Country of origin:

The Netherlands

Description:

Commercial airliner

Power Plant:

One 179 kw (240 hp) Armstrong Siddeley Puma six-cylinder in-line liquid-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

In 1912 Anthony Fokker created Fokker Aeroplanbau GmbH in Germany, which three years later became Fokker Flugzeugwerke GmbH, and during World War I produced aircraft at its main factory at Gorries aerodrome near Schwerin, more than 3,000 aircraft being delivered.

After the Armistice the Company changed its name to Schweriner Industrie-werke and Reinhold Platz commenced design of what became known as the V.44, an airliner seating six passengers fitted with a 138 kw (185 hp) BMW III engine. This has also been referred to as the F.I. The design was then revised as the V.45, which became the F.II, with seating in an enclosed cabin, and a fifth passenger in the open cockpit beside the pilot. The first aircraft (D-57 – later H-BANC – c/n 4057) flew in October 1919 and about 30 examples were built.

Development led to the Fokker F.III, which was enlarged, having a wider fuselage and increased wingspan. However, in this model the pilot sat beside the engine, initially on the starboard side, but in 1922, with the installation of a 269 kw (360 hp) Rolls Royce Eagle VIII engine, the pilot’s seat and controls were transferred to the port side.

Early production aircraft had the 138 kw (185 hp) BMW IIIa engine, although a variety of power plants was fitted to production machines, including the 179 kw (240 hp) Siddeley Puma, 298 kw (400 hp) Gnome-Rhone Jupiter VI, 179 kw (240 hp) Gnome-Rhone Titan radial, 186 kw (250 hp) BMW IV, 194 kw (260 hp) Rolls Royce Eagle VIII and the 239 kw (320 hp) BMW Va 12-cylinder VEE liquid-cooled unit.

Although reports have indicated the prototype first flew in April 1921, it would seem this occurred prior to that time. Examples were exported to the United States, and the first European customer was Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), which received twelve in 1921-1922, all being fitted with the Siddeley Puma engine. Two G-AALC (c/n 1558 – ex T-DOFF) and G-AARG (c/n 1561 – ex T-DOFC) were registered in the United Kingdom, these being built by Deutscher Aero Lloyd AG at Staaken and were operated by British Air Lines of Croydon, Greater London. Approximately 78 examples of the Fokker F.III was built.

In November 1930 Bulolo Goldfields & Company of Port Moresby, PNG, a company run by Raymond Parer, bought a single-engine Fokker F.III, less engine, for $600 (£300) and had it shipped to Port Moresby on board the ‘SS Le Maire’, arriving in February 1931. This aircraft VH-UQF (c/n 1663) was built as H-NABV and was registered to KLM of Den Haag, The Netherlands, on 10 August 1922. It was the last Fokker F.III in service with KLM, the registration being changed to PH-ABV on 28 February 1929.

During its Papua New Guinea service it was mainly used for freight and photographic work. At that time it was fitted with a 179 kw (240 hp) Gnome-Rhone Titan five-cylinder radial engine. At some stage Ray Parer obtained two Bristol Jupiter engines from the wreck of the Handley Page W.9 VH-ULK, which had been destroyed in a crash on 31 May 1930 at the head of the Kuper Range.

This Fokker F.III was fitted with one of the Jupiter engines, providing 313 kw (420 hp), and a successful test flight was made on 6 March 1931. This was the company’s first “modern” aeroplane capable of carrying six passengers in a fully enclosed cabin. On 14 March it was flown to Salamaua. On 18 March, whilst taking off from Salamau with Ray Parer at the controls, and a load of freight and two passengers, the aircraft had engine problems due to faulty maintenance and crashed into trees at the end of the airstrip, overturning and being extensively damaged. The aircraft was a write-off and, because of the short period during which the company had the aircraft, it was never officially registered in Australia.

The Bulolo Goldfields company later obtained a single-engine Fokker F.VII (c/n 4845 – ex PH-ACR, H-NACR, RR21 H-NFOKKER) as a replacement, to which the second Bristol Jupiter VI engine was fitted, and it became VH-UQF². This aircraft crashed on take-off at Salamaua, Papua New Guinea on 18 March 1931.