A Dutch high-wing monoplane airliner built by Fokker from 1924, offered with one engine and then, from 1925, with three. Its trimotor versions carried the Southern Cross across the Pacific, took Richard Byrd over the North Pole in 1926 and kept the U.S. Army's Question Mark in the air for 150 hours. Developed by Fokker.
A Dutch high-wing monoplane airliner built by Fokker from 1924, offered with one engine and then, from 1925, with three. Developed by Fokker.
See Specifications for full detail.
The Fokker F.VII is a Dutch high-wing monoplane airliner built by Fokker from 1924. It was sold as a single-engine aircraft and then, from 1925, as a three-engine aircraft, and it carried 8 passengers or a load of mail. About 200 were built in total, including under licence in six other countries. [1]
Its fame rests on a short run of long flights between 1926 and 1929: Richard Byrd's North Pole flight, the first flight from California to Hawaii, Charles Kingsford Smith's Pacific crossing and the 150-hour Question Mark endurance record. [1] [2]
Walter Rethel designed the F.VII as a single-engine transport, and five were built for KLM. One of them, H-NACC, was used in 1924 for the first flight from the Netherlands to the Dutch East Indies. Sources give the first flight of the type as 11 April 1924 or 24 November 1924, and they do not agree on a single date. [1]
Reinhold Platz, Fokker's head designer, then fitted three 200 hp Wright Whirlwind engines to a single-engine F.VIIA to make the F.VIIA-3m. It won the Ford Reliability Tour in late 1925, and that result sold the trimotor layout in the United States, where the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation began building its own versions. [1]
The F.VIIB-3m became the main production version, with about 154 built including licensed aircraft. Total production runs from 184 to over 200 depending on the source. SABCA in Belgium built 29, Avia in Czechoslovakia 18, Plage i Laskiewicz in Poland 11 passenger aircraft and 20 bombers designed by Jerzy Rudlicki, IMAM in Italy three, Spain three and Avro 14 as the Avro Ten. [1]
The Atlantic Aircraft Corporation produced the American F-9 and the enlarged F-10, which carried up to 12 passengers. The Army bought three C-2s in 1926 and eight C-2As in 1928, and the Navy and Marine Corps bought seven TA aircraft. [1]
On 9 May 1926 Richard Byrd flew the F.VIIA-3m Josephine Ford toward the North Pole, a few days before Amundsen's airship flight. Whether Byrd reached the pole remains disputed. On 28 and 29 June 1927 Lieutenants Lester Maitland and Albert Hegenberger flew the Atlantic-Fokker C-2 Bird of Paradise about 2,400 miles from California to Hawaii and won the 1927 Mackay Trophy for it. [1] [3]
In 1928 Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm, with the American navigator Harry Lyon and radio operator James Warner, flew the F.VIIb-3m Southern Cross from Oakland on 31 May and reached Brisbane on 9 June. The Honolulu to Suva leg alone took about 34 and a half hours. The aircraft had started as the Detroiter, built for Hubert Wilkins's Arctic expedition, and Wilkins sold it to them without engines or instruments after a 1926 crash in Alaska. Sidney Myer, a Melbourne businessman, paid for the three Wright Whirlwinds. In September 1928 the same aircraft made the first Tasman Sea crossing, about 1,660 miles. It is preserved in a glass memorial hangar at Brisbane Airport. [4]
The Question Mark was a modified C-2A that took off from Van Nuys at 7:26 am on 1 January 1929 and landed on 7 January after 150 hours, 40 minutes and 14 seconds in the air. Major Carl Spaatz commanded it, with Ira Eaker, Elwood Quesada, Harry Halverson and Sergeant Roy Hooe. Two Douglas C-1 tankers lowered a hose through a hatch in the floor, and the aircraft took on 5,700 gallons of fuel on a 110-mile racetrack between Santa Monica and San Diego. A pair of civilian pilots in a Ryan Brougham beat the record on 26 May 1929 with 172 hours 32 minutes. [2] [3]
