Those little Fokkers
Anthony Fokker is another of those brilliant but almost forgotten pioneers of flight. He was born in 1890 in Java, then part of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), where his father was a coffee planter. After the family returned to the Netherlands, Wilbur Wright’s demonstration flights in Paris, France inspired young Anthony to become an aircraft designer .
Fokker produced his own aircraft named de Spin (spider in Dutch) that was the first Dutch-built aircraft to fly in that country. Unfortunately, his business partner crashed the prototype and a subsequent model as well, causing Anthony to wisely sever that relationship.
Germany and the First World War
Moving to Germany, Fokker established his own aircraft company in 1912, where he not only designed the aircraft but flew them himself, having become an accomplished and skilful pilot. With the advent of war in 1914, the German government took control of his factory for military purposes. While the Netherlands remained neutral in the conflict, Fokker continued to produce aircraft for the German air force.
Fokker’s factories made a significant contribution to the German war effort, producing over 700 aircraft during the course of the conflict. The best known was the Fokker Dr.I triplane as flown by the ‘Red Baron’ Manfred von Richthofen. One of the last designs from the bureau, the Fokker D.VII biplane, was so superior in performance that the Armistice agreement required all surviving examples to be handed over to the victorious Allies.
Between the wars
At the end of the war Fokker returned to the Netherlands. He reportedly managed to transport six trainloads of aircraft, spare parts, manufacturing equipment and tools from Germany, enabling the new company to become productive quickly.
While continuing to supply some military types to Russia, Romania and, in secret, to the German air force (to whom sales were banned under the terms of the Armistice), Fokker’s first commercial success was the Fokker F.VII transport supplied to KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines. This type caused a sensation by operating the first scheduled flight from the Netherlands to Java, Anthony’s birthplace. (See Three Engines and a Tin Goose).
Adding two more engines made the type an even more capable tri-motor aircraft designated the Fokker F.VII/3m. This machine propelled the company to greatness, with Fokker becoming the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer by the late 1920s. Anthony Fokker achieved celebrity status, even appearing on the cover of TIME magazine, as his aircraft set many records. Fokkers flew to both the North and South Poles, and circumnavigated the globe with Sir Charles Kingsford Smith as the pilot. Amelia Earhart flew across the Atlantic in one, the first such flight by a woman pilot.
Anthony Fokker, popularly known as the ‘Flying Dutchman’, died prematurely at age 49 from meningitis in New York in 1939.
Post World War 2
German forces occupied Holland for much of World War 2, and the Fokker plants produced parts for Junkers Ju 52 aircraft. Most of Fokker’s factories were destroyed in the conflict, and the company struggled to rebuild after peace returned. Building gliders, converting war-surplus Douglas Dakotas (DC-3s/C-47s), developing trainers for the Dutch air force, and building aircraft under license for other manufacturers kept the business alive.
Finally, in 1955 an all-new turboprop intended to replace the many ageing DC-3s was produced with financial help from the Dutch government. Designated the F.27 Friendship and powered by Rolls-Royce Dart engines, the new high-wing, 44-seat airliner drew on the experience Fokker’s engineers had gained on modifying DC-3s. Ensuring the F.27’s success was the Dart, a tried and tested powerplant which had already proved its worth on the four-engine Vickers Viscount a few years earlier.
The utilitarian F.27
Elegant is not a word used to describe the Friendship’s appearance. Short and dumpy, with thin wings, stalky landing gear and a prominent dorsal fin, the F.27 looked like some sturdy, practical peasant who had stepped out of a Vermeer painting. But it proved to be a great design; reliable, simple to maintain, fast, and comfortable, especially when compared to the non-pressurized piston engine types it was replacing.
First operator of the F.27 was Irish flag-carrier Aer Lingus, which took delivery of the type in 1958. The Friendship soon established a niche with orders from as far afield as Australia, where both Trans-Australia Airlines and Ansett ordered several; and New Zealand, where it served New Zealand National Airways Corporation (which was later absorbed into national carrier Air New Zealand) and the Ministry of Transport.
Early in the F.27’s life Fokker had clinched an agreement with US manufacturer Fairchild to produce the aircraft in North America. The first Fairchild F-27 was delivered in 1958, with production, including the Fairchild Hiller FH-227, continuing until 1973. More than 200 examples were built in the USA, combining with the 592 produced in Europe to make the F.27 Friendship one of the most successful European aircraft of its time.
