Fokker D.VIIs Take Shape In Germany

On the other side of the uncovered, spindly metal fuselages, a craftsman hunches over a table. He is assembling wing ribs in a jig, periodically referring to a drawing. The drawing bears the signature of a junior engineer and was checked by: A. Fokker.

A basket of control surface hinges of a type which has not been used since the 1920s sits, waiting the call. Sometimes you hear the sound of a six-cylinder Daimler-Benz engine being test-run.

And sometimes everybody breaks for a quick round of basketball -- or to post photos of the latest progress on the web.

Because, you see, while every piece is going into a 1917 Fokker DVII fighter, it's not 1917 and we're not quite in the Fokker plant in Berlin -- despite the fact that Tony Fokker himself, the Dutchman whose name was synonymous with the Imperial German Air Service, would recognize every part and every process. We're at Fokker-Team-Schorndorf, an unusual German firm that is dedicated to bringing the German aviation technology of the period before 1920 back to life in the most literal manner.

F-T-S was founded by Achim Engels, who secured its first contract to build a Fokker replica when he was only seventeen. The firm now builds the most accurate replicas of German World War I aircraft ever.

Now, there are other replica World War One aircraft out there. Another European museum is finishing the restoration of a D.VII, in fact, but it is not a very accurate replica: it was built for the Great War movie, The Blue Max. Even Tony Fokker would be hard pressed to distinguish F-T-S's machines from his own, and Achim and his "team" have gone so far as to hunt down period tools such as lathes, and even a sewing machine (for fabric covering) that is the exact same model that was used in the Fokker plant. Nothing is anachronistic, and no shortcuts are made. "Many aircraft of this type are around flying today..." Engels acknowledges, "but none of these do represent what a Fokker-built machine was like. This project is not just a simple replica, but it is a historical study of that aircraft...."

Achim Engels rejects the idea of making updated aircraft with more modern engines, as for example Ron Sands's plans encourage. He has nothing against people who do that, but for him, the history of the technology is more important, too important to be altering the airplanes.

While the airworthy, accurate aircraft replicas are the most visible contribution of F-T-S to the study of the Great War and early aviation in Germany, it's far from all they do. The firm publishes useful monographs on aspects of early European, particularly German, aviation from time to time. These are available at the F-T-S website (see the link at the end). In addition, team members --primarily Achim -- are very active in the small world of World War I aircraft enthusiasts, and F-T-S probably has inspired more reproductions that F-T-S itself will ever actually build.

The long-term goal of F-T-S is even more breathtaking: "We have in mind to create a special aviation museum that compares to nothing else in the world. Not just a few sheds housing a collection of some aircraft put on display, but a real reproduction of the actual area of the Fokker Flugzeugwerke... including the airfield where the aircraft could be shown in flight." What they propose is nothing less than a recreation of the famous Fokker works as a living history exhibit -- a working 1917 aircraft factory that would be open to the public.

Before you say impossible, remember that this guy talked a German museum out of a contract to build an authentic Fokker Dr. I triplane before he was old enough to vote. Even if the Germans were not noted as a serious race, have you ever heard of a museum curator who took wild risks with the organization's money? My money, such as it is, is on Engels and F-T-S to succeed.

The two DVIIs under construction are nearing completion now. One will be Achim's -- and he intends to auction it off; the current bid is 108,000 Euros -- and the other, his friend Wulffo's. Then, what will F-T-S do?

No problem. Achim has an order for another D-VII. Several of them, in fact. And an E-III (the famous Eindecker). And a Pfalz, which has him very excited: "To our knowledge there is no Pfalz D.IIIa reproduction flying today that is made using the original 'Wickelrumpf' (wrapped fuselage) technique." F-T-S is constructing a new building to keep pace with the growth in orders and allow the production line to operate.

The Pfalz has been a difficult project to take on: while many Fokker factory drawings exist, Engels reckons that only 20-percent of what he needs to do the Pfalz is on hand. But you would be foolish to bet against this young entrepreneur. After all, no authentic Fokker DVII existed a couple of years ago, either.

FMI: www.fokker-team.de