Fokker D VII

Fokker D.VII
Fokker D.VII reproduction at the NMUSAF. The aircraft is painted in the colors of Leutnant Rudolf Stark of Jasta 35b
Role	Fighter
Manufacturer	Fokker-Flugzeugwerke
Designer	Reinhold Platz
First flight	January 1918
Primary user	Luftstreitkräfte
Number built	approximately 3,300

The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the Luftstreitkräfte, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft. The Armistice ending the war specifically required Germany to surrender all D.VIIs to the Allies. Surviving aircraft saw much service with many countries in the years after World War I.

Fokker's chief designer, Reinhold Platz, had been working on a series of experimental V-series aircraft, since 1916. The aircraft were notable for the use of cantilever wings. Junkers had originated the idea in 1915 with the first all-metal aircraft, the Junkers J 1, nicknamed Blechesel (Sheet Metal Donkey or Tin Donkey). The wings were thick, with a rounded leading edge. The wing shape gave greater lift and more docile stalling behavior than the thin wings commonly in use.

Late in 1917, Fokker built the experimental V 11 biplane, fitted with the standard Mercedes D.IIIa engine. In January 1918, Idflieg held a fighter competition at Adlershof. For the first time, front line pilots participated in the evaluation and selection of new fighters. Fokker submitted the V 11 along with several other prototypes. Manfred von Richthofen flew the V 11 and found it tricky, unpleasant and directionally unstable in a dive. Platz lengthened the rear fuselage by one structural bay and added a triangular fin in front of the rudder. Richthofen tested the modified V 11 and praised it as the best aircraft of the competition. It offered excellent performance from the outdated Mercedes engine, yet was safe and easy to fly. Richthofen's recommendation virtually decided the competition but he was not alone in recommending it. Fokker immediately received a provisional order for 400 production aircraft, which were named D.VII by Idflieg.

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