The Fokker V.4 was a prototype German fighter aircraft of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Inspired by the successful

Sopwith Triplane The Sopwith Triplane was a British single seat fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiori ...

Anthony Fokker Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker (6 April 1890 – 23 December 1939) was a Dutch aviation pioneer, aviation entrepreneur, aircraft designer, and aircraft manufacturer. He produced fighter aircraft in Germany during the First World War such ...

chose to create a triplane fighter. Reinhold Platz was responsible for the design. The V.4 looked very much like the later Dr.I, but is easily recognized by the lack of

interplane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

s. All three wings were cantilever and the lower two wings had the same span. The

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

was balanced, but the

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

s and

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

s lacked horn balances. In the past, this aircraft was given the V.3 designation in error. Aero Historian Peter M. Grosz finally corrected the error while researching Fokker fighter developments. The V.4 was eventually fitted with V.5 wings and sent to Austria-Hungary for evaluation.

Bibliography

* 1910s German fighter aircraft V.04 Single-engined tractor aircraft Triplanes Rotary-engined aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1917 {{aero-1910s-stub