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FOKKER FVIIB-3M On 28th September 2008 it will be 80 years ago since the first Fokker VBIIb-3m, with registration H-NAEN and construction number 5059, came to the KLM fleet. The last version of the so successful F-VII series. Initially commenced as substitute for the F-III which became too small for KLM. Needful to mention that the F-IV, of which two were built – see Meer-Historie nr. 2 June, 2006 – was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Service, together with the F-VI, a fighter aircraft. The F-V was a Rheinhold Platz design accommodating 8 passengers, but it did not suffice in practice. On 10th December 1923, KLM signed a preliminary contract for three FVII’s, with the possibility of ordering three more should the prototype prove to be adequate. It’s suitability became evident from the first flight to the Dutch East Indies on 1st October 1924. Despite the good aviation qualities of the F-VII, there was room for improvement: the wings acquired rounded tips with rolling rudders inserted and the landing system was drastically simplified. The new version became F-VII-a, proved easier to steer and could fly 22 k.p.h. faster. In May 1925 Anthony Fokker visited America for a fourth time. Henry Ford, the renowned automobile manufacturer, offered him the opportunity to present his FVII-a by organizing a reliability tour over a distance of 1500 miles. Fokker was keen to participate, but in a three motor aircraft. So, he coolly telegraphed Rheinhold Platz in Amsterdam, his chief constructor, to build a F-VII with three motors!. More capacity, increased safety. To avoid extra test and design work, Platz hung the motors under the wing of a FVII-a and within 8 weeks he had a prototype which was first demonstrated for KLM and was shipped as FVII-a-3m (=3 motors) to America. The “Ford Reliability Tour’ was a great success for Fokker. Fokker landed as first of each leg and received the most press attention. For this reason it was obvious that Fokker should win the Ford trophy. Following this achievement tour, Fokker offered the prototype of the FVII-a-3m to the Army Air Corps for a test program. Finally, the aircraft was bought by Edsel Ford (the son) who, in turn, made the aircraft available to Richard Byrd, who was the first to fly it over the North Pole.
Fokker FVIIa-3m met Anthony Fokker (rechts) The F-VIIb-3m was, however, as is often suggested, not developed from the FVIIa-3m, but almost simultaneously designed, even though the FVIIb-3m was built at a later stage. From the “Fokker Bulletin” (a Fokker Manufacturing publication) dd. November 1925 it appears Fokker offered a three motor version with an enlarged wing for sale, the latter feature being the main difference between the two versions. The Fokker FV11b-3m became Fokker’s greatest pre-war success and was flown by reputed pilots such as Kingsford Smith who flew the “Southern Cross” and Amelia Earhart, the first female who crossed the Atlantic ocean and landed in Wales (the destination was Ireland!) Besides KLM and KNILM, several well known airline companies ordered the FVIIb-3m: Pan-American, Japan Air transport, Balar/Swissair, Avio Linee Italiane, Air France, Lot, CSA and Sabena. Owing to the enormous demand, Fokker had difficulty handling the orders and license rights were granted to several countries, such as Poland (20 pcs military and 11 passenger aircraft for LOT); England – under the name AVRO 10 (14 pcs, of which 7 were delivered to Australia); Czech under the name AVIA (8 pcs for CLS and 5 for CSA and 5 for Air France); Belgium under the name SABCA (top scorer with 20 pcs for Sabena); Italy (3 pcs) and Spain, (3 pcs). At Fokker the FVIIb-3m remained in production till 1932; complete production-overviews have not been preserved, but 63 machines were found to have been built in the Amsterdam, of which 14 for KLM and 6 for KNILM in the Dutch East Indies. For KLM the FVIIb-3m was not only a technical but also a financial success. The exploitation costs per ton-kilometer amounted to only one quarter of that of the F-III. WW II brought an end to all flying FVIIb-3m’s. Only one aircraft survived and that was the very first, namely, the famous “Southern Cross”. It can be seen in the glass hangar at Brisbane airport in Australia. L.de Roo / M. Abeleven (transl.) Meer-Historie sept. 2008 Technical details
Spanwidth: 21,70 m Max.tailweight:200 kg Length: 14.60 m Voidweight: 3050 kg Motors: ex Wright Whirlwind of 300 hp Flightspeed: 850 km Cruising speed: 170 km/h. Nr. Passengers: 8
History Construction: 5095 10-09-1928 to KLM 28-02-1929 Registration of H-NAEN to PH-AEN 21-11-1931 Sold to AIR ORIENT /F-ALSA 00-00-33 result of amalgamation to Air France “La Joyeuse’
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