DC-3 Bomber by Fokker

This 1/20 scale trade-show model was a proposal by Fokker, dated about 1935. Fokker was the exclusive European importer for Douglas Aircraft at the time, and this conversion was to make bombers out of existing commercial DC-3 airliners.

In addition to bomb bay doors behind the wing box, the DC-3 bomber featured a couple of machine gun turrets on the roof and a bombardier/gunner blister under the cockpit. DC-3 passenger windows were not covered up, so I assume these aircraft could be un-converted and returned to commercial service, at the end of the conflict.

The model is all-metal, with retractable gear, and features the signature plate of J. van Pelt, model maker for Anthony Fokker.

Any references or documentation about this Fokker project would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Bijlage 764

Bijlage 765

Bijlage 766

Bijlage 767

Bijlage 768

Nederlandse vertaling:

Dit 1/20 model voor luchtvaartshows was een voorstel van Fokker van ongeveer 1935.
Fokker was destijds de exclusieve importeur van Douglas vliegtuigen voor Europa, en deze conversie was bedoeld om bommenwerpers te bouwen van standaard lijnvliegtuigen.

Naast een bommenruim achter de vleugels had het enkele geschutskoepels en een ruimte voor de bommenrichter onder de neus.
De ruiten van de passagierstoestellen waren niet bedekt, dus neem ik aan dat de toestellen weer voor commerciele doeleinden gebruikt zouden gaan worden na de oorlog.

Het model is van metaal, met een intrekbaar landingsgestel en een merkplaatje van J. van Pelt, modelbouwer voor Fokker.

Inlichtingen en documentatie over dit project zijn van harte welkom.

Hei,

That is an insteresting model! Never read anything about such DC 3.
I'll ask Willem Vredeling if he knows more.

Regards,

Mathieu.

He i,

This evening I talked with Willem Vredeling about this model.
He told me that Switserland ask Fokker if the could convert a DC2 or DC3 into a bomber, also Sweden showed interest. He also told me that the bombs had to be stored vertical.

Vanavond met Willem Vredeling gesproken over dit model. Hij wist te vertellen dat Zwitserland Fokker had gevraagd of het mogelijk was een DC2 of DC3 om te bouwen tot bommenwerper, ook Zweden toonde belangstelling voor zo'n omgebouwde DC. Verder wist hij te vertellen dat de bommen verticaal in het bommenruim hingen.

Groet,

Mathieu.

Thank you Mathieu for this information. I did not know that Switzerland was ever interested in bombers. May I ask who is Willem Vredeling and what does he do?

I also want to add that this model came from the old Fokker main assembly plant at Schiphol when it closed in 1996. It had been in storage there for decades and was rescued from a trash container by Fokker personnel. It was later repaired and repainted.

This is a converted DC-2 by the looks of it... An early study, it resembles the B-18 Bolo a bit, but that is not really that strange i think.

Fokker also made conversions for the F-22 and F-36 passengerplanes. including a glazed over nose, midupper gun turret and other bomber adaptions. The Fokker Heritage Trust keeps some mighty interesting drawings of these adaptions.

Willem Vredeling, by the way, is a "Fokkeriaan in hart en nieren", a former Fokker employee who still is very active with the Fokker heritage. He started collecting Fokker documentation in the sixties, and because of him, we now have a large Fokker documentation in the archives of the Aviodrome.

Hei Circle-5,

I found a few drawings from Fokker concern the conversation of DC 2s and DC 3s into bombers. The first drawing is of your model, the bombs were stored horizontal, the other 2 drawings are of a DC 2 conversation. You can see that Fokker studied several ways to carry a bomb-load, internal or external.

Some data about the proposed bomber like your model:
Engines: Wright Cyclone SGR 1820 F53
Max speed: 325 KM/H at 3350 m.
Range: 2220 km by 271 KM/H at 3350 m.

Best regards,

Mathieu.

Bijlage 769
Bijlage 770
Bijlage 771

Hi Mathieu,

I am amazed that you found these drawings. This is exactly what I was hoping for! Now we know these were serious proposals, with bombs stored horizontally, and two gun positions in the DC-3 gondola. This is fantastic!

I cannot thank you enough!

John (circle-5)

Hei john,

I have another drawing from Fokker of a military DC 2/3, it shows several configurations of how the military DC could be used. These were:
1, transport of aeroengines there could be 4 engines in the fuselage.
2, troop transport, the capacity was 27 completely equipped man and a range of 850 km or 38 man without equipment.
3, transport of wounded people, max 16 people could be carried.
4, fuel transport, with special tanks in the fuselage 3500 liter could be transported.

As we can see a DC with floaters, I assume that this was a proposel to Sweden. I also have seen a list of instruments to be used in this aircraft, if you are interested I can scan the list and post here.

Best regards,

Mathieu.

Bijlage 773

Thank you Mathieu,

This is another great drawing you found there! In fact, the Bombenwerfer variant shows exactly my model, with glazed MG turrets -- does it say 2200 rounds? Is that for each gun or total?

And yes, if you don't mind, I would love to see more information, including the instrumentation. Do any of these documents have legible dates on them?

Thanks again for all your help, which is truly appreciated.

John

Hei John,

Attached the list of instruments, as I don't know if you understand Dutch I made a translation in English.

