| Fokker D.II | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Fokker-Flugzeugwerke |
| Designer | Martin Kreutzer |
| History | |
| First flight | December 1915 |
TheFokker D.II was abiplanefighter designed by the Fokker Aircraft Company (Fokker-Flugzeugwerke) during theFirst World War for theImperial German Army's (Deutsches Heer)Imperial German Air Service (Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches) and theImperial and Royal Aviation Troops (Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen or K.u.K. Luftfahrtruppen) of theAustro-Hungarian Empire. Two prototypes designated by the factory as the M.17 were built in different configurations before the third one was accepted for production as the D.II. The Imperial German Air Service purchased 181 D.IIs, excluding the prototypes.
By late 1915Anthony Fokker had become aware that hismonoplane fighters like theE.III were outclassed by faster British and French biplanes and he began development of a series of biplanes. He preferred to use a light-weightrotary engine, but he wanted to evaluate the impact of using a heavier, more powerfulwater-cooled engine. He was uncertain about the relative advantages of single-seat vs two-seat fighter and so decide to develop prototypes that would demonstrate the virtues and disadvantages of each of the four configurations. All of these aircraft were armed with a fixed 7.92 mm (.312 in)lMG 08/15machine gun operated by the pilot. The M.17 was his single-seat design with a air-cooled 80 hp (60 kW) rotary engine.[1]

The first prototype greatly resembled the first prototype of theM.16 with afuselage that completely filled the space between thesingle-bay wings, but this also had the M.16's significant disadvantage of severely restricted visibility forward and downwards. The second prototype shared the single-bay wings with the earlier aircraft, but the fuselage was reduced in height so that the upper wing had to be supported oncabane struts to improve the pilot's view. Flight testing revealed that the fuselage was too short, the wingspan too great and the engine was too weak. The third prototype had a longer fuselage, slightly shorter wings and a more powerful 75 kW (100 hp)Oberursel U.I engine, with a newrudder. It was evaluated by the Imperial German Air Service in April 1916 and provisionally accepted for production as it was judged to be an improvement over the E.III. A contract for a dozen pre-production D.IIs was awarded in July and four batches for 169 production models were awarded through October.[2]
The D.IIs were used by the home-defenseKampfeinsitzerkommandos and the earlyJagdstaffeln but were quickly replaced when the newAlbatros,Roland D.I andRoland D.II fighters came out in late 1916.[3]
Data from Fokker Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes: Volume 1: Spinne – M.10 & Watercraft[3]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament