The Company Has Come A Long Way From "The Red Baron's"
Triplane
Tuesday marked 90 years to the day
since aviation pioneer Anthony Fokker started the
‘Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek’ (Dutch aircraft
factory) in Amsterdam, with the main aim of building and selling
aircraft. At that time Fokker was one of the first to see the
opportunities of commercial aviation, and the revolution that this
new form of transportation would bring. Many of the legendary
flights in aviation history were made with Fokker aircraft,
including the 55-day flight in 1924 to the Dutch East Indies and
later the flight over the North Pole.
Together with the Netherlands National Aerospace Laboratory NLR
and the Dutch airline KLM, Fokker was involved right from the start
in the successful Dutch aviation industry. Specialists and skilled
employees at Fokker still collaborate closely with universities,
knowledge centers, customers and suppliers worldwide, which means
the Fokker name is linked around the world with aviation, aircraft
building, professionalism, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Now, ninety years later, with 3700 employees and as part of the
Stork group, the Fokker companies hold a prominent position in the
aviation and aerospace industry as a leading player in the market
for electrical systems, aerostructures, aircraft maintenance and
services. With a balanced portfolio of programs and innovative
technologies used by virtually all major customers in the aircraft
manufacturing industry, as well as by many operators of Fokker
aircraft and other platforms.
Fokker 100 File Photo
The present Fokker fleet consists of 800 aircraft worldwide,
most of them Fokker 50, 70 and 100 types. These are safe, modern
and economical aircraft which are maintained and serviced by Fokker
companies in the Netherlands, USA and Asia.
In addition, state-of-the-art aircraft such as the Airbus A380,
Lockheed Martin F-35 JSF and the new Bombardier C series are
equipped with complex electrical wiring systems from Fokker Elmo,
which has locations in the Netherlands, Turkey, USA and China. The
fuselage panels, wing sections, control surfaces and tail of the
Airbus A380, Boeing 747-8, JSF and the latest Gulfstream G650
business jet, respectively, are made by the Aerostructures
division, which is renowned for the development of new materials
such as Glare and thermoplastic composites.
It can all be traced back to the strategic vision of Anthony
Fokker in 1919. He was commemorated Tuesday by four historic Fokker
S11 aircraft owned by the ‘Fokker Four’ foundation,
which toured the Netherlands, including flyovers at the Dutch
locations of the Fokker companies in Hoogeveen, Helmond,
Woensdrecht, Papendrecht, Nieuw Vennep and Schiphol.