Focus on Fokker at Old Rhinebeck Airfield

A pair of WWI aircraft, sharing a common manufacturer but differing in number of wings, took center stage at Old Rhinebeck Airfield’s “Meet the Fokkers” event in July 2012, baking under the blue breathless whose still air would not have flickered a candle flame, but whose temperature was as high as she.

The sign posted at the entrance to the covered bridge, as always, advised: “Nowhere else in the world can you see aircraft of this type at such close range.” The post-air show event would accomplish more than that, as visitors would be welcome to listen to the narratives of the airfield pilots and inspect the cockpits to allow them to get in touch with the Dutch, or at least the psyche of the man who had been behind. The designs.

“We are showing the contributions of Anthony Fokker today,” said Neill Herman, president of the Old Rhinebeck Air Show, “and we have two representative D.V11s, who were excellent fighters, and a Dr.1 made famous by Baron von Richthofen and his flying aces. Still thriving today, Fokker is one of the threads in the fabric of aviation’s past. “

Establishing an aviation company in Wiesbaden, Germany, Anthony Fokker himself sold the third version of his aircraft, the Spin III, to the German army in 1913. As a seed, it sprouted in a series of highly successful World War I fighters. . During the 1970s and 1980s, now focusing on the commercial aviation sector, the company that bore its name produced a couple of regional aircraft, including the F.27 Friendship turboprop and the F.28 Fellowship pure jet, followed by their modernized counterparts, the F.50 and F.70 / 100, respectively.

Although fierce competition from other much larger aircraft manufacturers and economic circumstances eventually prevented airframe production after 1996, the company continues today as Fokker Technologies, focusing on components and services.

However, it is best known for its World War I aircraft, four of which count in the Old Rhinebeck collection and represent three different configurations (mono, bi, and triplanes), as expressed by its own designations.

The Eindecker E.III, for example (German for “monoplane”), established Fokker Flugzeug-Werke as a major supplier of high-performance and innovative designs, which enabled its pilots to emerge victorious and alive, and their opponents to suffer otherwise. . Destinations.

Based on the Fokker M5, and significantly influenced by the Morane-Saulnier Type H, the E-series took the form of a low-wing monoplane when a Morane-Saulnier Type L, piloted by Roland Garros, was captured in 1915 and allowed the Fokker engineers inspect, and then replicate, its forward-facing 7.92mm Spandau machine gun.

Employing a timing gear mechanism, it allowed a pilot, via a switch, to fire bullets through the propeller arc without actually hitting the blades.

Production of the E.1, which numbers 68, led to its successor E.II and an even smaller batch of 50 aircraft, because the performance erosion created by its smaller wing could not be adequately countered by its Oberursel engine. 100 hp. But the final version of the E.III, with a gross weight of 1,400 pounds, a top speed of 83 mph at 6,500 feet, and a service ceiling of 11,500 feet, saw significant action on the Western Front from mid-1915 through late 1915. summer of 1916 with the Austro. -Hungarian Air Service and German Army.

“The Eindecker was the first with synchronized gears,” said Mark Mondello, an Old Rhinebeck ground assistant. “It also had wing-warping, the only Fokker with this tilt method. The others had ailerons.”

The currently disassembled example of the old Rhinebeck is stored in the hangar on the hill.

However, quality, not quantity, led to the guy’s constant victories. Although only about 425 were built, including the 160-hp E.IV, their maneuverability and overall superiority created an almost invincible armed fortress in the European skies and, in aircraft like these, “German aces like Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke became into national heroes as the number of victories over their opponents grew, “according to Fokker Technologies.

“The Fokker ‘Eindecker’ became one of the most feared machines of the early part of the First World War,” Old Rhinebeck states via its website. “This aircraft was the first true fighter … of the war and set the stage for a battle of technological superiority between nations that directly influenced the rapid development of aircraft design during the war.”

Like many of his aviation company’s crops, its seed was first planted in Anthony Fokker’s mind. Once again influenced by a competitor, in this case the Sopwith triplane, in 1917 he instructed engineer Reinhold Platz to incorporate such a productive wing triplet.

Lacking external supports or bracing cables, the cantilever design used only thin struts between planes and those on which the upper wing was mounted.

“As you can see,” said Mark, pointing to the bright red Dr.1 on the field, “there is no external reinforcement, but the center wing completely obscures the pilot’s vision.” There are also two Spandau machine guns mounted on the hood of the engine. “

Entering service with Manfred von Richthofen’s JGI, he scored his first victory under Lieutenant Werner Voss and achieved 20 more in about the same number of days as his prototypes and 318 production aircraft joined forces to demonstrate victorious and notorious, but of short duration. performance in the Front. He himself, short-lived, lost his life in one on September 23, 1917 when he was shot down by an SE5A.