As its reputation spread the aircraft found homes all over the world. Smaller carriers in Africa and Asia flew the type in challenging conditions, joining more conventional operators in North and South America, Europe and Australia. Three examples of the F.27 were also operated in Sri Lanka by ExpoAir (now FitsAir) for brief periods commencing in 2002.
For many years, from Canada’s frozen north to the deserts of the Sahara, the plains of the Serengeti, equatorial Africa, the foothills of the Himalayas and the Australian outback, the F.27 performed yeoman service in harsh conditions at extreme ends of the climatic spectrum, often as a feeder aircraft connecting smaller airports. The final versions of the type were retired only a few years ago, with the Flight Global Airliner census of 2019 showing none remaining in civil service. However, many are reportedly still in regular use with the Iranian military, which has no access to more modern types due to trade embargoes.
Final upgrade
By the early 1980s sales of the F.27 had dried up and more efficient types such as the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 were making inroads in the crowded turboprop space. Despite suffering from cash flow problems from the 1980s recession, Fokker took the bold step of developing a modernized version of the F.27 as well as an improved iteration of its popular F.28 Fellowship regional twin-jet. The costs of these ambitious projects, designated the Fokker 50 and Fokker 100, respectively, almost bankrupted the company. Consequently, in 1987 the Dutch government was forced to step in with a substantial bailout.
The production version of the Fokker 50, with Pratt & Whitney Canada engines replacing the venerable Rolls-Royce Darts of the F.27 Friendship, was only a modest success, the 200-plus examples produced failing to generate sufficient revenue to recover development costs. The Fokker 100 regional jet also did well initially, but with giant manufacturers Boeing and Airbus producing smaller models of their best-selling types targeting the same space, it too failed to sell in sufficient quantities.
Recognizing the need for consolidation in an industry that faced huge research and development costs, Fokker tried hard to find a strategic partner. Successive negotiations with McDonnell Douglas, British Aerospace, DASA (Deutsche Aerospace), and Bombardier all failed to secure a partnership. Finally, in March 1996 the company was forced to declare bankruptcy.
Long sunset
Despite the demise of the manufacturer, the aircraft that were built in that last phase still soldier on. The last Flight Global census (2019) shows that 76 Fokker 50s remain in service, 39 of them in Africa, with a few in Europe, Asia and South America. The largest number is with a Swedish regional carrier who operates 16 examples, half in passenger configuration and the remainder as freighters.
Only 213 Fokker 50s were built before production ceased in 1997, pushing the combined F.27/Fokker 50 tally to more than 1,000 airframes, a creditable number. The fact that around 30% are still in regular use 22 years later, shows how robust and well designed the original aircraft was. Anthony Fokker would have been proud of the last propliner to bear his name.
This is part of a series on the historic propliners that are on Propliner magazine. We follow the birth to the airline industry, the aircraft that made it possible and the slow transition to the jet age. It all began with the DC-3 of course, and my columns move through the other Douglas propliners, the Boeing 377, Lockheed’s Electras and the elegant Constellation. The Brabazon Committee which sparked such a wave of innovation in the UK with the Vickers Viscount, the Bristol Britannia and the ill-fated de Havilland Comet. Many other significant aircraft, such as Avro Canada’s innovative but aborted C-102 passenger jet and the Sud-Aviation Caravelle, which led us into the start of the Jet Age have columns too. Those timeless ‘flying pick-up trucks’ that came out of De Havilland Canada and the many Soviet types with their simple and robust characteristics have not been neglected, with Tupolev’s designs paid homage to as well.
A few quirky segues I couldn’t resist: the ‘Double Sunrise’ flights between my two homelands Ceylon and Australia; the wonderful Carvairs and that very British habit of taking your car on holiday. I also had to write a paean to my beloved A380 and all my pilot friends in the Gulf as COVID ended that little dream.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the series as much as I have relished writing them during a very strange pandemic year that has probably changed our lives in ways we have not fathomed yet.
Special thanks to my old friend, mentor, editor and repository of knowledge Roger Thiedeman, for all the encouragement and support throughout this project.
