64-522: The Vickers Vireo was an experimental low wing all-metal monoplane built to explore both all-metal service aircraft and the use of catapult launched ship board fighters. Only one was built. The Vickers-Wibault construction method was based on the patents of Michel Wibault , who began working with Vickers in 1922. It was a way of producing an all-metal aircraft with an airframe built up from simple, non-machined metal shapes, covered by very thin 0.4 millimetres (0.016 in) corrugated light alloy sheets. On
128-607: A celebrity by flying around the tower of the Grote or St.-Bavokerk in Haarlem on 1 September 1911, with the third version of the " Spin ". One day earlier, on Queen's Day (31 August, Queen Wilhelmina's birthday), Fokker had already taken the opportunity to make a couple of demonstration flights in Haarlem in the same aircraft. In 1912, Fokker moved to Johannisthal near Berlin , where he founded his first own company, Fokker Aeroplanbau . In
192-440: A chain of about a hundred grocery shops. They had three sons and three daughters. At the age of four, Michel was disabled by polio affecting all his limbs. As a result, he did not attend school, and was entirely home- and self-educated. He also had a German nanny. His disability precluded him from military service. During his childhood he often visited La Brayelle Airfield , where the world's first aviation meeting took place. It
256-503: A controversial character. Anthony (Tony) Fokker was born in Blitar , Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia ), to Herman Fokker, a Dutch coffee plantation owner and Johanna Hugona Wouterina Wilhelmina Diemont. Some sources say that he was born in Kediri . At that time, Blitar was a part of the "Kediri Residency", a colonial administrative division the capital of which was Kediri. He was a cousin of
320-518: A high school student, he devoted considerable effort to the development of a wheel that would not suffer from punctures; basically a wheel with a perimeter formed by a series of metal plates. Fokker's interest in flight stemmed from Wilbur Wright 's exhibition flights in France in the summer and fall of 1908. In 1910, aged 20, Fokker was sent by his father to Germany to receive training as an automobile mechanic at Bingen Technical school, but his interest
384-473: A letter written shortly after this event on 25 June 1915 that: "Fokker, especially, amazed us with his skill". Author A.R. Weyl ( Fokker: The Creative Years , Putnam 1965) says that, while Fokker was a talented and bold pilot, his business character was more flawed. He failed to reinvest war profits back into his factory which consequently struggled to fulfill contracts as the factory floor was often muddled with prototype development and production taking place at
448-627: A little too; in love one has to use one's brain just as much as in business, and perhaps even more". In or about 1926 or 1927, Fokker moved to the United States. Here he established the North American branch of his company, the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation . The company gained high visibility in daring exploits by pilots. The Fokker F.VII aircraft was used by pilot Richard E. Byrd and machinist Floyd Bennett to fly over or near
512-582: A lower deck bar and restaurant was named the Air-Wibault 1.00. The prototype was completed, but only three engines could be obtained, and it was destroyed in an air raid on the Arsenal works at Villacoublay on 3 June 1940. It is said that Wibault himself set fire to it to stop it falling into German hands. On 17 June 1940 Wibault escaped with his wife Marie-Rose from Paris to London where Charles de Gaulle appointed him as technical director of France Forever ,
576-693: A model which was successfully tested in the Eiffel aerodynamic laboratory . With French engineer Paul Boccaccio, in 1918 he designed and built his first aeroplane, the Wibault-Boccaccio & Cie C.1 fighter powered by a 220hp Hispano-Suiza engine. Tests were very successful, achieving a top speed of 237km/h and an altitude of 7,500m, but development was abandoned at the end of the war. In 1919 Wibault founded Société des Avions Michel Wibault at Billancourt , with various aircraft, mostly parasol monoplanes of Duralumin construction, flying from 1920. At first
640-477: A number of prior developments before the result was achieved for which Fokker is commonly credited. The famous French pilot Roland Garros was shot down on 18 April 1915. His aircraft had been fitted with a deflector device, whereby metal deflector wedges were fitted to the propeller. Garros was able to set fire to the airframe before being taken prisoner but the aircraft's gun and the armoured propeller remained intact and came into German hands. This initiated
