Fokker C.VIII
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| C.VIII | |
|---|---|
| Type | Reconnaissance aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Fokker |
| Maiden flight | 1928 |
| Primary user | Royal Netherlands Navy |
| Number built | 10 |
The Fokker C.VIII was a reconnaissance aircraft built in the Netherlands in the late 1920s. Intended primarily for the photographic reconnaissance role, it was a larger machine than other Fokker reconnaissance types of the period, with space for a third crew member, who acted as camera operator. It was also Fokker's first aircraft of this type to be built as a monoplane, a parasol wing configuration. The construction, however, was in the familiar Fokker style with wooden wings covered with plywood and fabric, and a steel-tube fuselage, also fabric-covered.
A single prototype was built and after exhibition at the 1928 Paris Air Show was accepted into Royal Netherlands Army Aviation Group service, but no further orders for the type were placed. The following year, the Royal Netherlands Navy issued a requirement for a new reconnaissance seaplane, and Fokker submitted a revised version of the C.VIII. Slightly larger than its landplane counterpart, the C.VIII-W had a different engine, a new radiator arrangement, and twin pontoons as undercarriage, units similar to those used previously on the C.VII. The pontoon strutting incorporated a gap, allowing for the carriage of a torpedo under the fuselage for training purposes.
Nine aircraft were delivered to the Navy between June 1930 and July 1934, and all were still in service at the time of the German invasion in 1940. Four were lost to enemy action between 10 and 14 May, with the remaining five successfully evacuated to the UK on 30 May, whereupon they were scrapped.
[edit] Variants
- C.VIII - landplane with Hispano-Suiza 12Lb engine (1 built)
- C.VIII-W - seaplane with Lorraine-Dietrich engine (9 built)
[edit] Specifications (C.VIII-W)
General characteristics
- Crew: Three - Pilot, gunner, and camera operator
- Length: 11.50 m (37 ft 9 in)
- Wingspan: 18.10 m (59 ft 5 in)
- Height: 3.80 m (12 ft 6 in)
- Wing area: 44.0 m² (474 ft²)
- Empty weight: 1,915 kg (4,222 lb)
- Gross weight: 2,750 kg (6,063 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Lorraine-Dietrich, 340 kW (450 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 195 km/h (121 mph)
- Range: 900 km (560 miles)
- Service ceiling: 4,300 m (14,100 ft)
Armament
- 2 × rearward-firing trainable 7.9 mm machine guns in observer's cockpit
- 1 × rearward-firing trainable 7.9 mm machine gun in ventral hatch
[edit] References
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 404.
- World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing, File 894 Sheet 34.
- "The Paris Aero Show 1928" (19 July 1928). Flight: 613-14.
- "The Latest Fokker Seaplane" (11 April 1930). Flight: 414.
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