The Fokker C.X was a Dutch

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

and

light bomber A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance. The earliest light bombers were intended to dr ...

designed in 1933. It had a crew of two (a pilot and an observer).

Design and development

The Fokker C.X was originally designed for the Royal Dutch East Indies Army, in order to replace the

Fokker C.V The Fokker C.V was a Dutch light reconnaissance and bomber biplane aircraft manufactured by Fokker. It was designed by Anthony Fokker and the series manufacture began in 1924 at Fokker in Amsterdam. Development The C.V was constructed in the ear ...

. Like all Fokker aircraft of that time, it was of mixed construction, with wooden wing structures and a welded steel tube frame covered with aluminium plates at the front of the aircraft and with fabric at the rear. The prototype was built in 1934 with a

Rolls-Royce Kestrel The Rolls-Royce Kestrel (internal type F) is a 21.25 litre (1,295 in³) V-12 aircraft engine from Rolls-Royce. It was their first cast-block engine, and used as the pattern for most of their future piston-engine designs. Used during the interw ...

V engine. The East Indies Army ordered 13 C.Xs, but they were soon replaced in the scout/light bomber role by the American

Martin B-10 The Martin B-10 is a bomber aircraft designed by the Glenn L. Martin Company. It was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to be regularly used by the United States Army Air Corps, having entered service in June 1934.Jackson 2003, p. 246. It wa ...

s. Until the Japanese attack on the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

in 1941, the C.X remained in use as a trainer and target tug. The

Dutch Air Force The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF; , "Royal Air Force") is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor, the ''Luchtvaartafdeling'' () of the Dutch Army, which was founded i ...

ordered 16 C.Xs, and later four more with Kestrel IIS engines. These four were later re-equipped with Kestrel V engines; the Kestrel IIS proved not very reliable. Two C.Xs were delivered to the Spanish Republic, and four more to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. The Finns also license-produced 35 C.Xs until 1942. These C.Xs were equipped with

Bristol Pegasus The Bristol Pegasus is a British nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial engine, radial aircraft engine, aero engine. Designed by Roy Fedden of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, it was used to power both civil and military aircraft of the 1 ...

XII engines. Airspeed Ltd. in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

got a license to build C.Xs for the British market as the Airspeed AS.22, but no orders were received.Taylor, H.A.. ''Airspeed Aircraft since 1931''. Putnam. 1970. London.

Operational history

During the German attack on the Netherlands in May 1940, the C.Xs served in their intended role as scouts and light bombers. The tactic of "hugging the ground" allowed the C.Xs to achieve some success. Two C.Xs and their crews escaped to France after the Dutch surrender. The Finnish C.Xs served with distinction in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

and the

Lapland War During World War II, the Lapland War (; ; ) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. Though the Finns and the Germans had been fighting together ...

. The C.X was the most important short-range reconnaissance aircraft and dive bomber of the Finnish Air Force at the outbreak of the Winter War. There were 29 of them in combat units, the "Frans-Kalle" was slow but possessed a robust airframe, making it a useful asset. The maximum dive speed was 540 km/h, which enabled it to break away from the Soviet I-153 and I-16 fighters. As hostilities continued, losses began to mount. During the Winter War 8 FKs were lost. The last of the seven Finnish C.Xs that survived the war crashed in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

. The craft, designated FK-111, served as a target-towing craft in the

Finnish Air Force The Finnish Air Force (FAF or FiAF; ; ) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of readiness formations for wartime conditions. The Finnish Air ...

. The plane crashed into a forest on 21 January 1958, killing the pilot ( Second Lieutenant Aimo Allinen) and the winch-operator (2nd Ltn Antti Kukkonen).

Variants

* C.X Series I : Fokker-built aircraft for the Dutch using an inline engine * C.X Series II : Fokker-built, 4 to

* C.X Series III: Licence-built in Finland, had modified upper wings which were slightly more swept. * C.X Series IV : Licence-built in Finland, 5 planes which were put together from spare parts.

Operators

; *

(39) ; *

Royal Netherlands Air Force The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF; , "Royal Air Force") is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor, the ''Luchtvaartafdeling'' () of the Dutch Army, which was founded ...

(20) * Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force (13) ; * Republican Spanish Air Force (2)

Specifications (Fokker C.X)

References

Bibliography

*Taylor, H.A.. ''Airspeed Aircraft since 1931''. Putnam. 1970. London. {{Spanish reconnaissance aircraft 1930s Dutch bomber aircraft C 10 Aircraft of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear

Design and development

Operational history

Variants

Operators

Specifications (Fokker C.X)

See also

References

References

Bibliography