"


Fokker Dr1

The appearance on the Western Front of the Sopwith Triplane made a huge impact on the pilots of the German Air Service. The Sopwith Triplane's maneuverability gave it a distinct edge in a dogfight against the Albatros fighters in service at the time. The German authorities were keen to develop a copy of what they considered to be a very agile fighter. By the time the authorities had made it known they were interested in a triplane Anthony Fokker was already working on one. In April 1917 Fokker had been to the front and witnessed the Sopwith Tiplanes first hand and had his chief designer Reinhold Platz working on a design powered by a Le Rhone rotary engine based on a loose description Fokker had given to him.


Anthony Fokker was inspired by the Sopwith Triplane to produce his own version The Fokker Dr1 Triplane had a short bu active service life The most famous Fokker Dr1 pilot was Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron The Fokker Dr1 triplane was designed by Reinhold Platz The Fokker Dr1 Triplane entered front line service in August 1917 The Fokker Dr1 Triplane was exceptionally maneuverable

The Fokker Triplane was highly maneuverable but not fast enough and so had a successful but brief service life.

Rise of Flight The Rise of Flight - Channel Battles Edition

What Platz came up with was a tapered square section steel tubular fuselage with three wings held together by single inter-plane struts the top wing being joined to the fuselage by inverted v struts and the wheel assembly joined by a pair of v struts connected by a small section of aerofoil that contributed to the lift of the aircraft. The interplane struts were not required structurally but they di help to prevent the wings fluttering and twisting, which would have been a concern to the pilots. The new aircraft, designated Fokker Dr1 (Dridecker), went into production in July 1917. In August 1917 Jagdgeschwader I, commanded by Manfred von Richthofen, received the first examples, the first kill for a Fokker Dr1 being made on August 30th 1917 by Werner Voss, the leader of Jasta 10.

On October 29 1917 a Fokker Dr1 broke up in mid air followed by a second on October 31st. All Fokker Dr1's were grounded pending an investigation. Examinations of the wings revealed faulty workman ship and this resulted in new wings of better quality being fitted. On November 19th 1917 the restrictions were lifted and the Fokker Dr1 was allowed to be used once more. Production of the Fokker Dr1 continued until May 1918, being superseded by the excellent Fokker DVII. The Fokker was gradually replaced and relegated to home defense units and training.

Crew: 1
Length: 5.77 m (18 ft 11 in)
Height: 2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
Empty Weight: 406kg (895 lb)
Loaded Weight: 586 kg (1,292 lb)
Powerplant: 1 x Oberursel Ur.II nine cylinder air-cooled rotary engine, 82 kW (100 hp)
Max Speed: 185 Km/h (115 mph) at sea level
Range: 300 km (185 mile)
Service Ceiling: 6,095 m (20,090 ft)
Armament: 2 x 7.92 mm LMG 08 machine guns.