Tricycle Style

An unusual and innovative prototype

- Rob Van Dodewaard

Design for the Fokker D-XXIII commenced in 1937 under the designation 'Type 156, and the aircraft was unveiled at the Paris Aviation Salon in 1938. It's unconventional push -pull propeller design saw the type draw a lot of attention during the salon. The aircraft was powered by two Walter Sagitta I-SR air cooled engines, chosen chiefly because they were already available, but the intention was for more powerful Rolls Royce or Daimler engines to be installed on production models. Another novelty, especially in the late 1930s, was that the aircraft had a retractable nose gear.

The wing on the prototype was made out of wood with a thick chord, but on production models this was intended to be a thinner metal wing. The first flight was on 30 May 1939 with Fokker's test pilot Gerben Sonderman at the controls. The design suffered from cooling problems with the engines, especially the rear, so later in the test programme the air intakes for the rear engine were enlarged and the top of its cowling was altered. Another problem encountered was how to evacuate the aircraft in case of an emergency, hence the two bars installed on the front fuselage.

Only about eleven test flights were made before the undercarriage was damaged in April 1940. Soon after this Holland was invaded by Germany and the aircraft flew no more, and sadly was dismantled in 1941.