Airdrome Fokker D-VII explained

The Airdrome Fokker D-VII is an American amateur-built aircraft, designed and produced by Airdrome Aeroplanes, of Holden, Missouri. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.^[1]

The aircraft is an 80% scale replica of the First World War German Fokker D.VII fighter, built from modern materials and powered by modern engines.

Design and development

The Airdrome Fokker D-VII features a strut-braced biplane layout, a single-seat open cockpit, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft is made from bolted-together aluminum tubing, with its flying surfaces covered in doped aircraft fabric. The kit is made up of twelve sub-kits. The Airdrome Fokker D-VII has a wingspan of 23.31NaN1 and a wing area of 148square feet. It can be equipped with engines ranging from 80to. The standard engine is the 1100NaN0 Hirth F-30 two stroke engine, with a Volkswagen air-cooled engine with reduction drive optional. Building time from the factory-supplied kit is estimated at 400 hours by the manufacturer.^[2]

Operational history

Five examples had been completed by December 2011.

Notes and References

1. Vandermeullen, Richard: 2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide, Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 39. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851
2. Web site: Fokker D-VII Biplane ~ 80% Scale Replica. 22 September 2012. Airdrome Aeroplanes. n.d. . https://web.archive.org/web/20101213104632/http://airdromeairplanes.com/FokkerD-VII%7B80scale%7D.html . 13 December 2010.