Fokker Super Universal

Fokker Super Universal
Restored Fokker Super Universal at the Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Role	Airliner
Manufacturer	Fokker-America, Canadian Vickers, Nakajima
First flight	March 1928
Number built	ca. 200
Developed from	Fokker Universal

The Fokker Super Universal was an airliner produced in the United States in the late 1920s, an enlarged and improved version of the Fokker Universal, fitted with cantilever wings and an enclosed cockpit. It was subsequently also manufactured under licence in Canada and Japan.

Design and development

The Super Universal was a conventional, high-wing cantilever monoplane with a fully enclosed flight deck and cabin and a fixed undercarriage. Improvements over its forerunner included an enclosed cockpit and new wing that eliminated the requirement for struts, bringing it in line with the rest of Fokker's designs. The preceeding Fokker Universal was built with an open cockpit but many were converted.^[1]

Construction was as per standard Fokker practice, with the wing being made almost entirely of wood with two main spars and light ribs covered in thin sheets of plywood. The fuselage was built up from welded steel tubes, largely cross braced with wires. Fairings, the floor and an internal bulkhead separating the pilot from the cabin were wood. A triangular shaped door gave the pilot access to the cabin. The tail was also built up from steel tubing but used no internal bracing. The main structural members were larger diameter tubes, while smaller tubes gave the structure a small degree of camber. The standard undercarriage consisted of a tailskid with divided main gear legs sprung with Bungee cords and attached to the wings and the fuselage, but floats or skiis could also be fitted.

Operational history

The Super Universal was received enthusiastically in the marketplace, selling better than any other of Fokker-America's designs (some 80 aircraft), and required the company to expand its factory space to meet demand.^[1] A further 15 aircraft were built by Canadian Vickers, and around 100 were built by Nakajima with some of these Japanese aircraft seeing military service as the Ki-6. The United States Navy also evaluated the Super Universal for military service, under the designation XJA-1, but decided not to purchase the type (the JA designation was later re-used for the Noorduyn Norseman). The Fokker Universal was popular as a bush plane and many found their way into the Canadian north.

Super Universal/Nakajima Ki-6 operated by Japan Air Transportation Corporation

The first production Super Universal was named the Virginia by Richard E. Byrd and taken to the Antarctic in 1928. This aircraft was damaged after being ripped from its tiedowns and thrown backwards over one km by winds estimated to have been at least 150 mph, and was abandoned, although Byrd subsequently revisited it to salvage useful parts.

Variants

Nakajima Super Universal

Civilian transport

Ki-6 (Army Type 95 Training Aircraft)

Military transport for the IJAAF

Nakajima-Fokker Super Universal

Nakajima-Fokker Ambulance Aircraft

Nakajima Navy Fokker Reconnaissance Aircraft

Short designation C2N1 and C2N2

C2N1 (Navy land-based reconnaissance aircraft)

Military transport for the IJN

C2N2 (Navy reconnaissance seaplane)

Military transport for the IJN

Manshū Super Universal

Civil and military transport built in Manchukuo (Manchuria)

Operators

Civil

 United States

• Midcontinental Air Express
• Standard Airlines
• National Park Airways
• Universal Airlines

 Canada

• Western Canada Airways

 Japan

• Japan Air Transport

 Manchukuo

• Manchukuo National Airways

Military

 Canada

• Royal Canadian Air Force

 United States

• United States Navy

 Argentina

• Armada Argentina

Survivors

In 1998, a Super Universal originally used for mineral exploration in Canada's north was restored to airworthy condition in Manitoba, and after being flown for a few years was placed on display at the Western Canada Aviation Museum in 2005. Byrd's Fokker Universal was rediscovered by a New Zealand expedition in 1987 and the Antarctic Aviation Preservation Society intends to salvage and restore it.

Specifications

Data from Pioneering in Canadian Air Transport^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: two
• Capacity: 6 passengers
• Length: 36 ft 11 in (11.25 m)
• Wingspan: 50 ft 8 in (15.44 m)
• Height: 9 ft 1 in (2.77 m)
• Wing area: 370 ft² (34.3 m²)
• Empty weight: 3,250 lb (1,474 kg)
• Gross weight: 5,550 lb (2,517 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney Wasp B, 450 hp (336 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 138 mph (222 km/h)
• Range: 680 miles (1,100 km)
• Service ceiling: 19,340 ft (5,900 m)
• Rate of climb: 950 ft/min (4.8 m/s)

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Molson 1974, p. 271.

Bibliography

• Dierikx, Marc. Fokker: A Transatlantic Biography. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997. ISBN 1-56098-735-9.
• Molson, K.M. Pioneering in Canadian Air Transport. Winnipeg: James Richardson & Sons, Ltd., 1974. ISBN 0-919212-39-5.
• Nevin, David. The Pathfinders (The Epic of Flight Series). Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1980. ISBN 0-8094-3256-0.
• Postma, Thijs. Fokker: Aircraft Builders to the World. London: Jane's, 1979. ISBN 0-531-03708-0.
• Seagrave, Sterling. The Bush Pilots (The Epic of Flight Series). Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1983. ISBN 0-8094-3312-5.
• Taylor, Michael J. H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989. p. 410.
• World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing, File 894, Sheet 44.

External links

• Antarctic Aviation Preservation Society
• Fokker Super Universal CF-AAM Returns to Yukon Territory
• Western Canada Aviation Museum