Fokker

Headquarters	Veerdam 44 3351 AK, Papendrecht , Zuid-Holland Netherlands

Fokker was a Dutch airplane manufacturing company founded in 1912 by Anthony Fokker. Between 1912 and 1928, Fokker emerged as the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world with factories in Europe and America. However, Fokker lost ground when Boeing and Douglas increasingly applied aluminum in their new aircraft instead of wooden structures .The company is known today as Stork Aerospace, and now focuses on parts manufacturing rather than building airplanes.

Anthony Fokker, founder

Anthony "the Flying Dutchman" Fokker was born in Kediri, East Java (then Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia), son of Herman Fokker, a Dutch coffee plantation owner. Four years later the family returned to the Netherlands and settled in Haarlem, on the street "kleine houtweg 41". Anthony was not studious but rather played with model trains and steam engines, and did not complete his high school education. He devised a leak-proof tire, which he thought would dirupt the worlds rubber market. But there was already a French patent on the same concept .

In 1910, at age 20, Fokker was sent by his father to Germany to receive training as a mechanic. Yet his interest was in flying, prompting him to change schools. That same year Fokker built his first aircraft "de Spin" ("the Spider"), which was destroyed by his business partner who flew it into a tree. He gained his pilot license in his second "Spin" plane. In his own country, he became a celebrity by flying around the tower of the Sint-Bavokerk in Haarlem on August 31, 1911, with the third version of the "Spin". He also added to his fame by flying on the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina.

In 1912, Fokker moved to Johannisthal near Berlin where he founded his first own company, Fokker Aeroplanbau. In the following years he constructed a variety of airplanes. He relocated his factory to Schwerin where it was renamed Fokker Flugzeugwerke GmbH, and later shortened to Fokker Werke GmbH.

At the onset of World War I, the German government took control of the factory. Fokker remained as director and designed many aircraft for the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkrafte), including the Fokker Dr.I, the triplane made famous in the hands of aces such as Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron). He also designed the synchronization gear that allowed the machine gun to be fired through the propeller blades, resulting in a phase of German air-superiority known as the Fokker Scourge.

On March 25, 1919, Fokker married Sophie Marie Elisabeth von Morgen in Haarlem. This marriage lasted only four years. In 1922, he moved to the United States and later became an American citizen. Here he established the American branch of his company, the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation. In 1927, Fokker married Violet Austman in New York City. About this marriage not much is known.

He died in New York in 1939 of complications of sinus surgery. He was just 49 years old. The cause of his death were complications from sinus surgery and pneumococcus meningitis. He was cremated in the United States and his ashes were brought back to the Netherlands for burial.

Some publications sketch Anthony Fokker as a man of his age; an early pioneer in the aviation. This is not always positive according to a review by Peter Lyth: "However, as an engineer with no formal training and a businessman with a capricious attitude towards his companies' development, he was not untypical of the first generation of air transport pioneers. As Dierikx shows in the case of Fokker, the shift in the aircraft industry in the 1930s 'from building a relatively small series of customized aircraft to mass-producing all-metal airplanes of standardized design' proved too difficult for many of them - particularly in Europe." . Other sources point to Anthony Fokker's ability to gather the right people around him; in Germany the constructor Palm, followed by Martin Kreutzer, and after his accident Reinhold Platz .

Company history

The heritage of Anthony Fokker started with the 'Spin' in 1911. Although the 'Spin' was actually designed by Jacob Goedecker, Anthony Fokker further improved and commercialized the aircraft, causing it to be remembered as the first Fokker plane .

World War 1

The German government forced Fokker and Hugo Junkers to work together. This collaboration resulted in some famous early Fokker planes such as the Fokker E.III, Fokker Dr.I, and Fokker D.VII. These were all built for the German army to be used during World War I. Fokker gained further fame with his synchronization gear invention that allowed the machine gun to be fired through the propeller, resulting in an air-superiority briefly known as the Fokker Scourge. The famous Fokker Dr.I triplane was used by Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, towards the end of his career, who achieved over a quarter of his 80 air combat victories in Fokker aircraft.

Yet some of Fokker's early monoplanes were insufficiently tested and had a tendency to warp and come apart under hard maneuvering. Fokker had managed to cure these problems by the time the Dreidekker entered service .

