The F.IX, a 20 passenger airliner, two of which went into service KLM, was built under license in Czechoslovakia.
Though the Avia works produced some of Europe’s best fighters between the world wars, it was not judged economically feasible to attempt a heavy bomber. Accordingly, Avia, obtained a licence for the Fokker F.VII/3m, the pre-eminent civil transport of the 1920s, and while producing this for civil use also schemed a bomber version. The Czech army/air force, however, judged this aircraft too small. The upshot was a further licence for the Fokker F.IX, considerably bigger and weighing more than twice as much. In 1932, Avia built 12 F.IX bombers, powered by three Walter Jupiter VII engines rated at 450 hp, carrying an internal bomb load of up to 1500 kg (3307 lb) and with any of a variety of armament schemes involving manually-aimed Vickers 7.92-mm (0.312-in) Mk 30 guns above and below the fuselage and firing from beam windows. Some aircraft had a retractable ventral ‘dustbin’.
Avia F-IX
The Avia F-IX was used only in a bomber version through the 30s until the March 15, 1939 German Occupation.
Avia F-IX of No 5 Brno Bomber Regiment
Jugoslavia bought two slightly modified aircraft designated F 39, powered by 560 hp Gnome-Rhone Jupiters, and obtained a sub-licence for this version.
AVIA-Fokker F.IX Engines: 3 x Walter Jupiter VII, 450 hp Props: wood 2 blade Wing span: 27.5 m (90 ft 2.5 in) Length: 19.4 m (63 ft 7.75 in) Gross weight: 9160 kg (20194 lb) Empty weight: 5450 kg Maximum speed: 209 km/h (130 mph) Climb rate: 2.5 m/s Service ceiling: 5000 m Internal bomb load: 1500 kg (3307 lb) Undercarriage: fixed Crew: 2 pilots / 1 navigator
Designed to meet a KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) requirement for a larger aircraft than the F.VII single-engined series, the 12 15 seat Fokker F.VIII flew in prototype form on 12 March 1927. The nose contained a hinged baggage compartment, and the two 358kW Gnome-Rhone Jupiter VI engines were slung beneath the wings and a crew of two.
The prototype and six production F.VIIIs were delivered to KLM in 1927-28. One of them, PH-OTO, was later converted to have two engines positioned in the wing leading edge. Another was delivered to the Hungarian airline MALERT in 1928, and Manfred Weiss in Budapest built two more for MALERT under licence and were completed as bombers with two machine gun posts.
The KLM aircraft were subsequently re-engined, various aircraft being powered by 515kW Wright R-1820 Cyclone or 373kW Pratt ‘& Whitney Wasp engines.
The only F.VIII to see service in military markings was the last Dutch production aircraft, sold by KLM to British Airways in 1936. It went to Sweden in 1939, and was subsequently donated to the Finnish air force, with whom it served in the Continuation War from 1941.
Engines: 2 x Gnome-Rhone Jupiter VI radial, 358kW Max take-off weight: 5700 kg / 12566 lb Empty weight: 3685 kg / 8124 lb Wingspan: 23.00 m / 75 ft 6 in Length: 16.75 m / 54 ft 11 in Height: 4.20 m / 13 ft 9 in Wing area: 83.00 sq.m / 893.40 sq ft Max. speed: 200 km/h / 124 mph Cruise speed: 170 km/h / 106 mph Ceiling: 5500 m / 18050 ft Range: 1045 km / 649 miles
A semi-cantilever low-wing single-seat fighter monoplane originally intended for the 400hp Bristol Jupiter radial, the D XIV flew for the first time on 28 March 1925 with a 345hp Hispano-Suiza 8Fb eight-cylinder water-cooled engine.
The wooden wing was braced by lift struts to the ends of the rigid undercarriage axle, and featured commencing immediately aft of the frontal radiator. Before the initial flight trials, a 590hp HS 12Hb 12-cylinder engine was installed. At the same time, the rear fuselage was lengthened for C of G reasons and a smaller rudder fitted (the fighter had no fixed vertical surfaces). Armament consisted of two synchronised 7.92mm machine guns and the detachable engine mounting was designed so that various alternative power plants could be fitted. The D XIV proved both fast and manoeuvrable, and test pilots of the German Reichswehr who evaluated the prototype commented favourably on its performance and stability as a gun platform. The prototype spun in, killing its pilot, and further development was discontinued.