“The Dr.1 was an excellent weapons platform because of its maneuverability,” Neill said. “It could outperform anything in the sky. In a dogfight, it was a definite advantage. You could get behind the enemy, but otherwise it was dangerous, very unstable.”

Powered by a 110-hp UR.II Oberursel engine and sporting a 23-foot 7 5/8 inch sporting wingspan, the Dr. 1 had a top speed of 102 mph and an operating ceiling of 20,000 feet.

“(But it was) a complicated plane to fly,” said Al Loncto, a longtime Old Rhinebeck Air Show announcer. “It tries to kill you from the moment you turn it on to the moment you apply the brakes (after landing). Its ground steering ability is lousy.”

“There are not any brake, “Mark continued.” You control the direction on the ground with the tiller. But in the air you could make such tight turns that you could get behind any enemy aircraft. “

“I think it was disproportionate to what he did,” Neill said, “Richthofen did most of his kills on the Albatros, but they were glamorized by Dr.1, with his red paint and triplane setup.”

However, Richthofen, synonymous with the type, scored numerous victories and his superior maneuverability and climb speed combined to make him a worthy opponent of types like the SE5A and SPAD. In the end, however, he proved the validity of the adage, “He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword,” as he himself did on the triplane when he was shot down on April 21, 1918, a month earlier. it reached its peak with 171 aircraft at the front.

Of the two reproduction Fokker triplanes in the Old Rhinebeck collection, the second, located in the WWI hangar on the hill, is powered by a 110-hp Le Rhone engine and had participated in mock dogfighting with a Sopwith Pup during weekend air shows. for about two decades beginning in 1987, while the one currently running, in true storm style, settled on numerous grassy fields on the east coast when Cole Palen had transported it to the airfield from Florida.

“(Sadly), there is no original Dr.1 flying today,” Neill said.

Both the speed at which the next Fokker fighter flew and took shape increased, with a corresponding decrease in the number of wings, resulting in the “Zweidecker” or D.VII biplane.

Brainchild, like Anthony Fokker’s Dr. 1, was once again transformed from the specs he presented to Reinhold Platz into a cloth and wood generation elevator and then underwent his initial flight tests, as the prototype V. II, in early 1918, immediately demonstrating its superior performance characteristics.

Large-scale production of 400 aircraft began after von Richthofen’s requested modifications, including an elongated fuselage and a fixed fin, resolved their inherent instabilities and produced a biplane with 29-foot 21/3-inch wings; a 160-hp, six-cylinder Mercedes in-line engine; and standard Spandau double machine guns for snow. It could reach top speeds of 117 mph.

The JGI commanded by Hermann Goering received the first Fokker biplane in April 1918.

“This was basically the definitive fighter of World War I,” said Mark, “and it was used by various air forces in the 1930s. The wing, as you can see, is thick and offers very high lift. It is a cantilever type. , no external reinforcing wires “.

Powered by a 185 hp BMW IIIa engine and designated D.VIIF, it reached its peak performance, climbing to 5,000 meters in 14 minutes compared to 38 in the previous D.VII.

According to Fokker Technologies, “The Fokker D.VII was strong, fast and magnificent at high altitude and was extremely popular with German pilots … (It) became the backbone of the Dutch Air Force during the 1920s” .

The Old Rhinebeck website agrees. “The D.VII had the unique ability to hang from its pillar while the nose sloped upward” – capabilities reflected by the large numbers produced: 840 by Fokker and 785 by Albatros alone.

“Ours,” said Mark, “has an original, water-cooled, 200-hp Mercedes engine. The aircraft was so respected that the Armistice Agreement mandated that all Fokker D.VIIs with BMW and Mercedes engines be delivered to the aircraft. Allies. It was also the last plane that Cole Palen, along with Ken Cassens, built and could see fly. “

Despite the deal, Anthony Fokker managed to smuggle 120 planes and 400 engines from Germany to the Netherlands, where he continued with postwar design and production, building his fledgling company, now Dutch, into one of the world’s aviation concerns. which it finally became.

Visitors to the company allowed today’s Old Rhinebeck, after witnessing a final “History of Flight” airshow pass of white smoke dragging Dr. 1 and bouncing off the fluffy surface of the grassy field, to outshine the boundaries of the fence and personally met the Fokkers who had performed on it, inspecting their cabins, discussing their designs, and contacting the Dutch nearly a century after their originals first flew.