Fokker B.I (1922)

__NOTOC__ Infobox Aircraft
name=B.I and B.III


caption=Fokker B.I
type=Reconnaissance flying boat
manufacturer=Fokker
designer=Walter Rethel
first flight=avyear|1922
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=
more users=
produced=
number built=2
variants with their own articles=The Fokker B.I was a reconnaissance flying boat built in the Netherlands in 1922 and followed by an improved version, the B.III in 1926. It was a conventional biplane flying boat design, with staggered sesquiplane wings braced by struts arranged as a Warren truss. The engine was mounted pusher-wise on the top wing. The duralumin hull featured three open cockpits - one at the nose for a gunner, one in front of the lower wing for the pilot and engineer and one behind the wings for another gunner. The B.I was amphibious, equipped with main undercarriage that folded back along the hull, but this feature was omitted in the B.III.

The B.I was flown by the Dutch East Indies Naval Air Force for a number of years, and although it gave good service, no further examples were ordered from Fokker. The manufacturer hoped that the modernised and improved B.III would stimulate renewed interest in the type, and also designed it so that a passenger cabin could be installed within the hull, in the hope of attracting commercial customers. This was not to be, however, and the B.III remained unsold. It was eventually sent to Fokker's US subsidiary where the hull design served as the basis for the Fokker F.11, after which the aircraft finally found a buyer in Harold Vanderbilt.

pecifications (B.III)

aerospecs
ref=
met or eng?= met

crew=Four - Pilot, engineer, two gunners
capacity=
length m=11.85
length ft=38
length in=10
span m=18.00
span ft=59
span in=1

height m=3.95
height ft=13
height in=0
wing area sqm=59.0
wing area sqft=603

empty weight kg=1,870
empty weight lb=4,120
gross weight kg=3,070
gross weight lb=6,770

eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Napier Lion piston engine
eng1 kw=336
eng1 hp=450
eng2 number=

max speed kmh=180
max speed mph=112
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
range km=
range miles=
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=3,700
ceiling ft=12,100
climb rate ms=3.0
climb rate ftmin=600

armament1=1 × machine gun on flexible mount in bow position
armament2=1 × machine gun on flexible mount in dorsal position
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6= aircontent
see also=
related=
similar aircraft=
lists=

References

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