Fokker

Fokker is one manufacturing of Dutch planes disappeared in 1996.

History

The Fokker company is officially founded the July 21st 1919 by Dutch Anthony Fokker, one of the first pioneers of aviation.

Indeed, a few years earlier, at 20 years, it builds its first plane, the Spin (Spider), the first Dutch plane to fly in its own country. In 1912, it founds the company Fokker Aeroplanbau with Berlin (in Germany). This one moves then in the town of Schwerin.

There, Fokker builds planes for the German army during the First World War and is constrained to be combined with Hugo Junkers by the German government. It becomes famous with its planes like the Fokker Dr.I (triplane) and the Fokker D.VII provided with a mechanism making it possible to the pilot to use the machine-gun through the propeller, without destroying the blades.

In 1919, Fokker separates from Junkers and turns over to the Netherlands to found its own company. From there, Anthony Fokker concentrates on the commercial aircraft and civil, rather than the soldiers, although it built some until the Second world war.

Amelia Earhart, the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean did it in a Fokker F.VII but it was only momentary, the pilot was Wilmer Stultz and the copilot/flight engineer Louis Gordon. It accomplished its flight as a recluse on a Lockheed Vega 5b.

In December 1939, Anthony Fokker dies in the the United States where the American branch of its company was prosperous.

The Fokker factories of the Netherlands were completely destroyed during the Second world war and a new factory was built close to the airport of Schipol close to Amsterdam, in 1951. There were built a certain number of planes under license of which the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. A second service of production and maintenance was established in Woensdrecht.

In 1958, the Fokker F27 Friendship was introduced and became one of the airliners with the most sold Turbopropulseur S (nearly 800 specimens sold between 1958 and 1986). F27 was followed by the Fokker F28 Fellowship, Fokker F50, Fokker F70 and Fokker F100.

In 1969, the Fokker company was combined with the company VFW established with Bremen. They collaborated on an airliner, VFW 614 which was a failure. The European space agency ESA indicated in 1974 a consortium directed by VFW-Fokker to build modules pressurized for Spacelab.

In 1996, the Fokker company went bankrupt but certain activities continued. Space division became a currently known independent company under the name of Dutch Space. The other parts which dealt with building parts of planes and concluded the repairs of maintenance and were taken again by now known Stork N.V under the name of Stork Aerospace Group. Stork Fokker exists to still deal with the planes of the company in service.

Dutch Space was repurchased by EADS in 2005.

Planes

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