704-487: A phase of consideration of the interrupter gear concept in the Imperial German Army Air Service ( Luftstreitkräfte ). Fokker was heavily involved in this process but the story of his conception, development and installation of a synchronization device in a period of 48 hours (first found in an authorized biography of Fokker written in 1929) has been shown to be not factual. The available evidence points to
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#1732854807903768-459: A quarter of his net worth. He takes pains to rebuff the claim that he left the country owing any taxes. On 25 March 1919, Fokker married Sophie Marie Elisabeth von Morgen in Haarlem . This marriage ended in divorce in 1923. In 1927, he married Canadian Violet Austman in New York City . On 8 February 1929, she died in a fall from their hotel suite window. The original police report said her death
832-551: A support organisation for de Gaulle in the USA, and he was very active in the group. Moving to America, Wibault joined Republic Aviation where he worked with the company’s major driving force and chief designer Alexander Kartveli . Kartveli, a Soviet émigré, had trained at an aviation school in Paris and then worked for Louis Bleriot , and for the Wibault company, leaving for America in 1927, and
896-489: A synchronisation device having been in development with Fokker's company for perhaps six months prior to the capture of Garros' machine. Additionally there were patents filed in France, Germany and Austria-Hungary as far back as 1910 which show a very similar device to that pioneered by Fokker. Author A. J. Weyl suggests that Fokker – or more probably someone on his production team – was aware of these patents. One patentee, Franz Schneider and his employer LVG, later sued Fokker in
960-580: A two-bladed propeller. The specification called for the fitting of either wheels or floats and both were used, though the Vireo took its Ministry tests as a landplane. These tests began at RAF Martlesham Heath a month after the initial flights in March 1928. The long gap between the tender submission in December 1925 and the first flight was partly because the novel structure had undergone structural and aerodynamic tests at
1024-481: A vertical take-off and landing ground-attack Gyropter using the most powerful turboshaft engine then available, a Bristol Orion , driving four centrifugal compressors mounted on the sides of the airframe around the centre of gravity . The compressor outlet nozzles were able to swivel between pointing straight down for take-off and landing, and pointing horizontally backwards for forward flight. He obtained patents for his vectored thrust design. Unable to interest
1088-490: Is based on the fact that Platz was still alive to tell his side of the story in 1965, and Fokker was not, is unclear. Another book by Henri Hegener (who knew both Fokker and Platz personally) depicts a rather different story, saying that Platz, while a skilled craftsman (and excellent welder), had received no formal technical training, and that his contributions to the Fokker designs are exaggerated, although Hegener grants that Platz
1152-522: Is officially credited with downing Manfred von Richthofen's Fokker Dr.I. Fokker is portrayed by Craig Kelly in the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles : Attack of the Hawkmen . One of KLM's Boeing 747-200s , registration serial PH-BUN, was named after Fokker and operated for the airline from 1979 until 2004. The aircraft was scrapped after the end of its service with KLM. Turbulent Skies
1216-669: The Dr.1 triplane and the D.VII biplane. After the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to produce aircraft, Fokker moved his business to the Netherlands. There, his company was responsible for a variety of aircraft including the Fokker F.VII/3m trimotor , a successful interwar passenger aircraft. He died in New York in 1939. Later authors suggest he was personally charismatic but unscrupulous in business and
1280-617: The Fokker Eindecker and the Fokker Dr.I , the triplane made famous in the hands of aces such as Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron). In all, his company delivered about 700 military aircraft to the German air force as well as supplying the German navy and Austria-Hungary. Fokker himself was a skilled pilot, demonstrating his aircraft on many occasions. On 13 June 1915, Fokker demonstrated
1344-505: The Fokker Scourge . Despite its shock effect on the enemy, the first Fokker interrupters remained unreliable and were prone to failures. Both Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann survived failures which resulted in propellers being shot off and even engines pulled out of their mountings due to the engine becoming unbalanced by the loss of the propeller. Immelmann's eventual death in combat has also been attributed to interrupter gear failure as