Max take-off weight: 1350 kg / 2976 lb Empty weight: 950 kg / 2094 lb Wingspan: 10.76 m / 35 ft 4 in Max. speed: 274 km/h / 170 mph
Developed at Schwerin from the V.41, the partly-completed single-seat fighter prototype was taken to the Netherlands, where, in 1921, it was completed with a 300hp Hispano-Suiza 8Fb eight-cylinder water-cooled engine in place of the 185hp BMW Ilia six-cylinder engine for which it had been originally intended. A cantilever parasol monoplane with a plywood-skinned wooden wing and a steel-tube fuselage, the prototype crashed as a result of wing flutter during a demonstration in Spain in 1922. An order for 10 D X fighters was placed on behalf of the Aeronautica Militar Espanola, these being supplied during the course of 1923. In the same year, one example of the D X was supplied to Finland. Armament comprised two 7.92mm machine guns.
Engine: 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza Wingspan: 13.75 m / 45 ft 1 in Length: 8.00 m / 26 ft 3 in Height: 3.00 m / 9 ft 10 in Max take-off weight: 1246 kg / 2747 lb Empty weight: 860 kg / 1896 lb Max. speed: 225 km/h / 140 mph Armament: two 7.92mm machine guns
In April 1924 the F.VII made its maiden flight. The F.VII and its derivatives were to revolutionise air transport. Slowly, but steadily, the F.III’s capacity had become inadequate for the rapidly expanding air traffic, and KLM in particular was pushing for a larger successor. On December 10th, 1923, KLM signed a temporary contract for three F.VIIs, with an option on another three later on. The order would be confirmed if the prototype proved satisfactory during practical use. In 1924 the first F.VII went into service with KLM, the first, H-NACC, made the first flight from Amsterdam to Batavia, Java. Five in total were built in 1924-25.
Ever since the end of World War One plans had existed for a flight to the Dutch East Indies, and during the design of the F.VII the requirements for such a flight had been taken into account. In particular, the undercarriage was strongly constructed to allow for the bad landing fields expected along the route. The F.VII had a Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, and its cabin could accommodate eight passengers. A separate luggage compartment was provided, and also a toilet.
The improved version, with rounded wingtips, ailerons moved inboard from the wing tips, and a simplified undercarriage, was designated F.VIIA, and was 22 km/hr faster than the F.VII and more manoeuvrable. The Fokker F.VIIA flew on 12 March 1925 with a 298kW Packard Liberty engine. Following a demonstration tour of the United States, a number of orders were secured and further orders came from European operators. Almost 50 single-engined F.VIIAs were built, some of which were converted later to F.VIIA-3m standard with three engines.
1925 Fokker F.VIIa
Early in July 1925 Fokker cabled Platz in Amsterdam to say that a three engined F.VII was to be built. Platz executed this order in eight weeks. To avoid extra testing and design, he suspended the additional engines be¬neath the wing of an F.VIIA. After a demonstration for KLM, the F.VIIA/3m, as it was later called, was shipped to the USA, where Fokker flew the aircraft from New York to Detroit on September 26th.
After the Ford Reliability Tour Fokker made the F.VIIA/3m prototype available to the Army Air Corps for testing from Wright Field. After this military goodwill tour, the aircraft was flown to Detroit to be inspected by Edsel Ford, who purchased it. He then made the aircraft available to Lt Commander Richard Byrd, who used it to become the first to fly an aircraft over the North Pole on the 9th May 1926, naming the Fokker F.VIIa/3M Josephine Ford.
Fokker F.VIIa/3M Josephine Ford.
