Fokker F-10

The Fokker F-10 was an enlarged development of the Fokker F.VII airliner, built in the late 1920s by the Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America. It was a trimotor passenger aircraft, and it carried 12 passengers. This was four more than the F.VII it was based on, and it had a larger wing and more powerful engines than that design. A crash of this aircraft in 1931, lead to widespread reforms in the U.S. aviation industry and hurt the reputation of wooden winged' aircraft, especially the Fokker Tri-motor types.

Operational history[edit]

Fokker built 65 for commercial and military service. After the crash of a Transcontinental & Western Air F-10 in 1931, killing Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne and seven others, which was caused by the deterioration of the wooden wing spar, the type was temporarily grounded, and it was required to undergo more frequent and rigorous inspection. Its public image was also greatly damaged, leading to its early retirement from U.S. airlines.

American Airways

TWA

Pan Am

Universal Airlines

(launch customer ^[2])

Western Air Express

Boston-Maine Airways

[3]

On June 10, 1929, a Pan Am F-10, registration NC9700 and named Cuba, struck telephone wires and crashed while taking off from Santiago de Cuba bound for Havana, killing two of five on board. The aircraft failed to gain altitude due to a waterlogged runway.

On March 31, 1931, near Bazaar, Kansas after a wing separated in flight, killing all eight on board, including football coach Knute Rockne.

a Transcontinental & Western Air F-10 crashed

On March 19, 1932, an American Airways F-10A, registration NC652E, struck power lines in heavy fog and crashed into an orchard near , killing all seven on board.

Calimesa, California

On September 8, 1932, an American Airways F-10, registration NC9716, crashed into a mountain in poor weather near , killing three of four on board.

Salt Flat, Texas

Crew: 1 pilot

Capacity: 12 passengers

Length: 50 ft 8 in (15.44 m)

Wingspan: 71 ft 2 in (21.69 m)

Height: 12 ft 5 in (3.78 m)

Wing area: 728 sq ft (67.6 m²)

Empty weight: 6,550 lb (2,971 kg)

Gross weight: 11,500 lb (5,216 kg)

Powerplant: 3 × 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 425 hp (317 kW) each

Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp

Propellers: 3-bladed metal propellers

Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1928,^[5] Aero Favourites:Fokker F.10.^[6]

General characteristics

Performance

Fokker F.VII

Avro 618 Ten

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

. Flight. XX (50): 1048–1049. December 13, 1928. Retrieved October 17, 2012. A contemporary technical article on the Fokker F-10. (Though the article does not mention the long-winged F-10A, the table of specs at the end appear to be for this version. Specs in the rest of the article are for the original F-10.)