- Yes.
- No.
- In a future Dutch/BeNeLux techtree.
- In the British techtree.
- In the German techtree.
- Other (Please explain in the comments).
- I said “No” in the first question.
Hello everyone! Today I’m going to suggest the prototype of the legendairy Fokker G.1!
The Fokker G.1 Hispano Prototype (Early)
Source: Foto's
This is the Fokker G.1 Hispano (Prototype)!
Quick explanation about the (Early) and (Late) I use for the photos of the aircraft in this post:
The G.1 Hispano Prototype was worked on throughout it’s testing phase, and later during this testing phase the aircraft was given larger oil coolers under the engines. This is a small change that fixed some of the overheating issues, and I thought it be nice to point it out by referring to this aircraft as the Late version.
But I didn’t find the change to be big enough for me to suggest it as a seperate aircraft, so that’s why photos of both the Early and Late are in this post. There are the exact same aircraft after all.
History
Spoiler
The Fokker G.1 starts all the way back in 1934. Here the French Air Force made an specification for a twin engine, three crew, two autocannon and one machine gun aircraft suitable for intercepting bombers, escorts and aerial command posts. This led to the creation of the Potez 630, Hanriot 220, Nieuport 20, Romano R 110 and Brequet 690.
Fokker, being a aircraft builder that also exported a lot of aircraft, decided to create their own aircraft that would fullfill this role. And in 1936 a new aircraft would start to be designed under the “Ontwerp” number 129. The aircraft was a secret for most of it’s design phase.
The first design of the Fokker Ontwerp 129
Source: Fokker G-1 jachtkruiser - deel 1, by Frits Gerdessen - Karel Kalkman - Cor Oostveen - Willem VredelingThe Ontwerp 129 was proposed with two 20mm Oerlikon atocannons, with 60 rounds each. And two machine guns with 1000 rounds each. In the rear a gunner with a single or twin machine gun could also be added. And the aircraft could carry up to 600 kg of bombs.
As with any aircraft during it’s design phase, the aircraft was changed around a bit, mainly in the engines. At first it was designed with 450 hp Renault inline engines, then later with 650 hp Bristol Aquila radial engines. And at the end the brand new 690/750 hp Hispano-Suiza 80 radial engines were chosen.
At the end of May 1936 the Ontwerp 129 had taken it’s final form after only 7 months. And construction was started on the first prototype, that was now known as the Fokker G.1. The aircraft was made under complete secrecy, and thus was made at Fokkers own risk and money. But there was a race against the clock because on the 13th of November 1936 the 15th Paris Air Show was going to open, and Fokker definetly wanted to show of their brand new G.1 there.
But as was expected, the G.1 Prototype was not ready yet before the Air Show. So Fokker quickly decided to finish the aircraft from a visual point of view. So some windows were missing and the engines and propellors were just mockups. The aircraft was painted in a red and yellow pudding color scheme which made it looks like a supermodel sports aircraft.
The Unfinished Prototype as seen during the Paris Air Show
Source: Fokker G-1 jachtkruiser - deel 1, by Frits Gerdessen - Karel Kalkman - Cor Oostveen - Willem Vredeling
The Unfinished Prototype during the Paris Air Show with it’s nose missing after someone had sabotaged the cables which kept the aircraft of the ground. It had fallen down and the nose was damaged, so it was removed which in turn showed of the weaponry assembly
Source: IntroductieThe aircraft was the star of the show together with the French Potez 63 and Dutch Koolhoven F.K. 55 Mockup. Around this time the nickname “Le Faucheur” (“The grim Reaper” in French) started to show up for the G.1, which was most likely done by Fokker to futher advertize the aircraft. Other names that popped up were “De Maaier” and “Magere Hein” (“The Mower” and “Grim Reaper” in Dutch).
After the Paris Air Show the aircraft returned to the Netherlands and was futher finished. On the 26th of Febuari 1937 the aircraft was ready for it’s first test flight. But due to the transportation of the aircraft to the airport, and the various pre-flight tests required, and on top of that, bad weather, the aircraft would make it’s first flight on the 16th of March 1937.
The Finished Prototype (Early) ready for it’s maiden flight
Source: Foto'sAs was standard for Fokker Prototype aircraft, a registration number was added to the fuselage. Which was X-2 (X-1 was already in use on a Prototype Fokker C.10 with a Hispano engine).
The first flight was a huge succes. The pilot had no faults to report, but it was only a short flight of 13 minutes long. In later flights problems did start to pop up.The main problems found were:
- The tail was to long
- The engines lost a lot of oil (Which was fixed early on)
- Overheating issues were reported on the engines
- Overheating issues on the oil system was reported
- One of the two engine cut out completely on rare occations
Many of these issues were fixed soon after the various test flights. But during one flight the right landing gear was damaged, which while taxiing collapsed. Which resulted in a damaged right wing tip, and damaged propellor.
