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Fokker D.VIII

April 12, 2024

The Fokker E.V was a German parasol-monoplane fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz and built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The E.V was the last Fokker design to become operational with the Luftstreitkräfte, entering service in the last months of World War I. After several fatal accidents due to wing failures, the aircraft was modified and redesignated Fokker D.VIII. Dubbed the Flying Razor by post-war pulp-fiction writers, the D.VIII had the distinction of scoring the last aerial victory of the war.

Fokker D.VIII
Role Fighter
Manufacturer Fokker-Flugzeugwerke
Designer Reinhold Platz
First flight May 1918
Primary user Luftstreitkräfte
Number built approximately 381

Design and development edit

In early 1918, Fokker produced several rotary-powered monoplane prototypes, submitting V.26 and V.28, small parasol-winged monoplanes with his usual steel-tube fuselages, for the second fighter trials at Adlershof in May/June 1918. V.28 was tested with the 108 kW (145 hp) Oberursel Ur.III and 119 kW (160 hp) Goebel Goe.III, though neither of these engines were ready for operational service. The V.26 used the standard Oberursel Ur.II engine, producing only 82 kW (110 hp). The engine was obsolete but the low drag of the V.26 and light weight meant that it was still quite fast. The Fokker designs were only barely beaten by the Siemens-Schuckert D.III with the complex bi-rotary Siemens-Halske Sh.III engine and the V.26 was ordered into production as the Fokker E.V. Four hundred were ordered immediately with either the Ur.III or Goe.III. Because neither engine was available in any quantity, all production examples mounted the Ur.II.

Operational history edit

 
Fokker E.V
 
Fokker E.V in 1918

The first production E.V aircraft were shipped to Jasta 6 in late July. The new monoplane was also delivered to Jasta 1, Jasta 19, Jasta 24 and Jasta 36. Leutnant Emil Rolff scored the first kill in an E.V on August 17, 1918, but two days later he was killed when his aircraft's wing collapsed in flight. After another E.V of Jasta 19 crashed, Idflieg grounded all E.V aircraft. Pending the investigation of these wing failures, production ceased at the Fokker Flugzeugwerke. According to Fokker, the wing failures were caused by the army technical bureau, which had forced him to modify the original design by over-strengthening the rear main spar. This faulty design allegedly caused the wing to twist and fail. Fokker claimed that this defect was resolved by reverting to his original design.

According to most other accounts, the source of the wing failures lay not in the design, but in shoddy and rushed construction. Fokker had subcontracted construction of the E.V wings to the Gebrüder Perzina Pianoforte Fabrik factory. Due to poor quality control, inferior timber had been used and the spar caps, forming the upper and lower members of each spar assembly, had been placed too far apart during the fabrication. Because the resulting spars were vertically too large to pass through the ribs, excess material was simply planed away from the exposed upper and lower surfaces of the cap pieces, leaving the assembled spars dangerously weak. Other problems included water damage to glued parts, and pins that splintered the spars, rather than securing them.[1]

Tests showed that, when properly constructed, the original E.V wing had a considerable margin of safety. Satisfied that the basic design was safe, Idflieg authorized continued production, after personnel changes and improved quality control measures were introduced at the Perzina factory.

Deliveries resumed in October. At the direction of the Kogenluft (Kommandierenden General der Luftstreitkräfte), Idflieg redesignated the modified aircraft D.VIII. The earlier "E." and "Dr." prefixes for fighter monoplanes and triplanes, respectively, were abolished and all fighters would henceforth receive the "D." prefix instead. The D.VIII commenced operations on 24 October with Jasta 11. The aircraft proved to be agile and easy to fly. Allied pilots nicknamed it the Flying Razor, presumably because it resembled a cocked straight razor in flight.

Jasta 5 was issued a D.VIII. The famed ace Erich Lowenhardt performed a test flight of a Fokker EV whilst paying a visit to Jasta 6 in the summer of 1918, but no evidence of him flying this aircraft on any other occasion exists to date.

A total of 381 aircraft were produced, but only some 85 aircraft reached frontline service before the Armistice. Some reached Italy, Japan, the United States, and England as trophies, but most were scrapped in accordance with the terms of the Armistice.

