fokker D 7

Fokker D VII

Portugese DHC1 Chipmunk Click to ENLARGE

The D VII was a biplane fighter conceived by Reinhold Platz, the gifted designer of the Dr I triplane fighter. The D VII had a fuselage of welded steel tube covered with aluminum and fabric, and thick-section wooden wings covered with plywood and fabric. The VII prototype revealed the need for a longer fuselage and fixed fin in addition to the comma-shaped moving rudder. So revised, the VII was entered in the January 1918 fighter competition held at Johannisthal airfield, and proved the unanimous choice of the fighter pilots. Large production contracts were placed with Fokker and, somewhat ironically, with Fokker’s great rival Albatross.

The D VII entered combat in April 1918 with a 160-hp (119 kW) Mercedes D III inline with an auto-type radiator (the first German plane to feature one) and proved an immediate winner against the best British and French fighters. Late in the year a more powerful BMW engine replaced the Mercedes unit, much improving the fighter’s rate of climb.

The D VII possessed good performance, and was easy to fly yet responsive to the controls right up to it’s ceiling, where the type could hang on its propeller without loss of control. Some 700 D VII’s were in service at the time of the Armistice, and the type was the only aeroplane specifically mentioned in the Treaty of Versailles for surrender to the Allies. After the First World War, Anthony Fokker returned to the Netherlands and resumed limited production of the D VII.

Principle Users
Germany and the Netherlands.

Germany

May 1917

Fokker: 877 D VII; Albatros Werke G.m.b.H.: 1,749 D VII's

One 138kW (185-hp) BMW IIIa
inline piston engine.

Max speed 187km/h (117mph) at 1,000m (3,280 ft),
Climb to 5,000m (16,405 ft) in 16 minutes.
Service ceiling 7,000 m (22,965ft).
Endurance 1 hour 30 minutes.

Empty 670 kg (1,477 lb), max takeoff 960 kg (2,112 lb)

Wing span 8.9m (29ft 3.5in), length 6.95m (22ft 11.5in), height
2.75m (9ft 2.25 in). Wing area 20.5m² (221.4sq ft).

Single seat.

Two 7.92 mm (0.312-in) fixed machine guns

German fighter pilots in World War 1 were very individual with their paint jobs.This Fokker D VII nr 4523/18 is painted in the colors of Ltn Rudolph Stark when flying in Jasta 35b.

After serving with distinction in the 2nd Bavarian Uhlan Regiment, Stark transferred to the German Air Force. Posted to FA(A) 296 on 15 November 1917, he was soon off to Jastaschule II for fighter training. Joining Jasta 34b on 18 January 1918, he scored five confirmed victories in the spring of 1918. On 24 May, he joined Jasta 77b as acting commander and scored his sixth confirmed victory the day after he arrived. On 7 June, he was reassigned to Jasta 35b as Staffelführer where he remained until the end of the war, scoring five more victories flying a Fokker D VII marked with a lilac colored engine cowling and a lilac band on the fuselage.

Victories

Date Time Unit Aircraft Opponent Location
1 23 Mar 1918 1317 Jasta 34 D.H.4 - Barleux
2 24 Mar 1918 1310 Jasta 34 Sopwith Camel - W of Barleux
3 30 Mar 1918 1230 Jasta 34 Sopwith Dolphin - E of Vaire
4 04 Apr 1918 p.m. Jasta 34 R.E.8 - Fouilly
5 04 Apr 1918 p.m. Jasta 34 D.H.4 - S of Hamelet
u/c 19 May 1918 Jasta 34 B.E.2f - Proyart
6 25 May 1918 Jasta 77 R.E.8 - W of Gentelles
u/c 28 May 1918 Jasta 77 R.E.8 - Gentelles Wood
u/c 01 Jun 1918 Jasta 77 S.E.5a - Soyecourt
7 01 Jul 1918 1007 Jasta 35 R.E.8 - NW of Arras
u/c 09 Aug 1918 Jasta 35 Two-seater Corbie
8 12 Sep 1918 Jasta 35 AWFK 8 - Hermies
9 13 Sep 1918 1005 Jasta 35 D.H.4 - Recourt
10 15 Sep 1918 1905 Jasta 35 Sopwith Dolphin - Cagnicourt
u/c 15 Sep 1918 1910 Jasta 35 Sopwith Camel
11 09 Nov 1918 1455 Jasta 35 S.E.5a - E of Bavai Wood

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