The Fokker S-11 Instructor is a single-engine two-seater propeller aircraft designed and manufactured by the

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 ...

aircraft manufacturer

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 first flew in December 1947 and went on production, serving in several Air Forces in the late 20th century, including with Dutch, Italian, Israeli, Paraguay, Bolivian and Brazilian armed forces. The S-12 was a tricycle landing version of this aircraft.

History

One of the first activities undertaken by Fokker after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was the design of a new military aircraft for elementary flying training, the S-11 Instructor. An aircraft trader already placed orders for 100 of these aircraft in 1946, before construction had even begun. The first prototype flew at

Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipal ...

on 18 December 1947. During testing in early 1948 it was found that some aerodynamic changes had to be made to improve the handling of the aircraft. Later that year demonstration flights for several air forces followed and eventually many S-11s were sold to the

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 ...

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

Italian Air Force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...

Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...

Paraguayan Air Force The Paraguayan Air Force () is a branch of the Armed Forces of Paraguay, in charge of the defense of Paraguay's skies. Its interim commander is Air Division General Julio Rubén Fullaondo Céspedes. Its headquarters are located in Ñu Guazu, Lu ...

and

Bolivian Air Force The Bolivian Air Force (BAF; or 'FAB') is the air force of Bolivia and branch of the Bolivian Armed Forces. History By 1938 the Bolivian air force consisted of about 60 aircraft ( Curtiss Hawk fighters, Curtiss T-32 Condor II and Junkers ...

. Some 170 aircraft were license built in Italy as the

Macchi Macchi is an Italian surname, the patronymic or plural form of the old personal name ''Macco'' from the Latin '' Maccus''. It is possibly a variant of '' macchia''. Notable people with the surname include: * Aurelio Macchi (1916–2010), Argenti ...

M.416. A limited number of S-11 Instructors are still flying today. The Dutch ''Fokker Four'' foundation, dedicated to the preservation of the aircraft, operates four S-11s and amongst other activities still performs with them on

airshow An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air ...

s. A version of the S-11 fitted with

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

, the S-12, was built by ''Fokker Industria Aeronautica'' in Brazil, and was used by the

as the T-22 Instructor. In Italy, 178 were produced under license by Macchi, and they were called M.416. The aircraft is a two seat piston-powered monoplane with maximum take of weight of 1100 kg (2425 lb) and a top speed of 209 km/h (''130 mph,'' 113 kts).

Variants

;S-11 :Prototypes - four built ;S-11-1 :Production variant for the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Naval Aviation Service of the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

- 48 built. ;S-11-2 :Production variant for the Israeli Air Force - 41 built. ;S-11-3 :Production variant for the Italian Air Force - 180 built under license by

Aermacchi Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the It ...

(Qty 110) and IMAM (Qty 70) as the M.416 ;S-11-4 :Production variant for the Brazilian Air Force - 99 built including 95 by Fokker Brazil. ;S-12 :Tricycle landing gear variant, one prototype built by Fokker and 49 production aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force built by Fokker Brazil. ;Macchi M.416 :Name used for licence built S-11-3 for the Italian Air Force. ;T-21 :Brazilian Air Force designation for the S-11-4. ;T-22 :Brazilian Air Force designation for the S-12. ;YT-22 Guanabara :Brazilian built four-seat tricycle landing gear variant, one built

Operators

; *

operated 100 aircraft in the 1960s and early 1970s. ; *

operated 8 former Brazilian aircraft in the 1970s. ; *

operated 41 aircraft from 1951 to 1957. ; *

operated 178 aircraft built by Macchi under licence as Macchi M.416 from 1951 to 1960s ; *

- 39 aircraft delivered *

Dutch Naval Aviation Service The Netherlands Naval Aviation Service (, shortened to MLD) is the naval aviation branch of the Royal Netherlands Navy. History World War I Although the MLD was formed in 1914, with the building of a seaplane base at De Mok, Texel, it deve ...

- Nine aircraft delivered ; *

operated 8 former Brazilian aircraft from 1972 to 1978.

Aircraft on display

Brazil

;T-21 *0789 - On display at the

Museu Aeroespacial Museu Aeroespacial is a national aviation museum located in the West Side of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Pau ...

