Fokker F.VIII
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| F.VIII | |
|---|---|
 Fokker F.VIII "Jämtland" from Swedish airline ABA |
|
| Type | Airliner |
| Manufacturer | Fokker |
| Designed by | Reinhold Platz |
| Maiden flight | 12 March 1927 |
| Primary users | KLM British Airways Swedish Air Force Finnish Air Force |
| Number built | 13 |
| Developed from | Fokker F.VII |
The Fokker F.VIII (or F.8) was a large twin-engined airliner designed and produced by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker in the 1920s.
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[edit] History
In 1926, Dutch "Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij" or KLM issued a request for an airliner with more capacity than the F.VII and F.VIIa in operation at the time. Designer Reinhold Platz immediately started work on the F.VIII in response.
The prototype made its maiden flight on 12 March 1927. It featured so-called mixed construction: fuselage and tail section were constructed as a frame of welded steel covered with multiplex, canvas and dural, but the wing framing was all wood covered with multiplex. The power plants were two Bristol Jupiter radial engines.
Only ten F.VIII aircraft were built. KLM accepted delivery of the first issue on 24 June 1927 and had six or seven in service. Hungarian company Malert seems to have bought one aircraft, while another two or three were built under licence at the WM factory using Gnome-Rhône Jupiter 9A engines. In 1936, two of KLM's aircraft were sold to British Airways and in 1937, KLM's PH-AED was sold to Venezuela. On the eve of war in 1939, one of KLM's Fokker F.VIII's, PH-AEG, was transferred to the Swedish Air Force via ABA. Thus the airplane first flew with civil identification code SE-AEB but later on it got its Swedish Air Force designation, 916. This Fokker type was called Tp 10 in Swedish service. It was equipped with a Pratt & Whitney Wasp D1 T1 engine. Another KLM aircraft found its way to Sweden and was registerd there as SE-AHA.
In July 1927, Fokker converted one aircraft into an amphibian bomber with a machine gun in the front section. This type was given the designation F.VIII-W, but it was never ordered, so only the one aircraft was built in this configuration.
[edit] Finnish service
The Finnish Air Force's sole Fokker F.VIII was built at the Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabrieken N.V. ("Dutch Aeroplanes Factories Ltd.") in Amsterdam in 1928 and carried registration code H-NAEL and production number 5076. KLM used it for regular passenger service with registration PH-AEI. In 1937 it was sold to British Airways, where it was registered as G-AEPU and used to transport passengers across the English Channel. Swedish company G.A. Flygrender purchased the aircraft in 1939 and it was ferried to Sweden via Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Torslanda on 7 April 1939. While in Sweden, the aircraft mainly flew in the Gothenburg area. The aircraft carried registration SE-AHA during that time and was equipped with Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines, unique to this type of aircraft.
During the Winter War the Swedish National Socialist organization Nationella Samlingen organized a national fundraising drive for Finland's anti-Bolshevik war. With money obtained it purchased the above-mentioned F.VIII from G.A. Flygrederi, for 73,500 Swedish kronor. Thus, Swedish SE-AHA became Finnish OH-FOA and was flown to Finland on 11 November 1940. Once in the Finnish Air Force it was given code FE-1. Due to the bad condition of its wings it first had to be overhauled. It took until 4 August, 1941 before the plane was transferred to LeLv 46. There, it was mainly used to transport wounded soldiers from the island of Lunkula. Ten flights were made before the aircraft was destroyed on 27 September 1941, due to engine failure caused by air in the fuel system. The crew escaped unharmed despite their crash-landing in the woods; they were transporting at least one seriously injured passenger at that moment.
[edit] Variants
- F.VIII - Main production version, also known as F.8, 12-13 built
- F.VIII-W - floater-equipped bomber aircraft, also known as F.8-W, one F.VIII was rebuilt into this version
[edit] Operators
[edit] Civil
[edit] Military
[edit] Specifications (F.VIII)
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.General characteristics
- Crew: three
- Capacity: 10 passengers
- Length: 16.80 m (ft in)
- Wingspan: 23.00 m (ft in)
- Height: 4.20 m (ft in)
- Wing area: 82 m² (ft²)
- Empty weight: 3,350 kg (lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 5,800 kg (lb)
- Powerplant: 2× Bristol Jupiter IV, Gnome-Rhône Jupiter or Pratt & Whitney Wasp air-cooled radials, 525 hp (kW) (P&W) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 210 km/h (mph)
- Cruise speed: 180 km/h (mph)
- Range: 1,100 km (mi)
- Service ceiling 5,500 m (ft)
[edit] Sources
- Timo Heinonen: Thulinista Hornetiin - Keski-Suomen ilmailumuseon julkaisuja 3, 1992. ISBN 951-95688-2-4
- Matti Hämäläinen: Pommituslentolaivue 46, Koala-Kustannus 2005. ISBN 952-5186-61-X
- www.dutch-aviation.nl
[edit] See also
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
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