FOKKER-TEAM-SCHORNDORF                                                            

 The redesign and reconstruction of the

 Fokker Dr.I

by the Fokker-Team-Schorndorf

After we have finished the fuselage of the model in 1:6 scale, we decided to start work on the full size aircraft with the wings.

The outer shape of the airfoil was transfered to large sized plates of ply-wood. These sheets have been produced of finnish birch aircraft plywood and their dimensions have been 1,5 m times 1,5 m. The ribs have been drawn onto the sheets in away that allowed to use most of the material. One of these large ply-wood sheets with the ribs drawn onto was laid upon two other sheets that have been left blank. The whole thing was secured against slipping away by clamps. Following the we used a pad saw to cut out the raw ribs. These ribs have been collected in groups of ten and were cut together to final shape and at least also sanded. The result was the ground work pieces for the further construction of the ribs.

The next thing we had to do was the finishing of the rib cap strips from strips of 9mm x 6mm of fir. On their 9mm width side the strips got a 3mm deep groove. The width of the groove was wide enough to let the plywood of the ribs pass trough. These cap strips have been pushed onto the outer edges of the rib sheets and have been fixed by glue. After they dried the lightening holes of each single rib have been cut out using a hole saw. What was still missing were the strenghtening stripes of plywood glued to the sides of the rib sheets as well as the cut out for the wing main spar and the rear spar.

Now the ribs were finished as raw pieces. We now threw our attention to the production of the wing spars of the aircarft. Each spar consisted of four flanges made from spruce. The thickness of these flanges does not change throughout  the whole wingspan while their width reduced towards the wingtips. Two of these flanges have been put together by the means of 1,5 mm thick ply-wood sheets to form a box spar with a height of 97mm from top to bottom. At first one of these ply-wood covers was nailed and glued to the flanges. At the locations where the wing fittings had to be, special filling piecec of wood have been glued into the box spar before it was closed on the other side. These filling pieces do prevent the sheets of plywood to be pressed together by the force of the screws to secure the fittings. Following this the box spar was closed by the second sheet of 1,5mm thick ply-wood on the opposite side. Two of these box spars have been put together again using 1,5mm thick plywood sheets on top and bottom to achieve a single box-type wing spar with outer dimensions of 100mm x 200mm. During this procedure also only one side was closed while the other side was left open. In regular distance there have been glued special bulckheads inside to the wingspar to prevent it from being twisted by the forces in the air. The design of all three main spars was the same. The only difference laid in the wingspann and the design of the fittings.

All three wings have been constructed by us in the backroom of my fathers electronics shop in Schorndorf. There we did errect some kind of little workshop. Of course, the conditions at least have been some kind of hazardous. But it did work! The wing spar themself have been very long, but not that cumbersome. This changed in the moment we started to pull the ribs onto them. The depth of the wing counted 1000mm. The lower wing was the first to be done by us. The ribs have been pulled onto and the small supporting spar at the end of the wing was pulled in. To finally fix the ribs to the wingspar a jig was needed that secured that the ribs would sit in line. The connection between the ribs and the main wingspar was provided by simple three angular pieces of spruce that have been tacked and glued at both sides of the rib ply to the spar. At the sides of the rib web these pieces covered the full dept between the upper and lower rib flanges. At the top side of the spar and at the underside these three angular spruce pieces were only 40mm long and have been located at the back side of the wing spar only.

Father and son Engels are working together on the triplanes lower wing. Clearly in evidience is the lack of space available at that time.

The structure of all three pairs of wings is the same. After the lower wing was finished as a raw piece and all upcomming problems have been sattled it was relatively easy to assemble the remaining two wings.

What still provided difficulties to us was the lack of space available whithin our small "workshop". To proceed with the assembly of the middle and the upper wing we had to find a place to store the lower wing in the meantime. It was considered the best to hang the wing from the ceiling to get it out of way. The same we then did with the middle wing when completed. Only while assembling the upper wing further minor difficulties rose up. The wing spann of above 7 metres. Now we had to use the full diagonal line of the room to get the wing finished.