The aircraft was returned to the Fokker factory where it would be repaired. And when it came back it also recieved a slighty changed paint scheme which now had a Dutch flag on the rudders.
Between the 23rd of July and 16th of August 1937 an attempt was made to futher try and fix the Oil cooling issues the engines still had. Bigger coolers were installed, and three days later the covers for the coolers were removed, but nothing seemed to fix the issue. So the aircraft was rolled into a workshop to try and fix the issue more properly. The existing coolers were removed entirely, and new onces were installed under the engines. Custom purpose built covers were made for these by the United Aircraft Products company and on the 15th of September the aircraft rolled back out and was ready to fly again.
The Fokker G.1 Hispano Prototype (Late) now sporting it’s large oil coolers under the engines
Source: Foto'sAt this point the aircraft was performing well, although the engine issues were still not completely gone. But now it was time to actually sell some aircraft! The aircraft was put up for test flights, and various pilots of many different countries came in to fly with the aircraft. The aircraft flew for more then 34 hours by various pilots. Some small mistakes were made, where one Finish pilot bumped the aircraft into something and dented the nose very lightly. But the usual engine issues popped up again so the aircraft was eventually put back in for repairs and maintenence. The aircraft continued to do demonstration flights for even more customers. These included Russian, Swiss, Turkish, Japanese, Polish, Finnish and Spain.
After this it was time for the Aircraft to step into it’s next phase. It was decided to fit the aircraft with different engines, as requested by a potential customer (Most likely the Spanish). The aircraft would be given the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp Junior SB4G engines. So that marks the end of the Fokker G.1 Hispano Prototype!
Design
Spoiler
The nose section of the Fokker G.1 prototype with the full armaments
Source: Gesponsord topic - Belangstelling voor Fokker G1 | Pagina 25 | ModelbouwForum.nlThe Fokker G.1 was a twin engine, twin boom heavy fighter. The G designation was used by Fokker for “Jachtkruisers” (Which trainslates to Hunting Cruiser), this would just be heavy fighter in English.
The G.1 Hispano Prototype was ofcourse fitted with Hispano engines, these being a Hispano-Suiza 14AB-02 and a 03. The 02 engine is a Clock Wise (CW) turning engine, and the 03 a Counter Clock Wise (CCW) one. This mean that when taking of with the aircraft the pilot would not have to counter the rotation of the engine with the rudder, since both engines cancel each others rotational force out.
The aircraft had a wingspan of 16.5 meters, and an wing area of 35.70 square meters. The length was 10.08 meters and height was 3.35 meters. This gave the aircraft quite a large wing compared to the rest. But videos of the G.1 flying shows that the aircraft handled very well. Being able to do rolls, loops and all sorts of other maneuvers. (There is a video at the bottom of this post where you can see the G.1 flying)
The Hispano Prototype was not always fully armed during it’s service, but at one point she was fully fitted with armaments.
These were two 23mm Madsen autocannons, together with two 7.9mm Madsen machine guns in the nose. Another machine gun would be added in the rear gunner turret, but it seems to have not always been present on the prototype. But weapons were removed from the prototype from time to time so maybe the rear machine gun was one of the first to go away.Crew wise the aircraft had two men, one pilot, and one Navigator/Radio Operator/Rear Gunner. Although on this G.1 Hispano Prototype the rear gun was never fitted. The pilot sat in the front of the aircraft, and had a large fuel tank behind him. Behind the fuel tank was the rear compartment which is where the Navigator/Radio Operator sat. He had various windows he could see out of, electrical equipment for his Radio Operator duties, and ofcourse the rear gunner cone.
Rear view of the G.1 Mercury Replica with added arrows that show the function of the rear gunner position
Source: I took this photo myself, K.K. JanssenIn the photo above I’ve put a photo I took myself of the Fokker G.1 Merucy Replica in the National Military Museum. The two arrows I’ve added show how the gunner cone would work. The red arrows show how the entire cone would rotate around 360 degrees. And the orange arrow is where a machine gun would be present which would be able to point backwards, or aim up almost all the way up.
The gunner would rotate the cone to move the gun into position sideways, and the gun itself could move up and down to futher lock in onto the target.
So while the G.1 only had one gunner spot, this position and construction have the aircraft full protection from behind.
Rear view of the Fokker G.1 Hispano Prototype (Early), showing the rear compartment and gunner position
Source: Foto's
Specifications
Spoiler
Bleuprint of the Fokker G.1 Hispano Prototype
Source: Fokker G-1 jachtkruiser - deel 1, by Frits Gerdessen - Karel Kalkman - Cor Oostveen - Willem Vredeling
Crew: 2 (Pilot and Navigator/Radio Operator/Rear Gunner
Length: 10.08 m
Wingspan: 16.5 m
Height: 3.35 m
Wing area: 35.70 m2
Empty weight: 3,000 kg
Full weight: 4,400 kg
Powerplant: 2 x Hispano-Suiza 14AB-02/03 (650 hp at start, 680 hp at 3800 m)
Maximum straight line speed: 450 km/h
Maximum recorded dive speed: 648 km/h
Service ceiling: 9,300 m
Max range: 1,360 km
Armament
Guns:
2 × 23 mm Madsen autocannon
2 × 7.92 mm Madsen machine gun (Forward firing)
1 × 7.92 mm Madsen machine gun (Rear gunner)Ammunition
23 mm Madsen autocannon - 100 rounds per gun
7.92 mm Madsen machine gun - 550 rounds per gun
Ingame
Spoiler
As usualy with my Dutch vehicle suggestions, I ofcourse want to see this ingame in a Dutch or BeNeLux techtree. The G.1 is such an iconic and powerfull aircraft, I think it would perform really well ingame.
This G.1 Hispano Prototype is one that I would use as a Pre-Order Pack. Think about it for a Dutch or BeNeLux techtree. New techtrees always need Pre-Order Packs to generate some income, interest and easy grinding ability for the new techtree. There are other Fokker G.1 variants the Dutch have operated fitted with different engines. But this Hispano Prototype was one of a kind, even it’s 23mm cannons have not been fitted to any other G.1’s!
So this is a one of a kind G.1 that doesn’t take away from the main researchable techtree if you make it a premium. To futher add to the Pre-Order Pack idea you can include the “Grim Reaper” player title as a pre-order bonus, and the unique and cool Paris Air Show color scheme as the pre-order bonus camouflage.
But just like my other Dutch vehicle suggestions I also offer other techtree options. The logical onces would be Britain and Germany. But to be honest here, I wouldn’t want to see this Hispano Prototype in either of these trees. That is because both Britain and Germany have gotten their hands on or captured Fokker G.1 of their own, so it makes much more sense to add those for their own techtrees.
And just keep the Fokker G.1 Hispano Prototype as a Dutch or BeNeLux techtree exclusive.
The Fokker G.1 Hispano Prototype (Early) with the full armament installed
Source: Fokker G-1 jachtkruiser - deel 1, by Frits Gerdessen - Karel Kalkman - Cor Oostveen - Willem Vredeling
So there you have it! Please make sure to vote in the poll above, and let me know what you think of this Prototype of the legendairy Fokker G.1!
Camouflage options
Spoiler
I usually never do this for my suggestions, but here I’d like to show the different color schemes the aircraft had during it’s lifetime.
These could be cool to have for the aircraft if it were to be added ingame.
The Unfinished Prototype as seen during the Paris Air Show
Source: Fokker G-1 jachtkruiser - deel 1, by Frits Gerdessen - Karel Kalkman - Cor Oostveen - Willem Vredeling
The Hispano Prototype (Early) as seen during it’s first flights
Source: Fokker G-1 jachtkruiser - deel 1, by Frits Gerdessen - Karel Kalkman - Cor Oostveen - Willem Vredeling
The Hispano Prototype (Early) as seen during it’s later flights
Source: Fokker G-1 jachtkruiser - deel 1, by Frits Gerdessen - Karel Kalkman - Cor Oostveen - Willem Vredeling
The Hispano Prototype (Late) as seen during it’s final flights with the Hispano engines
Source: Fokker G-1 jachtkruiser - deel 1, by Frits Gerdessen - Karel Kalkman - Cor Oostveen - Willem VredelingAs mentioned in the “Ingame” section in this post. This aircraft would in my opinion be perfect as a pre-order pack for a Dutch/BeNeLux techtree. And the Paris Air Show color scheme could be an amazing pre-order bonus camouflage. The later scheme with the Dutch flag should in my opinion be the standard camouflage for the aircraft, and the early scheme with the white rudder could be a GE or unlockable camouflage.
Extra photos
Sources
Spoiler
Main sources:
- Fokker G-1 jachtkruiser - deel 1, by Frits Gerdessen - Karel Kalkman - Cor Oostveen - Willem Vredeling
- Fokker G-1 jachtkruiser - deel 2, by Frits Gerdessen - Karel Kalkman - Cor Oostveen - Willem Vredeling
Secondairy sources:
Extra sources:
Photos:
An amazing video of the Fokker G.1. The aircraft seen in the beginning is the G.1 Hispano Prototype (Early), and later in the video there is a G.1 Mercury.
