Frederick (Frits) Koolhoven (11 January 1886 – 1 July 1946) was an aircraft designer in Britain and his native Netherlands. Koolhoven was born in

Bloemendaal Bloemendaal () is a municipality and town in the Western Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Bloemendaal is, together with Wassenaar, the wealthiest place in the Netherlands. It is located just west of Haa ...

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 ...

. After training as an engineer in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, he worked from 1907 as a mechanical engineer for

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

in Antwerp, and also drove in races and rallies for them. He became interested in aviation. In 1910 he acquired his own

Hanriot Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'', the company survived in differ ...

aircraft, and was involved in the construction of the first Dutch plane the "Heidevogel" He designed many aircraft, initially in England from 1912 for British Deperdussin, then from 1914 for

Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company, or Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, was a British list of aircraft manufacturers, aircraft manufacturer. History Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was established as the Aerial Department of the Armstrong ...

, then from 1917 as chief designer for the British Aerial Transport Company alongside the Dutch chief draughtsman

Robert B.C. Noorduyn Robert Bernard Cornelis Noorduyn (April 6, 1893 – February 22, 1959) was a Dutch-born American aircraft designer and manufacturer. He is best known for the Noorduyn Norseman, a legendary Canadian bush plane produced in the 1930s to 1940s an ...

. He returned to the Netherlands, but there the market was dominated 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 ...

, so he returned to his old job as an automobile engineer for the

Spyker Spyker or Spijker was a Dutch carriage, automobile and aircraft manufacturer, started in 1880 by blacksmiths Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker. Originally located in Hilversum, the company relocated to Trompenburg, Amsterdam in 1898. Notable produ ...

automobile factory. In 1921, a group of businessmen founded the Nationale Vliegtuig Industrie (N.V.I. - "National Aircraft Industry", Inc.), and hired him as their chief designer. The company lasted only four years. As with BAT, N.V.I. turned out many technically advanced designs, which attracted attention from all over the world but virtually no orders. At the demise of N.V.I. Koolhoven convinced several shareholders that the company would still have been viable if he had had complete control of the operations. So when N.V.I. was dissolved, its assets were taken over by a new company: ''N.V. Koolhoven vliegtuigen'' ("Koolhoven aircraft, Incorporated"). The company,

Koolhoven N.V. Koolhoven was an aircraft manufacturer based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. From its conception in 1926 to its destruction in the Blitzkrieg in May 1940, the company remained the second major Dutch aircraft manufacturer (after Fokker). Although ...

, became the second aircraft manufacturing company in the Netherlands after Fokker, but the factory at

Waalhaven Waalhaven Airport in 1932, with the Graf Zeppelin in the background. The Waalhaven is a harbour in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is one of the excavated harbors on the south bank of the Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising ...

was destroyed by German bombing in the Blitzkrieg on 10 May 1940 at the outbreak of World War II. Frederick Koolhoven was convinced that the bombing had everything to do with his contribution as an aircraft designer in England during World War I. For unknown reasons (possibly to avoid persecution for his work in the UK during World War I, or for illegal aircraft sales to the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...

) he became a very inactive member of the

National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands The National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (, ; NSB) was a Dutch fascist and later Nazi political organisation that eventually became a political party. As a parliamentary party participating in legislative elections, the NSB had some suc ...

(NSB). After the war he was captured by the Dutch police because of this membership but he was released several days later. Frederick Koolhoven died of a stroke at Haarlem in 1946.

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External links

Photo of ''Heidevogel'' 1910 (page down to "K")Film of Koolhoven flying ''Heidevogel'', 1911 at a show on Maatschappij voor Luchtvaart, SoesterbergKoolhoven Aircraft

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koolhoven, Frederick 1886 births 1946 deaths People from Bloemendaal Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom Dutch aerospace engineers Dutch people of World War I

See also

References

External links