The Fokker F.VII, also known as the Fokker Trimotor, was an airliner produced in the 1920s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, Fokker's American subsidiary Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, and other companies under licence.
In 1925, while living in the US, Anthony Fokker heard of the inaugural Ford Reliabilty Tour, which was proposed as a competition for transport aircraft. Fokker had the company's head designer, Reinhold Platz, convert a single-engined F.VII A airliner (a 1924 Walter Rethel design) to a trimotor configuration powered by 200 hp Wright Whirlwind radial engines. The resulting aircraft was designated the Fokker F.VII A/3M. Following shipment to the US, it won the Ford Reliability Tour in late 1925. The Trimotor's structure comprised a fabric-covered steel tubing fuselage, and a plywood-skinned wooden wing.
The Fokker F.VII B/3M had a slightly increased wing area over the A/3M, with power increased to 220 hp per engine, while the F.10 was slightly enlarged, carrying 12 passengers in an enclosed cabin. The aircraft became popularly known as the Fokker Trimotor.
Militair Fokker F.VIIb3m Versions:
- F.VIIa/3m a bomber and transport plane.
- C-2:Military transport version of the Fokker F.9, powered by three 220 hp (164 kW) Wright J-5 radial piston engines, accommodation for two pilots and 10 passengers; three built in 1926 for the US Army Air Corps
- C-2A:Military transport version for the US Army Air Corps, with greater wingspan, powered by three 220 hp (164 kW) Wright J-5 radial piston engines, accommodation for two pilots and 10 passengers; eight built in 1928.
- C-7: Military transport conversion of C-2A for the US Army Air Corps by re-engining with 300 hp (220 kW) Wright R-975 engines. XC-7 prototype and four C-2As redesignated in 1931.
- C-7A: Six new production C-7 (Wright R-975) aircraft with larger wings, new vertical fin design, and fuselages patterned after the commercial F.10A
- TA.1:Military transport version of the US Navy and Marine Corps; three built.
- TA.2: Military transport version for the US Navy; three built.
- TA.3: Military transport version for the US Navy, powered by three Wright J-6 radial piston engines; one built.
Militair operators:
- Belgium Air force
- Belgian Congo
- Independent state of Croatia
- Czechoslovakia Air Force
- Finnish Air Force (one F.VIIa)
- French Air Force (5 F.VIIa/m and 2 F.VII/3m)
- Regia Aeronautica (Italy)
- Luchtvaartafgeling (Netherlands)received three bomber F.VIIa/3m aircraft)
- Polish Air Force (operated 21 F.VIIb/3m (20 of them were licence-built) aircraft as bombers and transports between 1929 and 1939.)
- Spanish Republican Air Force
- United States Army Corps (designations include Atlantic-Fokker C-2, C-5 and C-7)
- United States Navy and Marine Corps (originally designated TA then RA)
- Yugoslav Royal Air force
Vier uitvoeringen mogelijk;
- Czechodlovakia Air Force.
- Polish Air Force.
- Netherlands Air Force Klu.
- Royal Air Force R.A.F.
