Flight, August 1920

A FOKKER SIX-SEATER LIMOUSINE MONOPLANE

   IN spite of the objections raised to cantilever wings from many quarters, several German designers continue to employ this system, which one might say originated with the War machines, in recent designs of commercial craft. Among these is Fokker, who, although he has again become Dutch, is generally looked upon as a German designer, as, practically speaking, his whole aeronautical education has been “made in Germany." In addition to some sporting single-seaters with engines of 35 and 50 h.p. (a sketch, together with the principal characteristics of the 35 h.p. "Parasol," appeared in the article on Small Sporting Aeroplanes in FLIGHT for May 13 last), he has now brought out a larger machine with seating accommodation for six people, including the pilot. This machine - also of the parasol type - which is known as the V-45, is fitted with a B.M.W. (Bavarian Motor Works) engine of 185 h.p., which is mounted in the nose of the fuselage, behind a circular radiator. The accompanying illustrations show the general lay-out of the machine.
   The pilot is placed immediately behind the engine, where his view in a downward and forward direction is very good, but for looking aft or upward this position leaves much to be desired, as the view is obstructed by the passengers' cabin, as well as by the wings. Just behind the pilot's cockpit the fuselage rises up to meet the wing, and forms a cabin with comfortable seating accommodation for the passengers. The cabin is entered through a door in the side, as shown in the illustrations, and windows afford an excellent view of the country over which the machine is flying, there being no bottom plane to obstruct the view. There is, we believe, accommodation for a small amount of luggage in addition to the six passengers.
   Apparently the fuselage, which is of rectangular section tapering to a vertical knife-edge at the stem, follows the usual Fokker tubular steel construction - but on this point we are not absolutely certain.
   The undercarriage is of very substantial design, the struts consisting of steel tubes forming a letter W in side elevation. There are four landing-wheels, two on each end of the axle, placed close together. The chassis is wire-braced transversely from the central tubular members of the "W."
   The monoplane wing is of the tapered type, being reduced in camber as well as chord at the tip, both leading and trailing edges tapering. The ailerons are comparatively small, and do not, it will be seen, extend far inward. They are balanced in the usual manner.
   It will be noticed that the wings are supported at the centre not only by the fuselage but by three struts extending outwards each side of the latter some 5 ft. or so from the centre. These struts, two of each set of three abutting on the upper fuselage longerons and the third on the lower, serve to support the wings forward of the cabin, over the pilot's cockpit.
   The tailplane and elevators, which, also, are comparatively small, are mounted on the top longerons of the fuselage, above the line of thrust and level with the wings. The tail plane has little, if any, camber. The elevators are divided and balanced, and hinged to the sternpost of the fuselage is a large balanced rudder. The whole of the tail is braced by means of tubular streamline struts, attached at their lower ends to the bottom of the fuselage sternpost, and at their upper extremities to the trailing edge of the tail plane.
  
   The following table gives the main characteristics of the machine :-
   Length overall 37 ft.
   Span 42 ft. 10 ins.
   Area 451 1/4 sq. ft.
   Weight empty 2,640 lbs.
   Weight fully loaded 4,180 lbs.
   Climb 13,200 ft. in 45 minutes.
   Maximum speed 93 m.p.h.
   Radius of action 744 miles.
   Load per sq. ft. 9-3 lbs.
   Load per h.p. 22-6 lbs.

Flight, October 1920

A FOKKER RAID ON LONDON

   THERE was a time when every machine that made a raid on London, or in use at the front for that matter, was labelled as a Fokker. That was before all the raiders were known as Gothas, irrespective of type and make. Since then the "Fokker Scourge" has been got well in hand, and the latest specimen to be examined in this country was the Fokker D.VII. Just lately a peaceful invasion by a machine designed by the famous German (now Dutch) designer has taken place, the objective being Waddon aerodrome. For the first time in history the pilot of the attacking Fokker was an Englishman, Mr. Hinchcliffe, who flew over from Amsterdam on October 1, making the non-stop journey in 3 hrs. 2 mins. The machine reached its objective and was brought down at Waddon - by the pilot.
   Seriously, the new Fokker, a description and illustrations of which were published in our issue of August 26, is a post-War design by the famous (German) Dutchman, built at the new Fokker works at Amsterdam - the old Elta buildings, in fact. It is the property of the Koninglyke Luchtvaart Maatschappy, otherwise the Royal Air Transport Company, and is the first of two such machines which are to be placed on the Amsterdam-London route, and which will ultimately link up with the service to Bremen, Hamburg and Copenhagen.
   The machine, now known as the type "F.II," is a monoplane of the cantilever type, with a wing that is very thick in the centre and tapers towards the tips. The covering is of three-ply wood, which, if not too heavy, should prove very serviceable for a commercial machine. The large wing is placed on the roof of the cabin, and is held in place by four bolts only, one on each side at the top longeron, and one at the apex of each set of three struts running from the bottom of the fuselage. The work of dismantling the wing is therefore a matter of a few minutes only, another advantage for commercial work. Balanced ailerons, of small area but apparently quite effective, are fitted, three-ply covering being employed for these also.
   The construction of the fuselage is identical with that of the well-known D.VII, i.e., longerons as well as struts are of steel tube, welded together and braced by piano wire attached to tubular arcs welded into the angles. Theoretically all this welding is bad, but in practice it appears to work very well. The cabin has seating accommodation for six passengers, and a seventh can be carried outside in the pilot's cockpit, which is in front of the cabin. From the pilot's cockpit the view is fairly good, and from the cabin it is excellent in a downward direction, owing to the absence of a bottom plane. At present the front cockpit is somewhat draughty, the air swirling around in a disconcerting manner owing to the flat cabin wall behind it and the "roof" formed by the leading edge of the plane. Probably a suitably designed windscreen will overcome this difficulty.
   The engine fitted in the present machine is a 185 h.p. B.M.W. (Bavarian Motor Works), but the second machine will be fitted with a Siddeley "Puma," which is expected to give the machine a better performance. At present the maximum speed is about 90 m.p.h., with a cruising speed of about 75 m.p.h. The landing speed is very low, and the machine appears to have a very excellent gliding angle. The weight empty but with water is 1,200 kilos., and the useful load 700 kilos., quite a good figure for a machine of this type. The tank capacity is such as to give the machine an endurance of 10 hours at cruising speed, with which amount of fuel there will still be sufficient disposable lift to carry pilot and four passengers. Although slow, the machine will thus be seen to have distinct commercial possibilities on routes where maximum speed is not essential, and the construction of the machine is such that it should be cheap, not only in first cost but also in upkeep. On the flight from Amsterdam the other day - which, as already mentioned, was accomplished in three hours - the fuel consumed amounted to less than 30 galls., so that the fuel cost for the trip was about ?6. This is by no means high, on the contrary, and appears to promise well for the use of the machines on the London-Amsterdam service.