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{{short description|Defunct Dutch aircraft manufacturer}}
{{Infobox company
|name = Fokker
|logo = ]
|caption =
|fate = ]
|founder = ]
|foundation = 22 February 1912
|defunct = 1996
|location = ], Netherlands
|industry = ]
|key_people = ], ], ]
|products = Commercial airliners<br>Military aircraft
|num_employees =
|parent =
|subsid =
}}


uthor= Kevin O'Toole |work= Flightglobal |date= 20 March 1996 |access-date= 18 February 2022 |url-status= live }}</ref>
'''Fokker''' was a Dutch ] named after its founder, ]. The company operated under several different names, starting out in 1912 in ], Germany, moving to the Netherlands in 1919.

During its most successful period in the 1920s and 1930s, it dominated the civil aviation market. Fokker went into bankruptcy in 1996, and its operations were sold to competitors.

==History==
]

===Fokker in Germany===
At age 20, while studying in Germany, Anthony Fokker built his initial aircraft, the ] (Spider)—the first Dutch-built plane to fly in his home country. Taking advantage of better opportunities in Germany, he moved to ], where in 1912, he founded his first company, Fokker Aeroplanbau, later moving to the Görries suburb just southwest of ] (at {{Coord|53|36|45.90|N|11|22|31.60|E}}), where the current company was founded, as Fokker Aviatik GmbH, on 12 February 1912.<ref> ''Fokker, A Living History.'' Retrieved: 19 December 2010.</ref>

===World War I===
Fokker capitalized on having sold several ] monoplanes to the German government and set up a factory in Germany to supply the ] in ]. His first new design for the Germans to be produced in any numbers was the ], which was little more than a copy of the ], built with steel tube instead of wood for the fuselage, and with minor alterations to the outline of the rudder and undercarriage and a new aerofoil section.<ref name="Weyl p65-7">Weyl 1965, pp. 65–67.</ref> When it was realized that arming these scouts with a machine gun firing through the arc of the propeller was desirable, Fokker developed a ] similar to that patented by ].<ref name="Weyl 96">Weyl 1965, p. 96.</ref>

]
Fitted with a developed version of this gear, the M.5 became the ], which due to its revolutionary armament, became one of the most feared aircraft over the western front, its introduction leading to a period of German air superiority known as the ] which only ended with the introduction of new aircraft such as the ] and ].

During World War I, Fokker engineers worked on the ], an externally powered 12-barrel ] in the 7.92×57mm round claimed to be capable of firing over 7200 rounds per minute.<ref> ''Flight,'' 8 March 1957, pp. 313–314.</ref>

Later in the war, after the ] (the last design by earlier chief designer Martin Kreutzer), had failed to gain acceptance with the '']'' the German government forced Fokker (for their aircraft production expertise) and ] (for their pioneering all-metal airframe construction techniques, and advanced design concepts) to cooperate more closely, which resulted in the foundation of the Junkers-Fokker Aktiengesellschaft, or Jfa, on 20 October 1917. As this partnership proved to be troublesome, it was eventually dissolved. By then, former Fokker welder and new designer ], who had taken the late Martin Kreutzer's place with the firm, had adapted some of Prof. Junkers' design concepts, that resulted in a visual similarity between the aircraft of those two manufacturers during the next decade.

Some of the noteworthy types produced by Fokker during the second half of the war, all designed primarily by Platz, included the ] biplane, ] triplane or ''Dreidecker'' (remembered as a mount of the ]), ] biplane (the only aircraft ever referred to directly in a treaty: all D.VII's were singled out for handover to the allies in their terms of the ]) and the ] parasol monoplane.

===Return to the Netherlands===
In 1919, Fokker, owing large sums in back taxes (including 14,250,000 ] of income tax),<ref name="weyl p354">Weyl 1965, p.354.</ref> returned to the Netherlands and founded a new company near ] with the support of Steenkolen Handels Vereniging, now known as ]. He chose the name Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek (Dutch Aircraft Factory) to conceal the Fokker brand because of his involvement in World War I. Despite the strict disarmament conditions of the ], Fokker did not return home empty-handed. In 1919, he arranged an export permit and brought six entire trains of parts, and 180 types of aircraft across the Dutch-German border, among them 117 Fokker C.Is, D.VIIs, and D.VIIIs. This initial stock enabled him to set up shop quickly.

