Fokker E-III

A Little Information On The Fokker E-III

Max Immelmann scored his first victory flying the "Eindecker." Scourge of the air during the winter of 1915, the Fokker was the first aircraft armed with a synchronized, forward firing machine gun. German pilots were ordered not to fly it across enemy lines for fear the Allies would capture the secrets of the synchronizing gear. Allied aviators who faced it called themselves "Fokker Fodder".

As in most early monoplanes and biplanes it did not possess ailerons, those small movable panels on the trailing edges of each end of the wing. Instead, the E-III performed banking maneuvers by wing warping or twisting the outer ends of the wings. This was a serious handicap as the war progressed and it fell prey to other more agile fighters with ailerons.

The E-III was not a high performance airplane as it was powered by a 100 hp Oberursel rotary engine that was not very reliable. Engine power decreased with altitude and so the plane could not operate over 9,800 ft. It took 30 minutes to get up to that height and maneuverability was nil at that altitude. The "Eindecker" was typically armed with a single LMG 08/15 7.92 mm machine gun firing through the propeller using a synchronizing gear. The monoplane was used to control the air over Verdun during their offensive of Feb. 1916. By summer of 1916 the Allies regained aerial superiority with the Nieuport 11 "Bebe", the D.H.2 and the F.E.2.

To see the enemy of the Fokker E-III, click here!

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The first modern fighter, the Fokker E-III introduced machine gun fire that was synchronized with the propeller. From 1915 to 1916 this little monoplane dominated the air and made German pilots, like Max Immelmann and others, into famous aces. Its maximum speed was 87 mph (145 km/h), which shows things have changed considerably.

The Fokker E-III became a formidable opponent with the addition of a forward firing machinegun that was synchronized to fire through the airscrew arc. It was exactly this device that made the monoplane such a deadly opponent.

Fokker E-III, Eindecker Monoplane