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***image1***The German Fokker D. VII was perhaps was best fighter of World War I. It bears the distinction of being the only aircraft specially mentioned in the war-ending agreement, when the Allied Powers said in the Armistice Agreement that the Germans were to hand over military equipment, “especially all first-line D. VII
aircraft.”
The Fokker D. VII was part of a distinguished (and occasionally not-so-distinguished) line of fighters produced by the Dutch designer Anthony Fokker, who had come to Germany in 1910 to study and then moved to flying and designing aircraft and systems. His first major success was the final design of the pushrod control synchronization mechanism, which made it possible for a forward-firing machine gun to fire only when the propeller was out of the line of fire.
Fitted on an undistinguished Fokker monoplane – the E. III – it was briefly the scourge of the skies over the Western Front until the Allies developed a similar system fitted on better airplanes.
Fokker then moved on to design a number of undistinguished biplane fighters, then vaulted to everlasting aviation fame with the design of the Fokker Dr. 1, better known as the Fokker Triplane and the mount of Manfred von Richthofen, the “Red Baron.” While the Dr. 1 was a fine aircraft, it proved too slow by the end of 1917 and in January 1918, the German air service held a fighter competition. The competition was easily won by Fokker’s newest product, the D. VII – a choice strongly endorsed by Richthofen, who had flown all the competitors. The D. VII did not seem unusual at first glance – fixed gear biplane with a boxy rectangular fuselage made of fabric around welded steel tubes, like most of Fokker’s products – twin forward firing Spandau .30 caliber machine guns, and a 180-horsepower engine, either a Mercedes or a BMW (which was much preferred).
Its only unusual design feature was its very thick, straight upper wing, but it was this wing that made the difference. The large, unequal cord ailerons made it very controllable and the thick wing produced extremely high lift and made the D. VII very maneuverable at high altitudes and very stable at low speed. This made it very easy for a beginner to fly, unlike most high performance World War I fighters, so it was very popular.
But for the experienced pilot, the wing provided a much more important characteristic – it did not stall at the tips and fall off in a spin, so the D. VII had wonderful slow speed and high angle-of-attack maneuverability. Since piston engine aircraft dogfights get slower as the maneuvering progresses – fighter pilots say they become “knife fights” – the aircraft that is the most maneuverable and easiest to handle at the slowest speed has a tremendous advantage and, in this regime, the Fokker D. VII excelled.
The Fokker D. VIIs began to be delivered to Richthofen’s fighter unit, Jagdgeschwader Nr. 1, in late April 1918, but unfortunately, Richthofen was shot down and killed a few days before in his red Dr. 1. This was certainly a fortunate turn of events for the Allies – Richthofen in the war flying the best fighter was not a pleasant thing for Allied pilots to contemplate.
But in the larger scheme of things, what is interesting about the D. VII is what a small advance it was in fighter design. Its top speed and altitude performance were not much greater than the fighters flying in late 1916, a marked contrast to World War II, when a year-and-a-half was a lifetime in fighter design.
Questions or comments, contact Dr. Michel at marshall.michel@ramstein.af.mil.
