Tag Archives: Fokker Flugzeugwerke GmbH

23 September 1917

Leutnant Werner Voss
Leutnant Werner Voss, Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte. Lieutenant Voss is wearing “The Blue Max,” the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the House of Hohenzollern, the Iron Cross and the Pilot’s Badge. (Gustav Liersch & Co.)

23 September 1917: Leutnant Werner Voss, commanding officer of Jagdstaffel 10 of the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte (German Air Force), a leading fighter ace with 48 confirmed victories, was shot down during a battle which lasted at least eight minutes and involved seven British pilots, themselves aces.

Though Voss’ machine gun fire damaged most of his opponents’ airplanes, his own was hit by fire from at least two of the British airplanes. Voss was struck by three bullets.

His airplane, a prototype Fokker F.I triplane, serial number 103/17, went into a steep dive and crashed north of Frezenberg, Belgium. Voss was killed.

Major James Thomas Byford McCudden, V.C., D.S.O. and Bar, M.C. and Bar, M.M., one of the British pilots involved in the dogfight, later said of Voss,

“As long as I live I shall never forget my admiration for that German pilot, who single-handed fought seven of us for ten minutes and also put some bullets through all our machines. His flying was wonderful, his courage magnificent, and in my opinion he was the bravest German airman whom it has been my privilege to see fight.”

Werner Voss in the cockpit of his Fokker F.I fighter, 103/17. (Unattributed)
Werner Voss in the cockpit of his Fokker F.I fighter, 103/17, autographed by Voss. (Unattributed)

The Fokker F.I was a prototype single-engine, single-seat triplane fighter, designed and built by Fokker Flugzeugwerke GmbH, Schwerin, Germany. After very slight changes, the production version would be designated Fokker Dr.I. The fuselage was constructed of steel tubing braced with wire and covered with fabric. The wings used plywood ribs and a boxed plywood spar.

The F.I was 5.770 meters (18 feet, 11.2 inches) long. The upper wing had a span of 7.190 meters (23 feet, 7.1 inches); the middle wing, 6.225 meters (20 feet, 5 inches); and the lower wing, 5.725 meters (18 feet, 9.4 inches). All three wings had a chord of 1.000 meters (3 feet, 3.4 inches). The airplane had an overall height of 2.950 meters (9 feet, 8.1 inches). Its empty weight was 405 kilograms (893 pounds), and the gross weight was 587 kilograms (1,294 pounds).

Leutnant Werner Voss' Fokker F.I triplane, 103/17. (Unattributed)
Leutnant Werner Voss’ Fokker F.I triplane, 103/17. (Unattributed)

Originally built with a Motorentfabrik Oberursel Ur.II nine-cylinder rotary engine rated at 110 horsepower (a license-built copy of the French Le Rhône 9J engine), Werner Voss had an actual Le Rhône 9J, serial number J6247, installed to replace the Ur.II.

The Le Rhône 9J, produced by Société des Moteurs Le Rhône, was an air-cooled, normally aspirated, 15.074 liter (919.85 cubic inches) nine-cylinder rotary engine, capable of producing 113 horsepower at 1,200 r.p.m., and a maximum 135 horsepower at 1,350 r.p.m. As the engine rotated, it turned a two-bladed Axial Proppellerwerk AG fixed-pitch, laminated wood propeller with a diameter of 2.660 meters (8 feet, 8.7 inches). The Le Rhône 9J was 850 millimeters (2 feet, 9.47 inches) long and 970 millimeters (3 feet, 2.19 inches) in diameter. It weighed 137 kilograms (302 pounds).

The Fokker F.I had a maximum speed of 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour) at Sea Level and 166 kilometers per hour (103 miles per hour) at 4,000 meters (13,123 feet ). The service ceiling was 7,000 meters (22,966 feet). It carried fuel for approximately 1½ hours of flight.

The F.I was armed with two fixed 8mm Spandau LMG 08/15 machine guns, synchronized to fire forward through the propeller arc. The fighter carried 550 rounds of ammunition per gun.

Werner Voss’ triplane, 103/17 (Wn. 1730), was a prototype, Versuch 5, or V5, ordered on 14 July 1917 and accepted by the German Air Force on 16 August. It was sent to Jagdstafell 10 on 21 August.

A British intelligence officer who examined the wreckage of Voss’ Fokker F.I described it as having camouflaged green upper surfaces and blue lower surfaces. Photographs of 103/17 show painted eyes and a mustache on the engine cowling, which are believed to have been inspired by Japanese kites that Voss had flown as a child.

