Fokker C.VIII

Fokker C.VIII / C.VIII-W
Fokker C.VIII
Type:	Bomb and reconnaissance aircraft
Design country:	Netherlands
Manufacturer:	Fokker
First flight:	1928
Commissioning:	1930 (C.VIII-W)
Number of pieces:	1 + 9

The Fokker C.VIII was a Dutch military multipurpose aircraft . While the wheeled version remained a prototype, a limited number of the float version were produced and used by the country's navy as a coastal scout in the 1930s .

development

C.VIII-W with front cooler

The C.VIII was developed by Fokker in 1928 as a combined bomb and reconnaissance aircraft. In the reconnaissance version, the crew consisted of the pilot , the radio operator / navigator and the observer who operated the camera equipment located in the rearmost cabin and the twin MG located on the back of the fuselage . Another machine gun was provided on the underside for the radio operator. In the planned bomber version, the crew was reduced to two and the camera was omitted. A prototype was built that was equipped with a Hispano-Suiza engine and flew for the first time in the same year. The Koninklijke Luchtmacht took over the aircraft, but showed no interest in further copies, so that series production was not carried out. But when the Royal Navy was looking for a reconnaissance aircraft in 1929, the C.VIII was taken as the starting point, the structure was enlarged a bit, the span increased by about four meters and the pilot's seat in front of the wing was moved to the rear. The V-engine was retained, but this time a Rolls-Royce engine was used, which received a forehead cooler instead of the chin. Other variants with air or water-cooled drives of different types from 500 to 800 hp, including a radial engine from Gnôme-Rhône , were also planned. On November 15, 1929, the prototype of the aircraft designated as C.VIII-W (W for water) took off for its first flight and after successful testing, the Navy placed an order for a total of nine copies, which were delivered from 1930.

construction

The C.VIII was a stripped high-decker in composite construction . The fuselage was formed by a framework made of tubular steel with a rectangular cross-section, which was clad with sheet metal in the front area and on the top and covered with fabric in the remaining part. The fuselage tank with a capacity of 600 l was located at the height of the wing, so in the land version it was between the first and second cabin and in the float version in front of the pilot's cabin. The continuous wing covered with plywood was one-piece and had two box spars and ribs made of plywood and spruce . It was supported on each side with a crossed pair of handles on the lower edge of the fuselage and connected to the upper side of the fuselage by a tombstone. While the unbalanced ailerons consisted of a plywood-covered wooden frame, the elevator and rudder were made of a tubular steel frame with fabric covering. The horizontal stabilizer was supported with a V-strut on each side towards the fuselage and could be adjusted during the flight, with the vertical stabilizer this was only possible on the ground. In the float variant, the rudder was pulled under the stern of the fuselage. The chassis of the C.VIII consisted of two rigid main wheels not connected by an axle and a grinding spur at the rear. The C.VIII-W had two single-stage floats made of duraluminium with a flat top, which were divided into several watertight compartments.

Technical specifications

Side views of the C.VIII as a three-seater reconnaissance aircraft

Parameter	Data (C.VIII)	Data (C.VIII-W with V-engine)	Data (C.VIII-W with radial engine)
crew	2-3	3
span	14.03 m	18.10 m
length	11.15 m	11.50 m
height		3.80 m
Wing area		44.00 m²
Wing extension		7.3
Wing loading		67.9 kg / m²
Power load		4.3 kg / hp	3.7 kg / hp
Area performance		15.7 hp / m²	18.9 hp / m²
Preparation mass		2100 kg
Payload		900 kg
payload		425 kg
Takeoff mass	2400 kg	3000 kg
drive	a liquid-cooled twelve-cylinder - V-engine		an air-cooled fourteen- cylinder radial engine
Type	Hispano-Suiza 12 Lb	Rolls-Royce Kestrel VII	Gnôme-Rhône 14 krsd
power	600 hp (441 kW)	690 PS (507 kW) at an altitude of 1600 m	815 PS (599 kW) at an altitude of 2180 m
Fuel supply		600 l
Top speed	228 km / h	245 km / h at an altitude of 1600 m	260 km / h at an altitude of 2180 m
Marching speed		200 km / h at an altitude of 1600 m	220 km / h at an altitude of 2180 m
Rise time		3.4 min at 1000 m altitude 11.7 min at 3000 m altitude 26.8 min at 5000 m altitude	2.7 min at 1000 m altitude 8.4 min at 3000 m altitude 16.8 min at 5000 m altitude
Service ceiling	5800 m	6000 m	7400 m
Range		800 km	750 km

literature

• Peter Alles-Fernandez (Ed.): Aircraft from A to Z. Volume 2. Bernard & Graefe, Koblenz 1988, 3-7637-5905-0, p. 252.
• Werner von Langsdorff : Handbook of aviation. Year 1939, 2nd, unchanged edition, J. F. Lehmann, Munich 1937, p. 320/321.

Web links

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