Fokker D.XVII (sometimes written as Fokker D.17), was a 1930s

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

sesquiplane 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 a ...

developed by

Fokker Fokker (; ) was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer that operated from 1912 to 1996. The company was founded by the Dutch aviator Anthony Fokker and became famous during World War I for its fighter aircraft. During its most successful period in the 19 ...

. It was the last fabric-covered biplane fighter they developed in a lineage that extended back to the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII is a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the '' Fokker-Flugzeugwerke''. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII ...

Design and development

Problems with severe vibration in the

Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar The Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar is an aircraft engine developed by Armstrong Siddeley. The Jaguar was a petrol-fuelled air-cooled 14-cylinder two-row radial engine design. The Jaguar III was first used in 1923, followed in 1925 by the Jaguar IV ...

radial engine on the

Fokker D.XVI The Fokker D.XVI (sometimes written as Fokker D.16) was a sesquiplane fighter aircraft developed in the Netherlands in the late 1920s. Development The Fokker D.XVI was a conventional, single-bay sesquiplane with staggered wings braced with V-st ...

resulted in one being converted to use a normally aspirated

Curtiss Conqueror The Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror was a V12 liquid-cooled aircraft engine. Representing a more powerful version of the Curtiss D-12, the engine entered production in 1926 and flew in numerous aircraft.Gunston 1989, p. 46. Design and development Des ...

V-1570 V-twelve, becoming the prototype for the D.XVII. Production versions were fitted 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 ...

, while one aircraft was built with a

Lorraine Pétrel The Lorraine 12H Pétrel was a French V-12 supercharged, geared piston aeroengine initially rated at 370 kW (500 hp), but later developed to give 640 kW (860 hp). It powered a variety of mostly French aircraft in the mid-19 ...

and another was built with a

Hispano-Suiza 12X The Hispano-Suiza 12X was an aircraft piston engine designed in France by Hispano-Suiza during the early 1930s. A 12-cylinder Vee, liquid-cooled design, the 12X was used on several aircraft types, some of them being used in limited numbers durin ...

brs for comparison purposes.Westburg, 1974, p.21 Structure was standard for Fokkers throughout the 1920s. The sesquiplane's fuselage was welded steel tube with fabric covering and the wings were made with wood spars and ribs covered with plywood.Davis, 1932, p.80

Operational history

On 18 January 1935, Lieutenant René Wittert van Hoogland set a Dutch high-altitude record in a Fokker D.XVII of while using oxygen and high octane fuel. By May 1939, the aircraft was obsolete and remaining examples were transferred to the LVA Flying School for fighter pilot training however they saw some action during the

Battle of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Battle of France, Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Neth ...

, escorting

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 ...

s and C.Xs on bombing missions. When the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

surrendered to the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, all surviving aircraft were set on fire.

Airspeed Ltd. Airspeed Limited was established in 1931 to build aeroplanes in York, England, by A. H. Tiltman and Nevil Shute Norway (the aeronautical engineer and novelist, who used his forenames as his pen-name). The other directors were A. E. Hewitt, ...

had a licence to build Fokker aircraft in England and considered making the Fokker D.XVII fighter for Greece under the designation Airspeed AS.17. Greek government interest was constrained by currency concerns.

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name to protect his enginee ...

and a Fokker representative "who was well accustomed to methods of business in the Balkans" spent three weeks in Athens but they did not close the deal.Norway, 1954, p.226Taylor, 1970, p.

Operators

; *

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 ...

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (; KNIL, ; ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The KNIL's air arm was the Royal Netherl ...

- one example

Specifications (Fokker D.XVII)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fokker D.Xvii 1930s Dutch fighter aircraft D 17 Aircraft first flown in 1932 Sesquiplanes