Fokker D.21
| D.XXI | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Role | Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Fokker |
| Designer | Erich Schatzki |
| First flight | 27 March 1936 |
| Retired | 1948 |
| Status | retired |
| Primary users |
Finnish Air Force Dutch Air Force Danish Air Force |
| Number built | 148 |
The Fokker D.XXI fighter was designed in 1935 by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker in response to requirements laid out by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force (Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL). It has the distinction of being the last fighter aircraft to be developed by Fokker.
The D.XXI was designed as an inexpensive, rugged, and compact fighter aircraft that would possess respectable performance for its era. Entering operational use in the early years of the Second World War, it provided yeoman service for both the Luchtvaartafdeling (Dutch Army Aviation Group) and the Finnish Air Force. Additionally, a few examples were constructed by the El Carmolí factory before it fell into rebel hands during the Spanish Civil War. Following the invasion and occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, several captured Dutch D.XXIs were subsequently placed into service with the Luftwaffe.
On 14 November 1934, design proposals for a new fighter aircraft were submitted by Fokker to the Luchtvaartafdeling (Dutch Army Aviation Group). Fokker's design team, led by Dr Ir. Schatzki, and based at the firm's newly-completed plant in the southern district of Amsterdam, had sought to incorporate and combine various new concepts and recent features from successful fighter aircraft, including the previous C.X and D.XVII aircraft. The proposed aircraft was a low-wing monoplane which adopted an entirely enclosed cockpit; initial design work had been conducted in cooperation with British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce Limited, and it had been originally envisaged that the type would be powered by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel IV. Projections of the aircraft's performance included a maximum speed of 420 km/h at an altitude of 4,350 meters, a range of 888 km, and an altitude ceiling of 10,000 meters. The planned armament included rifle-calibre machine guns or 20mm cannons, which were to be embedded into the wings and fuselage.
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