Fokker V.1

Fokker V.1
	Anthony Fokker in the cockpit of the V.1
Role	Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer	Fokker-Flugzeugwerke
Designer	Reinhold Platz
First flight	1916
Number built	1
Variants	Fokker V.2

The Fokker V.1 was a small German

sesquiplane experimental fighter prototype built in 1916 by the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Sporting a parasol wing, it was the first Fokker aircraft purportedly designed by Reinhold Platz—the respective roles played by Fokker himself, Platz, and possibly others in the conceptual design of Fokker airplanes are a matter of dispute among historians—and was an early experiment in cantilever wing construction, eliminating the bracing wires typical of aircraft design at the time, something that had already been achieved with metal materials in Hugo Junkers' own pioneering Junkers J 1

in 1915.

Design

The Fokker V.1 principal innovation was its unbraced cantilever wings. These were built around a pair of wooden box-girders, the upper and lower members of which were built up from several thin strips of

aerofoil, much like the contemporary cantilever-winged Junkers J 1 all-metal monoplane pioneered nearly a year earlier, he was unsure about the correct incidence for the wing with respect to the fuselage. Lacking a wind tunnel

, he therefore made it adjustable during flight.

The fuselage structure was the usual Fokker wire-braced rectangular section box girder made from welded steel tubes. This was then enclosed within circular wooden formers bearing longitudinal stringers and covered with fabric. The tail surfaces were all-moving, without a fixed fin or horizontal stabiliser. The aircraft was powered by a 75 kW (100 hp) Oberursel U.I rotary engine.

In the case of the V.1 the V did not stand for Versuchs (experimental), but for Verspannungslos (literally "without struts"), or cantilever. The aircraft was so small it was nicknamed "Floh" or flea, like a similarly small, DFW-built prototype airframe of the era.

Variants

It was Fokker's practice to develop rotary and inline engined variants of the company's designs. Accordingly, a second similar aircraft powered by a 120 hp (90 kW) Mercedes D.II was constructed, the Fokker V.2. The aircraft differed principally in having an increased wing area to compensate for the increased weight of the engine and Albatros D.III-outline shape open structure, fabric-covered conventional tail surfaces.

Specifications

Data from ^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 5.64 m (18 ft 6 in)
Upper wingspan: 8.00 m (26 ft 3 in)
Lower wingspan: 5.56 m (18 ft 3 in) (Linear dimensions scaled from drawing.)
Powerplant: 1 × Oberursel U.1, 75 kW (100 hp)

Performance Armament

2x
Spandau machine guns

Notes

^ Weyl 1965

Bibliography

Herris, Jack & Phillips, Taz (2021). Fokker Aircraft of WWI: Volume 4: V.1–V.8, F.I & Dr.I: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 54. n.p.: Aeronaut Books.
ISBN 978-1-953201-08-9
.

Weyl, A.J. Fokker: The Creative Years. London: Putnam, 1965.

[1] Weyl 1965

[1]

v t e World War I aircraft of the Central Powers
Fighters	AEG D.I AEG Dr.I Albatros D.I Albatros D.II Albatros D.III Albatros D.V Aviatik D.I Aviatik C.VI Daimler L.6 Euler D.I Euler D.II Fokker D.I Fokker D.II Fokker D.III Fokker D.IV Fokker D.V Fokker D.VI Fokker D.VII Fokker D.VIII Fokker Dr.I Fokker E.I Fokker E.II Fokker E.III Fokker E.IV Fokker E.V Halberstadt D.II Hannover CL.II Hannover CL.III Hannover CL.IV Hannover CL.V Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 Junkers D.I Kondor D.6 Kondor E.III Naglo D.II Pfalz D.III Pfalz D.XII Pfalz Dr.I Pfalz E.I Pfalz E.II Phönix D.I LFG Roland D.II LFG Roland D.VI Siemens-Schuckert D.I Siemens-Schuckert D.II Siemens-Schuckert D.III Siemens-Schuckert D.IV Zeppelin-Lindau D.I
Bombers and ground attack	AEG DJ.I AEG G.I AEG G.II AEG G.III AEG G.IV AEG G.V AEG J.I AEG J.II AEG R.I Friedrichshafen G.II Friedrichshafen G.III Gotha G.I Gotha G.II Gotha G.III Gotha G.IV Gotha G.V Gotha GL.VII Gotha G.IX Hannover CL.II Junkers CL.I Junkers J.I Rumpler G.I Rumpler G.II Rumpler G.III Siemens-Schuckert L.I Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.II Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.III Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.IV Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI
Reconnaissance	AEG B.I AEG B.II AEG B.III AEG C.I AEG C.II AEG C.III AEG C.IV AEG C.V AEG C.VI AEG C.VII AEG C.VIII AGO C.I AGO C.II AGO C.III AGO C.IV AGO C.VII AGO C.VIII Albatros B.I Albatros B.II Albatros C.I Albatros C.III Albatros C.V Albatros C.VII Albatros C.IX Albatros C.X Albatros C.XII Aviatik B.I Aviatik B.II Aviatik C.I Aviatik C.VI DFW C.V LFG Roland C.II LVG B.I LVG C.II Rumpler C.I Rumpler C.IV Rumpler Taube
Trainers	Euler D.I
Prototypes	Albatros C.II Fokker V.1 Fokker V.2 Junkers J 1 Junkers J 2 Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.I