Fokker K.I
| Fokker K.I/M.9 | |
|---|---|
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| |
| Role | Experimental aircraft |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Fokker |
| Designer | Anthony Fokker |
| First flight | 1915 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Fokker K.I (Kampfflugzeug - "Battleplane"), company designation M.9, was a German
Background and development
The company had been forced to focus on expanding its facilities and workforce to satisfy the plethora of orders that it had received after the beginning of the war in 1914 and the K.I was Anthony Fokker's first new design since the war began. The Imperial German Air Service had expressed concerns about the vulnerability of its reconnaissance aircraft to Entente fighters and Fokker decided to see what might be possible without devoting a lot of time to the project. As
First flown in 1915, the M.9[1] had two M.7 fuselages and tails,[2] without engines, mounted on the lower wing. To this was added a central with two seven-cylinder, 80 hp Oberursel U.0 rotary engines, one at either end. The crew of three[3] included a pilot in the nacelle, and one gunner positioned at the nose of each fuselage.[2]
Mounting the two fuselages on the wings with no connection between them further aft turned out to be a mistake. Fokker was still using wing warping instead of ailerons for roll control, so when the wings were warped, the fuselages were deflected in opposite directions, either up or down depending upon which way the aircraft was rolled. This led to some very divergent flight characteristics. The test program was brief.[2]
References
- ^ "Fokker M.9 | Propeller - Aircraft". www.scalemates.com. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
- ^ a b c "SimplePlanes | Fokker M.9/K.I". www.simpleplanes.com. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
- ^ "Type designations from Fokker". www.fokker-history.com. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
Bibliography
- Gray, Peter & Thetford, Owen (1987) [1970]. German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-809-7.
- Green, William & Swanborough, Gordon (2001) [1994]. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown (Revised and Updated ed.). London: Salamander Books. ISBN 1-84065-269-1.
- Herris, Jack (2020). Fokker Aircraft of WWI: Volume 1: Spinne–M.10 & Watercraft: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 51. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-953201-05-8.
- Leaman, Paul (2001). Fokker Aircraft of World War One. Marlborough, UK: Crowood Press. ISBN 1-86126-353-8.