Interbellum

After the war's end, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to build any aircraft or aircraft engines. In 1919 Fokker returned to the Netherlands and started a new aircraft company, the Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek (Dutch Aircraft Factory), predecessor to the Fokker Aircraft Company. Despite the strict disarmament conditions in the Treaty, Fokker did not return home empty-handed: he managed to smuggle an entire train's worth of D.VII and C.I military planes and spare parts across the German-Dutch border. This initial stock enabled him to quickly set up shop, but his focus shifted from military to civil aircraft.

As from 1919 Anthony Fokker started making inroads into civil aviation with the four-seat F.II; Fokker's first plane specifically built for passenger transport. Other passenger aircraft followed. Particularly the eleven-seat F.IV was very successful in achieving many spectacular world records at that time. Fokker's best selling aircraft in this period between the two World Wars was the three-engined F.VII; a three-engined passenger plane with the world's first air-cooled engine of which 230 were built.

By 1930, 172 out of the 596 aircraft operated by European airlines were Fokkers, worldwide 54 airlines had Fokker planes and in 22 countries Fokker aircraft were manufactured under license. Many of today's global airlines started or expanded their air transport with Fokker aircraft in their early years, like KLM but also Lufthansa which started its first (and international) flight with a Fokker-Grulich F.ll on April 6, 1926. Other known airlines in those days operating Fokker aircraft are PanAm, TWA, Mexicana, and Alitalia amongst many other known airlines .

Netherlands Aircraft Manufacturing Company of Amsterdam

The "Netherlands Aircraft Manufacturing Company of Amsterdam" was the name of a sales organization set up in New York. Bob Noorduyn played an important role in this office. He had prior experience with Sopwith, Koolhoven, Armstrong-Whitwhorth and the British Aerial Transport Company. When he left Fokker he founded "Noorduyn Aircraft Limited" at Montreal. This organization later produced a large number of "Harvards" and "Norsemans" .

Atlantic Aircraft Corporation & Fokker Aircraft

This was the name given to the American Fokker Factories. Later Atlantic Aircraft Corporation became Fokker Aircraft, General Aviation and later North American Aviation (NAA) Company .

Established at beginning of 1923 and started active operations in May, remodeling 100 D.H.4s. Held patent rights and license to build Fokker aircraft in USA, and largely associated with Anthony Fokker, who went to USA in 1922 and played a part in founding the company at Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. Fokker was also design consultant to other American companies. AO-1 was two-seater of characteristic Fokker biplane form for artillery observation; XLB-2 (officially prefixed Atlantic-Fokker or Atlantic (Fokker)) of 1927/28 was first twin-engined US Air Corps monoplane bomber. Type not adopted despite Fokker's experience with large civil monoplanes. C-2 and C-2A of late 1920s also were typical Fokker-type high-wing cantilever monoplanes .

World War 2

During worldwar 2 the fokker factory was put to use by the German occupation. The aircraft undr construction on the production line were ordered to be finished; these were the remainder of the T8W torpedo bomber float planes and 6 G1B's (ordered by Finland)

F.W. Seekatz was the nazi representant placed in charge of the Fokker factory. The former director, van Tijen, was arrested in November 1940 by the Germans for his lack of cooperation. Although he was later released due to lack of evidence. Later in the war van Tijen was incarcerated in the concentration camp Buchenwald, because he was working secretly for the allies. He survived the war there .

Production Facilities

Despite an increase of staff from 1700 (in 1940) to 5000 (in 1944), the production was less then the pre-war output due to passive resistance of the Dutch. Planes on which the Fokker design office worked on during the war, were the Arado Ar196 floatplane and the Do24 flying boat. The production lines were used for the Bucker Bu181 trainer, as well as various components for other planes.

Near the end of the war the production facilities were ransacked by the Germans, materials and machines were taken to Germany. The Fokker factory was stripped of anything useful .

Aircraft flown

Fokker aircraft used during worldwar 2 were flew with various nations, both Axis and Allies.