Postwar edit

The Polish Air Force captured 17 aircraft, but only seven (six E.V and one D.VIII) were in airworthy condition. All were used against Soviet forces in the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–1920. Lieutenant Stefan Stec earned the first kill for the Polish Air Force, by shooting down a Ukrainian Nieuport 21 fighter on 29 April 1919. In 1921, the remaining Fokkers were withdrawn from front-line units and transferred to the Szkoła Obsługi Lotniczej (Air Personnel School) at Poznań-Ławica airfield.

Variants edit

  • V 26 : Initial prototype.
  • V 27 : V.26 with 195 hp (145 kW) Benz Bz.IIIb V8 engine. Participated in the second D-type competition.
  • V 28 : Prototype fitted with either a 108 kW (145 hp) Oberursel Ur.III, or a 118 kW (160 hp) Goebel Goe.III rotary engines.
  • V 29 : Larger version of the V.27 initially fitted with a 160 hp (119 kW) Mercedes D.III and later with a 185 hp (138 kW) BMW IIIa, both inline water-cooled engines. Participated in the third D-type competition.
  • V 30 : Single-seat glider modification of V.26.

Operators edit

 
Fokker D.VIII in Dutch markings
  Belgium
  German Empire
  Netherlands
  Poland
  • Polish Air Force captured 16 E.V and one D.VIII aircraft, but only 7 were operated. Last E.V was still on inventory in 1924.
  Soviet Union
  • Soviet Air Force captured one aircraft during the Polish-Soviet War and operated it until the mid-1920s.
  United States

Surviving aircraft edit

 
D.VIII at the Caproni Museum
  • The fuselage of an original D.VIII is preserved at the Caproni Museum in Trento, Italy.
  • A replica of a D.VIII is at the Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton, Alberta.
  • A replica of an E.V marked as 001 (Fok.E.V 185/18) can be found on display at the Polish Air Force Museum in Deblin, Poland.
  • The Vintage Aviator Ltd. of Masterton, New Zealand, operate two airworthy replicas.[2]

Specifications (D.VIII) edit

 
Fokker D.VIII 3-view drawing

Data from German Aircraft of the First World War [3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 5.86 m (19 ft 3 in)
  • Wingspan: 8.34 m (27 ft 4 in)
  • Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
  • Wing area: 10.7 m2 (115 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 405 kg (893 lb)
  • Gross weight: 605 kg (1,334 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Oberursel UR.II 9-cyl. air-cooled rotary piston engine, 82 kW (110 hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 204 km/h (127 mph, 110 kn)
  • Endurance: 1.5 hours
  • Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 8 m/s (1,600 ft/min)
  • Time to altitude:
    • 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 2 minutes
    • 4,000 m (13,000 ft) in 10 minutes 45 seconds
  • Wing loading: 56.0 kg/m2 (11.5 lb/sq ft)

Armament

See also edit

Related lists

References edit

  1. ^ Connors, John F., "Fokker's Flying Razors", Wings, Aug 1974, Vol. 4, Number 4, pp. 45, 48.
  2. ^ "FOKKER DVIII - in flight | the Vintage Aviator".
  3. ^ Gray, Peter; Owen Thetford (1970). German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam & Company Ltd. pp. 109–112. ISBN 0-370-00103-6.

Bibliography edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fokker D.VIII.
  • Gray, Peter & Thetford, Owen (1987) [1970]. German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-809-7.
  • Grosz, Peter M. (December 1981 – March 1982). "Fokker's D VIII... the Reluctant Razor". Air Enthusiast. No. 17. pp. 61–73. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Herris, Jack & Leckscheid, Jörn (2023). Fokker Aircraft of WWI: Volume 5 1918 Designs, Part 2 - D.VII & D.VIII: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 55B. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-953201-61-4.
  • Sankowski, Wojciech (September 1994). "Les Fokker E-V Polonais" [Polish Fokker E-Vs]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (19): 18–19. ISSN 1243-8650.
  • Weyl, A.R. Fokker: The Creative Years. 1988. ISBN 0-85177-817-8.

