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| Fokker F.VII | |
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| Role | Passenger & military transport |
| Manufacturer | Fokker |
| First flight | 1924 |
| Introduced | 1925 |
| Primary users | SABENA KLM Polish Air Force Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT |
| Produced | 1925-1932 |
| Developed from | Fokker F.V |
The Fokker F.VII was an airliner produced in the 1920s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, Fokker's American subsidiary Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, and other companies under licence. The original Walter Rethel design of 1924 was a single-engined high-winged monoplane. Anthony Fokker modified the design with two additional engines to enter the inaugural Ford Reliability Tour in 1925, which it won. Consequently the production versions F.VIIa/3m, F.VIIb/3m and F.10 all had three engines, and the aircraft became popularly known as the Fokker Trimotor.[1]
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Operational history
The 8- to 12-passenger F.VII was the aircraft of choice for many early airlines, both in Europe and the Americas. Along with the similar Ford Trimotor, it dominated the American market in the late 1920s. However, the popularity of the Fokker quickly came to an end after the 1931 death of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne in the crash of TWA Flight 599. The subsequent investigation, which revealed problems with the Fokker's plywood-laminate construction, resulted in the banning of the aircraft on commercial flights, and the rise of all-metal aircraft such as the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2.[2]
Pioneers and Explorers
The F.VII was used by many explorers and aviation pioneers, including:
- Richard E. Byrd claimed to have flown over the North Pole in the Fokker F.VIIa/3m Josephine Ford on May 9, 1926, a few days before Roald Amundsen accomplished the feat in the airship Norge.[3]
- Two lieutenants of the US Army Air Corps, Lester Maitland and Albert Hegenberger, made the first flight from the continental United States to Hawaii in the Fokker C-2 Bird of Paradise in June 1927.[3] That same month, Richard E. Byrd, Bernt Balchen and two others flew the C-2 America across the Atlantic, crash-landing off the coast of France.[4] It was the third successful non-stop transatlantic flight by a heavier-than-air craft.
- Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's F.VIIb/3m Southern Cross was the first aircraft to cross the Pacific from the United States to Australia in June 1928, and the first to cross the Tasman Sea, flying from Australia to New Zealand and back in September of that year.[5]
- Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic on June 17, 1928, as a passenger aboard the Fokker F.VIIb/3m Friendship.[3]
- A group of U. S. Army Air Corps flyers, led by then Major Carl Spaatz, set an endurance record of over 150 hours with the Question Mark, a Fokker C-2A over Los Angeles on January 1 to January 7, 1929. The purpose of this mission was to experiment with aerial refueling.[6]
Variants
- F.VII
- Single-engined transport aircraft, five built.
- F.VIIa (F.VIIa/1m)
- Single-engined transport aircraft, slightly larger than F.VII with new undercarriage and wing. Flown on 12 March 1925. First aircraft had 420 hp (310 kW) inline Packard Liberty engine but remaining 39 F.VIIa had mostly radial Bristol Jupiter or Pratt Whitney Wasp engines.
- F.VIIa/3m
- Version with two additional underwing engines, flown on 4 September 1925. The first two aircraft were identical to the F.VIIa. From the third aircraft, the fuselage was 80 cm longer and was powered by with 200 hp (147 kW) Wright J4 Whirlwind radial engines. Probably only 18 were built while many F.VIIas were upgraded to the F.VIIa/3m standard.
First two Fokker F.VIIAs were converted into three-engined transport aircraft.
- F.VIIb/3m
- Main production version with greater span, 154 built including built under licence.
Licenced copies
Belgium by SABCA, 29 aircraft built.
Czechoslovakia by Avia, 18 aircraft built.
Italy, three aircraft built as the IMAM Ro.10.
Poland by Plage i Laśkiewicz. Between 1929 and 1930 eleven passenger and 20 domestically developed (by Jerzy Rudlicki) bomber aircraft.
Spain, three aircraft built.
United Kingdom by Avro, 14 aircraft known as Avro 618 Ten.
United States by Atlantic Aircraft Corporation
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Operators
Civilian operators
- SABENA operated 28 aircraft.
- Det Danske Luftfartselskab operated three F.VIIa aircraft.
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- Malert operated two F.VIIa aircraft.
- KLM received all five F.VII aircraft and 15 F.VIIas.
- Aero operated six F.VIIa aircraft for a short period in 1928. Since 1 January, 1929 all aircraft were handed over to PLL LOT airline.
- Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT operated six F.VIIas and 13 F.VIIb/3ms between 1929 and 1939.
- Swissair operated one F.VIIa and eight F.VIIb-3m aircraft.
- American Airways, which later became American Airlines.
- TWA
- Pan Am operated F.VIIb/3ms aircraft.
Military operators
- Finnish Air Force operated one F.VIIa.
- Royal Netherlands Air Force received three bomber F.VIIa/3m aircraft.
- Polish Air Force operated 21 F.VIIb/3m (20 of them were licence-built) aircraft as bombers and transports between 1929 and 1939.
- Spanish Air Force operated seven aircraft.
- United States Army Air Corps designations include Atlantic-Fokker C-2, C-5 and C-7.[7]
- United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, originally designated TA then RA
Specifications
Fokker F.VIIb/3m; Atlantic-Fokker C-2A
Data from [8]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Capacity: 8 passengers
- Length: 47 ft 11 in (14.60m)
- Wingspan: 71 ft 2 in (21.70 m)
- Height: 12 ft 8 in (3.90 m)
- Empty weight: 6,725 lb (3,050 kg)
- Loaded weight: 11,570 lb (5,200 kg)
- Powerplant: 3× Wright J-5 Whirlwind radial engines, 220 hp (164 kW) each
Performance
- Cruise speed: 92 knots (170 km/h)
References
- ^ Aeronautics Learning Laboratory
- ^ Centennial of Flight information on CAA investigation of Flight 599
- ^ a b c Famous Fokker Flights
- ^ The Trans-Atlantic Flight of the 'America'
- ^ The Pioneers - Charles Kingsford Smith
- ^ USAF Historical Studies Office article about the Question Mark
- ^ Cargo Aircraft Designations
- ^ Aero Favourites
See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
- List of aircraft of the Finnish Air Force
- List of military aircraft of the United States
- List of military aircraft of the United States (naval)
- List of civil aircraft
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