Fokker F.IV (English version)

F.IV

Fokker F.IV

During a promotional tour of the United States in 1920, and with only a few sketches in his pocket, Anthony Fokker received an order for delivery of two F.IV’s of the USAAS, the United States Army Air Service,

The military authorities were well aware of the Fokker products that had until then been produced in Germany and the Netherlands.

Reinhold Platz designed the F.IV in 1920/21 as a high-decker with a long fuselage which made its maiden flight on October 1921.

The two F.IV’s were built in Veere. They could accommodate 12 passengers and were equipped with an American 400 HP 12 cylinder Packard-Liberty V engine.

Both airplanes were shipped in crates to the USA, the USAAS gave the F.IV the designation “T-2”.

The T stood for Transporter, although the F.IV was designed to carry 12 passengers, this never materialized in the USA.

One T-2 has been drastically modified, and used for long distance (record) flights for a number of years, And an additional seat for a second pilot had been created in the open cockpit.

The other T-2 was later on converted into an ambulance plane for transporting the sick and injured. This T-2 was then redesignated A-2, Ambulance.

Anthony Fokker would have loved to have seen the F.IV flying with a passenger airline in the USA. However, that did not materialize.

The F.IV used for the long-haul flights has been preserved in the

National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Institute) in Washington USA.

The American Fokker type T-2 will be looked at in a different perspective at a later point on this website.

Click on the photo to enlarge the photo

01

Cn 1801
Second built F.IV in the Netherlands.
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02

The long cn 1801 fuselage is clearly seen here. The spacious cabin could accommodate 12 passengers. The dual wheels of the landing gear show that take-off and landing on marshy ground was still taken into account.
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03

The construction of cn 1801 in Veere.
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04

In the foreground is the large Spar of the F.IV wing. Standing vertically, a wing rib showing the enormous profile of the wing in the center.
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05

Three ribs indicating the wing profile. The large rib indicates the thickness at the center, and the small rib in the foreground indicates the thinnest part of the wing at the tip.
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06

Cn 1800 in de USA as A.S.64233
There is a big difference in the shape of the cabin windows of the two F.IVs.
Cn 1800 had large oval windows in the fuselage, while cn 1801 had five small square windows on the fuselage.
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07

Cn 1801 with registration A.S.64234 as A-2, the ambulance version.
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08

The A.S. 64234 in the original T-2 version.
The rudder has the number P 243, this was used at McCook field in the USA.
After arriving from the Netherlands, both F.IV’s were assembled here.
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09

Test pilot Herman Hess in the F.IV cn 1801 cockpit.
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10

Here again shown vertically the wing ribs, which clearly show the large profile of the F.IV wing.
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11

Wing construction of the F.IV. The wing ribs, which indicate the thickness of the wing are clearly visible.
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12

Underside of the F.IV wing.
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13

The powerful, yet compact 12-cylinder Packard-Liberty V engine of the F.IV.
De Packard-Liberty familie