Fokker F-11
Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America · United States · first flew 1928 · transport aircraft
The Fokker F-11 was a single-engined monoplane flying boat built in the United States in the late 1920s as a luxury 'air yacht', the Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America's Model 9. It had a duralumin hull and a wooden wing, and was offered in Europe as the Fokker B.IV.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, wing-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 13.72 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Pusher engine nacelle strut-mounted above the wing
- Duralumin flying-boat hull beneath a high-mounted wooden wing
- Stabilising floats mounted under the wing
A single-engined high-wing monoplane flying boat with a duralumin hull, a wooden wing and floats under the wing. The engine sits in a pusher nacelle on struts above the wing rather than in the nose.
Specifications
- The Fokker F-11 has a length of 13.72 m (45 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 17.98 m (59 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 180 km/h (112 mph).
- Typical crew: 2.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
It grew out of Fokker's B.III flying boat, whose rebuilt civil B.IIIc was sent to the American subsidiary as a pattern; the fuselage and wing were then redesigned so extensively that little of the B.III and Fokker Universal remained. The prototype first flew in 1928 as an amphibian with a retractable combination sponson and landing gear, and was later converted to a flying boat with wing floats. The American company could not build duralumin hulls, so they were made in the Netherlands; 20 were ordered but only six were completed and delivered to North America.
Variants
The prototype F-11 (B.IV) had the B.III hull, a Universal wing and a Pratt & Whitney Wasp, later replaced by a Wright Cyclone. Five production F-11As (B.IVa) had a redesigned fuselage and wing and the Cyclone. The F-11C replaced the single engine with a two-engine push-pull nacelle, and the F-11AHB had a Pratt & Whitney Hornet and seating for eight.
Where you'll see it
The F-11 was a commercial failure, and the F-11A's $40,000 price was cut to $32,500 in 1930 as the Depression set in. Harold Vanderbilt and Gar Wood each bought one, Air Ferries of San Francisco operated another, and one was tested by the US Army at Wright Field in 1930 as the YC-16 but judged unacceptable for service. Much of the hull of the last one, which crashed in British Columbia in 1935, was recovered in 1978-1979 and is stored at Lelystad in the Netherlands.
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