Dierikx, 2018

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  • Marc Dierikx. 2018. Anthony Fokker: The Flying Dutchman Who Shaped American Aviation. Smithsonian Books. ISBN: 978-1-58834-615-5. Pages: 432
Fokker came from an affluent Dutch family and developed a gift for tinkering with mechanics. [He didn't have] a traditional education.[1]
Fokker stumbled into aviation as a young stunt pilot in Germany in 1910.[2]
He survived a series of spectacular airplane crashes and rose to fame.[1]
A combination of industrial espionage, luck, and deception then propelled him to become Germany’s leading aircraft manufacturer during World War I, making him a multimillionaire by his mid-20s.[2]
When the German Revolution swept the country in 1918 and 1919, Fokker [escaped] to the United States. He set up business in New York and New Jersey in 1921, and shortly thereafter became the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer. The U.S. Army and Navy acquired his machines, and his factories equipped carriers such as Pan American and TWA at the dawn of commercial air transport.[2]
[His corporate] empire collapsed in the late 1920s after a series of ill-conceived business decisions and personal dramas. In 1927, aviator Richard Byrd solicited a Fokker three-engine plane to be the first to fly non-stop across the Atlantic. The plane was damaged on a test flight and Charles Lindbergh [crossed the Atlantic first].[2]
Dierikx traces Fokker’s life and achievements using previously undiscovered records and primary sources.[2]

References


Original title Anthony Fokker: The Flying Dutchman Who Shaped American Aviation
Simple title Anthony Fokker: The Flying Dutchman Who Shaped American Aviation
Authors Marc Dierikx
Date 2018
Countries NL, US
Languages en
Keywords Anthony Fokker, WWI, aircraft manufacturer, Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker, manufacturer
Journal
Related to aircraft? 1
Page count 432
Word count
Wikidata id