After his company's relocation, many Fokker ] and ] military airplanes were delivered to Russia, Romania, and the still-clandestine German air force. Success came on the commercial market, too, with the development of the ], a high-winged aircraft capable of taking on various types of engines. Fokker continued to design and build military aircraft, delivering planes to the ]. Foreign military customers eventually included Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Hungary, and Italy. These countries bought substantial numbers of the Fokker C.V reconnaissance aircraft, which became Fokker's main success in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

===1920s and 30s: Fokker's glory period===
]

In the 1920s, Fokker entered its glory years, becoming the world's largest aircraft manufacturer by the late 1920s. Its greatest success was the 1925 ] passenger aircraft, which was used by 54 ] worldwide and captured 40% of the American market in 1936. It shared the European market with the Junkers all-metal aircraft, but dominated the American market until the arrival of the ] which copied the aerodynamic features of the Fokker F.VII, and Junkers structural concepts.

In 1923, Anthony Fokker moved to the United States, where in 1927, he established an American branch of his company, the ] Corporation, which was renamed the Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America. In 1930, this company merged with ] and the company's name became General Aviation Manufacturing Corporation, which in turn merged with ] and was divested by GM in 1948. In 1931, discontented at being totally subordinate to GM management, Fokker resigned.

A serious blow to Fokker's reputation came after the 1931 ] in Kansas, when it became known that the crash was caused by a structural failure caused by wood rot. ] legendary football coach ] was among the fatalities, prompting extensive media coverage and technical investigation. As a result, all Fokkers were grounded in the US, along with many other types that had copied Fokker's wings.

In 1934 ] of ] (England) negotiated with Fokker himself for a manufacturing licensing agreement. In January 1935 Airspeed signed an agreement
for the ] and a number of Fokker types, with Fokker to be a consultant for seven years. Shute found him "genial, shrewd and helpful" but "already a sick man"; and he was difficult to deal with as "his domestic life was irregular". Airspeed considered making the ] for Greece, as Greece wanted to buy from Britain for currency reasons, but the proposal did not "come off"; Shute recommended reading his novel '']'' on Balkan methods of business. And after a year the drift to war meant that Dutchmen could not go to the Airspeed factory or to board meetings.<ref>{{cite book |last= Norway |first= Neville Shute |title= Slide Rule |year= 1954 |publisher= William Heinemann |location= London |pages= 219–229}}</ref>

On December 23, 1939, Fokker died in ] after a three-week illness.

===World War II===
At the outset of ], the few ] and ] of the Dutch Air Force were able to score a respectable number of victories against the ''Luftwaffe'', but many were destroyed on the ground before they could be used.

The Fokker factories were confiscated by the Germans and were used to build ] ] trainers and parts for the ] transport. At the end of the war, the factories were completely stripped by the Germans and destroyed by Allied bombing.

===Post-World War II rebuilding===
] in 1955]]

Rebuilding after the war proved difficult. The market was flooded with cheap surplus planes from the war. The company cautiously started building ] and autobuses and converting ] transport planes to civilian versions. A few ] were built. Nevertheless, the ] trainer was a success, being purchased by several air forces. The ] became one of the first ], and although not an export success, it served for over a decade with the ].

A new factory was built next to ] Airport near Amsterdam in 1951. A number of military planes were built there under license, among them the ] twin-jet fighter and ]'s ]. A second production and maintenance facility was established at ].

]

In 1958, the ] Friendship was introduced, Fokker's most successful postwar airliner. The Dutch government contributed 27 million ] to its development. Powered by the ], it became the world's best-selling ] airliner, reaching almost 800 units sold by 1986, including 206 under licence by ]. Also, a military version of the F-27, the F-27 Troopship, was built.