(Brazilian Air Force Museum),

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Italy

;Macchi M.416 *MM53762 - On display at the ''Museo Storico dell'Aeronautica Militare di Vigna di Valle'' (

Italian Air Force Museum The Italian Air Force Museum is an aircraft museum at Vigna di Valle, on Lake Bracciano (Lazio), in central Italy. It is operated by the . The museum's collection has an emphasis on Italian machines and seaplanes. While maintaining the technical ...

Vigna di Valle ''Vigna'' is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution.Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012)Section ''Ceratotropis'' of subgenus ''Ceratotropis'' of ''Vigna'' (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new ...

) as 'AA-48' *MM53194 airframe, to be restored at the ''Volandia Parco e Museo del Volo (

Volandia Volandia Park and Flight Museum is the largest Italian aeronautical museum, as well as one of the largest in Europe. Volandia displays over 100 aircraft. The museum covers an area of ca. 60,000 m2 (645,000 sq ft) of which 20,000 m2 (215,000 sq f ...

Flight Museum)

Netherlands

;S-11 *E-22 - on display at

Nationaal Militair Museum The Nationaal Militair Museum (NMM) is a military museum in Soesterberg, Netherlands. It focuses on the history of the Dutch Armed Forces with emphasis on the Royal Netherlands Army and the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The Stichting Koninklijke D ...

*E-24 - in storage at Nationaal Militair Museum ;S-12 * PH-NDC on display at the Aviodrome museum,

Lelystad Airport Lelystad Airport is an airport south southeast of the city of Lelystad in Flevoland, Netherlands. It is the biggest general aviation airport in the Netherlands. The first flights were in 1971 and it became an official airport in 1973. Schipho ...

. As the prototype S-12, the aircraft briefly carried the military registration E-41. In the 1950s and 1960s it became a test aircraft with

Delft University The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; ) is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. It specializes in engineering, technology, computing, design, and natural sciences. It is considered one ...

, who -through the "Nederlands Instituut voor Vliegtuigontwikkeling" and its aviation development department- used it for boundary layer suction research. In the mid-1970s it was withdrawn from use and donated to the Aviodome museum at

Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municip ...

Known airworthy aircraft

Netherlands

;S-11-1 * E-14, E-27, E-29 and E-39 (all former Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) planes, civilian registered as PH-AFS, PH-HOG, PH-HOK and PH-HOL respectively) Also known as 'The Fokker Four Foundation', an organization of Dutch volunteers that operate a fleet of four Fokker S-11 'Instructor' aircraft, that are able to fly and are shown to the public, at various

airshows An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

around Europe. They are based at The Aviodrome museum at

, Netherlands. * E-6, E-20, E-24, E-32 ((all former RNLAF planes) and 197 (former Royal Netherlands Navy plane), civilian registered as PH-GRB, PH-HOI, PH-HOE and PH-GRY, are with the RNLAF Historic Flight at

Gilze-Rijen Air Base Gilze-Rijen Air Base (, ) is a military airbase in the south of Netherlands. It is known for having the hottest temperature ever measured in the Netherlands, with a temperature of 40.7 °C, on July 25, 2019. It is between the cities of Bred ...

* 179/K (former RNLAF E-36, civilian registered as PH-ACG) civilian owned at Lelystad Airport This plane crashed on 17 June 2023 and it is unknown whether it can be restored. * E-25 (former RNLAF plane, ex OO-LMC, registered PH-SII) under restoration at Lelystad Airport

United States of America

* E-11 (former RNLAF plane, civilian registered as N911J)FlightAware / N911J Aircraft Registration
Civilian owned at CCB Cable Airport, Upland California.

Specifications (S-11)

References

Bibliography

*Aloni, Shlomo. ''Stearman Replacement — Replaced by a Stearman''.

Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' magaz ...

87, May–June 2000, pp. 41–48. * Bridgeman, Leonard. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54''. London: Jane's All The World's Aircraft Publishing Company, 1953. * Smith, Maurice A
"Fokker S.11 Instructor in the Air"
''

Flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...

'', 24 February 1949. pp. 218–221.

External links

Airliners.net - Photos of the Fokker S-11Fokker Four website
(currently in Dutch only)

(Dutch) {{FAB aircraft designations S11 1940s Dutch military trainer aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1947

History

Variants

Operators

Aircraft on display

Brazil

Italy

Netherlands

Known airworthy aircraft

Netherlands

United States of America

Specifications (S-11)

See also

References

Bibliography

External links