Anthony Fokkers D-VII The Best of World War I
Anthony Fokker’s D-VII, The Best of World War I
The Fokker
Eindekker (monoplane) was the first aircraft to have a synchronized machine gun
installed. Note the numerous struts, braces and cabling needed to hold the
aircraft together.
By:
Norm Goyer
There is no debate regarding the best aircraft, the most advanced
aircraft and the best-looking aircraft of World War I. It was the Fokker D-VII.
When the fighting in the air started, the German Air Force had Fokkers, but they
were just a little more than kites. The Eindekker (one wing) did a good job in
combat against opposing aircraft, also of very obsolete design. However, the
hand writing was on the wall that the aviation firm to watch was Fokker. This
firm was originally a Dutch company but had relocated to Germany by money or
force. It seems that up until the Eindekker, pilots had to almost stand up in
their seat to fire a machine gun mounted on the top wing to avoid shooting off
their own propeller. Some British aircraft had pusher engines, so the machine
gunner in the front cockpit could aim it straight ahead. Others had rear seats
with a gunner. One clever designer even came up with a triangular piece of steel
that was mounted to the back of the propeller blades. This would deflect any
bullet that struck the propeller. Then Fokker had a brainstorm, he hooked up his
machine-gun-firing mechanism to a cam on the engine. So the cam would only fire
the guns when the prop was horizontal, thereby missing the blades. Until the
Allied pilots figured this out, many planes and pilots were lost to the deadly
accuracy of the Eindekker. This unhappy situation lasted until an Eindekker was
shot down and the device could be copied. Then air battles once again had an
almost level field.
There are
many replica Fokker D-VIIs in existence, as a result of their excellent flying
qualities. Many have wild color schemes which copy those of the German “Flying
Circus.” This tag was given to some squadrons because of the wild colors that
many German pilots applied to their aircraft
The Fokker D-VII came out after the Fokker DR-I Triplane. The D-VII
design by Reinhold Platz was a large rugged-looking biplane. The fuselage was
welded steel tubing, and had twin machine guns, firing straight ahead, mounted
on the cowling. One of the big plusses of the D-VII was its six-cylinder, inline
160/180 hp Mercedes overhead-valve engine or its 185 hp BMW V-12 overhead-valve
engine. Now there are very few car buffs out there who will deny that these two
engines, Mercedes and BMW aren’t the best of their breed in 2009 as well as they
were in 1918. These 160-to 185-hp engines were super reliable. The aircraft had
a wingspan of 29 feet and a length of 22 feet. This 1,984-pound airplane was
large by WWI standards. The excellent design of this Fokker allowed it to fly so
slowly, without stalling, that it could literally throttle back, let the Allied
plane pass by over head, the pilot would raise his nose and spray the belly of
the passing aircraft with a barrage of bullets from his very stable gun
platform. The only saving factor for hundreds of Allied fighters in 1918 was the
shortage of fuel and that of experienced pilots the Germans suffered late in the
war. If this plane had been brought out a year or two earlier, the outcome of
the war could have been far different.
I took this
photo a few years ago at Kermit Weeks’ “Museum of Flight” in Central Florida.
It is one of two replica Fokker D-VIIIs built by Brian Coughlin of Manlius, New
York.
This aircraft was valued so highly that it became part of the war
reparations. The United States obtained 142 D-VIIs and used them as trainers as
late as 1924. The US Navy also were given 12 of them for their and the Marine
Corps use. In 1921, the US Navy purchased three Fokker C-1s from the Dutch firm.
These aircraft were the same as the D-VII except for slightly longer wings and
fuselage. These aircraft used the BMW 185-hp engine. Design elements of the
D-VII were used by Boeing in their FB-1 of 1925 and, of course, the Travel Air
4000, the Wichita Fokker.
This photo shows
the Fokker D-VII used by Hermann Goering. Notice the simple all-white paint
scheme.
Model aircraft builders have been building Fokker Triplanes, Fokker
D-VII and the Fokker D-VIIIs by the thousands for many years; they too have a
great eye for outstanding aircraft.