• C5 Scout plane;
• C10 Scout plane;
• D21 fighter; This type was in use with the Dutch LVA ("Lucht-Vaart Afdeling" i.e. Air Corps), the Danish Air force and the Finnish. The Finnish put their D21 to use against the Russians throughout most of worldwar 2, they bought 7 and built another 38 in license. Several Finnish aces flew the D21 ..
• G1 air cruiser; A number of these were in use with the LVA, although not the complete batch of ordered G1A's was delivered when the Germans attacked. Some finished export version (G1B), ordered by Finland, were put into combat. After the May-days the almost all Dutch G1's were destroyed. The batches on the product line were finished and used by the Germans as trainers, with one G1 two Fokker employees (Leegstra and Vos) escaped to England despite restricted amounts of fuel supplied by the Germans .
• F36 (FXXXVI); this passenger plane was used shortly by the RAF, but had to be taken out of service after a crash .
• F22 (FXXII); these were pressed into service in No. 1680 Western Isles Communications and Transport Flight. One exampel even survived until 1947, when a lack of spares decided its fate .
• T8W Torpedo bomber; The T8W was used both by the British, escaped versions in the (Dutch) 320 Sq., as well as the Germans. The British used 8 T8W's (Dutch codes R1, R3, R6-11. British codes AV958-965) After a while the British had to take the T8W out of service due to a lack of spares and losses. .

1945 - 1979

After WW II, Fokker restarted its activities in aviation with the help of the Netherlands government and some industrialists. It is here where the relationship between Stork and Fokker is being formalized as Stork is asked to appoint a seat in the Advisory Board of Fokker. Stork has done so till 1996.

In November 1958 Fokker delivered its first turboprop aircraft after the War, the Fokker F27 Friendship to Aer Lingus. The F27 became the world's best selling turboprop aircraft till today. A total of 786 F27s were built, 581 by Fokker and 205 aircraft by Fairchild under a license agreement. The aircraft still is a real 'workhorse' among many airlines around the globe. After the F27 Fokker delivered its first jet aircraft, the Fokker F28 Fellowship to LTU in Germany in February 1969. A total of 241 were built and finally the Fokker 100 superceded the F28 in 1986.

After already having built 100s of other military fighters like the Gloster Meteor and the F104 Starfighter, Fokker assembled 300 F-16 fighter aircraft for the Netherlands Airforce, and also for the Airforces in Denmark and Norway in the seventies. Also Fokker was asked to become an associated manufacturer for the Airbus A300, the first aircraft from Airbus. Fokker today still manufacturers the moveable parts of the A300 wing, which in total represent about 6% of the aircraft's total value .

1980 - 1996

In 1983 Fokker simultaneously launched the successors of the F27 and the F28, the Fokker 50 and the Fokker 100. The Fokker 50 made its first flight in December 1985, The aircraft, like the Fokker 100, was an all-new technology plane of which a total of 212 were manufactured. In August 1987, the first Fokker 50 was delivered to Ansett Australia. A year later than the Fokker 50, the Fokker 100 made its maiden flight in November 1986 with Swissair as the launching customer taking delivery of the first aircraft in February 1988. A total of 278 Fokker 100s were manufactured. Later two family derivatives were developed. First the Fokker 70, a shortened version of the Fokker 100 of which a total of 47 were built. Second, the Fokker 60 utility was launched as a stretched military variant of the Fokker 50 for the Netherlands Air Force .

The worldwide airline crisis of the 1990s, fierce competition and a wobbly dollar unfortunately put an end to Fokker in March 1996 . On January 22, 1996, the Board of Directors of Daimler-Benz decided to focus on its core automobile business and cut ties with Fokker. The next day an Amsterdam court extended temporary creditor protection. On March 15 the Fokker company was declared bankrupt. Those divisions of the company that manufactured parts and carried out maintenance and repair work were taken over by Stork N.V.; it is now known as Stork Aerospace Group. Stork Fokker exists to sustain remarketing of the company's existing aircraft: they refurbish and resell F50s and F100s, and converted a few F50s to transport planes. Special projects included the development of a F50 Maritime Patrol version and a F100 Executive Jet. For this project Stork received the 2005 "Aerospace Industry Award" in the "Air Transport" category from Flight International magazine .

