Fokker B.I (1922)

B.I and B.III
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Fokker B.I
Type	Reconnaissance flying boat
Manufacturer	Fokker
Designed by	Walter Rethel
Maiden flight	Template:Avyear
Number built	2

The Fokker B.I was a reconnaissance flying boat built in the Netherlands in 1922 and followed by an improved version, the B.III in 1926. It was a conventional biplane flying boat design, with staggered sesquiplane wings braced by struts arranged as a Warren truss. The engine was mounted pusher-wise on the top wing. The duralumin hull featured three open cockpits - one at the nose for a gunner, one in front of the lower wing for the pilot and engineer and one behind the wings for another gunner. The B.I was amphibious, equipped with main undercarriage that folded back along the hull, but this feature was omitted in the B.III.

The B.I was flown by the Dutch East Indies Naval Air Force for a number of years, and although it gave good service, no further examples were ordered from Fokker. The manufacturer hoped that the modernised and improved B.III would stimulate renewed interest in the type, and also designed it so that a passenger cabin could be installed within the hull, in the hope of attracting commercial customers. This was not to be, however, and the B.III remained unsold. It was eventually sent to Fokker's US subsidiary where the hull design served as the basis for the Fokker F.11, after which the aircraft finally found a buyer in Harold Vanderbilt.

References

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 402. 
• (21 December 1922) "The New Fokker Amphibian Flying Boat". Flight: 772-73. Retrieved on 2008-03-24. 
• (10 February 1927) "The Fokker B.III". Flight: 67. Retrieved on 2008-03-24. 

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