In 1962, the F-27 was followed by the jet-powered ] Fellowship. Until production stopped in 1987, a total of 241 were built in various versions. Both an F-27 and later an F-28 served with the ], ] himself being a pilot.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

In 1969, Fokker agreed to an alliance with ]-based ] under control of a transnational holding company. They collaborated on an unsuccessful regional ], the ], of which only 19 were sold. This collaboration ended in early 1980.

] ] arrives for the ], ] (2014)]]

Fokker was one of the main partners in the ] consortium (European Participating Air Forces), which was responsible for the production of these fighters for the ], ], ] and ] Air Forces. It consisted of companies and government agencies from these four countries and the United States. F-16s were assembled at Fokker and at ] in Belgium with parts from the five countries involved.

===Aerospace===
In 1967, Fokker started a modest space division building parts for European ]s. A major advance came in 1968 when Fokker developed the first Dutch satellite (the ]) together with ] and Dutch universities. This was followed by a second major satellite project, ], successfully launched in 1983. The ] in June 1974 named a consortium headed by ]-] to build pressurized modules for ].

Subsequently, Fokker contributed to many European satellite projects, as well as to the ] in its various models. Together with a Russian contractor, they developed the huge parachute system for the ] rocket boosters which would allow the boosters to return to Earth safely and be reused.

The space division became more and more independent, until just before Fokker's bankruptcy in 1996, it became a fully stand-alone corporation, known successively as Fokker Space and Systems, Fokker Space, and Dutch Space. On 1 January 2006, it was taken over by ]-Space Transportation.

===Fokker 50, Fokker 100, and Fokker 70===
]
]

After a brief and unsuccessful collaboration effort with ] in 1981, Fokker began an ambitious project to develop two new aircraft concurrently. The ] was to be a completely modernised version of the ], and the ] a new airliner based on the ]. Development costs were allowed to spiral out of control, almost forcing Fokker out of business in 1987. The Dutch government bailed the company out with 212 million guilders, but demanded Fokker look for a "strategic partner", ] and ] being named most likely candidates.

Initial sales of the ] were good, leading Fokker to begin development of the ], a smaller version of the ], in 1991, but sales of the ] were below expectations and the F100 had strong competition from ] and ] by then.

In 1992, after a long and arduous negotiation process, Fokker signed an agreement with ]. This did not solve Fokker's problems, though, mostly because DASA's parent company ] also had to deal with its own organisational problems.

===Bankruptcy===

On 22 January 1996, the board of directors of Daimler-Benz decided to focus on its core automobile business and cut ties with Fokker. The next day, an Amsterdam court extended temporary creditor protection.

Discussions were initiated with ] on 5 February 1996. After having reviewed and evaluated the opportunities and challenges Fokker represented at the time, Bombardier renounced its acquisition on 27 February.<ref>{{cite press release |url= http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Bombardier+Ends+Talks+With+Fokker.-a018029019 |title= Bombardier Ends Talks With Fokker |publisher= Bombardier |date= February 27, 1996}}</ref> On 15 March, the Fokker company was declared bankrupt.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.flightglobal.com/fokker-bankrupt/10085.article |title= Fokker bankrupt |author= Kevin O'Toole |work= Flightglobal |date= 20 March 1996 |access-date= 18 February 2022 |url-status= live }}</ref>


Differences in national culture could have played a role in the failed takeover of Fokker by ] (DASA).<ref>{{cite news |title= FOKKER, A CLASH OF CULTURE |doi= 10.1142/S0218495899000169 |author1= JAN ULIJN (Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands) |author2= HANS HEERKENS (University of Twente, The Netherlands) |journal= Journal of Enterprising Culture |date= September 1999}}</ref> Differences in national culture could have played a role in the failed takeover of Fokker by ] (DASA).<ref>{{cite news |title= FOKKER, A CLASH OF CULTURE |doi= 10.1142/S0218495899000169 |author1= JAN ULIJN (Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands) |author2= HANS HEERKENS (University of Twente, The Netherlands) |journal= Journal of Enterprising Culture |date= September 1999}}</ref>

Revision as of 12:18, 3 May 2022

uthor= Kevin O'Toole |work= Flightglobal |date= 20 March 1996 |access-date= 18 February 2022 |url-status= live }}</ref>

Differences in national culture could have played a role in the failed takeover of Fokker by Deutsche Aerospace (DASA).