Step by step in this way the wings of one of the most famous fighter aircraft of the first world war growed up in the back room of my fathers electronics shop. It was for sure somehow some kind of a magnificant feeling to see something old grow up new. The euphoria became bigger and bigger with every single part that was added to the project. Slowly but steady below our hands an aircraft was put together. The dream that raised within our young hearts some years ago now in the purest sence of the word got wings.

At last the nose covering of 1,2 mm thick ply wood had to be pulled onto the wing ribs. With this the wings nearly have been finished. All over Schorndorf we could then not find a reliable garage or small workshop where we could go on with the work. The only room that we found was a part of a old barn we rented for 150,--German Marks per months. This room whithin the barn was an open one and was located some 5 meters above the floor level with a space of  7,5m x 4m. Above all in the center of this place a hole measuring 2m x 2m for an old not working elevator was situated. The only securing from falling down was provided by a fence of simple wooden sheets. There we now had to put the wings, since they hindered the work in the "workshop" by their size immensely.

Through a window in the back of my fathers shop the wings were brought one by one. Following this they have been put onto the deck of an old Ford Fiesta. With walking speed we carried them that way to the barn that was three miles away in town. Carefully we brought them upstairs where they awaited their covering with linen fabric.

Wolfgang Schuster and Mathias Dobler are bringing one of the wings outside through one of the windows.

From left to right: Harald Fischer, Wolfgang Schuster, Achim Engels and Mathias Dobler. The lower wing is bound down onto the deck of the Ford Fiesta.

Achim Engels And Harald Fischer are bringing the Lower Wing upstairs.

At least it was done! From left to right: Wolfgang Schuster, Mathias Dobler, Achim Engels, Harald Fischer.

The three wings under the rooftop of the barn awaiting their covering.

Meanwhile the work proceeded at the "workshop". Since the triplane used in large numbers steel tubing construction that was welded, we now had to familiarize with that kind of work.Agai the clever books have been consulted by us. But there is a long way from theory to earning practical usefull skills. Of course, our first welding trials could rather more be compared with the work of "roasting jack" then with with good welded seams, but we managed to handle it. The first part we dared to construct was the triplanes rudder. Work went well ahead and the result was a beautiful comma shaped rudder. Shortly afterwards the ailerons followed, then the stabilizer and the elevator. These parts also have been stored away inside the barn.

The simple jig to allow welding of the fuselage side parts.

The raw tobular steel tube frame of the triplanes fuselage.

The garage of Wolfgang Schuster`s family became the welding workshop.

Now heavy work was to be done, since the steel tubings of the fuselage structure had to fit exactly one to another to allow a good welding result. To achieve this we used simple rasps and worked on each tube by hand until it did fit. The welding job was done in the jig which was a simple self made wooden construction to hold all the tubes in place. A regular heating of the tubes whithing the structure is important since the whole structure would otherwise get twisted. The working on the fuselage frame was carried out in the garage of Wolfgang Schuster`s garage. The whole fuselage frame was covered by a protective coating followed by olive green collor after the welding job was done. This again happened at the barn together with all other steel tubing components that have been finsihed earlier. At all the locations where later the fabric covering should be fixed, the tubes have been wrapped by 30mm wide stripes of linen fabric. To this wrapping later the covering could be glued and sewed. Meanwhile the space available at the barn was almost filled up by aircraft components. One could hardly turn around anymore.

The finished raw fuselage right infront of the barn..

The finished fuselage being brought down from the rooftop of the barn to start covering.

The covering procedure was first tried by us using small self built wooden frames and after this went well we started to cover the smaller surfaces such as rudder elevator and ailerons. All covering works have been carried out inside of Wolfgang Schuster`s garage again. Following these smaller parts we also brought the lower wing to the garage and started covering it. This also went well with out problems. The most time consuming process while covering was the sewing of the fabric onto the ribs. To allow the fabric to be sewn to the ribs they have fist been covered with farbric that was laid upon the flanges ond glued to the rib web. Unfortunately we have not been able to cover the middle and the lower wing in the garage, too. The garage was simply not long enough. Allready while covering the lower no single sheet of paper fitted between the wing tip and the closed door. For this reason we covered them at the barn. The fuselage again was covered inside the Garage.