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#17328548079031408-611: The Legion of Honour . He died in the 16th arrondissement of Paris on 23 January 1963. 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 as the Eindecker monoplanes,
1472-514: The North Pole on 9 May 1926. In June 1928, Amelia Earhart crossed the Atlantic to Wales in a Fokker F.VII/3m trimotor, and in 1930 Charles Kingsford Smith circumnavigated the globe in another. However the reputation was hurt when the famous University of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne was killed in the crash of a Fokker F.10A in March 1931 . Fokker's Dutch and American companies were at
1536-598: The Royal Aircraft Establishment . There were a few minor incidents during the tests but more serious was a tendency to drop heavily at touchdown, which led to some rear fuselage damage. This was later attributed to root interference of the highly cambered wing leading to nasty stall characteristics. Nevertheless, by July the Vireo was on board HMS Furious for deck landing trials. The Air Ministry's interest in low-powered on-board fighters, catapult-launched to compensate for their small engines, waned when
1600-740: The Vickers Wibault Scout (based on the Wibault 7 ) - 26 of which were bought by the Chilean Air Force - the Vickers Vireo and Jockey fighters, and the Viastra , Vellore and Vellox civil transports. In 1930 French shipbuilders Penhoët (Chantiers St. Nazaire) funded construction of the Wibault-Penhoët 280-T low-wing trimotor transport. This was the first of a series of airliners that
1664-469: The E.V/D.VIII refer to Fokker as "the designer" but Weyl and other authors now suggest that Platz was the real design genius behind the Dr.I, D.VII and D.VIII. There may be some truth in this as Platz recalled to Weyl that he attended high level meetings alongside Fokker but was never introduced or referred-to as the designer and often never even spoke. Yet when Fokker fled Germany it was Platz who immediately took over
1728-635: The French government or industry in the idea, in 1955 Wibault submitted it to the NATO Mutual Weapons Development Programme and was subsequently introduced to Stanley Hooker who was then technical director of Bristol Engines . Soon Wibault agreed to work with Bristol, and they worked to lighten and simplify the engine design, leading to a new patent in 1957, jointly authored by Michel Wibault and Hooker’s assistant, Gordon Lewis . Meanwhile, Hawker’s chief designer Sidney Camm , noting
1792-425: The German authorities were now willing to file criminal charges against Fokker, and might have done so, had he not returned to the Netherlands shortly after the end of World War I. Fokker's own account of the D.VIII places the blame on officious German Air Force inspectors requiring an ill-conceived design change. "When the first D-8 [ sic ] was submitted to the engineering division to be sandload tested,
1856-485: The German courts and won their case; but Fokker (by now in America) refused to pay up. However, the final result of the development was Fokker's pushrod control mechanism, Gestängesteuerung , which allowed the aircraft's forward-firing machine gun to fire only when the propeller was out of the line of fire. As incorporated into the famous Fokker Eindecker , its use directly led to a phase of German air superiority known as
1920-507: The German high command that the basic design was not at fault, but the German military inquiry concluded that shoddy workmanship due to poor supervision and quality control at the Fokker factory were to blame. Fokker received a stern warning about future conduct. Unfortunately the same scenario repeated itself a few months later, with the introduction of his Fokker E.V/D.VIII monoplane in mid-1918. A further high level German inquiry revealed more production and workmanship issues. Weyl asserts that
1984-406: The German works on Fokker's behalf. Fokker later moved Platz to the Netherlands, as head designer, when the post-war German operation collapsed which indicates Platz really did play a greater design role than Fokker admits. Weyl uncharitably suggests that Platz's role at the Fokker D.VIII crisis meetings was to take the blame if anything was wrong and not receive credit. How much of this interpretation
Vickers Vireo - Misplaced Pages Continue
2048-546: The German-Dutch border. Author Weyl says that Fokker used 350 railway wagons and made sure that each train was too long to fit into the railway sidings where trains were normally checked for contraband. Weyl quotes Fokker himself as saying that he paid 20,000 Dutch guilders in bribes. The trains included 220 aeroplanes, more than 400 aero engines and much other material. This initial stock enabled him to quickly set up shop, but his focus shifted from military to civil aircraft such as
