By William Pearce

In the never-ending quest for speed, KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) asked the Fokker Aircraft Corporation to design an aircraft for its East Indies route that could fly some 35 mph (56 km/h) faster than the Fokker F.XVIII then in service. Fokker’s response was a trimotor design that could accommodate 12 passengers and three crew members. The new aircraft, the Fokker F.XX Zilvermeeuw (Herring Gull), was the last wooden aircraft and last trimotor built by Fokker. However, it was the first Fokker-built aircraft with retractable landing gear.

The Fokker F.XX: the pinnacle of the Fokker trimotors.

The Fokker F.XX was revealed on 20 December 1932. The aircraft was built under the direction of Marius Beeling and featured a fabric covered fuselage of steel tube construction. The fuselage used an elliptical cross section, another design-first for Fokker, who had used rectangular fuselages on their earlier aircraft. The F.XX’s high-wing had a wooden structure and was plywood covered. The plywood skin was omitted from the lower wing section running through the cabin so that more headroom was available for the passengers.

The aircraft was originally powered by three 650 hp (485 kW), nine-cylinder, air-cooled Wright Cyclone R-1820-F engines, all housed in NACA cowlings. One engine was in the nose of the aircraft, and the others were each in a nacelle suspended under each wing by struts. Later, KLM replaced the engines with more powerful 690 hp (515 kW) Wright Cyclone R-1820-F.2 engines. Metal, two-blade, ground-adjustable propellers were initially used. However, when the uprated engines were installed, metal Hamilton Standard propellers that were adjustable in-flight were used.

The Fokker F.XX under constructions in 1933.

The Fokker F.XX was 54.8 ft (16.7 m) long and had a span of 84.3 ft (25.7 m). The aircraft weighed 11,795 lb (5,350 kg) empty and 19,510 lb (8,850 kg) loaded. Range with full fuel was 1,056 mi (1,700 km), and range with full payload was 400 mi (645 km). The aircraft’s service ceiling was 21,650 ft (6,600 m). Maximum speed of the F.XX was 190 mph (305 km/h), and cruise speed was 155 mph (250 km/h).

The F.XX carried the Dutch registration PH-AIZ and made its first flight on 3 June 1933, piloted by Emil Meineche. For this first flight, the engine cowlings were omitted and the undercarriage was not retracted. During a test on 29 June 1933, it was found that heavy aileron vibration occurred as speed was increased. This phenomenon was solved by adding 70 lb (32 kg) of balance weights to the ailerons. Flight testing resumed on 11 August 1933.

The F.XX probably undergoing early flight tests with the large gear doors still installed and short engine nacelles.

It was also discovered that when the landing gear was deployed, the large door in front of each main wheel caused turbulence that resulted in severe vibrations of the tail section. The doors were reduced in size, but the problem persisted. Eventually, the doors were removed altogether. During the flight test program, the engine nacelles were lengthened to reduce drag. The flight test program, the airworthiness trials, and the acceptance flights were completed over the course of four months, encompassing 62 flights that totaled 37 hours in the air.

On 18 December 1933, the Fokker F.XX made its KLM debut on a special Christmas mail flight to the East Indies. The objective was to fly as fast as possible to the Dutch colonies in competition with another aircraft, the Pander S.4 Postjager, to inaugurate a special mail service.

Inflight image of the Fokker F.XX showing its graceful lines.

The Pander Postjager had departed earlier but was stranded in Italy because of an engine failure, leaving the Fokker F.XX poised to win the competition. However, engine trouble was experienced during a warm-up, and the F.XX was grounded. Work to repair the F.XX would take too much time, and KLM quickly prepared a Fokker F.XVIII for the Christmas flight. It was a disastrous public failure for the new F.XX, one from which it never fully recovered.

Although the F.XX was a more advanced design than earlier Fokker aircraft, the eminent arrival of twin-engine, low-wing, metal aircraft (like the Douglas DC-2) rendered it obsolete. In addition, the negativity surrounding the failed Christmas flight meant that there would no production contract for the Fokker F.XX. Quietly and shrewdly, Fokker Aircraft Corporation obtained manufacturing rights for the DC-2.

The F.XX with the gear doors removed and lengthened engine nacelles.

However, the F.XX’s reputation was boosted when KLM began using the aircraft on a fast London-Amsterdam-Berlin service starting 1 March 1934. On the Amsterdam-Berlin leg of the flight, the aircraft achieved an impressive average speed of 157 mph (253 km/h). Also in 1934, the F.XX flew 1,535 hours; this was nearly double KLM’s 850 flight hour average with the F.XVIII.

The F.XX was in service with KLM for only a few years. In September 1936, the aircraft was sold to Alain Pilain of France and registered as F-APEZ. Mr. Pilain represented the fictitious airline Air Tropique, which was a cover for another organization: the Société Française de Transports Aériens (SFTA). SFTA was a purchasing agent for the Spanish Republicans disguised as a French air transport service.

The Fokker F.XX in service with the Spanish Republicans and with a camouflage paint scheme as seen at Le Bourget, France in 1937.

SFTA flew the aircraft to Spain in October 1936, where it carried the governmental registration EC-45-E and was used in the Spanish Civil War. The F.XX was painted in a camouflaged scheme and used to transport various cargoes (including gold bullion and jewelry) between Spain and France.

It was not a very popular aircraft, especially after one of its Wright engines was replaced with a Walter-built Mercury engine from a Letov S-231 fighter, and at least one other engine was replaced with a Shvetsov M-25 engine from Polikarpov I-16 fighter. The engine changes resulted in a vicious yaw on takeoff. The F.XX served with the Republicans until early February 1938 when, piloted by Eduardo Soriano, it was destroyed in a crash near Barcelona at Prat de Llobregat Airport.

The following is a video of the Fokker F.XX Zilvermeeuw filmed in 1933 and uploaded by BeeldenGeluid.

Sources:
– “The Fokker F.XX,” Flight (5 October 1933)
– “Fokker’s Trimotors Go To War,” Air Enthusiast, No. 13 August–November 1980 by Gerald Howson
– Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft 1934 by C.G. Grey (1934)
– Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 by Gerald Howson (1990)
– Fokker: Aircraft Builders to the World by Thijs Postma (1979/1980)
– http://www.dutch-aviation.nl/index5/Civil/index5-2%20F20.html