Fokker F.III
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The Fokker F.III was a single-engined high-winged
monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
aircraft produced in the 1920s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer
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 ...
. It could carry five passengers. The aircraft was also built under licence in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
as the Fokker-Grulich F.III.


Design and development

The Fokker F.III was a straightforward development of the F.II. A widened cabin allowed all five passengers to sit within; in the earlier aircraft, one passenger sat alongside the pilot in his exposed cockpit. The pilot now sat alongside the engine, which was offset laterally by about ; whether to port or starboard depended on the type of engine installed. Although this unusual arrangement meant that pilots were "burned on one side and frozen on the other," they had a much better view than from the F.II. The view was further improved by a cut-out in the wing leading edge for the pilot's head, allowing his seat to be raised. The external wing struts of the F.II were removed, leaving a clean cantilever wing. The trapezoidal windows seen in the Grulich built F.IIs were standard on the F.III. Like its predecessor, the F.III was initially powered by a readily available, war surplus 138 kW (185 hp)
BMW IIIa BMW IIIa was an inline six-cylinder SOHC valvetrain, water-cooled aircraft engine, the first-ever engine produced by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG, who, at the time, were exclusively an aircraft engine manufacturer. Its success laid the foundatio ...
engine, but once again
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
re-engined theirs with the 172 kW (230 hp)
Armstrong Siddeley Puma The Siddeley Puma was a British aero engine developed towards the end of World War I and produced by Siddeley-Deasy. The first engines left the production lines of Siddeley-Deasy in Coventry in August 1917, production continued until December 1 ...
.


Operational history

The F.III was first used by
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
when they reopened their
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
-
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
service on 14 April 1921 (they did not, at this time operate over winter). Soon, F.IIIs were also flying on routes to
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
,
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
, and
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. They proved to be very reliable aircraft.
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
received 14 F.IIIs from Fokker's German factory at
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 ...
during 1921 and built two more itself from spares in the following year. This final pair used
Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII The Rolls-Royce Eagle was the first aircraft engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce Limited. Introduced in 1915 to meet British military requirements during World War I, it was used to power the Handley Page Type O bombers and a number of ...
engines, with the pilot on the left. Another operator of new F.IIIs was ''Deutsch-Russiche Luftverkehrs Gesellschaft'' ('' Deruluft'') which used nine aircraft on their
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-
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-
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route from May 1922. These machines, partially built in
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 ...
and finished in the Netherlands at Veere, had Eagle engines. One was a Fokker-Grulich. ''Deutsche Aero Lloyd'' gained a licence to build F.IIIs as they had for F.IIs and the company, with its southern subsidiary built and operated 18 of these Fokker-Grulich F.IIIs. Most of these used BMW engines, typically the BMW IV in preference to the
BMW IIIa BMW IIIa was an inline six-cylinder SOHC valvetrain, water-cooled aircraft engine, the first-ever engine produced by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG, who, at the time, were exclusively an aircraft engine manufacturer. Its success laid the foundatio ...
. Some of these were re-engined with the
BMW Va __NOTOC__ The BMW V was a six-cylinder, water-cooled inline aircraft engine built in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe a ...
, and were designated F.IIIc. Another operator from new was the Hungarian airline ''
Malert MALÉRT (''Magyar Légiforgalmi R.T.'') was a Hungarian airline, founded on November 19, 1922. The airline merged with Aeroflot in 1944-46 into Maszovlet (''Magyar-Szovjet Légiforgalmi Társaság'') a forerunner of MALÉV Hungarian Airlines. ...
'', which received six Dutch-built aircraft for their
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
-
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-
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service from 1922 to 1929. These initially had BMW IIIa engines, but later ran with Breitfeld & Daněk Hiero IV engines. They had larger wings, increased in area by about 14%. ''
Deutsche Luft-Reederei Deutsche Luft-Reederei (D.L.R.), was a German airline established in December 1917 which started operating in 1919. History The name means "German (Deutsche) Air (Luft) Shipping Company (Reederei)". D.L.R. was reorganized as Aero Lloyd AG in 1 ...
'' also operated two, originally intended for KLM. Four F.IIIs probably went to the
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. Later F.IIIs changed ownership frequently as airlines went bankrupt or merged. They were still flying commercially in Germany until about 1936.


Accidents and incidents

*On 24 April 1924, Fokker F.III H-NABS of
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
departed
Lympne Lympne (), formerly also Lymne, is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Castle facing Lympne ...
for
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
and
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. The aircraft was not heard of again. It was presumed to have crashed into the sea, killing the pilot and both passengers. *On 25 June 1925, a KLM Fokker F.III, registration H-NABM, crashed at Landrécies, France in poor weather while on an Amsterdam-Paris service, killing all four on board.


Operators

;
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
*
Deutsche Luft-Reederei Deutsche Luft-Reederei (D.L.R.), was a German airline established in December 1917 which started operating in 1919. History The name means "German (Deutsche) Air (Luft) Shipping Company (Reederei)". D.L.R. was reorganized as Aero Lloyd AG in 1 ...
; *''
Det Danske Luftfartselskab Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S or DDL, trading in English as Danish Air Lines, was Denmark's national airline from 1918 until it merged to create Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) in 1951. DDL was established on 29 October 1918, but started its f ...
'' ; *''Deutsch-Russiche Luftverkehrs Gesellschaft ( Deruluft)'' *''Deutsche Aero Lloyd'' *''Deutsche Aero Luft'' *''Sud-deutsche Luft Hansa'' ; *''
Malert MALÉRT (''Magyar Légiforgalmi R.T.'') was a Hungarian airline, founded on November 19, 1922. The airline merged with Aeroflot in 1944-46 into Maszovlet (''Magyar-Szovjet Légiforgalmi Társaság'') a forerunner of MALÉV Hungarian Airlines. ...
'' ; *''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij'' (
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
) ; * Deruluft


Specifications


References


Further reading

* * {{Fokker aircraft F 03 1920s Dutch airliners High-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1921