Those divisions of the company that manufactured parts and carried out maintenance and repair work were taken over by Stork N.V.; it is now known as Stork Aerospace Group. Stork Fokker exists to sustain remarketing of the company's existing aircraft: it refurbishes and resells F 50s and F 100s, and has converted a few F 50s to transport aircraft. Special projects included the development of an F50 maritime patrol variant and an F100 executive jet. For this project, Stork received the 2005 "Aerospace Industry Award" in the Air Transport category from Flight International magazine.

Other divisions of the company that were profitable continued as separate companies: Fokker Space (later Dutch Space) and Fokker Control Systems.

In November 2009, Stork Aerospace changed its name to Fokker Aerospace Group. As of 2011, the Fokker Aerospace Group changed its name to Fokker Technologies. The five individual business units within Fokker Technologies all carry the Fokker name:

  • Fokker Aerostructures
  • Fokker Landing Gear
  • Fokker Elmo
  • Fokker Techniek
  • Fokker Services

The former Fokker aircraft facilities at Schiphol were redeveloped into the Fokker Logistics Park. One of the former Fokker tenants is Fokker Services.

Meanwhile, Rekkof Aircraft ("Fokker" backwards) is attempting to restart production of the Fokker F70 and F100, supported by suppliers and airlines.

In 2015, GKN considers Fokker Technologies as a possible acquisition to supply for the hybrid car market. The British automotive and aerospace supplier plans to buy the Netherlands-based Fokker for €706 million.

In 2021, Fokker Services and Fokker Techniek are acquired by Panta Holdings. This acquisition will strengthen the Panta Holdings’, Dutch investment fund, aerospace footprint.

Famous Fokker aircraft and pilots

Fokker Dr.I replica at the ILA 2006, the "Red Baron" triplane

Fokker aircraft

1912–1918

1919–1940

Fokker-Atlantic designs

1945–1996

References

Notes

  1. JAN ULIJN (Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands); HANS HEERKENS (University of Twente, The Netherlands) (September 1999). "FOKKER, A CLASH OF CULTURE". Journal of Enterprising Culture. doi:10.1142/S0218495899000169.
  2. "GKN to acquire Fokker Technologies for $771 million". Aerospace Manufacturing and Design. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  3. "Panta Holdings acquires Fokker Services and Fokker Techniek". www.journal-aviation.com. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  4. Associated Press in The Hague (17 May 2017). "Dutch king reveals he held part-time job as airline pilot". www.theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2018.

Bibliography

  • Bowers, Peter and Ernest McDowell. Triplanes: A Pictorial History of the World's Triplanes and Multiplanes. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International, 1993. ISBN 0-87938-614-2.
  • Dierikx, Marc. Fokker: A Transatlantic Biography. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997. ISBN 1-56098-735-9.
  • Gerdessen, F. (September–October 2001). "Fokker's 'Paper' Fighters". Air Enthusiast. No. 95. pp. 32–44. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Hegener, Henri. Fokker – the man and the aircraft Herts, UK: Harleyford Publications, 1961. LCCN 61-10595
  • Klaauw, Bart van der (March–April 1997). "Fokker's American Years". Air Enthusiast. No. 68. pp. 2–13. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Molson, K.M. Pioneering in Canadian Air Transport. Winnipeg: James Richardson & Sons, 1974. ISBN 0-919212-39-5.
  • Nevin, David. The Pathfinders (The Epic of Flight Series). Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1980. ISBN 0-8094-3256-0.
  • Postma, Thijs. Fokker: Aircraft Builders to the World. London: Jane's, 1979. ISBN 978-0-71060-059-2.
  • Weyl, A.R. Fokker: The Creative Years. London: Putnam, 1965. ISBN 978-0851778174

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