Fokker D.VII

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker_D.VII

The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold
Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft
in the second half of 1918. In service with the Luftstreitkräfte, the D.VII
quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft. The Armistice ending the war
specifically required, as the fourth clause of the "Clauses Relating to the
Western Front", that Germany was required to surrender all D.VIIs to the Allies.
Surviving aircraft saw much service with many countries in the years after World
War I.

Development and production

Fokker's chief designer, Reinhold Platz, had been working on a series of
experimental V-series aircraft, starting in 1916. The aircraft were notable for
the use of cantilever wings. Hugo Junkers and his aviation firm had originated
the idea in 1915 with the first practical all-metal aircraft, the Junkers J 1
monoplane, nicknamed Blechesel (Sheet Metal Donkey or Tin Donkey). The wings
were thick, with a rounded leading edge. The shape of the wings' airfoil gave
greater lift, with its relatively "blunt" leading edge (as seen in
cross-section) giving it more docile stalling behavior than the thin wings
commonly in use.

Late in 1917, Fokker built the experimental V 11 biplane, fitted with the
standard Mercedes D.IIIa engine. In January 1918, Idflieg held a fighter
competition at Adlershof. For the first time, front line pilots participated in
the evaluation and selection of new fighters. Fokker submitted the V 11 along
with several other prototypes. Manfred von Richthofen flew the V 11 and found it
tricky, unpleasant and directionally unstable in a dive. Platz lengthened the
rear fuselage by one structural bay and added a triangular fin in front of the
rudder. Richthofen tested the modified V 11 and praised it as the best aircraft
of the competition. It offered excellent performance from the outdated Mercedes
engine, yet was safe and easy to fly. Richthofen's recommendation virtually
decided the competition but he was not alone in recommending it. Fokker
immediately received a provisional order for 400 production aircraft, which were
named D.VII by Idflieg.

Fokker's factory was not up to the task of meeting all D.VII production orders
and Idflieg directed Albatros and AEG to build the D.VII under license, though
AEG did not ultimately produce any aircraft. Because the Fokker factory did not
use detailed plans as part of its production process, Fokker simply sent a D.VII
airframe for Albatros to copy. Albatros paid Fokker a five percent royalty for
every D.VII they built under license. Albatros Flugzeugwerke and its subsidiary,
Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW), built the D.VII at factories in Johannisthal
and Schneidemühl respectively. Aircraft markings included the type designation
and factory suffix, immediately before the individual serial number.

Some parts were not interchangeable between aircraft produced at different
factories, even between Albatros and OAW. Each manufacturer tended to differ in
both nose paint styles and the patterning and layout of their engine compartment
cooling louvers on the sides of the nose. OAW produced examples were delivered
with distinctive mauve and green splotches on the cowling. All D.VIIs were
produced with either the five-color Fünffarbiger or less often, the four-color
Vierfarbiger lozenge camouflage covering, except for early Fokker-produced
D.VIIs, which had a streaked green fuselage. Factory camouflage finishes were
often overpainted with colorful paint schemes or insignia for the Jasta or for a
pilot.


Role
Fighter

Manufacturer
Fokker-Flugzeugwerke

Designer
Reinhold Platz

First flight
January 1918

Primary user
Luftstreitkräfte

Number built
approximately 3,300

The D.VII entered squadron service with Jasta 10 in early May 1918. When the
Fokker D.VII appeared on the Western Front in April 1918, Allied pilots at first
underestimated the new fighter because of its squarish, ungainly appearance but
quickly revised their view. The type quickly proved to have many important
advantages over the Albatros and Pfalz scouts. Unlike the Albatros scouts, the
D.VII could dive without any fear of structural failure. The D.VII was also
noted for its high manoeuvrability and ability to climb, its remarkably docile
stall and reluctance to spin. It could "hang on its prop" without stalling for
brief periods of time, spraying enemy aircraft from below with machine gun fire.
These handling characteristics contrasted with contemporary scouts such as the
Camel and SPAD, which stalled sharply and spun vigorously.

Several aircraft suffered rib failures and fabric shedding on the upper wing.
Heat from the engine sometimes ignited phosphorus ammunition until additional
cooling louvers were installed on the metal sides of the engine cowling panels
and fuel tanks sometimes broke at the seams. Aircraft built by the Fokker
factory at Schwerin were noted for their lower standard of workmanship and
materials. Despite faults, the D.VII proved to be a remarkably successful
design, leading to the familiar aphorism that it could turn a mediocre pilot
into a good one and a good pilot into an ace.

Richthofen died days before the D.VII began to reach the Jagdstaffeln and never
flew it in combat. Other pilots, including Erich Löwenhardt and Hermann Göring,
quickly racked up victories and generally lauded the design. Aircraft
availability was limited at first, but by July there were 407 in service. Larger
numbers became available by August, when D.VIIs achieved 565 victories. The
D.VII eventually equipped 46 Jagdstaffeln. When the war ended in November, 775
D.VII aircraft were in service

Post-war service

The Allies confiscated large numbers of D.VII aircraft after the Armistice. The
United States Army and Navy evaluated 142 captured examples. Several of these
aircraft were re-engined with American-built Liberty L-6 motors, very similar in
appearance to the D.VII's original German power plants. France, Great Britain
and Canada also received numbers of war prizes.

Other countries used the D.VII operationally. The Polish deployed approximately
50 aircraft during the Polish-Soviet War, using them mainly for ground attack
missions. The Hungarian Soviet Republic used a number of D.VIIs, both built by
MAG and ex-German aircraft in the Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919.

The Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian air forces also operated the D.VII. The aircraft
proved so popular that Fokker completed and sold a large number of D.VII
airframes that he had smuggled into the Netherlands after the Armistice. As late
as 1929, the Alfred Comte company manufactured eight new D.VII airframes under
license for the Swiss Fliegertruppe.

Specifications (D.VII with Mercedes D.III engine)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 6.954 m (22 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 8.9 m (29 ft 2 in)
Height: 2.75 m (9 ft 0 in)
Wing area: 20.5 m2 (221 sq ft)
Empty weight: 670 kg (1,477 lb)
Gross weight: 906 kg (1,997 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.III 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engine, 120 kW
(160 hp)
or 1 × 130.5 kW (175 hp) Mercedes D.IIIa 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston
engineor 1 × 137.95 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston
engine (180 kW (240 hp) rating at low level, emergency only, risk of engine
damage.)Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance
Maximum speed: 189 km/h (117 mph, 102 kn)
with BMW IIIa engine - 200 km/h (124 mph; 108 kn)Range: 266 km (165 mi, 144 nmi)
Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 3.92 m/s (772 ft/min)
with BMW IIIa engine – 9.52 metres per second (1,874 ft/min)Time to altitude:
1,000 m (3,281 ft) in 4 minutes 15 seconds (1 minutes 40 seconds w/ BMW
IIIa)2,000 m (6,562 ft) in 8 minutes 18 seconds (4 minutes 5 seconds w/ BMW
IIIa)3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 13 minutes 49 seconds (7 minutes 0 seconds w/ BMW
IIIa)4,000 m (13,123 ft) in 22 minutes 48 seconds (10 minutes 15 seconds w/ BMW
IIIa)5,000 m (16,404 ft) in 38 minutes 5 seconds (14 minutes 0 seconds w/ BMW
IIIa)6,000 m (19,685 ft) (18 minutes 45 seconds w/ BMW IIIa)
Armament

Guns: 2 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 "Spandau" machine guns]]




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