Anthony Fokker
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| Anthony Fokker | |
| Born | 6 April 1890 Kediri, East Java, Netherlands Indies (now Indonesia) |
|---|---|
| Died | 23 December 1939 (aged 49) Murray Hill Hospital, USA |
| Cause of death | pneumococcous meningitis |
| Nationality | Dutch, American |
| Occupation | aircraft manufacturer |
| Spouse(s) | Sophie Marie Elisabeth von Morgen (1919-1923),Violet Austman (1927-1939) |
Anton Herman Gerard Fokker (6 April 1890 – 23 December 1939) was a pioneer in aviation and a Dutch-American aircraft manufacturer.
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[edit] Early life
Anthony (Tony) Fokker was born in Kediri, East Java (then Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia), son of Herman Fokker, a Dutch coffee plantation owner.
Four years later the family returned to the Netherlands and settled in Haarlem in order to provide Tony and his older sister, Toos, with a Dutch upbringing. Tony was not studious but rather played with model trains and steam engines, and he did not complete his high school education. He devised a leak-proof tire but this was not an original invention and was already patented.
[edit] Move to Germany
Fokker's first interest in flight stemmed from Wilbur Wright's exhibition flights in France in the summer and fall of 1908. In 1910, at age 20, Fokker was sent by his father to Germany to receive training as a mechanic, but his interest was in flying, and he changed schools.[1] That same year Fokker built his first aircraft "de Spin" ("the Spider"), which was destroyed by his business partner who flew it into a tree. He gained his pilot license in his second "Spin" aircraft. In his own country, he became a celebrity by flying around the tower of the Sint-Bavokerk in Haarlem on 31 August 1911, with the third version of the "Spin". He also added to his fame by flying on the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina.
In 1912, Fokker moved to Johannisthal near Berlin where he founded his first own company, Fokker Aeroplanbau. In the following years he constructed a variety of airplanes. He relocated his factory to Schwerin where it was renamed Fokker Flugzeugwerke GmbH, and later shortened to Fokker Werke GmbH.
[edit] Involvement in World War I
At the outbreak of World War I the German government took control of the factory. Fokker remained as director and designed many aircraft for the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte), including the Fokker Eindecker and the Fokker Dr.I, the triplane made famous in the hands of aces such as Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron). In all, his company delivered about 700 military planes to the German air force.
Fokker himself appears to have been an accomplished pilot, demonstrating his aircraft on numerous occasions.[2] On 13 June 1915, Fokker demonstrated the new Fokker Eindecker at Stenay in the German 5th Army Sector in front of the German Crown Prince and other VIPs. Fokker worked closely with an accomplished military pilot, Otto Parschau, to bring the Eindecker into military use and on this occasion both men demonstrated the aircraft. Max Immelmann, later to come become a high-scoring Flying Ace with the Eindecker, commented in a letter written shortly after this event that: "Fokker, especially, amazed us with his skill."[2]
[edit] The interrupter gear
Fokker is often credited with having invented the synchronisation device which enabled World War I aircraft to fire through the spinning propellor. His role was certainly significant but there were a number of prior developments before the result was achieved for which Fokker is rightly credited.
The famous French pilot, Roland Garros, was shot down on 18 April 1915. His aircraft had been fitted with a deflector device, whereby metal deflector wedges were fitted to the airscrew. Garros was able to set fire to the airframe before being taken prisoner but the aircraft's gun and the armoured propellor remained intact and came into German hands.[3]
This initiated a phase of consideration of the interrupter gear concept in the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte). Fokker was heavily involved in this process but the story of his conception, development and installation of a synchronisation device in a period of 48 hours (first found in an authorised biography of Fokker written in 1929) has been shown to be not factual. The available evidence points to a synchronisation device having been in development with Fokker's company for perhaps six months prior to the capture of Garros' machine.[2]
However the final result of the development was Fokker's pushrod control mechanism, Gestangesteuerung, which allowed the aircraft's forward-firing machine gun to fire only when the propellor was out of the line of fire. As incorporated into the famous Fokker Eindecker its use directly led to a phase of German air-superiority known as the Fokker Scourge.
[edit] Return to the Netherlands
After the war's end, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to build any aircraft or aircraft engines. In 1919 Fokker returned to the Netherlands and started a new aircraft company, the Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek (Dutch Aircraft Factory), predecessor to the Fokker Aircraft Company. Despite the strict disarmament conditions in the Treaty, Fokker did not return home empty-handed: he managed to smuggle an entire train's worth of D.VII and C.I military planes and spare parts across the German-Dutch border. This initial stock enabled him to quickly set up shop, but his focus shifted from military to civil aircraft such as the very successful Fokker F.VII trimotor.
On 25 March 1919, Fokker married Sophie Marie Elisabeth von Morgen in Haarlem. This marriage lasted four years.
[edit] Move to the US and death
In 1922, he moved to the United States and later became an American citizen. Here he established the American branch of his company, the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation. In 1927, Fokker married Violet Austman in New York City. Austman died mysteriously from a fall from their hotel suites.
He died in New York in 1939 from pneumococcous meningitis. He had been ill for three weeks, and was 49 years old.[4]
[edit] Popular culture
- Fokker's nickname was The Flying Dutchman.[citation needed]
- Fokker appears in an episode of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. As a spy, Jones unsuccessfully attempts to convince Fokker to work for someone other than the Germans.[citation needed]
- Roy Focker, a central character in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (adapted as Roy Fokker in the Macross Saga of Robotech), was most likely named after Anthony Fokker and his Fokker aircraft. In flashback sequences, Roy flies a Fokker D.VII in his youth, and even gives his friend Hikaru Ichijyo (Robotech's Rick Hunter) a model of one as a gift.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ Anthony Fokker Biography
- ^ a b c van Wyngarden
- ^ van Wyngarden, G. Early German Aces of World War 1. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1-84176-997-5.
- ^ "A.H.G. Fokker Dies." New York Times, 24 December 1939. Retrieved: 29 June 2008. Quote: "Anthony H.G. Fokker, pioneer airplane designer, manufacturer and promoter, died yesterday morning at Murray Hill Hospital, where he had been ill of pneumococcous meningitis for the last three weeks. He was 49 years old."
- Bibliography
- Boyne, Walter J. The Smithsonian Book of Flight for Young People. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1988. ISBN 0-689-31422-1.
- Dierikx, Marc. Fokker: A Transatlantic Biography. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997. ISBN 1-56098-735-9.
- Molson, K.M. Pioneering in Canadian Air Transport. Winnipeg: James Richardson & Sons, Ltd., 1974. ISBN 0-919212-39-5.
- Nevin, David. The Pathfinders (The Epic of Flight Series). Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1980. ISBN 0-8094-3256-0.
- Postma, Thijs. Fokker: Aircraft Builders to the World. London: Jane's, 1979. ISBN 0-531-03708-0.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George Bernard Shaw |
Cover of Time Magazine 31 December 1923 |
Succeeded by William G. McAdoo |
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