2112-430: The Netherlands. Neville Shute in 1934 negotiated with Fokker for a manufacturing licensing agreement for Airspeed Ltd (England), and found him "genial, shrewd and helpful" but "already a sick man"; and he was difficult to deal with as "his domestic life was irregular". He worked "at all hours and in strange places". Frequently "his very efficient legal advisor and secretary could not tell us where he was". Shute said he
2176-717: The Treaty of Versailles, singled out the Fokker D.VII for destruction or confiscation, the only aircraft to be so named. In 1919, Fokker returned to the Netherlands and started a new aircraft company, the Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek (Dutch Aircraft Factory), predecessor to the Fokker Aircraft Company. Despite the strict disarmament conditions in the treaty, Fokker did not return home empty-handed: he managed to smuggle six goods trains' worth of D.VII and C.I military aircraft and spare parts out of Germany across
2240-472: The Vireo proved no faster than the conventional ship board aircraft like the Fairey IIIF . The Vireo experience gave Vickers enough confidence in all-metal fighters to proceed with their later Jockey and Venom designs. Data from General characteristics Performance Armament Michel Wibault Michel Henri Marie Joseph Wibault (born 5 June 1897, died 23 January 1963)
2304-528: The aircraft was seen to break up in mid-air while engaged against a Royal Flying Corps F.E.2b . Fokker and his armament team, including Lübbe and Leimberger, also worked on lesser known projects, including a multi-barrelled machine gun, known as the Fokker-Leimberger . Although superficially similar to a Gatling gun , the action of the Fokker-Leimberger was substantially different. Problems with
2368-449: The aircraft were all military types, with Wibault turning to civil transports from 1930. Wibault became a consulting engineer for Vickers , starting in 1922. As a pioneer of metal construction for which he held patents, he closely followed the design methods of Hugo Junkers and Caudius Dornier . Wibault and Vickers jointly developed more metal construction patents. By 1925 Vickers had adopted Wibault’s construction methods, and produced
2432-403: The first major crisis of his German career when his newly delivered Fokker Dr.I triplanes began to experience sudden fatal accidents in late 1917, and the type was temporarily grounded as too dangerous to fly. The triplanes' top wings frequently ripped off under aerobatic conditions and even Lothar von Richthofen (brother of Manfred) was lucky to survive one such crash. Fokker was able to prove to
2496-420: The following years he constructed a variety of aircraft. He relocated his factory to Schwerin where it was renamed Fokker Flugzeugwerke GmbH , and later shortened to Fokker Werke GmbH . At the outbreak of World War I the German government took control of the factory. Fokker remained as director and alleged designer of many aircraft for the Imperial German Army Air Service ( Luftstreitkräfte ), including
2560-610: The gun, especially with ruptured cases, prevented its adoption into production during the war. After moving to the US, Fokker continued to work on the design, but he was ultimately unsuccessful—properly sealing the rotary split-breech was apparently very difficult. A single surviving prototype is known today at the Kentucky Military Treasures . After the war's end, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to build any aircraft or aircraft engines . The Armistice , not
2624-562: The new Eindecker (monoplane) at Stenay in the German 5th Army Sector in front of the German Crown Prince and other VIPs . Fokker worked closely with an accomplished military pilot, Otto Parschau , to bring the Eindecker into military use and on this occasion both men demonstrated the aircraft. Max Immelmann , later to become a high-scoring flying ace with the Eindecker , commented in
Vickers Vireo - Misplaced Pages Continue
2688-439: The nose fell away, giving it a slightly humped look. The flying surfaces were all without external bracing; the wing was tapered, of deep section and incorporated twin machine guns. The horizontal stabiliser had a straight leading edge but tapered at the rear. There was a square topped, balanced rudder but no fin. The Vireo was powered by an uncowled 230 horsepower (170 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV radial engine, driving
2752-487: The peak of their success in the late 1920s, but he lost control by going public to sell stock. In 1929, General Motors took over Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America, and merged it in the General Aviation Corporation. Fokker was appointed director of engineering. He resigned in 1931. Fokker designs were increasingly outdated and in 1934 General Aviation discontinued their production. They were still built in
