Visitor
(3/3/02 2:40:21 pm)
Reply Foreign aircraft
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I know the germans used a lot of captured tanks in their forces, but what about aircraft?
schwalbe
Veteran Member
Posts: 152
(3/3/02 5:16:30 pm)
Reply The types....
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They used almost any plane that was found, P-38,39,40,47,51 ect. and bombers, B-17,24,25,A-26 ect.
Timowr
Veteran Member
Posts: 350
(3/3/02 8:17:18 pm)
Reply Re: The types....
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Here's my favorite, the Dutch Fokker G1 fighter-bomber:
Development
The G-1 was designed and built in a record breaking time of 7 months under the supervision of ingenieurs Beeling and Schatzki, two senior designers of Fokker. Work started in March 1935 after receipt of a configuration from the French Airforce for a two engine heavy fighter that was supposed to utilize French equipment: Hispano Suiza engines, instruments, and a landing gear to be delivered by Olaer. The French interest disappeared after several French designs appeared. Fokker thought the design had potential and continued development under own supervision as project 129.
The aircraft received a twin boom configuration, something which was not new, but caused great sensation with the public. In the fuselage there was room for the crew and for the armament. Like all designs of Fokker in that period of time it was of a mixed construction. The front of the cockpit was build around a steel tubular frame covered with removable aluminium panels. This frame was attached to the frontal wingspar. The armament in the nose, the prototype had 2 23 mm cannons with 100 shells and 2 7,9 mm machineguns with 550 cartridges, was connected to this frame. The rear part of the cockpit was consisted out of a wooden frame covered with triplex. The many small windows in the rear part of the fuselage where made out of Perspex and hung in a Dural framework. The belly of the fuselage had two large doors with perspex windows, helpful for observations. There was also a bomb bay in the design that could contain 400 kg of bombs. The rear part of the fuselage ended in a beautiful conical turret that could turn completely around its axis, giving the gunner a full 360 deg aim. The machine gun could be aimed by opening perspex panels running the full length of the turret.
The wingspars went through the cockpit, right behind the pilot, and fore the compartment of the gunner. In the wing, between fuselage and engine nacelles, there was room for the fuel tanks; 550 liter, with a reserve of 150 liters. The wing edges, on both sides of the engine, contained the oil tanks. The outer parts of the wings where also made out of wood covered with triplex, that was glued together the same way Fokker did with his successful range of passenger planes. All control flaps where made out of a Chromemolybdenumsteel frame covered with linen.
The tail booms where made out of aluminum except for the gear compartments. From the firewall on the whole engine bonnet en and struts where made out of aluminum. For propulsion of the prototype the choice was made for the Hispano Suiza 80-02 radial engine (750 hp), that gave the G-1 a top speed of 470 km/u. Directly behind the gear compartments the twin boom was made out of aluminum again. The horizontal stabilizer, between the tail booms was made out of aluminum and had the tail wheel in the middle.
The prototype of the G-1 had registration number X-2, this number denominated as a prototype of Fokker. Not many people know that at least 5 planes have used this registration number.
The aviation salon of Paris
Even before the first flight of the G-1 Fokker sent its G-1 to the aviation salon of Paris. He expected a lot of interest for the creation of his designers. This expectation proved right and became true: the G-1 was the sensation of the show. The prototype was hung under steel cables between planes of Polish and Russian contenders. The plane got several nicknames on this show that pointed to the heavy armament in the nose: the French called the G-1 "le Faucheur", which means "Mower" and the British called the plane "Reaper". There is some doubt if the French came up with that name them selves; a lot of people think that Fokker made that name up himself.
First flight
The first flight of the G-1 was made form Welschap airfield, near Eindhoven, on 16 March 1938. It was the unknown Czech pilot Maresc, main flier of the Czech government and senior pilot of the manufacturer Avia, that made the maiden flight with the prototype with registration code X-2, and painted in the well known green with medium blue belly. The flight went without flaws and after 20 minutes the pilot landed again.
Development problems
For the audience the G-1 was a spectacular promising plane that had minor problems. After 4 testflights this proved not to be true. On the fifth test flight problems occurred with one of the Hispano Suiza engines. Due to overheating the engine broke down and threw out several parts through the exhaust pipes. One of the tail booms got damaged. Before this incident it was already well known that the Hispano engines where badly designed; they used far too much oil. A quick and dirty solution was to ad extra oil coolers that where placed on sticks underneath the engines. This solution was not very elegant and finally Fokker did choose another engine, the Pratt & Wittney Jr. SB4-G. This engine produces less power but was much more reliable. For the Dutch aviation department other engines where mounted; the more powerful Bristol Mercury VIII engines, that where also used in the D-21.
