Fokker E.III

Fokker E.III
	Fokker E.III taking off
Role	Fighter
Manufacturer	Fokker-Flugzeugwerke
Designer	Anthony Fokker
First flight	1915
Introduction	December 1915
Primary user	Luftstreitkräfte
Produced	1915-1916
Number built	249
Variants	Fokker E.I - Fokker E.II

The Fokker E.III was the main variant of the Eindecker (literally meaning "one wing") fighter aircraft of World War I. It entered service on the Western Front in December 1915 and was also supplied to Austria-Hungary and Turkey.

Design and development[edit]

The E.III was basically an E.II fitted with larger, newly designed wings that had a slightly narrower chord of 1.80 meters (70+7⁄8 in), compared to 1.88 meters (74 in) on the earlier Eindeckers, going back to Fokker's original M.5 monoplane aircraft. The E.III retained the same 75 kW (100 hp) Oberursel U.I engine, and therefore also used the larger-diameter "horseshoe" pattern cowling that also mandated the inclusion of the E.II's soffit-like extensions to the sides of the upper nose sheet metalwork, but had a larger 81 L (21.5 gal) drum-shaped main fuel tank just behind the cockpit, which increased the Eindecker's endurance to about 2+1⁄2 hours, an hour more than the E.II. Most E.IIIs were armed with a single 7.92 mm (.312 in) Spandau LMG 08 machine gun with 500 rounds of ammunition; however, after the failure of the twin-gun Fokker E.IV as a viable successor, some E.IIIs were fitted with twin guns.

Fokker production figures state that 249 E.IIIs were manufactured; however, a number of the 49 E.IIs were upgraded to E.III standard when they were returned to Fokker's Schwerin factory for repairs.

Operational history[edit]

The E.III was the first type to arrive in sufficient numbers to form small specialist fighter units, Kampfeinsitzer Kommandos (KEK) in early 1916. Previously, Eindeckers had been allocated singly, just as the E.I and E.II had been, to the front-line Feldflieger Abteilungen that carried out reconnaissance duties. On 10 August 1916, the first German Jagdstaffeln (single-seat fighter squadrons) were formed, initially equipped with various early fighter types, including a few E.IIIs, which were by then outmoded and being replaced by more modern fighters. Standardisation in the Jagdstaffeln (and any real success) had to wait for the availability in numbers of the Albatros D.I and Albatros D.II in early 1917.

Turkish E.IIIs were based at Beersheba in Palestine while others operated in Mesopotamia during the Siege of Kut-al-Amara.

Surviving aircraft[edit]

The only known surviving original Eindecker, bearing IdFlieg serial number 210/16, was brought down in the Somme area in 1916 by the British and then evaluated by the War Office until it was transferred to the London Science Museum in 1918. It is currently on display fully assembled, but with its fabric covering removed to illustrate its internal construction.^[1]

Operators[edit]

Austria-Hungary

Bulgaria

Bulgarian Air Force

German Empire

Luftstreitkräfte
Kaiserliche Marine
- Marine-Fliegerabteilung

Ottoman Empire

Ottoman aviation squadrons were supplied with 22 E.III aircraft.

Specifications (E.III)[edit]

Data from German Aircraft of the First World War^[2]^[3]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
Wingspan: 9.52 m (31 ft 3 in)
Height: 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
Wing area: 16 m² (170 sq ft)
Empty weight: 399 kg (880 lb)
Gross weight: 610 kg (1,345 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Oberursel U.I 9-cyl. rotary engine, 75 kW (100 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 140 km/h (87 mph, 76 kn)
Endurance: 1.5 hours
Service ceiling: 3,600 m (11,810 ft)
Rate of climb: 3.3 m/s (650 ft/min)
Time to altitude:
- 1,000 m (3,281 ft) in 5 minutes
- 3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 30 minutes

Armament

Guns: 1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 machine gun offset to starboard, synchronised to fire through the propeller.

References[edit]

^ "Science Museum Group Collection".
^ Gray, Peter; Owen Thetford (1970). German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam & Company Ltd. pp. 109–112. ISBN 0-370-00103-6.
^ Winchester, 12

Bibliography[edit]

Winchester, Jim (2006). Fighter: The World's Finest Combat Aircraft—1913 to the Present Day. Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc. and Parragon Publishing. ISBN 0-7607-7957-0.

External links[edit]

Fokker E.III 634 made 1915

[1] "Science Museum Group Collection".

[Gray-2] Gray, Peter; Owen Thetford (1970). German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam & Company Ltd. pp. 109–112. ISBN 0-370-00103-6.

[winchester-12-3] Winchester, 12

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Idflieg E-class aircraft designations
Fokker	E.I E.II E.III E.IV E.V
Junkers	E.I
LFG Roland	E.I
LVG	E.I
NFW	E.I E.II
Pfalz	E.I E.II E.III E.IV E.V E.VI
Siemens-Schuckert	E.I E.II E.III E.IV

v t e World War I aircraft of the Central Powers
Fighters	AEG D.I AEG Dr.I Albatros D.I Albatros D.II Albatros D.III Albatros D.V Aviatik D.I Aviatik C.VI Daimler L.6 Euler D.I Euler D.II Fokker D.I Fokker D.II Fokker D.III Fokker D.IV Fokker D.V Fokker D.VI Fokker D.VII Fokker D.VIII Fokker Dr.I Fokker E.I Fokker E.II Fokker E.III Fokker E.IV Fokker E.V Halberstadt D.II Hannover CL.II Hannover CL.III Hannover CL.IV Hannover CL.V Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 Junkers D.I Kondor D.6 Kondor E.III Naglo D.II Pfalz D.III Pfalz D.XII Pfalz Dr.I Pfalz E.I Pfalz E.II Phönix D.I LFG Roland D.II LFG Roland D.VI Siemens-Schuckert D.I Siemens-Schuckert D.II Siemens-Schuckert D.III Siemens-Schuckert D.IV Zeppelin-Lindau D.I
Bombers and ground attack	AEG DJ.I AEG G.I AEG G.II AEG G.III AEG G.IV AEG G.V AEG J.I AEG J.II AEG R.I Friedrichshafen G.II Friedrichshafen G.III Gotha G.I Gotha G.II Gotha G.III Gotha G.IV Gotha G.V Gotha GL.VII Gotha G.IX Hannover CL.II Junkers CL.I Junkers J.I Rumpler G.I Rumpler G.II Rumpler G.III Siemens-Schuckert L.I Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.II Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.III Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.IV Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI
Reconnaissance	AEG B.I AEG B.II AEG B.III AEG C.I AEG C.II AEG C.III AEG C.IV AEG C.V AEG C.VI AEG C.VII AEG C.VIII AGO C.I AGO C.II AGO C.III AGO C.IV AGO C.VII AGO C.VIII Albatros B.I Albatros B.II Albatros C.I Albatros C.III Albatros C.V Albatros C.VII Albatros C.IX Albatros C.X Albatros C.XII Aviatik B.I Aviatik B.II Aviatik C.I Aviatik C.VI DFW C.V LFG Roland C.II LVG B.I LVG C.II Rumpler C.I Rumpler C.IV Rumpler Taube
Trainers	Euler D.I
Prototypes	Albatros C.II Fokker V.1 Fokker V.2 Junkers J 1 Junkers J 2 Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.I