The Fokker M.7 was a German observation aircraft of World War I, used by the armed forces of both Germany and

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Design and development

Twenty aircraft, powered by

Oberursel U.0 Oberursel (Taunus) () is a town in Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It is located to the north west of Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, in the Hochtaunuskreis county. It is the 13th l ...

rotary engines, were built, some of which were used by Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) shore stations.Gray 1970 p. 339. It was a single-bay

sesquiplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

(

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

) of conventional configuration, with slightly staggered wings using wing warping for roll control, tandem open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

s and Fokker's distinctive comma-shaped rudder. The ''W.3'' / ''W.4'' was a

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

version of the M.7.Taylor 1989 p. 402.

Operational history

The aircraft was operated by the Austro-Hungarian forces under the designation Type ''B.I'', following the German Empire's lettered prefixes from the Idflieg aircraft designation system.

Variants

* M.7 : Two-seat reconnaissance aircraft version. * W.3 : Possible misidentification of the W.4 * W.4 : Two-seat reconnaissance floatplane version. = * Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops

Specifications (M.7)

Notes

References