The nose section of the G-1 caused problems too. The armament chosen by the Dutch air force, 8 machine guns for so-called 'water-can fire', proved to very problematic during landings. Due to this heavy armament the plane became nose-heavy and several G-1’s ground looped during landing. A good solution for this problem has never been found though in 1939 a plan was made to give the G-1 Wasp a different setup. In this design 4 of the machineguns where relocated to the bomb bay firing from underneath the pilot. In use the machineguns proved to be very unreliable partly due to the low temperatures at high altitude. This sensitivity for subzero temperatures has been solved by using a different lubricant. Despite that the armament kept on causing problems; firing them on the ground was no problem, but in the air usual 2 or 3 of them jammed. This problem has never been solved.
When we talk about different versions we name them the "Mercury" and "Wasp". The terms"G-1a" and "G-1b" are not being used. The reason for this is that these words where never used by Fokker and where arisen after the war.
4 G-1 Mercury's where build for a 3 person crew, but the middle seat was removed soon.
Armament Specifications:
 The Hispano: 2 Madsen 23 mm cannons with 90 grenades and 2 Madsen 7,9 mm machineguns with 550 shells and on in the tail with 5 drums with 96 shells each
 The Wasp: 4 7,9 mm M-20 FN-Browning machineguns with 500 shells and on in the tail with 5 drums with 96 shells each.
 The Mercury: 8 7,9 mm M-20 FN-Browning machineguns with 500 shells and on in the tail with 5 drums with 96 shells each.
The G-1 in the Netherlands
The version of the G-1 that was requested by the Dutch air forces was equipped with the Bristol Mercury VIII engines, had an armament of 8 machineguns with 500 shells per gun in the nose and a 9th machinegun in the tail cone, with 5 drums with 96 shells, that was manned by the tail gunner. The design took a payload of 300 to 400 kg bombs in account. The strategy was that the G-1 would fly high above bomber formations and would drop bombs with a time fuse to scatter the formations. Other G-1's where supposed to finish the job by shooting sown the remaining airplanes with their machineguns. Conventional bombs could be used too for tactical ground support. In the end no G-1 had bomb racks despite the fact that several bomb racks where available on Waalhaven.
The G-1's, 36 of the Mercury type, where divided into two fighter detachments (JAchtVliegtuig Afdeling JaVa): the 3rd at Waalhaven and the 4th at Bergen. Though each detachment got 18 planes several where used as a reserve and one was send to airfield The Vlijt on Texel for advanced training. The planes of the 3rd by a duck with a not painted in the neck painted on both sides of the nose. The personnel van de detachment laughed that the purpose of the knot was to keep the animal (the G-1) under control, otherwise it would fly too fast!
Mobilization
During the mobilization period every base had continuously 2 G-1's standby to guide unwanted guests out of the Dutch air space. During this period the G-1's had only 100 shells per weapon in the nose. The reason for this was to lower the weight of the nose. Experience was that the plane had a tendency to ground loop when full armament was placed. The planes with registration umbers 312, 314 and 327 where at the Fokker factory for damage repair due to landing incidents.
It happened several times that the G-1's took of for an interception. Despite the fact that the speed of the G-1 was considerably lower (100 Km/U) than that of the planes of the LW, they where quite successful in this role. The first real air combat of a G-1 was with a Whittley bomber of the RAF. On 26 March 1940 the 312 took of wit Sgt.'s Noomen and de Vries and downed the plane after it entered the Dutch airspace. It happened also that a G-1 returned with battle damage. This took a considerable time to repair of course. Only once again a plane was shot, this time a French scout.
Blitzkrieg
The codeword Danzig over the German radio's meant the start of operation Fall Gelb; the conquest of the low countries and France. On the 10th of May 1940 The German attack started. A lot fo Dutch airfield where bombed and strafed by the Luftwaffe. Bergen was also a target. The closely parked G-1's where an easy prey. 12 out of 13 planes where destroyed or damaged. The 3rd JaVa managed to bring most of planes safely into the air. The 8 planes that managed to take of scored a total of 13 victories. But at the end of the day the struggle was over; only one plane was still flyable. Luckily several planes of the 4th JaVa could be repaired to fight another day. On 14 May they scored their only victory on a Messerschmidt BF-109.
