
Fokker G 1 Mercury (more than 1 picture/meer
dan 1 foto)
| The development of this
exceptional aircraft started in 1934. It appeared for the first time at
the Paris Salon in 1936 and became the star of the show. A French
newspaper called it "Le Faucheur" (The Mower) because of its
impressive armament. The G 1 had a mixed construction. The prototype was powered by two 680 hp Hispano Suiza 14-cylinder engines. It was flown for the first time on March 16th, 1937 from the airfield Welschap. After successfull trials it was re-engined to Pratt & Whitney R-1535-SB4-G Twin Wasp junior (825 hp). It also was enlarged and the crew grew to three persons. To the beginning of the war 36 aircraft were built. They were delivered to the Dutch Air Force in 1938/9: Registration numbers 301 - 335. In the time of the German invasion into The Netherlands (May 10th, 1940) 23 aircraft were ready for action. But only 8 managed to get airborne and they destroyed 14 German bombers. The other Fokkers were destroyed on the ground. After hard fights just two days later only two remained. 26 reinforcements were seized from an order destined to Finland.Three of these were made ready to fight. They joined the remaining two aircraft to attack German troop concentrations, but they suffered heavy losses. Those air planes that survived were transported to Germany and tested. The depicted nr. 314 was used by the Germans with the nr. 97. |
|
De ontwikkeling van
dit uitzonderlijke vliegtuig begon in 1934. Het verscheen voor het eerst
op de Parijse Luchtvaartsalon in 1936 en werd de ster van de show. Een
Franse courant noemde hem "Le Faucheur"(de Maaier) vanwege
zijn indrukwekkende bewapening. |