2816-515: The physicist Adriaan Fokker . When Fokker was four, the family returned to the Netherlands and settled in Haarlem in order to provide Fokker and his older sister, Toos, with a Dutch upbringing. Fokker was not a studious boy and did not complete his high school education. However, he showed an early interest in mechanics, and preferred making things, playing with model trains and steam engines, and experimenting with model aeroplane designs. As
2880-480: The rampant corruption, hyper-inflation, economic meltdown, and violent revolutionary forces of the pre-Weimar days. According to Fokker's account, as WWI progressed, the German High Command became increasingly brazen, even forcing Fokker into German citizenship against his will. Fokker describes his escape from Germany as a harrowing tale in which he protected as many workers as possible and escaped with less than
2944-529: The reinforced rear spar caused the wings to flex unevenly at speed, increasing the angle of attack at the wing tips and causing the wing to shear apart under the increased loads. The problem was resolved by restoring the rear spar to its original specifications. Weyl also discusses claims of Fokker's outright plagiarism or taking sole credit for the work of his staff, first designer Martin Kreuzer and later Reinhold Platz . For example, contemporary German documents for
3008-423: The same time. Fokker distrusted qualified engineers (which he was not), and resented frequent German insistence on carrying out stringent structural tests to ensure prototype aircraft were fit for combat. He could be bad tempered and insensitive, as when he verbally abused his dying designer Martin Kreuzer on the evening of 27 June 1916, after Kreuzer had crashed the prototype Fokker D.I. The rudder jammed, but Kreuzer
3072-691: The success of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet , had developed an interest in VTOL aircraft, which he expressed in a letter to Hooker, and thus the scene was set for the development of the Bristol Siddeley Pegasus engine. This was at the heart of the Hawker P.1127 design that evolved into the Hawker Siddeley Harrier . In March 1930 he married Marie-Rose Boistel. In 1931 he was appointed a Chevalier of
3136-410: The very successful Fokker F.VII/3m trimotor . Fokker's admitted bribery has contributed to his reputation for sharp business practices. Weyl also points out that – in addition to possible criminal charges for the Fokker D.VIII fatal crashes – Fokker also failed to pay taxes to German authorities, and actually owed more than 14 million Marks. Fokker's autobiography tells a similar story, but focuses on
3200-470: The war, Wibault divided his time between New York and Paris. He became increasingly interested in vertical take-off and landing ( VTOL ) aircraft, with projects ranging from interceptors to large airliners, most of which he classified as a “Gyropter” (French – “Gyroptère”). His starting point was a circular aircraft comparable to the Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar . In 1954, one of his projects was for
3264-433: The wings proved to be sufficiently strong, but the regulations called for a proportionate strength in the rear spar compared to the front spar ... Complying with the government's edict, we strengthened the rear spar and started to produce in quantity ..." The D.VIIIs immediately ran into trouble with the wing collapsing at high speed. Fokker recalled the aircraft for further testing, and successfully demonstrated that
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#17328548079033328-405: The wings, the corrugations were aligned along the chord and longitudinally on the fuselage. The resulting fuselage was not monocoque but was internally braced and the skin on the wings was not stressed. Panels were riveted to each other and to the underlying structure. Vickers first experience of the method was with the licence built Wibault Scout . The first Vickers design using this construction
3392-595: Was "a good chooser of men" and had a "most efficient staff of Dutchmen and ex-Germans". Fokker died at age 49 in New York in 1939 from pneumococcal meningitis , after a three-week-long illness. In 1940, his ashes were brought to Westerveld Cemetery in Driehuis , North Holland , where they were buried in the family grave. In 1970, Fokker was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame . In 1980, Fokker
3456-567: Was a French aircraft designer. He was a strong advocate of metal construction, and his airliners were important in the development of French commercial aviation in the 1930s. He is especially known for his invention of vectored thrust for aircraft, which led to the development of the V/STOL Hawker Siddeley Harrier . Michel Wibault was born in Douai , near Lille , France , on 5 June 1897 to Achille and Madelaine Wibault. Achille owned
