The prototype was ready in early 1936 and it was delivered
to Welschap airfield close to Eindhoven, where Fokker test pilot Emil Meinecke
flew the first flight on the 27th of February 1936. In 1937 the Dutch
government ordered 36 Fokkers equipped with the Mercury VIII engine. In
addition to the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark would order the aircraft.
The Finnish Air Force had
already operated the Fokker D-10 and the Fokker
CVE and CVD. The CX model was used as a dive
bomber. The Air Force had continuous connections
with the Fokker factory in the 1930's. The
Fokker D.XXI was half the price of the German
Messerschmitt Me-109. When the Fokker D.XXI flew
the first fligh, Me-109, Heinkel He-112,
Hurricane and Spitfire had already flown with
much higher max speeds.
Fokker D.XXI had a
fixed gear and an underpowered engine for
interceptions, it lacked armour and the
effectiveness of the weapons was questionable.
The radios were limited in the beginning and the
max level speed was only 420 - 440 km/h. Finland
was the first export customer for the Fokker
D.XXI and signed a deal for seven aircraft and
license for 14 more on the 18th of November
1937. The Fokker factory tried the so-called
E-model wing with FR-76 in 1937.
The max. sea level
speed for II Series Fokkers was (performance for
the Twin Wasp Fokker from Series IV in
parenthesis) 342 km/h (354), at 2000 m 370 km/h
(375) and at 5000 m 418 km/h (350). Climb to
3000 m (10.000 ft) was 3 min 27 sec (5 min 02
sec) and to 5000 m (17.000 ft) 6 min 23 sec (10
min 12 sec). Service ceiling 10100 m (9600 m)
and range 950 km (800 km).
The Mercury Fokkers
were armed with two 7,7 mm Vickers machine guns
in the forward fuselage and one in each wing
whereas the Wasp Fokkers didn't have fuselage
weapons because of the twin radial engine. They
were equipped with two 7,7 mm Browning machine
guns in each wing.
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