Fokker E.III
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The Fokker E.III was the main variant of the ''Eindecker'' (literally meaning "one deck")
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 superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
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 ...
. It entered service on the Western Front in December
1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...
and was also supplied to
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and
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
.


Design and development

The E.III was basically an E.II fitted with larger, newly designed wings that had a slightly narrower chord of 1.80 meter (70-7/8 in), compared to 1.88 meter (74 in) on the earlier Eindeckers, going back to Fokker's original M.5 monoplane aircraft. The E.III retained the same 75 kW (100 hp)
Oberursel U.I __NOTOC__ The Oberursel U.I was an early German aircraft engine that powered many German fighter aircraft in the first part of World War I. It was a 9-cylinder air-cooled rotary engine, a licence-built copy of the Gnome DeltaKyrill von Gersdorff ...
engine, and therefore also used the larger diameter "horseshoe" pattern cowling that also mandated the inclusion of the E.II's
soffit A soffit is an exterior or interior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of any construction element. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of beams, is the underside of eaves (to ...
-like extensions to the sides of the upper nose sheet metalwork, but had a larger 81 L (21.5  gal) drum-shaped main fuel tank just behind the cockpit, which increased the ''Eindecker''s endurance to about 2½ hours; an hour more than the E.II. Most E.IIIs were armed with a single 7.92 mm (.312 in) Spandau LMG 08
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
with 500 rounds of
ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
; however, after the failure of the twin-gun
Fokker E.IV The Fokker E.IV was the final variant of the Fokker Eindecker, ''Eindecker'' fighter aircraft that was operated by Germany during World War I. Design and development Given the Fokker designation of M.15, the E.IV was essentially a lengthened F ...
as a viable successor, some E.IIIs were fitted with twin guns.
Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...
production figures state that 249 E.IIIs were manufactured; however, a number of the 49 E.IIs were upgraded to E.III standard when they were returned to Fokker's
Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...
factory for repairs.


Operational history

The E.III was the first type to arrive in sufficient numbers to form small specialist fighter units, ''Kampfeinsitzer Kommandos'' (KEK) in early 1916. Previously, ''Eindeckers'' had been allocated singly, just as the E.I and E.II had been, to the front-line ''
Feldflieger Abteilung Feldflieger Abteilung (''FFA'', Field Flying Company) was the title of the pioneering field aviation units of what became the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (German air service) by October 1916, during World War I. Composition The use of aircraft as a tact ...
en'' that carried out
reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
duties. On 10 August 1916, the first German ''
Jagdstaffel A ''Jagdstaffel'' (plural ''Jagdstaffeln'', abbreviated to Jasta) was a fighter ''Staffel'' (squadron) of the German Imperial ''Luftstreitkräfte'' during World War I. Background Before April 1916, ''Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiser ...
n'' (single-seat fighter
squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...
s) were formed, initially equipped with various early fighter types, including a few E.IIIs, which were by then outmoded and being replaced by more modern fighters. Standardisation in the ''Jagdstaffeln'' (and any real success) had to wait for the availability in numbers of the
Albatros D.I The Albatros D.I was a German fighter aircraft used during World War I. Although its operational career was short, it was the first of the Albatros D types which equipped the bulk of the German and Austrian fighter squadrons ('' Jagdstaffeln'') f ...
and
Albatros D.II The Albatros D.II was a German fighter aircraft used during World War I. After a successful combat career in the early '' Jagdstaffeln'', it was gradually superseded by the Albatros D.III. Design and development Albatros designers Robert Thelen ...
in early 1917. Turkish E.IIIs were based at
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in
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while others operated in
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
during the Siege of Kut-al-Amara.


Surviving aircraft

The only known surviving original ''Eindecker'', bearing IdFlieg serial number 210/16, was brought down in the Somme area in 1916 by the British and then evaluated by the War Office until it was transferred to the
London Science Museum The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...
in 1918. It is currently on display fully assembled, but with its fabric covering removed to illustrate its internal construction.


Operators

; *'' Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen'' * ''Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine'' ; *
Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force ( bg, Военновъздушни сили, Voennovazdushni sili) is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and p ...
; *''
Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alt ...
'' *''
Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...
'' **''Marine-Fliegerabteilung'' ; *
Ottoman aviation squadrons The Aviation Squadrons of the Ottoman Empire were military aviation units of the Ottoman Army and Navy.Edward J. Erickson, ''Ordered To Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War'', "Appendix D The Ottoman Aviation Inspectorate an ...
were supplied with 22 E.III aircraft.


Specifications (E.III)


See also


References

*


External links

*
Fokker E.III 634 made 1915
{{Authority control E.III 1910s German fighter aircraft Military aircraft of World War I Single-engined tractor aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1915 Rotary-engined aircraft