KLM flew all five single-engine F.VIIs and 15 F.VIIAs. LOT operated six F.VIIAs and 13 locally built F.VIIB-3ms between 1929 and 1939, while Swissair, Air Orient, CIDNA, Pan Am, American Airways and TWA all flew the type. In Australia, Australian National Airways ran five Avro Tens on daily services in the early 1930s. [1] [5]
Losses were common for a type flown at that time. KLM's H-NACL ran out of fuel and landed at Sandgate, Kent on 21 June 1926 with all five aboard surviving. Reynolds Airways C776 crashed at Dunellen, New Jersey on 17 September 1927, killing seven of 12. Sabena OO-AIN caught fire after leaving Croydon on 11 September 1930, killing both pilots, and KLM PH-AFO failed to take off at Bangkok on 6 December 1931, killing five of seven aboard. [1]
The Australian National Airways Avro Ten Southern Cloud left Sydney for Melbourne at 8:10 am on 21 March 1931 with six passengers and two crew. More than 20 aircraft searched for 18 days and found nothing. On 26 October 1958 a New Zealand carpenter working on the Snowy Mountains Scheme found the wreck by chance while hiking, about 25 km east of the direct route. Investigators concluded severe weather, much worse than forecast, most likely brought it down. [5]
The 1931 crash of a TWA Fokker F-10 that killed the Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne led investigators to question the plywood-laminate wing construction. The type was temporarily banned and American airlines moved toward all-metal aircraft. [1]
The Fokker F.VII has a top speed of 113 kn (130 mph / 210 km/h).
No, the Fokker F.VII has been retired.
The Fokker F.VII first flew on 24 November 1924.
The Fokker F.VII has a range of 750 mi (1,200 km, 650 nmi).
Operators included KLM, Sabena, PLL LOT and Australian National Airways, plus 4 more.
The unit cost is Reported: about 193,500 Swiss francs for a Swissair aircraft in 1929, roughly $736,000 in 2026 dollars, adjusted for CPI inflation.
No F.VII is flying, so none appears on Flightradar24. The aircraft has no ICAO type designator on the map. The Southern Cross is displayed in a memorial hangar at Brisbane Airport.
| Performance | |
| Max Speed | 113 kn (130 mph / 210 km/h) |
|---|---|
| Cruise SpeedCruise Speed — The economical speed an aircraft sustains for the bulk of a flight - lower than maximum speed, chosen for the best balance of time and fuel burn. Glossary → | 96 kn (111 mph / 178 km/h) |
| RangeRange — How far an aircraft can fly without refuelling. Quoted figures vary with payload, speed and reserves - see also ferry range and combat radius. Glossary → | 750 mi |
| Service CeilingService Ceiling — The highest altitude at which an aircraft can still climb at a useful rate (typically 100 ft/min). Above it, the air is too thin to keep climbing meaningfully. Glossary → | 14,400 ft |
| Airframe & Weight | |
| Wingspan | 71 ft 3 in |
| Length | 47 ft 7 in |
| Height | 12 ft 10 in |
| WeightMTOW — Maximum Take-Off Weight - the heaviest an aircraft is certified to be at the start of its take-off run, including fuel, crew, payload and the aircraft itself. Glossary → | empty: 6,834 lb; MTOW: 11,684 lb |
| Power & Payload | |
| Engines | Three Wright Whirlwind nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 220 hp each in most sources (300 hp J-6 in one) |
| Crew | 2 pilots |
| CapacityPayload — Everything an aircraft is carrying that isn't the aircraft or its fuel: passengers, cargo, or weapons. Payload and fuel usually trade off against each other. Glossary → | 8 passengers (up to 10 in some layouts) |
| Program & Service | |
| Manufacturer | Fokker |
| Origin | Netherlands |
| First Flight | 24 November 1924 |
| Service Entry | 1925 |
| Retired | No specific date - phased out from various operators over time |
| Number Built | About 200 across the family; sources range from 184 to over 200 |
| Unit Cost | Reported: about 193,500 Swiss francs for a Swissair aircraft in 1929, roughly $736,000 in 2026 dollars, adjusted for CPI inflation |
10 notable events involving the F.VII, 1926 to 1931. 24 deaths are recorded across the 5 of these with a figure listed. Curated rather than exhaustive.