April 12, 2024
fokker, viii, fokker, german, parasol, monoplane, fighter, aircraft, designed, reinhold, platz, built, fokker, flugzeugwerke, last, fokker, design, become, operational, with, luftstreitkräfte, entering, service, last, months, world, after, several, fatal, acci. The Fokker E V was a German parasol monoplane fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz and built by Fokker Flugzeugwerke The E V was the last Fokker design to become operational with the Luftstreitkrafte entering service in the last months of World War I After several fatal accidents due to wing failures the aircraft was modified and redesignated Fokker D VIII Dubbed the Flying Razor by post war pulp fiction writers the D VIII had the distinction of scoring the last aerial victory of the war Fokker D VIIIRole FighterManufacturer Fokker FlugzeugwerkeDesigner Reinhold PlatzFirst flight May 1918Primary user LuftstreitkrafteNumber built approximately 381 Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational history 2 1 Postwar 3 Variants 4 Operators 5 Surviving aircraft 6 Specifications D VIII 7 See also 8 References 9 BibliographyDesign and development editIn early 1918 Fokker produced several rotary powered monoplane prototypes submitting V 26 and V 28 small parasol winged monoplanes with his usual steel tube fuselages for the second fighter trials at Adlershof in May June 1918 V 28 was tested with the 108 kW 145 hp Oberursel Ur III and 119 kW 160 hp Goebel Goe III though neither of these engines were ready for operational service The V 26 used the standard Oberursel Ur II engine producing only 82 kW 110 hp The engine was obsolete but the low drag of the V 26 and light weight meant that it was still quite fast The Fokker designs were only barely beaten by the Siemens Schuckert D III with the complex bi rotary Siemens Halske Sh III engine and the V 26 was ordered into production as the Fokker E V Four hundred were ordered immediately with either the Ur III or Goe III Because neither engine was available in any quantity all production examples mounted the Ur II Operational history edit nbsp Fokker E V nbsp Fokker E V in 1918The first production E V aircraft were shipped to Jasta 6 in late July The new monoplane was also delivered to Jasta 1 Jasta 19 Jasta 24 and Jasta 36 Leutnant Emil Rolff scored the first kill in an E V on August 17 1918 but two days later he was killed when his aircraft s wing collapsed in flight After another E V of Jasta 19 crashed Idflieg grounded all E V aircraft Pending the investigation of these wing failures production ceased at the Fokker Flugzeugwerke According to Fokker the wing failures were caused by the army technical bureau which had forced him to modify the original design by over strengthening the rear main spar This faulty design allegedly caused the wing to twist and fail Fokker claimed that this defect was resolved by reverting to his original design According to most other accounts the source of the wing failures lay not in the design but in shoddy and rushed construction Fokker had subcontracted construction of the E V wings to the Gebruder Perzina Pianoforte Fabrik factory Due to poor quality control inferior timber had been used and the spar caps forming the upper and lower members of each spar assembly had been placed too far apart during the fabrication Because the resulting spars were vertically too large to pass through the ribs excess material was simply planed away from the exposed upper and lower surfaces of the cap pieces leaving the assembled spars dangerously weak Other problems included water damage to glued parts and pins that splintered the spars rather than securing them 1 Tests showed that when properly constructed the original E V wing had a considerable margin of safety Satisfied that the basic design was safe Idflieg authorized continued production after personnel changes and improved quality control measures were introduced at the Perzina factory Deliveries resumed in October At the direction of the Kogenluft Kommandierenden General der Luftstreitkrafte Idflieg redesignated the modified aircraft D VIII The earlier E and Dr prefixes for fighter monoplanes and triplanes respectively were abolished and all fighters would henceforth receive the D prefix instead The D VIII commenced operations on 24 October with Jasta 11 The aircraft proved to be agile and easy to fly Allied pilots nicknamed it the Flying Razor presumably because it resembled a cocked straight razor in flight Jasta 5 was