Foreign interest in the G-1
Development of the prototype of the G-1 continued with the purpose to use it for the foreign market. Equally to the prototype it received the Pratt & Wittney Jr. SB4-G engines. These engines had a negative side effect on the plane. Compared to the one with the Bristol Mercury engine top speed was 40 km/u lower though it had slightly bit more range. Foreign interest was big after the great success on aviation salon of Paris in 1936. A first series of 26 was already built for Spain, to be delivered via Estland and France. After the mobilization of the air force these planes where confiscated for use by the Dutch air force. In November, of the mobilization year, a search for armament started. In the end they received 4 FN-Browning machineguns (7,9 mm) in the nose and one FN-Browning M-36 machine gun in the tail turret. Only four out of the ten delivered planes could be armed and where used in the 5-day war. The remaining planes where captured by the Germans.
Orders had also been placed by Denmark and Sweden. Finland was interested. As you can read below other countries where interested too.
Finland
Finland had a bond with Fokker that lasted already for several years. Finland had already bought the D-10 and C-5 D and E. Before the outbreak of the winterwar the D-21 and C-10 where build under license in the Valtion Lentokonetehdas facories and plans existed to produce, the recently ordered, T-8L variant.
These bonds where responsible for a lot of confusion the last 60 years regarding the Finish interest for the G-1. Finish test pilots had logged quite some hours with the 302, which was specially given to their disposition. The results where glorifying, but an order was never placed. The reason it never came to an order was that the Finish version of the Mercury (build under license) was to be mounted in the Blenheims and the D-21's. More Mercury engines where not available, eventually even the D-21 got equipped with Twin Wasp engines.
The 25 (+ an adapted prototype) that where already build, where intended for Spain, and not for Finland.
Denmark
Denmark was the first to place an order for G-1 Mercury’s with dive breaks that where supposed to be equipped with the Madsen armament that was also mounted in the Hispano Suiza prototype (2 x 20 mm cannons, 2 x 7,9 mm machineguns). The amount of money involved was Hfl 70.000; That does not seem much, but in those days you could buy a very big house for that amount.
These 12 planes where shipped, unassembled, to the Flyvertropperne Vaerkstaeder near the airfield Kløvermarken, Kopenhagen, where they where supposed to be assembled both Flyvertropperne Vaerkstaeder and the airfield Kløvermarken don't exist anymore). A continuation order to build 24 planes under license by Skandinavik Aero Industri was also already sold.
In the end none of the 36 Danish G-1's got airborne, though they where working on assembling one of them (one might ask why only one). Most probably the whole series of 12 was captured by the Germans and taken into service by the Luftwaffe.
This means that a total of 63 G-1's where build!
According to Hooftman another 24 where supposed to be build at Skandinaviak Aero Industri.
Zweden
Swedish test pilots performed about 20 test flights with the G-1. They where very fond of the flight model and soon the Swedish government placed an order for a series of 18 planes (Mercury's, with extra "bathtubs"), without engines that where supposed to be delivered by a Swedish license program. It was not clear yet which engines where supposed to be used. These planes got the Swedish type number S-13 (S for Spaning, scouting). Also another order for 77 G-1 for the role of fighter bombers came in, they where to enter the Swedish air force as B-7. Also here no indication of the engine to be used. All G-1's had to be equipped with airbrakes.
Estland
Estland, who was modernizing its air force just like the Netherlands, was interested in a series of 6 planes, but this order was cancelled in favor of the British Blenheim. There was also a plan to ship the 26 Wasps for Spain through Estland and France to Spain.
France
Fokker was visited in 1936 by a French delegation to discuss the development of the model 129, the later G-1. France was already busy with a number of comparable, but “difficult” projects. Difficult because the tests of the proposed engines (the by Fokker despised Hispano's) went disastrous. A solution was found in ordering the Dutch G-1. Negotiations came into a strained situation when a French delegation came by every week to monitor the progress. Also a partial payment of 9700 Dutch Guilders was received for a license contract.
When the development of the French planes started their interest disappeared. In the end they wanted 300 planes of the type Potez 63 and similar amounts of other planes.
