Fokker in de USA

Fokker in the USA

As early as 1920, Fokker placed orders for the Fokker C-1 and D-7 through the American embassy in The Hague for use in the USA.
That same year, Anthony Fokker himself traveled to the USA to see if there were opportunities to sell his planes there.
The US Army Air Corps was interested in the Fokker products, which resulted in the shipment of two Fokker F-4 aircraft from the Netherlands.

In January 1922, Fokker opened the “Netherlands Aircraft Manufacturing Company of Amsterdam” sales office in New York.


The sales office was led by the Dutchmen Bob Noorduyn and Frits Cremer. Frits was a childhood friend of Fokker from Haarlem and later a test pilot in

the Fokker factory in Schwerin, Germany. Robert (Bob) Noorduyn was chief draftsman of the British Aerial Transport Company,
 
Through the sales office in the States, Fokker aircraft were imported from Holland and sold. In March 1922, the two F-4s arrived in the USA, designated T-2.
One of these aircraft was specially modified for a coast-to-coast flight, performed on May 2, 1923 by Lieutenants Kelly and Mcready.
The flight generated much publicity in the USA, partly for Anthony Fokker himself. He loved the publicity.

De US Army was geïnteresseerd in de staalbuisrompen van de Fokkers en gunde hem de opdracht om 135 de Havilland DH-4’s om te bouwen van houten naar stalen
rompen.

De opdracht moest wel in USA plaatsvinden, waarop Fokker de leegstaande Witteman Lewis fabriek huurde in Hasbrouck Heights bij Teterborro airport in New Jersey.

In mei 1924 werd dit de Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, waar Bob Noorduyn General manager werd.
Op 16 september 1925 veranderde de naam in Fokker Aircraft Corporation en in december 1927 werd deze naam gewijzigd in Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America.
Vanaf maart 1930 tot 1933 veranderde de naam in General Aviation Company
omdat de General Motors Company de meerderheidsaandelen bezat.
Na de vestiging in Hasbrouck Heights waren er later ook nog fabrieken in Glendale,
West-Virginia en in Passiac New-Jersey.
In the early American period of Fokker, many aircraft parts and components were transported from the Netherlands to the USA and assembled there for sale.
Or, the hulls were built in the Netherlands and the wings in an American establishment. This happened, for example, with the B-4 flying boat that was called F-11 (A) in the USA.

Later, many American aircraft types were designed and built in the US Breeder establishments, often for the United States Army or the Air Force Division of the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC).
A number of types designed in America were based on the fuselage of the Fokker F-7, which was then extended and / or widened and also equipped with other engines.
A number of American types have also been built under license in other countries, such as Japan and Canada.

Fokker had a double or other model designation for his aircraft, both for the imported aircraft and for the types designed in America.
Airplanes for the American land or air force often also had a military type designation.
Hieronder de Amerikaanse model aanduidingen:

- Model 1: DH-4M-2 en XCO-8
- Model 2: Fokker S-3
- Model 3: AO-1, XCO-4 en CO-4A
- Model 4: (standaard) Universal
- Model 5: XLB-2
- Model 6: Fokker F-7, F-7A, F-7A-3M en F-7B-3M Tri-Motor
- Model 7: C-2, C-2A, C-7, C-7A, TA-1 (RA-1), TA-2 (RA-2),TA-3 (RA-3)
- Model 8: Skeeter (model nummer twee keer gebruikt)
- Model 8: Super Universal, XJA-1, Japan Ki-6 en C2N
- Model 9: Fokker B-3 (B-IIIC), F-11, F-11A,
- Model 10: Fokker F-10 Super Tri-Motor, F-10A Deluxe Tri-Motor, C-5, RA-4
- Model 11: Fokker-Hall H-51
- Model 12: Fokker F-32, YC-20
- Model 13: Prototype side-by-side cockpit met parasol vleugel
- AF-14: Fokker F-14,F-14A, F-14B , Y1C-14, YIC-14A, YIC-14B, Y1C-15,
   YIC-15A Ambulance
- AF-15: General Aviation FLB (Flying Life Boat), PJ-1 en  PJ-2
- AF-16: XO-27, XB-8, XO-27A, YO-27, YB-8, Y1O-27
- AF-17: XA-7
- AF-18: XFA-1
Begin 1929 verkocht Anthony Fokker 40% van zijn belangen aan General Motors
voor $8.000.000,-.
De naam van het bedrijf veranderde daarna in General Aviation Company

In 1930 ontstaat er wrijving tussen Fokker en de General Aviation directie.
Fokker wil het bedrijf uitbreiden, de General Aviation directie was terughoudend en wilde eerst overleggen met een aantal commissies.
De inbreng van Fokker brokkelde af, op het laatst was hij nog technisch directeur.

Uiteindelijk verdween Fokker helemaal bij de General Aviation Company en nam hij genoegen met een vijfjarig afkoop contract met een salaris van $ 50.00,- per jaar.
General Motors verkocht het bedrijf in 1934 aan North American Aviation.
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