Fokker, Anthony (fôk`ər), 1890–1939, Dutch-American aircraft manufacturer, b. Kediri, Java, as Anton Herman Gerard Fokker. He established aircraft factories in Germany before World War I and became famous as the builder of the Fokker triplanes and biplanes, which were employed by the Germans. He also developed an apparatus that allowed machine guns to fire through moving aircraft propellers. After the war he turned to the development of commercial aircraft. In 1922 he came to the United States and was later naturalized. He was for a time president of the Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America.

Bibliography

See his autobiography, The Flying Dutchman (1931, repr. 1972).

Fokker, Anthony

orig. Anton Herman Gerard Fokker

Anthony Fokker.

(credit: Ullstein Bilderdienst)

(born April 6, 1890, Kediri, Java, Netherlands East Indies—died Dec. 23, 1939, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Dutch-U.S. aircraft designer and manufacturer. He built his first plane in 1910 and taught himself to fly. In 1912 he established a small aircraft factory near Berlin. In World War I he produced over 40 types of airplanes for Germany, having originally offered his designs to both sides. He also developed a gear system that allowed a machine gun to fire through a spinning propeller's field. In 1922 he moved to the U.S. and opened an aircraft factory, where he produced numerous commercial aircraft that were used in the newly developing U.S. airlines business.