Belgium
In June 1939 the 302 was leased for a week by the Belgium's to be thoroughly tested. At first the Belgium’s had not much faith in the plane until the first day when Gerben Sonderman performed a spectacular aerobatics show. The Belgium’s had presumed that a 2 engine plane was not capable of making those maneuvers. Despite that the Belgium’s chose for a combination of Hawker Hurricanes and Fairey Battles instead of the G-1.
Turkey
The Turkish interest was short. 2 test pilots where send to Welschap to fly as passengers with Meinecke. Despite the fact that on the first test flight one engine failed they praised the G-1. That was the end of the Turkish interest even after other engines where mounted (the WASP engines).
Hungary
The, in Budapest located, firm Manfred Weiss was not unknown to Fokker. Before the second world war dozens of Fokkers where build under license (mostly C-5, D-13 and F-7 planes). Manfred Weiss had also obtained the license rights for the G-1 but no planes where build before the outbreak of the war. Later during the war they build BF-109's.
Switzerland
Switzerland was a loyal customer of Fokker too. Earlier large numbers of D-7's and C-5's where bought, later - in smaller numbers - the D-13 en C-10 followed. 3 Test pilots where send to the Netherlands to test the G-1. Though the result where very promising no orders followed.
Fokker G-1's in the Luftwaffe
The exact number of Fokker G-1's that have flown for the Luftwaffe is still not certain.
It is certain that the Germans captured a reasonable amount of G-l's in the Netherlands in May 1940. A certain amount of undamaged planes has fallen in the hands of the enemy. Some where handed over to Luftwaffe after repair at the Fokker plant.
There was a batch of planes for Finland that wasn’t finished yet, these planes where handed over to the enemy after they where finished.
The Luftwaffe mainly used the G-1 as an advanced trainer for ME-110 crews; it is not known if they ever have been involved in combat.
Test pilots where the Dutch pilot Leegstra and the German pilot Meinecke.
There have been rumors that G1’s flew in Italy; this is possibly confusion due to pictures of G-1’s taken at Belgium air force bas Maldeghem that also show Italian planes.
An interesting story tells about the hijacking, in 1941 by Leegstra and Vos, of one of the G-1's in service of the Luftwaffe. Leegstra and Vos flew a plane over to England and got almost shot down by a Hurricane. This flight took place on May 5 with one of the last G-1's to be delivered to the Luftwaffe. Usually the pilots where only allowed to carry fuel for a flight of half an hour, but the Dutch managed to bring more fuel on board. British Hurricanes fighters where about to shoot them down when they lowered their gear as a sign they wanted to land their plane. They ditched their plane but the pilots where safe in England! The G-1 was brought over to Miles Aircraft in Reading. There the British used the plane to test the effects of open air on a all wooden wing in the English climate for a British all wooden plane.
The Fokker G-1 foundation has, since it was established in 1997, intensively researched the destination of all build planes. None of them has been recovered completely.
There are two series of Fokker G-1's build: the batch with registration numbers 300 to 335 (with Bristol Mercury V111 engines) and the batch with registrationnumbers 340 to 365 (witht Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines).
At this moment we can infer that ± 20 Fokker G-1’s where destroyed in May 1940 (or even earlier). ± 30 planes have been captured by the Germans, and where handed over to the Luftwaffe. The faith of the remaining ± 20 planes is still unknown.
Commissar D the EviL
Veteran Member
Posts: 243
(3/3/02 8:21:12 pm)
Reply
Re: The types....
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YES!!!! Darn GOOD--GREAT REALLY--to see you BACK, Timo and with a fantastic post on an aircraft!!! How did you know I was moving away from AFV's to Aircraft of WWII? Heh heh!
Anyway, WELCOME BACK. Best Regards, David
Marcus Wendel
Webmaster
Posts: 1635
(3/3/02 8:24:18 pm)
Reply
ezSupporter
Re: The types....
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Timo,
Welcome back to the forum, nice to see you here again.
/Marcus
Timowr
Veteran Member
Posts: 351
(3/3/02 8:29:00 pm)
Reply Re: The types....
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Thanks Marcus, thanks David.
I noticed and appreciate that both Marcus and Michael are doing their best to keep this forum focused on research, and decided that this is exactly what I want to do: stick to research.
Cheers,
Timo
Schulze Boysen
Veteran Member
Posts: 123
(3/3/02 8:31:24 pm)
Reply
Re: The types....
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LOL, are you me? Am I you? LOL
oleg
Member
Posts: 94
(3/3/02 9:35:38 pm)
Reply
Re: The types....
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