Country of origin:

Germany

Description:

Single-seat fighter scout

Power Plant:

One 138 kw (185 hp) BMW IIIa six-cylinder in-line liquid-cooled engine

Specifications:

Armament:

Two 7.92 mm (0.311 in) Spandau fixed machine guns firing forward with 500 rounds per gun

History:

In January 1918 comparison tests were made by the German Army Air Service to obtain an aeroplane with technical superiority over the enemy. To this end nine machines were entered in the competition and the Fokker machine, designated V.II, not only won this competition, but passed the strength tests with ease, subsequently being chosen for production as the D.VII. Its fuselage and tail unit were constructed from steel tubing, and the thick aerofoil section employed in the cantilever wings provided necessary lift. Furthermore, it was said, it looked right and was beloved by all who flew it. It was very forgiving in flight and it made a good pilot out of a novice, and when flown to the limit by an experienced pilot, was a weapon to be reckoned with.

As there was limited production capacity at the Fokker works at Schwerin, the D.VII was built under licence by Albatros and Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW). First deliveries to the Front were for Jagdgeschwader I (Richthofen) and by the end of April 1918 there were 19 machines in operational use, the type being allotted to Jastas 4 and 10 to replace Pfalz D.IIIa aircraft. The engine, the BMW IIIa, was designed by Max Fritz and delivered 138 kw (185 hp) at 1,410 rpm, being designed so that power decrease with increase in altitude was far less than usual, and it produced 115 kw (154 hp) at 3,658 m (12,000 ft). The Fokker D.VII gradually replaced obsolete types at the Front and, by June 1918, 407 were in service; and by August 828 were operational. By the time of the Armistice approximately 1,200 Fokker D series fighters were in operation, of which some 900 were D.VIIs.

The Armistice specifically called for the surrender of all F0kker D.VIIs but a large number were smuggled into Holland by Anthony Fokker, this involving some 120 aircraft and 400 engines. The type remained in service with the Dutch Army Air Service, and later in The Netherlands East Indies until the late 1920s. Between 1919 and 1926 a number were converted and used as trainers by the Belgian Aviation Militaire; and 27 were supplied to the Swiss Fliegertruppe.

In the late summer of 1918 the Fokker D.VIF appeared. This model, with a BMW engine, was able to reach 5,000 m (16,400 ft) in 14 minutes, compared to 38 minutes for the D.VII. By the time of the Armistice the type had been delivered to 48 Jastas, although several units operated below normal establishment. Orders at that time which had been placed were 785 from Albatros, 840 from Fokker, and 975 from Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW). In Austro-Hungary it was built by MAG; and an order was placed with Austrian Aviatik but this concern did not produce any aircraft.

The Fokker D.IV, like most of the Fokker aircraft of the time, was the work of Fokker’s chief designer, Martinn Kreutzer. It was a single-seat scout and was one of the first fighters fitted with a workable synchronised machine gun firing through the propeller arc. This series, the D.I to D.IV, followed the Fokker Eindecker into production, that aircraft having lost its superiority over Allied aircraft. However, the D.I and D.IV were not particularly successful and, following the death of Kreutzer in a flying accident in 1916, Reinhold Platz took over as chief designer and re-designed the D.II as the D.V which saw service as a fighter trainer.

A number of German aces flew the D.VII, including Ernst Udet with 62 victories (aircraft 4253/18) and Hermann Goering (aircraft 7716/18). One D.VII (8371/18), probably constructed in September 1918 by Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke in Schneidmuhle, East Prussia, was imported to Australia for exhibition after World War I. It seems it was one of seven examples collected at No 2 Aircraft Salvage Depot near London, UK. A total of some 70 captured aircraft was earmarked for shipment to Australia as War Trophies but, as the cost of shipment was prohibitive, the number was culled and figures vary as to the number imported, ranging from 24 to 58. The figure of around 24 is the most likely.

Serial 8371/18 was located in France to be sent to Australia after the Armistice and was in fact shipped. After assembly in Australia it may have been with the aircraft shown at the Display of Australian and Enemy Aircraft held at the Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne, VIC from 19 June to 2 July 1920. It is known to have been conveyed by rail transport from Melbourne to Adelaide, SA and was with other captured aircraft shown at the Motor Traders Association of South Australia Show in October.  It is interesting to note records have indicated it was regularly flown in southern Australia.

When Raymond Parer flew from Point Cook to Flemington in Victoria racecourse on 20 August 1920 for his official welcome following his arrival in a Fairey Fox from the United Kingdom, he was accompanied by a Fokker D.VII, presumably 8371/18.

It is also known that a D.VII was operated by the Faulkner family from its property at Grong Grong in south-western New South Wales in the 1920s and 1930s. Photographs exist of it there but its identity and its ultimate fate are not known. This may well have also been 8371/18. This aircraft had been obtained by the family and a pilot was employed to fly it. It may well be that two D.VIIs were imported and were airworthy for a period but neither has survived.

Three replicas of the Fokker D.VII were built for the movie ‘The Blue Max’ in the 1960s. One of these was imported to New Zealand to join the The Vintage Aviator Limited (TVAL) collection of World War I aircraft at Omaka, near Blenheim. This aircraft, powered by a 149 kw (200 hp) de Havilland Gipsy Queen six-cylinder engine, and built by Rosseau Aviation in France, was registered as ZK-FOD² (c/n 01 – ex N902AC) in December 2006 and has been seen at a number of aviation events since.

A further example was built in 2015 by Murrin Antique Aero in Pennsylvania, USA and operated as N286WG. It was later obtained by The Vintage Aviator Limited in New Zealand and registered to that organisation in August 2018, becoming ZK-TBI (c/n 2372). It had a TVAL-built Mercedes D.III engine installed and was painted as 286/18, the original aircraft having been flown by German pilot Willi Gabriel of Jasta II.

A scale replica of a Fokker D.VII, being a kit-ultralight aircraft designed by Airdrome Aeroplanes, was registered in New Zealand on 29 March 1988, becoming ZK-FQR (c/n MAANZ/400).