Before the "Red Baron" made the Fokker triplane fighter his last mount-of-choice in World War 1 (1914-1918), there was a progressive road undertaken by the company to perfect the three-winged design inspired by the British Sopwith Triplane (detailed elsewhere on this site). The Sopwith Triplane made its first, and very successful, combat debut in February of 1917 and immediately changed Fokker design plans with their earlier V.4 prototype. This model was eventually passed on to the Austro-Hungarians for evaluation and work by Fokker continued on the triplane-minded V.5 and V.6 prototypes in parallel. The V.5 - essentially an improved form of the V.4 - won out over the competing V.6 and laid the framework for the Fokker Dr.I triplane seen in the latter war years. The V.5 was also known as the "F.I".
Design of the V.5 is attributed to Reinhold Platz who also designed the V.4 and V.6 triplane prototypes.
As expected, the triplane wing arrangement was carried over from the earlier V.4 and many design features common to warplanes of the period were in play - an open-air cockpit, fixed, wheeled undercarriage, front-mounted engine driving a two-bladed wooden propeller, and traditional single-finned tail unit. Power to the series was from a Le Rhone rotary piston engine of 110 horsepower. Three V.5 aircraft were completed and these served in testing the nuances of triplane flight.
The stage was now set to move the line onto the Fokker V.6 - which also ended its days as a prototype and nothing more.
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
✓Air-to-Air Combat, Fighter
General ability to actively engage other aircraft of similar form and function, typically through guns, missiles, and/or aerial rockets.
✓X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.
Length
18.7 ft (5.70 m)
Width/Span
23.6 ft (7.20 m)
Height
9.7 ft (2.95 m)
Empty Wgt
882 lb (400 kg)
MTOW
1,268 lb (575 kg)
Wgt Diff
+386 lb (+175 kg)
(Showcased structural values pertain to the Fokker V.5 production variant)
Installed:
1 x Le Rhone rotary piston engine developing 110 horsepower and driving two-bladed wooden propeller at nose.
PROPOSED:
2 x 7.92mm LMG 08/15 machine guns over the nose set to fire through the spinning propeller blades.
Supported Types
(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)
Hardpoint Mountings: 0
V.5 - Base Series Designation; three prototypes completed.
Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.
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Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), and SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane.
German Empire
