These photographs were taken in Aug 2003 at the
Militaire Luchtvaart Museum in Soesterberg, The Netherlands.
The Dutch East-Indian Army ordered a single-seat monoplane from the Fokker factory on November 14, 1934 to replace the Curtiss P-6 Hawk aircraft. The factory stressed simple design with a fixed landing gear.
650 hp Rolls Royce Kestrel IV was initially selected to power the fighter, but it was replaced soon with the 645 hp Bristol Mercury VI-S nine cylinder radial engine (on the right). The first three Finnish series were equipped with the 840 hp Bristol, PZL or Tampella Mercury VII 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine. The Bristol Mercury engine, which turned out to give better performance for the Fokker than the Twin Wasp engine.
The prototype was ready in early 1936 and it was delivered to Welschap airfield close to Eindhoven, where Fokker test pilot Emil Meinecke flew the first flight on the 27th of February 1936.
In 1937 the Dutch government ordered 36 Fokkers equipped with the Mercury VIII engine. In addition to the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark would order the aircraft (Finnish Fighter History).
Related pages: 1, 2, 3
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