Fokker C.X

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The Fokker C.X was a biplane scout and light bomber designed in 1933. It had a crew of two (a pilot and an observer).

It was originally designed for the Royal Dutch East Indies Army, in order to replace the Fokker C.V. Like all Fokker aircraft in that period, it was of mixed construction, with wooden wings and a welded frame covered with aluminium plates at the front of the aircraft and with linen at the back. The prototype was built in 1934 with a Rolls-Royce Kestrel V engine.

The East Indies Army ordered 13 C.Xs, but they were soon replaced in the scout/light bomber role by the American Martin B-10s. Until the Japanese attack on the Dutch East Indies in 1941, the C.X remained in use as a trainer and target tug.

The Dutch Air Force ordered 16 C.Xs, and four more C.Xs with Kestrel IIS engines. These four were later re-equipped with Kestrel V engines, because the Kestrel IIS was not very reliable.

Two C.Xs were delivered to the Spanish Republic, and four more to Finland. The Finnish also produced 35 C.Xs in license until 1942. These C.Xs were equipped with Bristol Pegasus XII engines.

During the German attack on the Netherlands in May 1940, the C.Xs served in their intended role as scouts and light bombers. They were far too slow to compete with German aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109, but the tactic of hu-bo-be (huisje-boompje-beestje, Dutch for "house-tree-animal"), which involved flying very close to the ground, allowed the C.Xs to achieve some measure of success. Two C.Xs and their crews even managed to reach France after the Dutch surrender.

The Finnish C.Xs served with distinction in the Winter War, the Continuation War and the Lapland War. The last of the 7 Finnish C.Xs that survived the war crashed in 1958. The craft, designated FK-111, served as a target-towing craft in the Finnish Air Force. The plane crashed into a forest January 21, 1958, killing the pilot (2nd Ltn Aimo Allinen) and the winch-operator (2nd Ltn Antti Kukkonen).