Richard Byrd's F.VIIA-3m Josephine Ford made a flight he claimed reached the North Pole, a few days before Amundsen's airship flight. Historians still debate whether it got there.
The KLM F.VII H-NACC, the aircraft used for the 1924 flight to the Dutch East Indies, struck the ground in fog at Wolvertem, Belgium and killed both pilots.
Lieutenants Lester Maitland and Albert Hegenberger landed the Atlantic-Fokker C-2 Bird of Paradise in Hawaii on 29 June 1927 after about 2,400 miles from California, the first flight from the mainland to Hawaii.
Reynolds Airways C776 crashed at Dunellen, New Jersey. Seven of the 12 aboard died.
Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, Harry Lyon and James Warner completed the first trans-Pacific flight to Australia, landing at Eagle Farm in Brisbane nine days after leaving Oakland on 31 May 1928.
The U.S. Army's Fokker C-2A Question Mark landed at Van Nuys after 150 hours, 40 minutes and 14 seconds in the air, refuelled in flight from two Douglas C-1 tankers.
A Sabena F.VII caught fire on climb-out from Croydon and crashed, killing both pilots.
Australian National Airways' Avro Ten Southern Cloud (VH-UMF) left Sydney for Melbourne with six passengers and two crew and vanished in severe weather. A search of 18 days found nothing, and the wreck was found by chance on 26 October 1958.
A TWA Fokker F-10, the enlarged derivative of the F.VII, crashed and killed the Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne. The investigation found problems with the plywood-laminate construction, which led to a temporary ban and a move to all-metal aircraft.
KLM's PH-AFO failed to take off at Bangkok and crashed. Five of the seven aboard died.
| F.VII | The original single-engine airliner designed by Walter Rethel, with a 360 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle or 450 hp Napier Lion engine. Five were built, all for KLM. One of them, H-NACC, made the 1924 flight from the Netherlands to the Dutch East Indies, and was later wrecked in fog at Wolvertem, Belgium on 9 July 1926, killing both pilots. |
| F.VIIA | A single-engine eight-passenger development. The first used a 420 hp Packard Liberty engine, and 39 more followed with mostly Bristol Jupiter or Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines. KLM flew 15 of them and the Polish airline LOT six. Many were later converted to the three-engine standard described below. |
| F.VIIA-3m | The trimotor conversion made by Reinhold Platz, Fokker's head designer, who fitted three 200 hp Wright Whirlwind engines to a single-engine F.VIIA. It won the Ford Reliability Tour in late 1925. Probably 18 were built, and many single-engine aircraft were upgraded to this standard. Byrd's Josephine Ford was one. |
| F.VIIB-3m | The main production version, with a longer 71 ft 3 in wing and a wider centre section than the F.VIIA-3m. About 154 were built including licensed aircraft. The Southern Cross, the Australian Avro Tens and the Polish LOT fleet were all of this type. The Atlantic Aircraft Corporation built an American version as the F-9. |
| C-2 / C-2A / C-7 | The U.S. Army Air Corps version, built by the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation with three 220 hp Wright J-5 engines. Three C-2s were built in 1926 and eight C-2As in 1928, including the Question Mark. Re-engined C-2As became C-7s with Wright J-6-9 or R-975 engines. The Navy and Marines had their own TA and RA versions. |
| Licence-built (Avro Ten, SABCA, Avia and others) | Seven companies built F.VIIs under licence. SABCA in Belgium made 29 (28 flown by Sabena), Avia in Czechoslovakia 18, Plage i Laskiewicz in Poland 11 passenger and 20 bomber versions, and IMAM in Italy three as the Ro.10. Spain built three, and Avro built 14 as the Avro 618 Ten with Armstrong Siddeley Lynx engines. |
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