Fokker V.7

Fokker V.7
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Type:	Fighter plane
Design country:	German Empire
Manufacturer:	Fokker
First flight:	1918
Production time:	1917
Number of pieces:	4th

The Fokker V.7 was a prototype of a German hunting - triplane from the First World War and an attempt to Dr.I be equipped with a powerful drive. A total of four V.7 aircraft were built.

development

The first order for the installation of an experimental, counter-rotating rotary motor of the Siemens & Halske Sh.III type with 160 hp was placed on August 13, 1917. The functional principle of this drive is based on the crankshaft rotating in one direction while the crankcase moves in the opposite direction. In order to use the higher power and speed, the aircraft received a four-bladed propeller with a larger diameter than that of the Dr.I. This required a longer landing gear. The aircraft with the serial number 1788 was built in September 1917 and was given the designation V.7. In January 1918, the German Aviation Research Institute in Johannisthal organized a competition for D-aircraft - according to type group classification, for single-seater double and monoplane armed with rigid MG . The V.4 was supposed to take part, but this prevented permanent engine problems. The aircraft could not be tested until mid-1918.

A second copy with the serial number 1830, issued after a construction contract on August 23, 1917, received a 160 hp Le Rhône engine, which could also have been a U-III double-rotary engine from the Oberursel engine factory , which was made in Germany was also called the Gnome engine. After testing, this V.7 was flown as Dr.I with the serial number 100/17 by Jagdstaffelschule II .

The construction of the third V.7 with the serial number 1919 began on October 12, 1917. To the added weight of using go-III - motor to compensate for the rear fuselage had to be extended cm to 55th The aircraft was also registered for the D-aircraft competition and convinced there with a very good climb time of 19 minutes to 6000 m. Since only a few dozen of the engine were built, there was no series production and the V.7 was delivered with the serial number 599/17 as the regular Dr.I.

The fourth V.7 was commissioned on October 24, 1917 and also received a fuselage that was 55 cm longer. It was delivered to the MÁG company in Austria-Hungary on January 3, 1918, without an engine . MAG equipped them with a Steyr rotary engine with 108 kW (145 PS) and registered them for participation in the local evaluation flight for fighter aircraft, the counterpart of the German competition from July 9th to 13th. The rudder broke during a flight demonstration and the aircraft broke during the subsequent emergency landing . Series production did not take place.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
crew	1
span	7.20 m (top) 6.22 m (center) 5.73 m (bottom)
length	6.40 m
height	2.95 m
Wing area	17.5 m²
Empty mass	376 kg
Takeoff mass	571 kg
drive	an air-cooled rotary motor with a rigid two-bladed wooden propeller
Type	Le Rhône (License Steyr )
Starting power	150 hp (110 kW)
Rise time	1.5 min at 1000 m altitude 4 min at 2000 m altitude 7.33 min at 3000 m altitude 11.5 min at 4000 m altitude

literature

• Peter M. Grosz, Volker Koos: Fokker Flugzeugwerke in Germany 1912–1921. Heel, Königswinter 2004, ISBN 3-89880-355-4 .