Osprey - Aircraft of the Aces 112 - Fokker D.XXI Aces of World War 2.pdf

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OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES

Fokker D.XXI Aces of

World War 2

Kari Stenman and

Peter de Jong

SERIES EDITOR: TONY HOLMES

Fokker D.XXI Aces of

World War 2

Kari Stenman and Peter de Jong

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

ORIGINS 6

CHAPTER TWO

INTO SERVICE 10

CHAPTER THREE

WINTER WAR 16

CHAPTER FOUR

WAR IN THE WEST 53

CHAPTER FIVE

OBSOLESCENCE 64

APPENDICES 89

C O L O U R P L AT E S C O M M E N TA R Y 9 2

INDEX 95

CHAPTER ONE

ORIGINS

he Fokker D.XXI was obviously not one of the great fighters of

World War 2, but for three minor neutral nations, Holland,

Denmark and Finland, it was the nearest thing they had to the

Supermarine Spitfire when they were invaded by the totalitarian

juggernauts of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Thanks largely to the

Finnish pilots’ first-class training, the D.XXI, rather unexpectedly, shone

like a polar star during the gruesome winter of war in 1939-40.

The fighter that had its ‘finest hour’ in that vicious northern winter was

originally intended for service in a very different environment, namely

the tropical heat of the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia). Anthony

Fokker, the company’s founder, had been born in the colony in 1890, but

grew up in Holland and built his first aeroplanes in Germany. The

outbreak of World War 1 saw Fokker evolve into a major supplier of

fighter aircraft to the Kaiser’s army, noteworthy designs being the Fokker

Eindecker monoplanes, the Dr I triplane and the D VII biplane.

Subsequently based in Amsterdam and New York, Fokker enjoyed

renewed success with both airliners and military aircraft during the 1920s.

However, Anthony himself loathed scientific research and long-term

investment. This meant that by 1934 his trademark mixed construction

of fabric-covered steel-tube fuselages and wooden wings was obsolete, and

his company was only a shadow of its former self, major export markets

having dried up.

In May 1934 the Netherlands East Indies Army (NEIA) issued a

requirement for a new fighter, demanding a 410 km/h (255 mph) top

speed, with a fixed undercarriage and wood and metal construction for

maintenance reasons. Armament was to comprise one fuselage-mounted

heavy machine gun and two light

machine guns in the wings that

were to be adjustable through ten

degrees upwards and sideways,

although this latter requirement was

eventually dropped.

A derivative of Fokker’s elegant

D.XVII biplane fighter, designated

D.XIX, was dropped in favour of

the low-wing

Ontwerp

(Design)

112. Development of the new

monoplane was led by the

company’s new chief designer, Erich

Schatzki, a former Junkers and

Lufthansa engineer who was Jewish

and had fled Hitler’s Germany.

Inline-engined sleek-fuselage

variants were studied, Fokker

showing considerable interest in the

moteur-canon

Hispano-Suiza 12Y

The first three men to fly the D.XXI

pose in front of the prototype after

its maiden flight. NEIA Capt Van Lent

shakes the hand of veteran factory

pilot Emil Meinecke, while to the left

of them is Fokker’s chief constructor,

Erich Schatzki, who had never

designed or flown fighters before,

but did fly his own brainchild. On the

right is Fokker flight-test engineer

Frans Stok. The wheel fairings and

a cockpit canopy were not fitted for

the first flight (T

Postma)

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