:.~ .. --~~~~ air historian, Bruce Robertson. The book is divided into sections, each of which is copiously illustrated with not only many pictures of aces but of the aircraft in which they fought. These sections are: British, French, American, Italian, Included as appendices are two-page Belgian, Russian, German and AustroHungarian. Each section is divided into 1/72 scale six-view engineers' drawings, parts to give not only biographies of the together with two pages of photographs, aces, but the military background to their specifications, development details and particular air service. In addition there are data on each of the twelve aircraft known appendices listing aces by scores, with to have been flown by von Richthofen various remarks such as unit in which and/or the Richthofen Jagdgeschwader. served or machine flown, etc. There are There is a complete list of 'circus' pilots, also tables of fighter aircraft production over two hundred, with their individual data, identification markings, and lists of victory scores and other relevant inevery airman of the 1914-1918 War who formation; and an illustrated review of was awarded the British V.C.; the . all Manfred von Richthofen's victory German Ordre pour Ie Merite and the claims, ea~h with a fuselage profile American Congressional Medal of showing serial and other markings where applicable. Honour. . . . ~-...yOf'

© Harleyford Publications Ltd., Letchworth, Hens, England

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IISBN 0-8168-6370-91

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