Fokker D-XXI Dutch & Danish Service

Anthony Fokker and Fokker Aircraft solidly made their name known during WWI in the hands of the German Air Force. If an Allied pilot ran up against a Fokker DR.1 triplane, D.VII biplane, or D.VIII parasol, he knew he had his hands full with an average pilot, and probably a fight for his life if the Fokker was piloted by an experienced veteran. Fokker was automatically equated to top quality fighter design. The Fokker D-XXI (D.21) covered in this monograph is the 21st fighter design in that proud lineage. Aside from the better known Fokker Universal and Trimotor transports, Fokker did little in creative fighter aircraft design between the wars. As war clouds once again began building on the horizon, Fokker Aircraft presented a new fighter design to the Netherlands Army Air Division - Luchtvaartafdeling or LVA for short. It was November 1934 and company founder Anthony Fokker had died at age 49, leaving the design team to be headed by Dr. Ir. E. Schatzki. Early in 1935, LVA contracted one prototype for evaluation and possible service use out in the Pacific in the Netherlands East Indies.