Fokker-Flugzeugwerke - Fokker E.III Eindecker: The Fokker Scourge

joshje100 · February 14, 2025, 6:53pm

The Fokker E.III Eindecker was a German monoplane fighter used during World War 1 over the skies of the Western Front. The Fokker E.III also saw use by Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire within their air forces.

History

The Fokker E.III was an improved design over the E.II which itself was an improved design of the E.I. The series of aircraft were designed from early 1915 and manufactured mid-late 1915 with the first E.III being introduced to the war during December 1915.

The E.III was first used to form small specialist fighter units, called Kampfeinsitzer Kommandos, the Combat Single-Seater Commandos. Many E.III saw service alongside older E.I and E.II with the Feldflieger Abteilungen, the Field Flying Detachment, which carried out various reconnaissance duties. Later on the 10th of August 1916, the first of the Jagdstaffeln squadrons was formed where they would be outfitted with various aircraft including the E.III.

The E.III was flown by many well known German aces including Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke. Two men that defined aerial combat with their astounding knowledge and brilliance in the air. Immelmann developed the Immelmann manoeuvre, which involves a pilot pulling back on the stick to climb and roll back over to reverse the aircraft direction which made it easy to follow up on an attack and get the drop on the opponent. Boelcke established the very fundamentals of air to air combat. Boelcke wrote the Dicta Boelcke, the first manual on air to air combat. The Dicta Boelcke dictates the importance of teamwork and pioneered the idea of squadrons, it also described tactics that would prove vital for success which were developed further and are the fundamentals of air combat from WW1 all the way until the modern day.

The E.III was known as the “Fokker Scourge” by the Allied forces due to it being a very nimble and deadly aircraft at the time where it preyed on slower and poorly armed Allied aircraft until spring 1916 where the Allies introduced the French Nieuport II and the British DH-2 fighters. By the summer of the same year the E.III became vastly outclassed however still remained in limited service with the aforementioned first Jagdstaffeln squadron until more advanced and deadly aircraft could enter service, those replacements would be the Albatros D.I and D.II.

The E.III also saw service with other air forces that made up the Central Powers. They were shipped to Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire as these nations did not produce indigenous designs throughout the war.

There is now only one surviving E.III, 210/16 which was captured by British forces after it was shot down in the Somme area in 1916. It was evaluated by the War Office then transferred to the London Science Museum in 1918 where it is still on display with it’s fabric removed showing off the impressive internal construction of the aircraft.

Specifications

Size

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)

Weight

Empty weight: 399 kg (880 lb)
Gross weight: 610 kg (1,345 lb)

Engine

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