| Fokker E.III | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Developed from a French
Morane Saulnier type L purchased by Anthony Fokker, the
Fokker "Eindecker" became one of the most feared
machines of the early part of the First World War.
Fokker’s design underwent several modifications throughout
its development and was at first called the M5.
Around the same time Fokker was called upon to develop a method of firing the bullets of a machine gun through the arc of an aircraft’s propeller after a French Morane Saulnier piloted by famed aviator Roland Garros was captured (see Morane Saulnier N). Fokker developed his famous synchronization gear system and installed it on a Fokker M5k monoplane, which soon became known as the Fokker E.I. This aircraft was the first true fighter aircraft of the war and set the stage for a battle of technological superiority between nations that directly influenced the rapid development of aircraft design for the duration of the war. The Aerodrome’s Fokker E.III is a reproduction that was built by Robert Sebring and purchased by Cole Palen in the 1980s. It lacks landing gear and is presently in storage. |
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