“THE REAPER”
Originally shared by Pete Panozzo
HISTORY
Detailing the development and operational history of the Fokker G.I (Reaper) Twin-Engine Heavy Fighter Aircraft. Entry last updated on 2/21/2018. Authored by Dan Alex. Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com. The Fokker G.I “Reaper” began as a private venture in 1936 under the leadership of Dr. Erich Schatzki, head engineer at Fokker. Founded in 1912, Fokker began as a major fighter producer for the German Empire during World War 1. In 1919, the firm relocated to the Netherlands and turned into a dominant player of the civilian airliner market throughout the 1920s and 1930s – this period also known as the “Golden Age of Flight”, a time when the public could not get enough of airplanes and powered flight. Fokker contributed both the G.I and the D.XXI to the Dutch Air Force in the build up to World War 2, but both accomplished little to thwart the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940.
The Heavy Fighter
The G.I was developed as a dedicated “heavy fighter” with military potential from the start – the G.I was an airframe that could match performance against fighters while also being able to deliver a formidable firepower load against enemy bombers. The G.I was part of a select class of heavy fighters – such as the twin-seat, twin-engine Messerschmitt BF 110 of the German Luftwaffe – these machines playing key roles in the early stages of World War 2. By the end of the conflict, however, heavy fighters had given way to dedicated fighter and bomber platforms.
CREW: 2
LENGTH: 35.66 feet (10.87 meters) WIDTH: 56.30 feet (17.16 meters) HEIGHT: 12.47 feet (3.8 meters) WEIGHT (EMPTY): 7,330 pounds (3,325 kilograms) WEIGHT (MTOW): 10,582 pounds (4,800 kilograms) ENGINE: 2 x Bristol Mercury VIII radial piston engines developing up to 830 horsepower each. SPEED (MAX): 295 miles-per-hour (475 kilometers-per-hour; 256 knots) RANGE: 938 miles (1,510 kilometers; 815 nautical miles) CEILING: 32,808 feet (10,000 meters; 6.21 miles) RATE-OF-CLIMB: 44 meters (13 meters-per-minute)
ARMAMENT
ORIGINAL:
2 x 23mm Madsen fixed, forward-firing cannons in nose.
2 x 7.92mm FN-Browning fixed, forward-firing machine guns in nose.
1 x 7.92mm FN-Browning machine gun on trainable mount in rear cockpit.
STANDARD:
8 x 7.9mm fixed, forward-firing FN-Browning machine guns mounted in nose.
1 x 7.9mm trainable machine gun in rear cockpit.
OPTIONAL:
Up to 881lb of externally-held drop stores.
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