__NOTOC__ The Fokker A.I (Fokker designation M.8) was an "A-class" unarmed two-seat monoplane observation aircraft of the 1914-15 era early in World War I, powered as the earlier

Fokker M.5 The Fokker M.5 was an unarmed single-seat monoplane aircraft designed and built by Anthony Fokker in 1913. It served as a light reconnaissance aircraft with the German army at the outbreak of World War I and was the basis for the first successf ...

was, by a 58.8 kW (80 PS) Oberursel U.0 seven cylinder

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its ...

, or ''umlaufmotor'', a near-clone of the

Gnome Lambda The Gnome 7 Lambda was a French designed, seven-cylinder, air-cooled rotary aero engine that was produced under license in Britain and Germany. Powering several World War I-era aircraft types it was claimed to produce from its capacity of al ...

rotary engine of the same power output level — the same U.0 seven cylinder rotary engine version was used on all Fokker military monoplanes before the

Fokker E.II The Fokker E.II was the second variant of the German Fokker Eindecker single-seat monoplane fighter aircraft of World War I. The E.II was essentially a Fokker E.I with the 75 kW (100 hp) Oberursel U.I 9-cylinder rotary engine, a close ...

''Eindecker'' fighter's debut in 1915-16. The A.I aircraft resembled a substantially enlarged

, with a tall dorsal cabane structure to handle the triple sets of stationary flying and landing wires anchored to the wing panels' forward spar, each panel having fourteen

wing rib In an aircraft, ribs are forming elements of the structure of a wing, especially in traditional construction. By analogy with the anatomical definition of "rib", the ribs attach to the main spar, and by being repeated at frequent intervals, form ...

s, and the similarly triple sets of

wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposite direc ...

cables attached to the rear spar. The A.I and earlier A.IIs were both built by Fokker and license-built by

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bomb ...

. The origins of the A.I, A.II and A.III were in a

Morane-Saulnier Type H The Morane-Saulnier H was an early aircraft first flown in France in the months immediately preceding the First World War; it was a single-seat derivative of the successful Morane-Saulnier G with a slightly reduced wingspanTaylor 1989, p.648"The ...

purchased from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. This led to the initial

airframe designed by Martin Kreutzer, from which the larger A.I was derived. Fokker gave many aerobatic demonstrations in the M.5 on the eve of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The M.8, was ordered as the A.I by the ''Fliegertruppe'' (Imperial German Army Air Service) and between Fokker and Halberstadt, about 63 were produced.

Specifications

Data from Scott, Josef (2012). Fokker Eindecker Compendium, Volume 1. Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire UK: Albatros Publications, Ltd. p. 18. .

References

Sources

* * * {{Idflieg A-class designations 1910s German military reconnaissance aircraft A.I Military aircraft of World War I High-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1915 Rotary-engined aircraft