The Fokker F.XX was a 1930s Dutch three-engined airliner designed and built by

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 was the first Fokker design to use an elliptical-section fuselage instead of the traditional square fuselage and the first Fokker aircraft with retractable landing gear.

Development

The F.XX was a high-wing thick-section cantilever monoplane with a retractable tailwheel landing gear. It was powered by three Wright Cyclone radial engines, one in the nose and one under each wing on struts. The main landing gear retracted into the engine nacelles. The F.XX registered PH-AIZ and named ''Zilvermeeuw'' (en: Silver Gull) first flew in 1933. It was delivered to

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 ...

for services from Amsterdam to London and Berlin. Although the F.XX was a more advanced design both in aerodynamics and looks than earlier Fokkers, the arrival of the twin-engined low-wing

Douglas DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which b ...

and DC-3 soon rendered it obsolete. Only one aircraft was built, and after service with KLM was sold to French airline Air Tropique; the plane got a camouflage paint scheme and was registered F-APEZ. Air Tropique had ties with the Spanish Republican government, that used the plane to operate a liaison service between Madrid and Paris. In 1937 it went to LAPE in Spain, and was registered EC-45-E. The plane crashed in Spain February 15, 1938 near Barcelona at Prat de Llobregat Airport. Licence production in the UK as the Airspeed AS.21 was not proceeded with.

Operators

; *

; *Líneas Aéreas Postales Españolas (LAPE) *

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica M ...

Specifications (F.XX)

References

Bibliography

* * The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1895

External links

*
The Fokker F.XX
. '' Flight'', 5 October 1933, pp. 993–995. {{Authority control 1930s Dutch airliners F 20 Abandoned civil aircraft projects Trimotors High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933