Fokker G.I::le Faucheur

In 7 months, Fokker’s head engineers Marius Beeling and Erich Schatzki designed and created the first G.I prototype, intended to be a fighter and hunt cruiser, a role deemed vital in the quest of acquiring control over air force and power. On the 16^th March 1937 at Welschap Eindhoven, the twin engine fighter plane took to the skies and was comparable to the German Messerschmitt BF 110 and the British Mosquito. It was heavily armed with eight 7.9mm forward firing FN-Browning machine guns placed in the nose, one in the rear turret and capable of carrying 300 kg of bombs, the feature capturing the attention of the public at the Paris Air Show 1936. Le Faucheur “Reaper”  was mixed in construction, as were it’s Fokker counterparts. The front of the central pod and the tail booms were built around a welded frame that was covered with aluminium plating. The back of the central pod and the wings were made of wooden frames, covered with triplex. The G.I had good handling, and good firepower. It’s only weakness was that it could not match the maneuverability of single seaters fighters. There is only one remaining Fokker G.I to date, a replica exhibited in the Dutch Air Force Museum in Soesterberg. The rest – 23 to be exact, were destroyed on the 10^th of May 1940 in the Netherlands, during the German invasion. 

Structure:

Mixed construction

Engine:

2x Bristol Mercury VIII radial engine,  9-cylinder, air cooled, single row-piston

Rated power at 730hp, 2650 rpm at takeoff

830hp at 4100m at 2750rpm

Flight parameters:

Max speed: 475km/h at altitude 4100m

Rate of climb: 13.5 m/s

Range: 1510 km

Armament:

8x 7.9mm forward firing FN-Browning machine guns mounted on nose

1x 7.9mm machine gun on rear turret

Payload: 400kg at 4 underwing points