Leutnant Werner Voss had been awarded the famous Pour le Mérite (the “Blue Max”), Germany’s highest award; the Hausorden von Hohenzollern (the Cross of the Order of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Crown and Swords); and the Eisernes Kreuz (Iron Cross), 1st and 2nd Class.

Leutnant Werner Voss with his Fokker F.I triplane, 103/17. (This photograph may have been taken by Anthony Fokker)
Leutnant Werner Voss with his Fokker F.I triplane, 103/17. (This photograph may have been taken by Anthony Fokker)

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes

23 August 1937

Captain Carl J. Crane, Captain George V. Holloman and Mr. Raymond K. Stout with the C-14B, 31-381. (United States Air Force 090176-F-1234K-007)

23 August 1937: The first completely automatic landing of an airplane took place at Patterson Field, near Dayton, Ohio. With Captain George Vernon Holloman in the cockpit, and Captain Carl Joseph Crane and Mr. Raymond K. Stout in the cabin, a Fokker Y1C-14B, Army serial number 31-381, departed Wright Field then automatically intercepted a series of four radio beacons, initiated a descent, and landed at nearby Patterson Field and braked to a stop, all without any input from the pilot.

The two military officers were each awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Mackay Trophy.

14 October 1938. Secretary of War Harry Hines Woodring (left) pins gold medal on Carl J. Crane (center) and George V. Holloman (right). “War Secretary presents Army Flyers with Mackay Trophy. Washington, D.C. Oct. 14.” (Library of Congress)

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Captain (Air Corps) George V. Holloman, U.S. Army Air Corps, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flights in connection with the design and development of the airplane automatic landing system which made possible the first complete automatic airplane landing in history. Over the period of two years during which this system was under development, Captain Holloman, with utter disregard of his personal safety, performed virtually all of the great amount of flight testing which was required for the numerous items of equipment which go to make up the complete automatic landing assembly, and when finally on 23 August 1937, the first experimental automatic landing flights were made, he was in the cockpit of the airplane used for this purpose. The engineering skill, judgment, and resourcefulness displayed by Captain Holloman, and his courage in performing hundreds of test flights with highly experimental equipment, contributed largely to the ultimate successful development of the automatic landing system.

General Orders: War Department: American Decorations, 1940 (Supplement IV-1940)

Action Date: August 23, 1937

Service: Army Air Forces

Rank: Captain

A contemporary aviation publication stated:

After two years of research and preparation daring pilots and engineers of the Army Air Corps in 1937 began to make automatic “blind” landings without any control from the occupants of the airplane or observers on the surface. On Monday, August 23, a day when the air was bumpy and the wind decidedly adverse, a big Army plane swung over the horizon near Wright Field, at Dayton, O., and glided straight down on the runway, rolling a few yards and then coming to a stop as if it had been at all times in the hands of an expert pilot. But nobody had anything to do with this landing; There were three men in the Army’s cargo plane, and they were the three experts who had developed the apparatus. Like true scientists they had gone up and come down on this test to see for themselves just how their creation would work. . . .

The AIRCRAFT YEAR BOOK FOR 1938, Howard Mingos, Editor, Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce of America, Inc., New York, 1938, Chapter II at Pages 43–50

Diagram from Patent Application No. US358438A

The automatic landing system used a barometric altimeter, a radio compass and Sperry Autopilot. The pilot would fly the airplane to a predetermined altitude at a distance greater than 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the airfield. When the system was activated, the airplane automatically maintained this altitude and turned toward the outermost beacon. (Turns of up to 180° were demonstrated.)

As the airplane passed over each of the three outer beacons, the radio compass frequency would change to that of the next successive beacon, and the airplane homed in on it. Coupled with the altimeter, the system prevented the airplane from descending below the minimum altitude until it had passed the innermost beacon.

When passing over the innermost beacon, the engine was automatically throttled back to begin a controlled descent. It then set the throttle to maintain a preset rate of descent and glide slope angle until ground contact was made. Switches in the landing gear signaled the system to bring the engine to idle and apply the brakes.

During testing all of the landings were made with a crosswind.

Y1C-14B (U.S. Air Force 097014-F-1234K-035)

The Fokker Y1C-14B was a variant of the F-14 commercial transport. It was a single-engine parasol-wing monoplane with conventional fixed landing gear. The airplane was flown by a single pilot in an open cockpit and could carry up to six passengers in its enclosed cabin. It was 43 feet, 3 inches (13.183 meters) long, with a wingspan of 59 feet, 0 inches (17,983 meters) and height of 12 feet, 0 inches (3.658 meters). The airplane’s maximum takeoff weight was 7,341 pounds (3,330 kilograms).

