Fokker D-23
Model Airplane News Cover Art for March, 1933
by Jo Kotula
Click to Enlarge

The Fokker D.23 (or D-XXIII) was a very unorthodox late 1930s fighter that was built as a prototype only; it was a twin-engined, single-seat fighter with in-line engines in a tandem arrangment, tractor in the nose and pusher in the end of the central nacelle. Slender booms carried the tailplane. This was Fokker's last fighter.

  

Photos of the Fokker D-23
Click to Enlarge

A very realistic mock-up was showed at the Paris Airshow of 1938 and the prototype made its first flight in May 1939. It was a very futuristic design but flying was quite troublesome due to serious overheating problems of the rear engine. At that time, Fokker studied the possibilities of a ejection seat, since the rear pusher propellor made it impossible to leave the cockpit. The start of the war prevented any further work on the D.23 and in total it only made 11 flights with a total flying time of about 4 hours. When the Germans invaded the Netherlands, the prototype was seized. It never flew again; the engines were dismantled and transported to Germany and the remaining airframe was finally scrapped in 1940.

Here is a video of ta large scale radio-controlled model of the Fokker D-23:

Click Here for more information about the Fokker D-23.

Click to go back and select another cover.

Counter for the Entire Site (not just this page..)