Reinhold Platz (16 January 1886 – 15 September 1966) was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer in service of the Dutch company

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 ...

. Platz was hired by Fokker in 1912 as a welder. His first hands-on projects were to weld the frame parts for the

Fokker Spin The Fokker ''Spin'' was the first airplane built by Dutch aviation pioneer Anthony Fokker. The many bracing wires used to strengthen the aircraft made it resemble a giant spider, hence its name ''Spin'', Dutch for "spider". History Fokker built ...

. Platz became the head designer at the Fokker factory in

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

in 1916. Platz had no higher education like

Anthony Fokker Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker (6 April 1890 – 23 December 1939) was a Dutch aviation pioneer, aviation entrepreneur, aircraft designer, and aircraft manufacturer. He produced fighter aircraft in Germany during the First World War such ...

, but was a man of practical knowledge. This turned the two men into a strong team, in which Fokker was able to bring forth new revolutionary ideas to aircraft design, while Platz implemented them in prototype aircraft. Platz became the head designer at the Fokker factory in Amsterdam after

World War I 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 ...

. Platz is now largely credited with designing the innovative

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 ...

fighter aircraft. Some have suggested that Platz was merely the foreman of the welding unit at Fokker, however, and that his status was raised in Weyl's book (see below) in an effort to denigrate Anthony Fokker's design achievements. Platz was born in

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

and died in

Ahrensburg Ahrensburg () is a town in the district of Stormarn, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located northeast of Hamburg and is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Its population is around 31,000. ''Schloss Ahrensburg'', the town's symbol, is ...

References

*Weyl, Alfred R. ''Fokker: The Creative Years''. Putnam 1965. *Grosz, Peter. ''Reinhold Platz and the Fokker Co''. Over the Front, Vol. 5, No. 3, Autumn 1990. 1886 births 1966 deaths People from Cottbus People from the Province of Brandenburg Fokker Aircraft designers German aerospace engineers Engineers from Brandenburg Engineers from the German Empire {{Germany-engineer-stub