issued a D VIII The famed ace Erich Lowenhardt performed a test flight of a Fokker EV whilst paying a visit to Jasta 6 in the summer of 1918 but no evidence of him flying this aircraft on any other occasion exists to date A total of 381 aircraft were produced but only some 85 aircraft reached frontline service before the Armistice Some reached Italy Japan the United States and England as trophies but most were scrapped in accordance with the terms of the Armistice Postwar edit The Polish Air Force captured 17 aircraft but only seven six E V and one D VIII were in airworthy condition All were used against Soviet forces in the Polish Soviet War of 1919 1920 Lieutenant Stefan Stec earned the first kill for the Polish Air Force by shooting down a Ukrainian Nieuport 21 fighter on 29 April 1919 In 1921 the remaining Fokkers were withdrawn from front line units and transferred to the Szkola Obslugi Lotniczej Air Personnel School at Poznan Lawica airfield Variants editV 26 Initial prototype V 27 V 26 with 195 hp 145 kW Benz Bz IIIb V8 engine Participated in the second D type competition V 28 Prototype fitted with either a 108 kW 145 hp Oberursel Ur III or a 118 kW 160 hp Goebel Goe III rotary engines V 29 Larger version of the V 27 initially fitted with a 160 hp 119 kW Mercedes D III and later with a 185 hp 138 kW BMW IIIa both inline water cooled engines Participated in the third D type competition V 30 Single seat glider modification of V 26 Operators edit nbsp Fokker D VIII in Dutch markings nbsp BelgiumBelgian Air Force operated a single captured E V from 1919 until the early 1920s nbsp German EmpireLuftstreitkrafte received 381 aircraft before 11 November 1918 Kaiserliche Marine nbsp NetherlandsRoyal Netherlands Air Force nbsp PolandPolish Air Force captured 16 E V and one D VIII aircraft but only 7 were operated Last E V was still on inventory in 1924 nbsp Soviet UnionSoviet Air Force captured one aircraft during the Polish Soviet War and operated it until the mid 1920s nbsp United StatesUnited States Army Air Service Postwar Surviving aircraft edit nbsp D VIII at the Caproni MuseumThe fuselage of an original D VIII is preserved at the Caproni Museum in Trento Italy A replica of a D VIII is at the Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton Alberta A replica of an E V marked as 001 Fok E V 185 18 can be found on display at the Polish Air Force Museum in Deblin Poland The Vintage Aviator Ltd of Masterton New Zealand operate two airworthy replicas 2 Specifications D VIII edit nbsp Fokker D VIII 3 view drawingData from German Aircraft of the First World War 3 General characteristicsCrew 1 Length 5 86 m 19 ft 3 in Wingspan 8 34 m 27 ft 4 in Height 2 6 m 8 ft 6 in Wing area 10 7 m2 115 sq ft Empty weight 405 kg 893 lb Gross weight 605 kg 1 334 lb Powerplant 1 Oberursel UR II 9 cyl air cooled rotary piston engine 82 kW 110 hp Performance Maximum speed 204 km h 127 mph 110 kn Endurance 1 5 hours Service ceiling 6 000 m 20 000 ft Rate of climb 8 m s 1 600 ft min Time to altitude 1 000 m 3 300 ft in 2 minutes 4 000 m 13 000 ft in 10 minutes 45 seconds Wing loading 56 0 kg m2 11 5 lb sq ft Armament Guns 2 7 92 mm 0 312 in Spandau MG08 machine gunsSee also editRelated lists List of military aircraft of GermanyReferences edit Connors John F Fokker s Flying Razors Wings Aug 1974 Vol 4 Number 4 pp 45 48 FOKKER DVIII in flight the Vintage Aviator Gray Peter Owen Thetford 1970 German Aircraft of the First World War 2nd ed London Putnam amp Company Ltd pp 109 112 ISBN 0 370 00103 6 Bibliography edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fokker D VIII Gray Peter amp Thetford Owen 1987 1970 German Aircraft of the First World War 2nd ed London Putnam ISBN 0 85177 809 7 Grosz Peter M December 1981 March 1982 Fokker s D VIII the Reluctant Razor Air Enthusiast No 17 pp 61 73 ISSN 0143 5450 Herris Jack amp Leckscheid Jorn 2023 Fokker Aircraft of WWI Volume 5 1918 Designs Part 2 D VII amp D VIII A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes Great War Aviation Centennial Series Vol 55B n p Aeronaut Books ISBN 978 1 953201 61 4 Sankowski Wojciech September 1994 Les Fokker E V Polonais Polish Fokker E Vs Avions Toute l aeronautique et son histoire in French 19 18 19 ISSN 1243 8650 Weyl A R Fokker The Creative Years 1988 ISBN 0 85177 817 8 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fokker D VIII amp oldid 1194510863, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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