Fokker D.VIII

infobox Aircraft
name = Fokker D.VIII
type = Fighter
manufacturer = Fokker-Flugzeugwerke

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caption =
designer = Reinhold Platz
first flight = May 1918
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user = "Luftstreitkräfte"
more users =
produced =
number built = approximately 289
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =The Fokker E.V was a German parasol-monoplane fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz and built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. It entered service with the "Luftstreitkräfte" in the last months of the First World War. Dubbed the "Flying Razor" by Allied pilots, it had the distinction of scoring the last aerial victory of the war. After several fatal accidents due to wing failures, the aircraft was modified and redesignated Fokker D.VIII.

Design and development

In early 1918, Fokker produced several rotary-powered cantilever-winged monoplane designs, all without any external bracing for the wings, a result of the government-ordered collaboration with Hugo Junkers, the pioneer of the idea. Of these, Fokker submitted the 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. The V.28 was tested with both the 145 hp Oberursel UR.III and 160 hp Goebel Goe.III, though neither of these engines were ready for operational service. The V.26 utilized the standard Oberursel UR.II engine, producing only 110 hp. While this engine was obsolete, the V.26's low drag and light weight meant that it was nevertheless quite fast. The Fokker designs were only barely beaten by the Siemens-Schuckert D.III with the complex contra-rotary Siemens-Halske Sh.III engine.

In the end, 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

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, the "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 Perzina Pianoforte Fabrik factory. Due to poor quality control, the spar "caps", forming the upper and lower members of the 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 caps, leaving the assembled spars dangerously weak. Other problems included water damage to glued parts, and pins that splintered the spars, rather than securing them. [Connors, John F., "Fokker's Flying Razors", Wings, Granada Hills, California, August 1974, Volume 4, Number 4, pages 45, 48.]

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

Deliveries resumed in October. At the suggestion of the "Kogenluft" ("Kommandierenden General der Luftstreitkräfte"), the "Idflieg" redesignated the modified aircraft D.VIII. Henceforth, the "E." and "Dr." designations were abolished and all fighters received the "D." appellation. The first new examples of the D. VIII started arriving at frontline units late that month and started operations on the 24 October with "Jasta" 11.

"Jasta" 5 was granted a D.VIII, and the famed ace Erich Lowenhardt used it for a short time scoring a few victories in the plane. He continued to favor, however, the D.VII.

A total of 289 aircraft were produced. Some reached Holland, Italy, Japan, the United States, and England as trophies, but most were scrapped in accordance with the terms of the Armistice.

Postwar

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 fighter on 29 April 1919. In 1921, the remaining Fokkers were withdrawn from frontline units and transferred to the "Szkoła Obsługi Lotniczej" (Air Personnel School) at Poznań-Ławica airfield.

Variants

* V 26 : The D.VIII prototype.
* V 27 : Built for the second German fighter aircraft competition held in June 1918. The V 27 was a modified V 26 powered by a 195-hp (145-hp) Benz IIIb engine. The aircraft was later modified into the V 38.
* V 28 : The V 28 was also built for the second German fighter competition. It was fitted with either the 145-hp (108-kW) Oberursel Ur.III, or the 140-hp (104-kW) Goebel Goe.III rotary piston eninges.
* V.29 : was essentially a V.26 with a BMW IIIa 160 hp inline liquid-cooled engine.
* V 30 : The V 26 was converted into a single-seat glider.
* V 38 : The V 26 was converted into an armoured ground-attack fighter prototype.
* D.VIII : Single-seat fighter-scout aircraft.

Operators

;flag|German Empire
*"Luftstreitkräfte" received 38 aircraft before 11 November 1918.

;NLD
*Royal Netherlands Air Force received 20 D.VIII aircraft sold by Anthony Fokker in 1919.

;POL
*Polish Air Force captured 16 E.V and one D.VIII aircraft, only 7 were operated. Last E.V was still in inventory of the PAF in 1924.

;flag|Soviet Union|1923
*Soviet Air Force operated until the mid-1920s one aircraft captured by the Red Army during Polish-Soviet War.

urvivors and reproductions

The fuselage of one D.VIII is preserved at the Caproni Museum in Trento, Italy.

A number of static and flyable D.VIII reproductions have been built over the years--among the most notable of these are two 160 hp Gnome rotary engine powered flyable examples constructed by Brian Coughlin of New York State. These are now owned by Javier Arango of California and Kermit Weeks' Fantasy of Flight aviation museum in Florida.

pecifications

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
crew=One
length main=5.86 m
length alt=19 ft 4 in
span main=8.40 m
span alt=27 ft 6.75 in
height main=2.80 m
height alt=9 ft 3 in
area main=10.7 m²
area alt=115.5 ft²
empty weight main=384 kg
empty weight alt=848 lb
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main=562 kg
max takeoff weight alt=1,238 lb
engine (prop)=Oberursel UR.II
type of prop=
number of props=1
power main=82 kW
power alt=110 hp
max speed main=204 km/h
max speed alt=127 mph
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main=6,300 m
ceiling alt=20,670 ft
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
armament=
*2 × 7.92 mm Spandau MG08 machine guns

ee also

aircontent
related=
*Fokker V.26
similar aircraft=
lists=
*List of military aircraft of Germany
see also=

References

* Weyl, A.R. "Fokker: The Creative Years". 1988. ISBN 0-851778-17-8.