Why was the Fokker D VII A Good Plane?

In message , vincent p.
norris writes
The point I was making was that the "Fortress" was unable to protect
its crews as the USAAC (and other air forces) had fondly believed
before the war.....

I don't think anyone could possibly dispute that!

and that aerial bombardment in WWII by and large
failed to live up to the hopes and fears of the generals

The "Strategic Bombing Survey" conducted after the war came to the
same conclusion. German production actually increased during the war.

German production increased after about '43 because they drafted women
into the factories and also put most of the factories on a 3-shift 24
hour day.

Mike
--
M.J.Powell

The point I was making was that the "Fortress" was unable to protect
its crews as the USAAC (and other air forces) had fondly believed
before the war, and that aerial bombardment in WWII by and large failed to
live up to the hopes and fears of the generals, at least
until Little Boy made accuracy irrelevant.

When noting that at one point 63% of bomber crews failed to complete their
tours, you could have added that towards the end of the campaign -many-
completed their tours and never even saw a German fighter.

But you didn't do that.

Walt

When noting that at one point 63% of bomber crews failed to complete their
tours, you could have added that towards the end of the campaign -many-
completed their tours and never even saw a German fighter.

But what did this have to do with the Fortress's ability to protect
itself? Toward the end of the campaign, that job was done by fighter
pilots in P-51 Mustangs.

Actually, I didn't say that of one sample, 63 percent failed to
complete their tours. I said that 63 percent of the men were killed or
captured before completing 25 missions. Crikey, we might as well have
sent them to war in yellow school busses.

You also seem to misunderstand the purpose of a book review. I
reviewed the book that was written. If you write a different one, and
if it is as good as Air Power, maybe I'll be given the assignment to
review it.

www.warbirdforum.com/airpower.htm


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! blog www.vivabush.org

Cub Driver writes:

It was the work of Ludwig Prandtl, and was the culmination of WWI
design. It had long, narrow wings for a superior lift-to-drag ratio.
The wings had blunt leading edges, which generated more lift (other
Prandtl designs also used this feature) especially a high angles of
attack, so it was less likely to stall out. The thicker airfoil also
allowed interior bracing, so the D VIII needed no struts or wires. (It
was given one, for psychological reasons, but was still much cleaner
than the other aircraft of the time.)

The Armistice document listed the war material that Germany was
required to turn over. Only one aircraft was named, the Fokker D VIII.

Dan, I don't have the background to decide whether you made a typing
error or not. The original poster asked about the biplane Fokker
D.VII, not the monoplane D.VIII.

--
G Hassenpflug * IJN & JMSDF equipment/history fan

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 21:37:43 +0900, Gernot Hassenpflug
wrote:

Dan, I don't have the background to decide whether you made a typing
error or not. The original poster asked about the biplane Fokker
D.VII, not the monoplane D.VIII.

Arggh!

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! blog www.vivabush.org

I wondered about that myself. If it was a typo, Dan was consistant!

It was the work of Ludwig Prandtl, and was the culmination of WWI
design. It had long, narrow wings for a superior lift-to-drag ratio.
The wings had blunt leading edges, which generated more lift (other
Prandtl designs also used this feature) especially a high angles of
attack, so it was less likely to stall out. The thicker airfoil also
allowed interior bracing, so the D VIII needed no struts or wires. (It
was given one, for psychological reasons, but was still much cleaner
than the other aircraft of the time.)

The Armistice document listed the war material that Germany was
required to turn over. Only one aircraft was named, the Fokker D VIII.

You're confusing the D VII (biplane, probably the best all-around fighter of
the war) with the D VIII (parasol monoplane with rotary engine, not as well
regarded).

R / John

Rule 4: Integrity is not negotiable!

"Matthew G. Saroff" wrote in message
...
Looking at the stats, it seems fairly ordinary for late
WWI fighters, but it's always described as dominating the skys
over the Western Front.
--
--Matthew Saroff
Rules to live by:
1) To thine own self be true
2) Don't let your mouth write no checks that your butt can't cash
3) Interference in the time stream is forbidden, do not meddle in
causality
Check http://www.pobox.com/~msaroff, including The Bad Hair Web Page