Stork subsidiary

In 1996 Stork acquired Fokker and the company succesfully changed from aircraft integrator into a specialist for structures, wiring and services with an impressive portfolio. In 2002 Stork Aerospace receives the Flight award for the development of Glare, in 2003 Stork Aerospace opens a new facility for Glare. Glare is a revolutionary new FML (Fibre Metal Laminate) material of which 500m2 is applied in the Airbus A380. In 2003 Stork Aerospace is seclected by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman as a main supplier of wiring, inflight opening doors and arresting gear for the Lockheed Martin JSF (Joint Strike Fighter). In 2005 Stork Aerospace receives the Flight award for the succesful re-marketing programs of the the Fokker Aircraft. The Future 50 and the Future 100 programs. In 2006 Stork Aerospace takes over AIRINC in the USA. In 2007 Stork Aerospace is selected as supplier for the Boeing 747-800 Flaps. this order is considered a break-through in the relationship with Boeing Commercial Airplanes .

Rekkof

Rekkof Aircraft is a Dutch company dedicated to restarting the production of upgraded versions of the Fokker F70 and Fokker F100 regional jets as production of those stopped when Fokker was declared bankrupt in 1996. They first announced their plans in late 2003 and intend to first re-launch the Fokker F70NG (NG standing for Next Generation) and if enough orders are placed later also the Fokker F100NG. Notable changes on the NG models will be winglets and different engines. A possible third as of yet unnamed stretched version of the aircraft has also been mentioned. Rekkof believes there is a sufficient market for the aircraft and that the design can still compete with similar modern regional airliners from manufacturers as Embraer and Canadair. However, while the announcement of a launch customer and the production re-start have been called "imminent" by Rekkof a number of times between early 2004 and mid-2005, none of Rekkof's plans have materialised to date. KLM, a current user of Fokker aircraft and suggested as a launch customer, has denied that they are in negotiations with Rekkof . Though Rekkof has stated that it prefers to assemble the aircraft in the Netherlands, with Lelystad Airport and Enschede Airport Twente mentioned as possible assembly locations, Bangalore in India has now also been mentioned as a possible location with Indian engineering firm Cades Digitech planning to invest 300 million US dollars in an assembly plant .

Rekkof Aircraft is a part of Panta Holdings BV, which also owns VLM Airlines and Denim Air, both airlines using Fokker 50 aircraft.

Fokker Aircraft, overview

The following information is taken from

Type	Name	Era	Dimensions	Powerplant	Usage	Sort	Number built
B.I					Military	Flying Boat
B.II					Military	Flying Boat
B.III					Military	Flying Boat
B.IIIc					Civil	Flying Boat
C.II					Commercial
F.I					Commercial
F.II					Commercial
F.III					Commercial
F.IV					Commercial
F.V					Commercial
F.VII					Commercial
F.VIIa					Commercial
F.VIIa-3m					Commercial
F.VIIb-3m					Commercial
F.VIII					Commercial
F.IX					Commercial
F.X					Commercial
F.XI Universal					Commercial
F.XII					Commercial
F.XIII					Commercial
F.XIV					Commercial
F.XV					Commercial
F.XVI					Commercial
F.XVII					Commercial
F.XVIII					Commercial
F.XIX					Commercial
F.XX					Commercial
F.XXI					Commercial
F.XXII					Commercial
F.XXIII					Commercial
F.XXXVI					Commercial
F.XXXVII					Commercial
F.56					Commercial
Universal					Commercial
Super Universal					Commercial
C-2					Commercial
F-9					Commercial
F-10					Commercial
F-11 (a.k.a. B.IV)					Commercial	Flying Boat
F-14					Commercial
F-32					Commercial
H-51					Commercial
F24					Commercial
F25					Commercial
F26					Commercial
F27	Friendship				Commercial/Military	Turboprop
F28	Fellowship				Commercial	Jet Liner
F29					Commercial
Fokker F50					Commercial/Military	Turboprop
Fokker F100					Commercial	Jet Liner
Fokker F70					Commercial	Jet Liner
Fokker F60u					Military	Turboprop
G1	Grim Reaper / Le Faucheur				Military	Air Cruiser
S.11
S.12
S.13
S.14					Military	Jet Trainer
T.V					Military	Bomber
T.VIII					Military	Water plane / (Torpedo) Bomber
T.IX					Military	Bomber (Prototype)