Fokker Y1C-14B 31-381, Wright Field. (United States Air Force 050406-F-1234P-036)

The Y1C-14B differed from the C-14A with the installation of an air-cooled, 1,690.537-cubic-inch-displacement (27.703 liters) Pratt & Whitney R-1690-5 nine-cylinder radial engine. This engine was direct-drive and had a compression ratio of 5:1. Burning 73-octane gasoline, it was rated at 525 horsepower at 1,900 r.p.m. at Sea Level. The R-1690-5 was 3 feet, 8.78 inches (1.137 meters) long, 4 feet, 6.43 inches (1.383 meters) in diameter and weighed 850 pounds (386 kilograms). This engine was sold commercially as the Pratt & Whitney Hornet A2.

Y1C-14B (U.S. Air Force 097014-F-1234K-036)

The Y1C-14B had a cruise speed of 133 miles per hour (214 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 150 miles per hour (241 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling was 14,300 feet (4,359 meters). Its range was 675 miles (1,086 kilometers).

Atlantic Aircraft Y1C-14B (U.S. Air Force 097014-F-1234K-037)

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

5 July 1917

Fokker Flugzeugwerke GmbH V.5 prototype, designated F.1 102/17.
A Fokker advertisement in Motor, 1917.

5 July 1917: First flight, the first of two Fokker Versuch 5 (V.5) triplane prototypes, designated F.1, serial number 102/17.

The Fokker F.I was a prototype single-engine, single-seat triplane fighter, designed and built by Fokker Flugzeugwerke GmbH, Schwerin, Germany. After very slight changes, the production version would be designated Fokker Dr.I. The fuselage was constructed of steel tubing braced with wire and covered with fabric. The wings used plywood ribs and a boxed plywood spar.

The two V.5s were improved variants of the V.4 prototype. The wingspan was increased and interplane struts were added.

The F.I was 5.770 meters (18 feet, 11.2 inches) long. The upper wing had a span of 7.190 meters (23 feet, 7.1 inches); the middle wing, 6.225 meters (20 feet, 5 inches); and the lower wing, 5.725 meters (18 feet, 9.4 inches). All three wings had a chord of 1.000 meters (3 feet, 3.4 inches). The airplane had an overall height of 2.950 meters (9 feet, 8.1 inches). Its empty weight was 405 kilograms (893 pounds), and the gross weight was 587 kilograms (1,294 pounds).

Fokker F.1 102/17

Originally built with a Motorenfabrik Oberursel Ur.II nine-cylinder rotary engine rated at 110 horsepower (a license-built copy of the French Le Rhône 9J engine). The Le Rhône 9J, produced by Société des Moteurs Le Rhône, was an air-cooled, normally aspirated, 15.074 liter (919.85 cubic inches) nine-cylinder rotary engine, capable of producing 113 horsepower at 1,200 r.p.m., and a maximum 135 horsepower at 1,350 r.p.m. As the engine rotated, it turned a two-bladed Axial Proppellerwerk AG fixed-pitch, laminated wood propeller with a diameter of 2.660 meters (8 feet, 8.7 inches). The Le Rhône 9J was 850 millimeters (2 feet, 9.47 inches) long and 970 millimeters (3 feet, 2.19 inches) in diameter. It weighed 137 kilograms (302 pounds).

Fokker F.1 102/17

The Fokker F.I had a maximum speed of 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour) at Sea Level and 166 kilometers per hour (103 miles per hour) at 4,000 meters (13,123 feet ). The service ceiling was 7,000 meters (22,966 feet). It carried fuel for approximately 1½ hours of flight.

The F.I was armed with two fixed 8mm Spandau LMG 08/15 machine guns, synchronized to fire forward through the propeller arc. The fighter carried 550 rounds of ammunition per gun.

Fokker F.1 102/17. The curved leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer is seen.
The second protototype, F.1 103/17, was flown by Leutnant Werner Voss. It was ordered on 14 July 1917 and accepted by the German Air Force on 16 August. It was sent to Jagdstafell 10 on 21 August. Shot down 23 September 1917

Fokker F.1 102/17 was shot down by a Sopwith Camel, 15 September 1917 near Wervik, Belgium. The pilot, Oberleutnant Kurt Wolff, was killed.

Plans for the production Fokker DR.I.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes