D.XXI

Fokker D.XXI

You could call it the F-16 of the late 1930s: the D.XXI designed by the German designer Erich Schatzki.
Schatzki worked for Fokker and designed the D.XXI in 1935. On March 27, 1936, this aircraft made its first flight.
The first flight took place at Welschap airport (Eindhoven) with Fokker test pilot Emil Meinecke in the cockpit.
Another “D” type that was designed for use at the KNIL in Dutch East Indies and of again to no purpose. But the LVA ordered 36 copies in 1937.

For the prototype, a Rolls Royce Kestrel IV of 700 hp was intended, but it became the Bristol Mercury VIII 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine of 830 hp. This engine was also the choice for the LVA machines.
The prototype has been demonstrated in Dutch East Indies, where it was destroyed on the ground in 1942 at Andir airport during a Japanese attack.

A total of 148 D.XXI's were built, including the license-built planes in Denmark and Finland where the D.XXI was in use until 1948.
The Danes and Finns also bought a number of D.XXIs directly from Fokker.
The Finnish license D.XXIs had in part the Bristol Mercury VIII and another part had the Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp R-1535 junior engine of 825 Hp, with 2 rows of 7 cylinders.
In Finland, one D.XXI was equipped with a retractable landing gear, the D.XXI was standard equipped with a fixed, non-retractable landing gear.

Also in Spain, 50 D.XXI's were to be built under license, however it has only remained with one aircraft.
This was partly because during the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalists had conquered the area where license building took place.

The D.XXIs of the LVA fought tough air battles with the German fighters during the invasion of Germany on May 10, 1940 in the Netherlands.
D.XXIs have been lost, both in the air and by ground attacks.
Seven D.XXIs have fallen into German hands, an unknown number of which have served in the Luftwaffe.

The armament of the LVA Machines ultimately consisted of 4 Browning FN 7.9 mm machine guns, 2 in each wing.
Other armament systems have also been tested or applied in Denmark and Finland.

In 1988, a beautiful D.XXI replica was built at Fokker in collaboration with the KLu, which can be admired at the NMM in Soesterberg.
In Hoogeveen at ATN people are currently well advanced (March 2020) with a flying replica of a D.XXI,

Click on the photo to enlarge the photo

Share by: