- Design and development
- Operational history
- Surviving aircraft
- Operators
- Specifications (E.III)
- See also
- References
- External links
| name = Fokker E.III | image = Fokker Eindecker takeoff profile view.jpg | caption = Fokker E.III taking off }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type = Fighter | manufacturer = Fokker-Flugzeugwerke | designer = Anthony Fokker | first flight = 1915 | introduced = December 1915 | retired = | status = | primary user = Luftstreitkräfte | more users = | produced = 1915-1916 | number built = 594 | unit cost = ca. 30.000ℳ | variants with their own articles = Fokker E.I - Fokker E.II
}} |
The Fokker E.III was the main variant of the Eindecker (literally meaning "one deck") fighter aircraft of World War I. It entered service on the Western Front in December 1915 and was also supplied to Austria-Hungary and Turkey. Design and developmentThe E.III was basically an E.II fitted with larger, newly designed wings that had a slightly narrower chord of 1.80 meter (70-7/8 in), compared to 1.88 meter (74 in) on the earlier Eindeckers, going back to Fokker's original M.5 monoplane aircraft. The E.III retained the same 75 kW (100 hp) Oberursel U.I engine, and therefore also used the larger diameter "horseshoe" pattern cowling that also mandated the inclusion of the E.II's soffit-like extensions to the sides of the upper nose sheet metalwork, but had a larger 81 l (21.5 gal) drum-shaped main fuel tank just behind the cockpit, which increased the Eindecker{{'}}s endurance to about 2½ hours; an hour more than the E.II. Most E.IIIs were armed with a single 7.92 mm (.312 in) Spandau LMG 08 machine gun with 500 rounds of ammunition; however, after the failure of the twin-gun Fokker E.IV as a viable successor, some E.IIIs were fitted with twin guns. Fokker production figures state that 249 E.IIIs were manufactured; however, a number of the 49 E.IIs were upgraded to E.III standard when they were returned to Fokker's Schwerin factory for repairs. Operational historyThe E.III was the first type to arrive in sufficient numbers to form small specialist fighter units, Kampfeinsitzer Kommandos (KEK) in early 1916. Previously, Eindeckers had been allocated singly, just as the E.I and E.II had been, to the front-line Feldflieger Abteilungen that carried out reconnaissance duties. On 10 August 1916, the first German Jagdstaffeln (single-seat fighter squadrons) were formed, initially equipped with various early fighter types, including a few E.IIIs, which were by then outmoded and being replaced by more modern fighters. Standardisation in the Jagdstaffeln (and any real success) had to wait for the availability in numbers of the Albatros D.I and Albatros D.II in early 1917. Turkish E.IIIs were based at Beersheba in Palestine while others operated in Mesopotamia during the Siege of Kut-al-Amara. Surviving aircraftThe only known surviving original Eindecker, bearing IdFlieg serial number 210/16, was brought down in the Somme area in 1916 by the British and then evaluated by the War Office until it was transferred to the London Science Museum in 1918. It is currently on display fully assembled, but with its fabric covering removed to illustrate its internal construction.[1] Operators- {{flag|Austria-Hungary}}
- Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen
- Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine
- {{BUL}}
- {{flag|German Empire}}
- Luftstreitkräfte
- Kaiserliche Marine
- {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}
- Ottoman aviation squadrons were supplied with 22 E.III aircraft.
Specifications (E.III){{Aircraft specs
|ref=German Aircraft of the First World War[2][3]
|prime units?=met
|genhide=
|crew=1
|capacity=
|length m=7.2
|length ft=
|length in=
|length note=
|span m=9.52
|span ft=
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|width m=
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|height m=2.4
|height ft=
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|wing area sqm=16
|wing area sqft=
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|volume m3=
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|empty weight kg=399
|empty weight lb=
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|gross weight kg=610
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|lift kg=
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|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Oberursel U.I
|eng1 type=9-cyl. rotary engine
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=100
|eng1 shp=
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|max speed kmh=140
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|endurance=1.5 hours
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=11,810
|ceiling note=
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|climb rate ms=3.3
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- {{convert|1,000|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} in 5 minutes
- {{convert|3,000|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} in 30 minutes
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|guns=1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 machine gun offset to starboard, synchronised to fire through the propeller.
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See also{{Aircontent|
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=- List of military aircraft of Germany
- List of fighter aircraft
|see also=- Airdrome Eindecker E-III - replica of the E.III
}}References1. ^
2. ^{{cite book|last=Gray|first=Peter|author2=Owen Thetford|title=German Aircraft of the First World War|publisher=Putnam & Company Ltd.|location=London|year=1970|edition=2nd|pages=109–112|isbn=0-370-00103-6}}
3. ^Winchester, 12
- {{cite book|last=Winchester|first=Jim|title=Fighter: The World's Finest Combat Aircraft—1913 to the Present Day|publisher=Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc. and Parragon Publishing|isbn=0-7607-7957-0|year=2006}}
External links - {{commons category-inline|Fokker E.III}}
- [https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=mg324qXQ&id=07D53850F6558CB38C550BD45686056DD4D8BDAE&thid=OIP.mg324qXQBfnFCIbfLYtCEQHaDa&q=fokker+iii+634+made+1915&simid=608009415670369202&selectedindex=25&qpvt=fokker+iii+634+made+1915&mode=overlay&first=1&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F6%2F62%2FParschau%2527s_E1-15.jpg%2F1280px-Parschau%2527s_E1-15.jpg&exph=589&expw=1280 Fokker E.III 634 made 1915]
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