3520-413: Was a good "rule of thumb" designer. Hegener also contradicts the claims that Platz was treated badly by Fokker, at least not financially because Platz's year-end bonuses often exceeded his yearly salary. Fokker is often credited with having invented the synchronization device which enabled World War I aircraft to fire through the spinning propeller . His role was certainly significant, but there were
3584-609: Was a strong proponent of metal construction methods. For Republic, Wibault worked on the design of the XF-12 Rainbow , and the RC-3 Seabee . While in New York in 1940, Wibault met Winthrop Rockefeller , the billionaire politician and philanthropist, who was to finance Wibault for the rest of his career, mainly through an entity called the Vibrane Corporation which supported him and sponsored his US patent applications. After
3648-444: Was a suicide, but this was later changed to "vertigo victim" at the request of her husband's staff. On the subject of his marriages, Fokker wrote, "I have always understood airplanes much better than women. I had more love affairs in my life, and they ended just like the first one, really, because I thought there was nothing that could be more important than my airplanes ... I have now learned, by bitter experience, that one must give
3712-445: Was able to give an oral report on the accident before he died. "Fokker hurried to the scene, and shouted reproaches at the mortally injured man". Weyl says this incident was witnessed by Reinhold Platz , who succeeded Kreuzer. While Weyl's biography paints an unpleasant picture of Fokker as a businessman, he was a popular and charismatic figure with service pilots, and could charm even senior officers. This charm enabled him to deal with
3776-501: Was home to the workshops of Louis Breguet whom he met and with whom he later formed a lasting acquaintance. In August 1914 Douai was captured by the Germans, and German officers occupied the family mansion. Michel made visits to the occupied La Brayelle airfield. The Germans took little notice of the disabled young man and, understanding German, he was able to observe the activities and take extensive notes. He also met Anthony Fokker , who
3840-596: Was in flying , so he transferred to the Erste deutsche Automobil-Fachschule in Mainz . That same year Fokker built his first aircraft " de Spin " ("the Spider"), which was destroyed when his business partner flew it into a tree. He gained his flying certificate in his second " Spin " aircraft, which shortly thereafter was also destroyed by the same business partner, prompting Fokker to end their cooperation. In his own country, he became
3904-597: Was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. Fokker's nickname was The Flying Dutchman . In popular media, Hurd Hatfield portrayed him in the 1971 film Von Richthofen and Brown . The character Roy Fokker from the animated series Super Dimension Fortress Macross and its prequel Macross Zero was named in honor of Anthony Fokker and Roy Brown , the Royal Air Force pilot who
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#17328548079033968-553: Was staying with family friends while demonstrating his designs to the Germans. Michel built his own wind tunnel for testing models. Disliking the Germans, he was able to move to Belgium and then to Switzerland where he developed his ideas. In March 1917 Wibault presented a fighter design to Lieutenant-Colonel Émile Dorand , Director of the Technical Section of Military Aeronautics (STAé) in Paris, and with financial assistance from his maternal uncle, made in December 1917, built
4032-418: Was the Vireo. The Vireo (named after a Latin word thought to mean Greenfinch) was built to Air Ministry specification 17/25 , intended to evaluate both all-metal aircraft and low powered, catapult launched, carrier borne fighters. It was a low-winged single-engined monoplane of rather angular appearance with a flat-sided, deep fuselage except immediately aft of the engine. Forward of the overwing open cockpit
4096-676: Was vitally important to the development of commercial aviation in France in the 1930s. The collaboration was successful, with Penhoët merging with Wibault in 1931, forming the Chantiers Aeronautiques Wibault-Penhoët. Then in 1934 Wibault-Penhoët itself was sold to Breguet , which went on to produce several Wibault designs. In 1937 the French Air Ministry awarded Wibault a contract for a large four-engined double-deck airliner carrying up to 72 passengers. An early version, carrying 25 passengers in some luxury, including
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