Fokker B.II (Austro-Hungary)

The Fokker B.II was the Austro-Hungarian designation for the Fokker M.17E biplane, used as a training aircraft by their air force from 1916 until 1918. The M.17 was ordered in place of the M.16, after that aircraft crashed during tests. On 13 April 1916, one example of the M.17E was sent to the Austro-Hungarian evaluation centre at Wiener-Neustadt, and an order was placed for twenty four slightly modified aircraft.

The Fokker B.II as produced for the Austro-Hungarians featured an improved rear-fuselage, which made the tail assembly more robust. The rectangular rudder of the M.17E was replaced with the more rounded rudder used on the Fokker E.III. The aircraft was to be armed with one 7.92mm Bergmann LMG 15nA machine gun, synchronized to fire through the propeller, and a 8mm Schwarzlose M16 machine gun firing forwards over the upper wing. Due to a misunderstanding, only the first aircraft was delivered with this armament installed.

That first aircraft was sent to Flik II on the Eastern Front for combat evaluation, and was then used as a test bed. Twenty two of the remaining twenty three aircraft were accepted, with the last three arriving in September 1916. They were used as trainers with Fleks 4, 6 and 8 and remained in use until 1918.

Span (Upper): 23,62ft
Length: 20.34ft
Engine: 80hp Oberursel rotary engine
Max Speed: 81mph

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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (28 October 2007), Fokker B.II (Austro-Hungary) , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_fokker_bII.html

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