Fokker D.XIV

Flight, April 1925

TWO NEW FOKKER MILITARY AEROPLANES
The C.VI Biplane and the D.XIV Monoplane

   EVERY few weeks news reaches this country of a new type of Fokker aeroplane to be put through its "flight tests" The famous Dutch designer is a most prolific producer of new types, and the peculiar fuselage construction using welded-steel tubing which Fokker has developed and used for many years now, whatever theoretical objections may be raised against it, does have the advantage of avoiding premature standardisation. It is, almost literally, possible to change a design overnight, the Fokker system being extremely elastic. The wing construction also is simple, and geometric enlargements or reductions of an existing wing can be made with little difficulty. Hence, the Fokker works are able to bring out a variety of types in a relatively short space of time.
   The two latest types to be produced, of which particulars are available, are the C.VI and the D.XIV.
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   The second new type of Fokker is a small low-wing monoplane known as the type D.XIV. This is a single-seater fighter, and is shown in our photograph fitted with 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine, with which it has a top speed of 240 kms./h. (150 m.p.h.). The lines are, it will be seen, very "clean," and the view above the wing excellent. The undercarriage is of interest in being strutted to the cantilever wing, a feature which might possibly be objected to on the grounds that a rough landing might strain the wings. The wheel track is very wide for such a small machine.
   It is stated that the D.XIV can also be fitted with a 400 h.p. Armstrong "Jaguar" radial air-cooled engine, when a much better performance is obtained.
   With the 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza the top speed is, as already mentioned, 240 kms./h. The climb to 3,000 m. occupies 7 minutes, and in 16 minutes a height of 5,000 m. is reached. With the "Jaguar" the top speed is 255 kms./h. (160 m.p.h.), and the climb to 3,000 m. is made in 5 1/2 minutes, while the climb to 5,000 m. takes but 13 minutes.