The Fokker T.V was a twin-engine bomber, described as an "aerial

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

", 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 ...

for the Netherlands Air Force. Modern for its time, by the

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) ...

of 1940 it was outclassed by the airplanes of the '' Luftwaffe'', although it was used with some success.

Development and design

In the early 1930s, the '' Luchtvaartafdeling'' (i.e. the Netherlands Army Air Force) became interested in the ''luchtkruiser'' (aerial cruiser) concept multipurpose aircraft, which was to have a primary role of intercepting and destroying enemy bomber formations, with a secondary role as a long-range bomber, with Colonel P.W. Best, commander of the ''Luchtvaartafdeling'' stating on 28 March 1935 that aircraft of the ''luchtkruiser'' should be purchased in as large numbers as possible, proposing to cancel procurement of the

Fokker D.XXI The Fokker D.XXI fighter was designed in 1935 by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker in response to requirements laid out by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force (''Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger'', M ...

fighter to release funds.Van der Klaauw 1986, pp. 241–242. To meet this requirement, Fokker developed the T.V, a five-seat, twin-engined monoplane. It featured a wooden wing, while the slab-sided fuselage was of mixed construction, with a wooden monocoque centre fuselage, a fabric covered steel tube rear fuselage and a

duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a tra ...

forward fuselage. While this construction method was typical for Fokker aircraft, it was obsolete compared with contemporary aircraft of its size, which were normally of all-metal construction.Van der Klaauw 1986, p.243. It was fitted with a 20 mm

autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...

in the nose to meet the bomber destroyer part of the requirement, and four defensive Browning machine guns, one each in dorsal, ventral and tail positions, with one capable of being switched between two waist positions. It had a bomb-bay under the centre fuselage capable of carrying up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of bombs.Van der Klaauw 1986, p.244. A contract was signed for 16 T.Vs on 7 December 1936, with the first aircraft (not a prototype as such) flying on 16 October 1937 from Schiphol airfield.

Operational history

The first 11 T.Vs, by now considered medium bombers, were delivered in 1938, with the last 4 following in 1939.Van der Klaauw 1986, p.245. Although it had good handling characteristics, it suffered from reliability problems with its engines and propellers, and by the summer of 1939, the Netherlands was planning to purchase 24

Dornier Do 215 The Dornier Do 215 was a light bomber, aerial reconnaissance aircraft and later a night fighter, produced by Dornier originally for export, but in the event most served in the ''Luftwaffe''. Like its predecessor, the Dornier Do 17, it inherited t ...

s to replace them.Van der Klaauw 1986, pp. 245–246. On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The T.V saw its first combat, when taking off from Schiphol to avoid air attack, eight T.Vs encountered a formation of German bombers, shooting down two.Van der Klaauw 1986, pp. 246–247. After this, the T.V reverted to its primary bomber role, being used in attacks against German airborne troops landing at The Hague and Rotterdam. By the end of the first day of fighting only two T.Vs were serviceable, being sent against bridges over the River Maas at Rotterdam on 11 May, where a further aircraft was shot down, with the final T.V being shot down during attacks on bridges at

Moerdijk Moerdijk () is a municipality and a town in the South of the Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. History The municipality of Moerdijk was founded in 1997 following the merger of the municipalities of Fijnaart en Heijningen, Klundert ...

on 13 May.Van der Klaauw 1986, pp. 248–249. As the T.V lacked

self-sealing fuel tanks A self-sealing fuel tank is a type of fuel tank, typically used in aircraft fuel tanks or fuel bladders, that prevents them from leaking fuel and igniting after being damaged. Typical self-sealing tanks have multiple layers of rubber and reinfor ...

, they gained a reputation for rapidly catching fire when hit by enemy fire.Hooftman 1979, p. 18.

Operators

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Royal Netherlands Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

Specifications

References

External links

{{Fokker aircraft 1930s Dutch bomber aircraft T 05 Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft