Fokker A.III A16/15

[Hans]

Folks,
I am trying to gather some informations on the Parabellum armed Fokker A.III, military no A16/15, flown by Ltn. O. Parschau.

My primary source are the two pictures by Greg VanWyngarden in his splendid Osprey "Early German Aces" on page 8 and 9. It shows clearly the letteríng "Lt.Parschau" and the FFA 62 black&white bands. The drawing on page 39 renders this a/c and shows it with round "cheeks" on the right side.
The wing is clearly still in the upper position.

Some other sources say that this a/c was Werknummer 216, a A.III (M5K), the very first Eindecker fitted with a synchronized gun. In the Squadron Signal "Fokker Eindecker" there is a picture of 216, sans wings, showing a large rectangular right 'cheek'. The same picture is in Alex Imrie's Fokker Fighters of WWI, page 8.

"Fokker Flugzeugwerke" by Peter Grosz and Volker Koos shows a M5K on page 31, no FFA markings, but with the wings in the standard lower position. They also state that this was Werk No.216.

So, I have two questions:

Are there any informations that Fokker A.III A16/15 was WerkNr 216?
If not, which 'cheeks' did A16/15 have? Very similiar to 216, I presume.

And: How much larger was the cockpit opening of the A.III /M5K compared to a E.I or E.II/III. Was it larger?

Any help is appreciated! Thank you!

H.

[YavorD]

Hello, Hans!
As much as I understood from the text and the photo caption, Peter Grosz and Volker Koos assume the M 5 K MG in question (W.Nr.216) is shown with lowered wing position without wing root "windows", accepted on May 30, 1915 as A.III A.16/15 (E designation not yet invented).
I have no idea at which point the cockpit was changed.
Regards,
Yavor

P.S. A photos of a "plain" M 5 K and a cockpit of an armed version.

[Hans]

Yavor, that's I understood the captions also. What confuses me are the picture in GVW's Osprey Book. They clearly proof that A.III A 16/15 was on his tour of duty BEFORE the wings where lowered. In the Flugzeugwerke W.Nr. 216 is shown with the wings in the lower position. So there are two possibilities: The Flugzeugwerke picture was taken after Parschau FFA 62 tour or A.III A 16/15 is not WerkNr 216.

[Cigogne]

The top photo is of the first M5k prototype w/ the 50 h.p. Gnôme/Oberursel. The cheeks and cowling were smaller in proportion to those of the machines used in service so aren't an exact comparison.

[Hans]

The second photo shows an E.I. The "cheeks" of these parabellum armed early version are well covered in the Windsock E.I and other publications. Due to the individuality of the very first machines it is hard to pin down an exact scheme for each.

[josef scott]

Hans,

It sounds as if you have the Fok E.I/II Datafile. If so, it contains all of the photographic info of which I am aware regarding this airfframe.

Photo 24 and 25 are the same as the 2 pics in "Early German Aces...", except less is cropped off. The werknummer, 216, is visible (unusually) between the rear spar attachment and the upper longeron, and the A.16/15 is also in view. Harry Dempsey's profile is incorrect regarding the cowling. In this guise, with higher wings, it would probably have looked very much like the Datafile photos 43 & 44 of E 4/15 (w/n 194), "square" on both sides.

As is obvious from the photos, this aircraft went through a lot of changes. I believe the "wingless" photo was the next stage. The ammunition storage seen on this photo bears very little resemblance to those used on the E.I's. The final "low-wing" photo may have kept this style of storage.

Most unusual about this M5K is the gas tank located behind the cockpit, possibly suggesting this aircraft may have been born an M5L. Fokker E.I's don't have this. Parschau had considerable experience flying the M5L at the front and may have preferred the extra fuel capacity/longer endurance that it offered.

The second photo that Yavor posted is actually an M14 (w/n 257), the E.II prototype that Anthony Fokker used for his demonstration at Stenay in June 1915. However, it may still reflect how the starboard side of A 16/15's nose was cowled.

The cockpit on A 16/15 would have been a bit larger. The aft bulkhead would be the same, but the front upper decking/cockpit-coaming was closer to the inverted-"V" pylon.

[Hans]

Josef, this helps a lot. Thank you!

The "wingless" photo shows WerkNr 216 with the wings already lowered, so this photo was made after O.Parschau made his tour. All markings are removed now - if WerkNr 216 was Parschau's A 16/15.

H

[YavorD]

Thank you!
W.Nr.216 is quite a puzzle. Going through my notes collected from various sources I found several question marks.

• Fok. A.III A.16/15 Lt. Parschau (M 5 K W.Nr.216(?)) converted to M.5K/MG (Parabellum) and delivered on 30 May 1915, FFA 62 (Fokker Flugzeugwerke im Deutschland 1912-1921; Early German Aces of WW1 - Osprey Aircraft of the Aces - 73).
• Fok. E.1/15 W.Nr.191 (or 216(?)) Max Immelman, FFA 62, Douai, August 1915.
• Fok. E.6/15 "Habicht" (M.14, possibly W.Nr.216) armed with the Parabellum LMG14, Oberursel U.0 engine, flown by Unteroffizier Dietrich from FFA 24 (Fokker Fighters of World War One by Alex Imrie).

Is there a confirmation concerning Fok. E.2/15 W.Nr.192(???)?
What about Fok. E.8/15 (E.II?) W.Nr.???

Regards,
Yavor

[josef scott]

Fok E 8/15 is pretty easy - lots of photos of this aircraft - w/n 258.

I have always wondered if there was a possibility that E. 1/15 might be w/n 216. I know of no photo other than the one with Parschau sitting on it, and it looks very much like that last photo of w/n 216, even possibly a rear gas tank!

I doubt very highly that E 1/15 was used by Immelmann at Douai. At first only E3/15 was there, used by Boelcke while Immelmann inherited his LVG CI, then 13/15 came shortly after, which Immelmann operated for all of his early victories until he, again, inherited Boelcke's E 37/15, which had come in the interim. Specifically, only one and then two Eindeckers are ever mentioned as in use by FA62 for the first few months. I would think that E.1/15 was in use somewhere else as the Parabellum-armed Eindeckers demonstrated their inadequacies early on.

[YavorD]

Thank you very much, Josef!
Yavor