Josephine Ford
The first trans-Pacific crossing was in 1928 by the Fokker tri-motor “Southern Cross”. Unable to find afequate funding in theit own country, WW-1 Australian RAF pilots Charles E. Kingsford-Smith and C.T.P. Ulm, backed by Californian Capt. G. Allen Hancock, purchased a battered Fokker Detroiter without engines or instruments from Arctic explorer Sir George Hubert Wilkins. After modifications to strengthen fuselage and landing gear for extra fuel, and after obtaining Wright Whirlwind J-5C 200hp engine with US Navy help, now named “Southern Cross” they attemped to break the world endurance record in January 1928. “Smithy” and Lt. G.R. Pond flew for 50 hours, missing the record by two hours.
The Southern Cross left Oakland, California, on 31May 1928 headed for Australia. Crew were pilots Smithy and Ulm, navigator Harry W. Lyons, and radio operator James W. Warner. Oakland to Honolulu – 2408 miles, 27 hr 25 min; Hawaii to Suva, Fiji – 3144 miles, 34 hr 30 min; Fiji to Brisbane – 1795 miles, 21 hr 35 min. Total distance 7400 miles averaging 88.1 mph for 83 hr 15 min flying time, arriving at Brisbane on 9 June. In 1929 Smithy and Ulm made a record flight from Australia to England. After overhaul at the Fokker factory in Amsterdam, the Southern Cross made an east to west Atlantic crossing in 31 hr 30 min in June 1930. The flight continued to Oakland, California becoming the first globe circling aircraft. It then pioneered air mail routes and barnstormed until retirement in 1935. It was refitted and flown in the late 1940s for filming the movie “Southern Cross”. It is now on display at Canberra National Museum, Australia.
F.VIIb-3m
Seven were built by Curtiss as RA-3. American military designation for the F.VIIB/3m was C-2.
The Royal Dutch East Indies Army took over two F.VIIB/3ms, equipped with Titan engines, from the Royal Dutch East Indies Airlines Company. They also used five F.VIIB/3ms with Lynx engines. Sabena relied on a fleet of Fokker F.VIIb/3ms until they were replaced by Savoia-Marchetti S.73s.
One was supplied to the RAF, the only example known to have been used by the military in World War II was the 12th production F.VIIA which, after a chequered career in the Netherlands and Denmark, was presented to the Finnish Red Cross and operated in military markings in the Continuation War which began in 1941. Those operated by the Netherlands and Polish air forces were destroyed at an early stage of the German invasion of these two nations.
The Fokker F.VIIb-3m one of two aircraft, both of which had crashed, and its wing had been united to the other aircraft, a single-engined F.VIIA. This hybrid had also crashed, and eventually the wing of the tri-motor, and the fuselages of both machines, had been shipped back to the Seattle Boeing factory, where the Tri-motor wing and fuselage were reunited, and the rear fuselage, fin and rudder redesigned to give greater stability. The reconditioned aircraft was re-designated Fokker F.VIIb-3m, and was sold, with Wright J4 engines and no instruments, to Kingsford-Smith, who eventually had it fitted with the later Wright Whirlwind J5 engines, and crossed the Pacific in it in June 1928, with Charles Ulm as co-pilot. The high cantilever thick-section wing consisted of two wooden box spars and plywood ribs, the whole being skinned with plywood. The fuselage and tail unit were welded steel-tube structures, covered mainly with fabric. Narrow chord ailerons were fitted to the main wing. The prototype Trimotor was used by Admiral Byrd on the first flight over the North Pole in May 1927.
Licence-production was also undertaken in Belgium, Italy, Poland and the UK (as the Avro Ten). Approximately 184 were built. The F.VIIb-3m was also licence built as the Avro 618 Ten circa 1929.
Avro 618 Ten
The Avia F-VIIb /Fokker VII.B/3M/ monoplane was built under licence as the first transport plane from 1931. It was tested in the Scientific Aeronautical Institute as a bomber as the S-19, and as a transport by the Czechoslovak Air Liners Comp.
