Fokker D.XVII (sometimes written as Fokker D.17), was a 1930s

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

sesquiplane developed by Fokker. It was the last fabric-covered biplane fighter they developed in a lineage that extended back to the

First World War 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 ...

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qui ...

Design and development

Problems with severe vibration in the

Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar The Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar was an aircraft engine developed by Armstrong Siddeley. The Jaguar was a petrol-fuelled air-cooled 14-cylinder two-row radial engine design. The Jaguar III was first used in 1923, followed in 1925 by the Jaguar ...

radial engine on the Fokker D.XVI resulted in one being converted to use a normally aspirated

Curtiss Conqueror The Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror was a 12-cylinder vee liquid-cooled aircraft engine. Representing a more powerful version of the Curtiss D-12, the engine entered production in 1926 and flew in numerous aircraft.Gunston 1989, p. 46. Design and de ...

V-1570 V-twelve, becoming the prototype for the D.XVII. Production versions were fitted with a

Rolls-Royce Kestrel The Kestrel or type F is a 21 litre (1,300 in³) 700 horsepower (520 kW) class V-12 aircraft engine from Rolls-Royce, their first cast-block engine and the pattern for most of their future piston-engine designs. Used during the interwar ...

, while one aircraft was built with a Lorraine Pétrel and another was built with a

Hispano-Suiza 12X The Hispano-Suiza 12X was an aircraft piston engine designed in France by Hispano-Suiza during the early 1930s. A 12-cylinder Vee, liquid-cooled design, the 12X was used on several aircraft types, some of them being used in limited numbers durin ...

brs for comparison purposes.Westburg, 1974, p.21 Structure was standard for Fokkers throughout the 1920s. The sesquiplane's fuselage was welded steel tube with fabric covering and the wings were made with wood spars and ribs covered with plywood.Davis, 1932, p.80

Operational history

On 18 January 1935, Lieutenant René Wittert van Hoogland set a Dutch high-altitude record in a Fokker D.XVII of while using oxygen and high octane fuel. By May 1939, the aircraft was obsolete and remaining examples were transferred to the LVA Flying School for fighter pilot training however they saw some action during the Battle of the Netherlands, escorting Fokker C.Vs and C.Xs on bombing missions. When the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

surrendered to the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, all surviving aircraft were burnt. Airspeed Ltd. had a licence to build Fokker aircraft in England and considered making the Fokker D.XVII fighter for Greece under the designation Airspeed AS.17. Greek government interest was constrained by currency concerns.

Neville Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect h ...

and a Fokker representative "who was well accustomed to methods of business in the Balkans" spent three weeks in Athens but they did not close the deal.Norway, 1954, p.226Taylor, 1970, p.

Operators

; * Royal Netherlands Air Force *

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. Th ...

- one example

Specifications (Fokker D.XVII)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fokker D.Xvii 1930s Dutch fighter aircraft D 17 Aircraft first flown in 1932 Sesquiplanes