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The Fokker D.VIII was the firm's final and most advanced design of World War I. Designed by Fokker's great engineering genius, Reinhold Platz, the innovative D.VIII was a highly maneuverable parasol-monoplane aircraft with great pilot visibility and pleasing flight characteristics. It would have been a formidable opponent had it not been so late in entering the war.
The swift and nimble fighter's initial designation was E.V. Arriving to combat in August 1918, its meaningful service time at the front was delayed while a wing structure problem, which caused three planes to fatally crash, was rectified. By the time the airplane was again placed in service, now labelled D.VIII, only 80 units could be fielded. It had a few weeks to prove itself in combat before the war ended in November 1918. (It was also hamstrung by a castor oil shortage in Germany, affecting its rotary engine.) If the war had continued into the winter of 1918-19, the "Flying Razor," as the D.VIII was called by British airmen, may have replaced the Fokker D.VII as the preeminent German fighter.
Fokker D.VIII armament consisted of two 7.92mm Maschinengewehr (MG) 08/15 machine guns, with interrupter gear to fire through the propeller arc. These guns were sometimes referred to as "Spandau," in reference to the arsenal where much of the German small arms development and production occurred.
After the war, a D.VIII fighter was obtained by Italy as part of war reparations. Today, its fuselage is the sole authentic D.VIII airframe remaining in existence, in the Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni in Trento, Italy.
The Museum of Flight's reproduction aircraft was built during the 1960s by E. O. Swearingen of Worth, Illinois. Swearingen reviewed the surviving aircraft in Italy and later corresponded with Platz in order to authenticate the accuracy of his work. Following the aircraft's completion by Swearingen, it was flown for sport. In 1980, Doug Champlin purchased the aircraft. It is still equipped with the Warner radial engine that Swearingen used.
The Fokker D.VIII was the firm's final and most advanced design of World War I. Designed by Fokker's great engineering genius, Reinhold Platz, the innovative D.VIII was a highly maneuverable parasol-monoplane aircraft with great pilot visibility and pleasing flight characteristics. It would have been a formidable opponent had it not been so late in entering the war.
The swift and nimble fighter's initial designation was E.V. Arriving to combat in August 1918, its meaningful service time at the front was delayed while a wing structure problem, which caused three planes to fatally crash, was rectified. By the time the airplane was again placed in service, now labelled D.VIII, only 80 units could be fielded. It had a few weeks to prove itself in combat before the war ended in November 1918. (It was also hamstrung by a castor oil shortage in Germany, affecting its rotary engine.) If the war had continued into the winter of 1918-19, the "Flying Razor," as the D.VIII was called by British airmen, may have replaced the Fokker D.VII as the preeminent German fighter.
Fokker D.VIII armament consisted of two 7.92mm Maschinengewehr (MG) 08/15 machine guns, with interrupter gear to fire through the propeller arc. These guns were sometimes referred to as "Spandau," in reference to the arsenal where much of the German small arms development and production occurred.
After the war, a D.VIII fighter was obtained by Italy as part of war reparations. Today, its fuselage is the sole authentic D.VIII airframe remaining in existence, in the Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni in Trento, Italy.
The Museum of Flight's reproduction aircraft was built during the 1960s by E. O. Swearingen of Worth, Illinois. Swearingen reviewed the surviving aircraft in Italy and later corresponded with Platz in order to authenticate the accuracy of his work. Following the aircraft's completion by Swearingen, it was flown for sport. In 1980, Doug Champlin purchased the aircraft. It is still equipped with the Warner radial engine that Swearingen used.