F.VIIA Passengers: 10 Engine: 1 x Gnome Rhone Jupiter, 298kW Wingspan: 19.3 m / 63 ft 4 in Wing area: 58.5 sq.m / 629.69 sq ft Length: 14.35 m / 47 ft 10 in Height: 3.9 m / 12 ft 10 in Empty weight: 1950 kg / 4299 lb Max take-off weight: 3650 kg / 8047 lb Max. speed: 185 km/h / 115 mph Cruise speed: 155 km/h / 96 mph Ceiling; 2600 m / 8550 ft Range: 1160 km / 721 miles
VIIa/3m Engines: 3 x 215 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Lynx. Length 47.9 ft. (14.6 m.) Wingspan 63.25 ft. (19.3 m.) Weight empty 4,730 lb. (2,145 kg.) Crew: 2. Pax cap: 8. Max cruise: 106 mph (170 kph). Ceiling: 15,500 ft (4,700 m) fully loaded. Range: 500 miles (800 km).
F.VIIb-3m Engines: 3 x Wright Whirlwind J5. Span 63 ft. 4 in. Length 49 ft. 2 in Height 12 ft. 9 in Wing area 630 sq. ft Weight empty 5,380 lb Loaded 9,000 lb Max. speed 122 m.p.h Ceiling 12,500 ft.
Avro 618 Ten Engine: 3 x 240hp Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IVB or IVC Take-off weight: 4812 kg / 10609 lb Empty weight: 2733 kg / 6025 lb Wingspan: 21.72 m / 71 ft 3 in Length: 14.48 m / 48 ft 6 in Height: 3.89 m / 13 ft 9 in Wing area: 71.72 sq.m / 771.99 sq ft Max. speed: 185 km/h / 115 mph Cruise speed: 161 km/h / 100 mph Ceiling: 4877 m / 16000 ft Range: 644 km / 400 miles
Avia F-VIIb / S-19 Engines: 3 x Walter Castor, 240 hp Props: three-blade composite Wingspan: 21.7 m Length: 14.5 m Empty weight: 2750 kg Top speed: 208 kph Service ceiling: 5000 m Range: 800 km Bombload: up to 800 kg Armament: three machine guns Undercarriage: Fixed
Evolved from design work undertaken in Germany for the V.37 during the closing stages of World War I, the F VI single-seat parasol fighter monoplane powered by a 300hp Wright (Hispano-Suiza) H-2 water-cooled engine was of mixed construction, with a one-piece plywood-covered wooden wing and a welded steel-tube fuselage. Two examples were ordered for evaluation by the US Army Air Service and were delivered in 1921, designation PW-5. Although the first of these crashed on 13 March 1922 as a result of a wing failure, a further 10 PW-5s were supplied to the USAAS that year. Armament comprised either two 7.62mm guns or one 12.7mm and one 7.62mm gun, and provision was made for small bombs to be carried on a rack beneath the fuselage.
Engine: 300hp Wright (Hispano-Suiza) H-2 Max take-off weight: 1218 kg / 2685 lb Empty weight: 878 kg / 1936 lb Wingspan: 12.02 m / 39 ft 5 in Length: 7.94 m / 26 ft 1 in Height: 2.74 m / 8 ft 12 in Wing area: 22.95 sq.m / 247.03 sq ft Max. speed: 232 km/h / 144 mph
The Fokker F.V was designed to meet the demand for increased capacity. The F.III was increasingly unable to cope with growing air traffic, and the F.IV was too large. The F.V accommodated eight passengers and two pilots. More attention was paid to passenger comfort, and a separate space was provided for luggage. Another great improvement was the provision of a toilet. The aircraft could be used as a monoplane or as a biplane; as a monoplane the F.V, with an all up weight of 2.655 kg, could reach a speed of 192 kph, while as a biplane the speed was 180 kph with a total weight of 3,134 kg. The prototype was tested by the German-Russian Aviation Company, Deruluft, but was not satisfactory, and spent its life in the service of a small Austrian company.
The T.IIIW bomber for the Portuguese Navy was built at Veere. It was a larger version of the T II and had a 360 h.p. Rolls Royce Eagle or Napier Lion engine. Five T.IIIWs were produced. The T.III had an inter¬changeable undercarriage, with floats, becoming the T.IIIW.
With a crew of three and a 400 h.p Liberty engine the speed was 152 kph and the range 650km. Three T.IIs on wooden floats were delivered to the US Navy.