The lower wing just befor beeing covered inside the garage.

The linen fabric beeing pulled onto.

The ready covered lower wing.

The now covered fuselage inside of the garage. Wolfgang Schuster is working on one of the wheels mentioned in the text.

Now we proceeded with the construction of the landing gear. There heve been hints with the aquiring of the streamlined steel tubes needed to go ahead. The meterial came from the U.S., since there was no company found that produces such tubes here in Germany. We did not want to construct it on our own. It would have been possible, but also rather complicated. The wheels turned out from alone. Whithin the barn where our aircraft parts have been stored we found a old fire car. It`s wheels have had exactly the same shape we needed. Diameter, Dimensions, number of spokes, shape, everything did fit like a fist onto an eye - The unly misfortune have been the profiled tires.

Wolfgang Schuster and Renate Engels showing the raw finished undercarriage.

There they stood now really finished. The single construction units of our reconstructed aircraft - the Fokker dr.I. The date of finishing and the time of beeing shiped to the museum at Speyer also approached unstoppable. Up to this point we simply had to think that all parts would also fit together since we worked according to our own drawings. For this reason we decided to assemble the aircraft at least one time for a final testing. Following some considerations we decided to errect the aircraft in the backyard of Wolfgang Schuster`s home. The assembling of the aircraft allmost went as well as the construction itself.

The triplane in the backyard of the Schuster family.

View across the triplanes "business-office".

Approximiately one week long the aircraft stood there in the backyard. Guarded day and night by us - there below the mirabelle tree. It is important to mention the mirabelle tree and it should not be overlooked, since during that week several reporters of different newspapers came to interview us. An really each of this reporters mentioned the mirabelle tree in his report. All the same kind of school! The aircraft became the sensation at all and we hardly could finished the work in time giving all the interviews requested. But by anything that tried to keep us away from finishing work we did it right in time and prepared the aircraft for it`s transport to the museum. The day came and at one evening also the truck of the museum. Heavy hearted we brought the plane onto the truck.

First the wings, then the stabilizer and rudder as well as the elevator. At last the fuselage. It was raining that evening. The truck dissapearded and with it our "child", our childhood dream. Two weeks later we also drove to the museum to assemble the aircraft there.

The aircraft shortly after its arrival at the museum.

What still was missing was the engine and the propeller. These parts we should deliver as reproduction dummy parts as well. One further time we payed Speyer a visit to undertake last changes and corrections on the paintings and markings. The same time we painted all of the works numbers into the right places.

Last changes. From left to right: Wolfgang Schuster, Achim Engels. 

Soon afterwards the dummy propeller and engine also have been finished and could be installed by us. By now the completely finished Fokker triplane hangs from the ceiling of the museum.

Bernd Gaab displaying supperiority above the wood. 

The Propeller and Dummy engine are finished and prepared for their transfer to the museum at Speyer on a saturday morning.

The final finishing at Speyer. From left to right: Steffen Krauter, Achim Engels, Wolfgang Schuster.

We judge this first static reconstruction of the Fokker triplane by the Fokker-Team-Schorndorf as beeing the first step into the right direction of providing a basis for discussion. Basing on the earned knowledge we will evaluate errors and mistakes, to assure the historical knowledge will be saved for future generations in the correct way. For sure there have been made mistakes during the course of reconstruction, but wherever possible they have been corrected. For sure our construction drawings are allways kept up to date, corrected and improved.

We judge our work from the point of view of the historian and in no other way. We are not simply interested in producing reproduction aircraft as usual today, but we rather more be endeavoured to base our documents upon historicaly authentic sources. The triplane constructed by the Fokker-Team-Schorndorf only is the beginning. Further Projects will surely follow and again with these we built upon the help of anybody who might be interested in the matter. You can allways donate historical documents and photographs related to German aviation technology up to 1920 to the archive of the Fokker-Team-Schorndorf. Be sure that will not end up in shelfes.

The product of long and hard work. It was fun!

If you might be interested in construction drawings for the Fokker triplane you will find a list at "technical drawings"

Copyright © 1990-2000 A.S.Engels; historical documents and photographs are free..

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