Fokker D.XXIII

Fokker D.XXIII
Role	Single-seat fighter
National origin	Netherlands
Manufacturer	Fokker
Designer	Marius Beeling
First flight	30 May 1939
Number built	1

The Fokker D.XXIII was a Dutch single-seat fighter designed and built by Fokker. Only one aircraft was flown before the country was invaded by the Germans in May 1940.

Development

The Fokker D.XXIII was designed as a twin-engined single-seat aircraft. To overcome the problems of asymmetric flight it had a tractor engine at the front and a pusher engine at the rear. The D.XXIII was a cantilever monoplane with the twin tail units on booms. The pilot had an enclosed cockpit in between the tractor and pusher engines and it had a retractable tricycle landing gear.

The prototype first flew on 30 May 1939 powered by two Walter Sagitta I-SR liquid cooled vee piston engines. The trial flights identified problems with the cooling of the rear engine and general engine performance. It was proposed to use Rolls-Royce or Daimler-Benz engines in the production aircraft. Concerns were also raised about the pilot clearing the rear propeller if he had to bail out and an ejector seat was studied. The programme was abandoned in May 1940 when the German forces invaded the Netherlands.

Specifications

Fokker DXXIII

Data from

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 10.2 m (33 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 11.5 m (37 ft 9 in)
• Height: 3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
• Wing area: 18.5 m² (199 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 2,180 kg (4,806 lb) equipped
• Max takeoff weight: 2,950 kg (6,504 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Walter Sagitta I-SR liquid-cooled 12-cylinder Vee piston engine, 400 kW (530 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 525 km/h (326 mph; 283 kn) estimated
• Range: 840 km (522 mi; 454 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 9,000 m (29,528 ft)

Armament

• Guns: two 7.9mm (0.31in) machine guns and two 13.2mm (0.52in) machine-guns (planned not fitted to prototype)

References

Bibliography

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.