| F.25 Promotor | |
|---|---|
| Role | Civil utility aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Fokker |
| First flight | 1946 |
| Number built | 20 |
The Fokker F.25 Promotor, first flown in 1946, was a single-engined, twin-boomed, four-passenger monoplane with a pusher engine mounted at the rear of a central nacelle. It was of wooden construction and has fitted with a retractable nosewheel undercarriage. One feature of the design was that instead of a 2 + 2 seating, the pilot sat in front to the left, and all three passengers were on a bench seat to the rear of him. Alternatively, when being used as an air ambulance aircraft, it could carry a patient on a stretcher, which was loaded through a hatch in the aircraft's nose.[1] The F.25 was evocative of the pre-war G.I design.[2] The F.25 was based upon the design of the Difoga 421 aircraft, home-built and -designed secretly during World War II by Frits Diepen, a Ford garage owner from Tilburg, the Netherlands. His intention was to escape from German-occupied Europe to Britain using this aircraft that was powered by a Ford V-8.
Although 20 F.25 aircraft were constructed, sales were disappointing for the same reason that thwarted the sales prospects of so many American post-war designs. A newly built aircraft could not compete in cost with the thousands of surplus aircraft on the market in the years following the war.
Specifications (Fokker F25)[]
Data from Promotor In The Air[3]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Capacity: 3 passengers
- Length: 8.53 m (28 ft 0 in)
- Wingspan: 12.00 m (39 ft 4 in)
- Height: 2.97 m (9 ft 9 in)
- Wing area: 18.0 m² (193 ft²)
- Empty weight: 961 kg (2,115 lb)
- Max. takeoff weight: 1,427 kg (3,140 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-435-A, 142 kW (190 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 227 km/h (123 knots, 141 mph)
- Cruise speed: 185 km/h (100 knots, 115 mph)
- Stall speed: 85 km/h (46 knots, 53 mph)
- Range: 950 km (513 nmi, 590 mi)
- Service ceiling: 3,400 m (11,150 ft)
- Climb to 1,000 m (3,300 ft): 6.2 min
References[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fokker aircraft. |
- "Fokker Redivivus". p. p. 359. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1946/1946%20-%201971.html.
- Smith, Maurice A. "Promotor in The Air". pp. pp. 143–145. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%201201.html.
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 407.
- World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 894 Sheet 38.
- dutch-aviation.nl
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The original article can be found at Fokker F.25 and the edit history here.