Fokker G.I
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| Fokker G.I | |
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 Fokker G.I (collectie Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie) |
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| Type | heavy fighter |
| Manufacturer | Fokker |
| Designed by | Beeling and Schatzki |
| Maiden flight | 16 March, 1937 |
| Primary user | Luchtvaartafdeeling[1] |
| Number built | about 50 |
The Fokker G.I was a Dutch heavy twin-engined fighter plane comparable in size and role to the German Messerschmitt Bf 110 and the British Mosquito.
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[edit] Development
The G.I was designed in 1936 by Fokker head engineers Beeling and Schatzki; the design and building the prototype took just 7 months. At its introduction at the Paris Air Show of 1936, even before its first flight, the G.I was a sensation due to its heavy armament of 8 machine guns in the nose and 1 in a rear turret; it was given the nickname "Reaper, le faucheur in French. Its twin-engine, twin-boom design was later used for the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
The G.I was intended for the role of air cruiser, i.e. patrolling the air space and denying it to enemy planes, especially bombers; a role seen as important at the time, by the followers of Giulio Douhet's theories on air power. The Fokker G.I could also be used for ground attack and light bombing missions (it could carry a bomb load of 400 kg). It was intended for a crew of three (a pilot, a bombardier and a rear gunner), but all Dutch G.Is had the bombardier's seat removed, since they were not used in their ground attack role.
Like all Fokker aircraft of the period (and many aircraft by other constructors as well), the G.I was of mixed construction; the front of the central pod and the tail booms were built around a welded frame, covered with aluminium plating. The back of the central pod, however, as well as the wings, had a wooden frame, covered with triplex, a technique also used in Fokker's successful passenger aircraft at that time.
The G.I had its first flight at Welschap, Eindhoven on March 16, 1937. It went well, but subsequent test flights uncovered some problems with the design. Firstly, its Hispano-Suiza engines used too much oil. The designers wished to replace them with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines (which would have made the G.I the fastest fighter in the air), but those were not available. In the end two versions were built: one two-seat version with Bristol Mercury VII engines and a single seat export version with Pratt & Whitney R-1535 engines that were less powerful, but much more reliable. Furthermore, the eight machine guns in the nose made the plane difficult to manage at take-off and landing. This problem was never solved satisfactorily.
Besides the Dutch air force, several foreign air forces showed an interest in the G.I. The aircraft was originally built to a French Air Force specification, but the French preferred French-built aircraft such as the Breguet 69.
The Spanish Air Force ordered 36 aircraft. After the mobilisation of 1939, these single seat versions were taken over by the Dutch air force. However, the Dutch had difficulties finding armament for these aircraft, and in 1940, only four of them were combat-ready.
The Danish ordered 12 G.Is for use as dive bombers. These were to be built under license, and were not completed because of the German invasion. The German intelligence service thought some of the planes were completed, but none ever was
Other interested countries were Sweden (17 ordered), Belgium, Turkey, Hungary and Switzerland. Due to the German attack on the Netherlands, no aircraft were delivered to these countries.
[edit] Service
The Luchtvaartafdeeling ordered 36 G.Is with Bristol Mercury VIII engines (the standard engine used by the Dutch air force), in order to equip two squadrons.
When Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940, 23 of these G.Is were ready, with four more R-1535-equipped aircraft originally intended for Spain. The German invasion started with an attack on the Dutch airfields; one squadron was almost completely destroyed on the ground, but the other scored thirteen confirmed kills. By the end of the day, however, only one G.I was in fighting condition.
Several G.Is were captured by the Germans and used as trainers for Me-110 crews. There are no cases known of German G-Is participating in combat.
In 1941, a Fokker test pilot and an engineer managed to fly a G.I to England. It was used by Miles Aircraft to test the wooden wing for the English climate.
There are no surviving G.Is today. Only a replica in the Dutch Air Force Museum in Soesterberg remains.
[edit] Variants
- G.I :
- G.IA :
- G.IB :
[edit] Specifications (Fokker G.I)
General characteristics
- Crew: Two
- Length: 10.87 m (35 ft 8 in)
- Wingspan: 17.16 m (56.29 ft)
- Height: 3.80 m (12.4 ft)
- Wing area: 38.30 m² ()
- Empty weight: 3,325 kg (7,330 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 4,800 kg (10,582 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× Bristol Mercury VIII radial engine, 830 hp () each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 475 km/h (295 mph)
- Range: 1,510 km (938 miles)
- Service ceiling 10,000 m (32,808 ft)
- Rate of climb: 13.5 m/s (44.29 ft/s)
Armament
- 8x 0.3 in (7.9 mm) forward-firing Browning machine guns in the nose
- 1x 0.3 in (7.9 mm) machine gun in rear turret
- 850 lb (400 kg) of bombs
[edit] Operators
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ Netherlands Air Force before World War II
- Bibliography
- Green, William. Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume Three: Fighters. London: Macdonald & Co.(Publishers) Ltd., 1961. ISBN 0-356-01447-9.
- Hooftman, Hugo. Fokker G-1, Tweede druk (Nederlandse Vliegtuig Encyclopedie, deel 12) (in Dutch). Bennekom, the Netherlands: Cockpit-Uitgeverij, 1981.
- Van der Klaauw, Bart. The Fokker G-1 (Aircraft in profile number 134). Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1966.
[edit] External links
- Fokker G-1 Foundation (Mostly in Dutch, English site discontinued)
- G.I, Fokker (in Dutch)
- Images and Videos of the G.1 at Dutch Aviation
- Redesign flying replica Fokker G-1
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