Fokker E.I

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E.I

Max Immelmann of Feldflieger Abteilung 62 in the cockpit of his Fokker E.I.
Type	Fighter
Manufacturer	Fokker
Designed by	Anthony Fokker
Maiden flight	Early 1915
Primary user	Imperial German Army Air Service
Produced	1915-1916
Number built	54

The Fokker E.I was the first successful fighter aircraft, entering combat with the German Army Air Service in mid-1915. Its arrival at the front marked the start of a period known as the "Fokker Scourge" during which the E.I and its Fokker Eindecker successors achieved a measure of air superiority over the Western Front.

The E.I was essentially a copy of the 1913 French Morane-Saulnier M - built for the German Air Service as the Fokker M.5K single-seat reconnaissance aircraft (military designation A.III). It was transformed into a formidable fighter when it was fitted with the newly-developed synchronizer gear firing a single Parabellum LMG 14 or Spandau LMG 08 machine gun through the spinning propellor. Indeed the first five E.Is had been ordered and were under construction as A.IIIs but were completed as M.5K/MG aircraft, retaining the earlier "shoulder-wing" placement of the A.III type. Subsequent production E.Is had their wings lowered slightly from the M.5's shoulder configuration (level with the top of the fuselage) which improved pilot visibility. (These were designated by Fokker as the M.14 which was also used for the following two Eindecker variants.)

Two German pilots, Leutnants Otto Parschau and Kurt Wintgens, worked very closely with Anthony Fokker in early 1915 during the introduction of the M.5K/MG aircraft to evaluational service. Parschau was given the first production M.5K/MG, serial number E.1/15. Wintgens received the last aircraft, serial number E.5/15. Wintgens was flying this aircraft when he scored the first true fighter victory in aviation history on July 1, 1915, over a two-seat Morane-Saulnier Type L parasol monoplane.

The E.I was mainly flown by the ordinary Fliegertruppe of the German Army - the formation of specialised fighter squadrons in the German air service was still to come. Two were supplied to the Austro-Hungarian air force and five to the Kaiserliche Marine in April 1916. The E.I was soon joined by the improved Fokker E.II and, as the first E.Is were entering service in June 1915, the first of the E.II type was being demonstrated by Anthony Fokker. However, E.I production continued in parallel with the E.II and output of the types depended on the availability of the Oberursel engines; the 80-hp U.0 copy of the Gnôme Lambda rotary engine for the E.I and the 100-hp U.I copy of the Gnôme Monosoupape for the E.II. In fact, E.Is were still being produced in 1916 well after E.II production had ceased, having been superseded by the Fokker E.III. In all 54 were delivered^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Operators

[edit] Specifications (E.I.)

General characteristics

Crew: one, pilot
Length: 7.22 m (23 ft 7 in)
Wingspan: 9.7 m (32 ft 11½ in)
Height: 2.9 m (9 ft 5½ in)
Wing area: 15.9 m² (172.2 ft²)
Empty weight: 360 kg (789 lb)
Loaded weight: 563 kg (1,241 lb)
Powerplant: 1× Oberursel U.0 7-cylinder air-cooled rotary engine , 80 hp (59.6 kW)