2 pcs rpm indicator make Weston type 545
2 pcs oilpressure indicator make Pioneer type 550B
2 pcs oil temperature indicator make Weston type 606
2 pcs altimeter make Kollsman type 178.01
1 pce altimeter make Kollsman type 176.01
1 pce turn & bank indicator make Pioneer type 385 B
1 pce vertical speed indicator make Pioneer type ?
1 pce airspeed indicator make Pioneer type 735
2 pcs fuelpressure indicator make Pioneer type 751
1 pce compass make Pioneer type 818
2 pcs manifoldpressure indicator make Kollsman type 62.01
2 pcs watches make Pioneer type Elgin
2 pcs air temperature indicator make Weston type 602
2 pcs scavence air temperature indicator make Weston type 606

The date on this report/ description is 18th of December 1935.

About the 2200 round, this should be the total number for the bomber, this was for 4 MG's

Best regards,

Mathieu.

Bijlage 778

Thank you Mathieu for another great historical document and for translating the instrument list. No, I do not read dutch, and I hope I understood this additional information correctly:

Bomb load: 1350kg / Fuel capacity: 3100 liters / Oil capacity: 260 liters total (for both engines?) located in the engine nacelles / Optional Sperry autopilot

What is the maroonistenruimte? And is there actually a toilet behind the bomb bay, or did I misunderstand?

I am truly grateful for these document scans and for your time. After this I will stop asking questions! With best wishes,

John

The data you mention are correct. There is a toilet fitted behind the bombbay (didn't many planes have one?) and the marconistenruimte, that's the workarea for the sparky.

Hei John,

G-1 reaper gave the answers already, but if you have any other question don't hesitate to ask!! But there is one more thing: at the nose of your model there is written "Douglas DC 3 bomber", as this project was a Fokker project and the model was built on order by Fokker I assume that there had been written "Fokker-Douglas" at the nose. At the photo you can see how it looked.

Best regrads,

Mathieu.

Bijlage 785

Thank you Mathieu and G-1 Reaper.

You are certainly correct, as all DC-3s sold by Fokker were indeed referred to as Fokker-Douglas aircraft. A lot can happen to a model in 74 years. The nose lettering (Douglas DC-3 Bomber) is very old and was painted by hand. Maybe the model traveled to the USA at some point and its Fokker origins were removed? In any case, it was returned to the Schiphol plant and kept in storage for decades. I am grateful that somebody pulled it out of the trash, and very happy that you gentlemen have found some original papers and drawings to document this little-known project.

I used to think it was the ugliest airplane in my collection, but now I really like it. Thanks again,

John

Ik heb ook (grote) tekeningen van dit project, ze zijn genummerd en gedateerd, ook info m.b.t. de Zwitsere connectie.
I have several drawings on this project by Fokker, numbered. Please contact me when interested.

Allereerst welkom EHE op dit forum.
Het is natuurlijk hier geen Marktplaats, en dan ook nog zonder foto's!
Had er gewoon wat opnames van de tekeningen bij gedaan, dan waren we hier heel gelukkig mee geweest.
Dus dat u het hier probeer de verkopen is, volgens mij, geen probleem hoor.
Maar wat verkoop u? .............. (Graag met grote foto's ;-)

Dank voor je welkom. Ik heb een pakket tekeningen en correspondentie dat begin jaren '30 (1934) door Fokker toegestuurd werd aan een officier van de LVA. Blijkbaar was de LVA geinteresseerd geraakt in bommenwerpers (jaja). Er zitten 2 ontwerpen van Fokker bij, de (vroege) T5 en project 115 (zie daarover een ander draadje op dit forum). Daarnaast een aantal tekeningen van een om te bouwen DC2 (dus idd. geen DC3), waaronder een detailtekening van een draaibare geschutskoepel. Er zit ook een brief bij van een bedrijf uit Zwitserland, en prijsopgaven van het werk dat verricht moet worden om van een DC2 een bommenwerper te maken. In het pakket zitten ook tekeningen van verkeersvliegtuigen, o.a. van de F36.
Ik wil het idd. verkopen, omdat ik dit soort zaken zelf niet verzamel. Het 'ombouwpakket' bied ik in z'n geheel aan, de tekeningen eventueel per stuk. Een verzamelaar heeft al een tekening van de F18 gekocht, schaal 1:50. Modelbouwers hebben belangstelling getoond. De tekeningen zijn voldoende gedetailleerd om in ieder geval de juiste afmetingen en verhoudingen te weten te komen. De meeste tekeningen zijn ca. 150*80cm. Wellicht dat ik hier nog foto's ga plaatsen, maar een serieuze gegadigde mag ook een kijkje komen nemen bij mij thuis (midden des lands), stuur maar een pm.

I am the person who pulled the model'out of the trash'.Many years ago I placed an advertisment for old aircraft models in 'de Telegraaf' and recieved a reply from a scrap metal merchant in the town of Hoorn.He told me he had a DC 3 bomber model amongst his scrap zink. When I first saw it it was in a sorry state,missing one wing,undercarridge and both props.A while later I sold the model to my friend Sir George Cox in England who had it beautifully restored albeit with a wooden wing.Later he traded it with an American collector.The story of how it ended up in a scrapyard in derilict state ,i'm sure,will be far more interesting the having been found in a skip at Schiphol.......I only wish I knew what that story was.

Hi Atticmanalan,

Beautifull story, you've done a great job by saving this model!!

Regards,

Mathieu.

Citaat:

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Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door atticmanalan

I am the person who pulled the model'out of the trash'.

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Do you have any photos of the model as how it was when you found it?

Chris

Sorry Chis,I dont usually take pre restoration photos.Suffice to say it looked like freeze dried ****.