Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-05
A|RL|NES GROUND
s. FOKKER SHIPS
Companies Comply With Or
der as Officials Plan
Inspection.

While Anthony H. @. Fokker. noted
airplane designer. and his engineering
experts were closeted with oficials Of
the aeronautics branch Of the Depart
ment Of Commerce here today working
out plans for thorough inspection Of 35
Fokker tri-motored transport planes of
the 1929 series. ordered out of passenger
service yesterday by Clarence NJ. Young.
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Aeronautics. word was received here
from the four big operating companies
owning the IS planes that they all are
grounded in various parts Of the coun-
try.
The conferences between the Fokker
experts and offlcialS of the department
today were described as being entirely
amicable. Though Mr.. Fokker refused
to make any public statement. he has
pledged his wholehearted support to the
department In its efforts to flnd whether
maintenance methods employed by
operators Of the two-year-old transport
planes are adequate TO insure the safety
Of the wooden wing construction Of
these planes.
IS Planes To Be Inspected.
The IS planes on the ground today
will not be permitted to carry pas
sengers until they are thoroughly in
spected and plans for future mainte-
nance worked out. The conference in
progress today has to do with methods
of inspection and maintenance of the
wings of the 1929 Fokkers. which are
unique among large American transports
in being Of atwood construction. in
GLIDING plywood covering. The inspec-
ton and maintenance methods will be
applied to all later models of the Fox
kerS, which are not involved in the ban.
The suspension order, it was made
clear, Is temporary and the planes will
90 back into service as rapidly as they
can be inspected and the individual
planes approved.
Twelve Of the planes, operated by
American Anyways, operating subsidiary
of the Aviation Corporation, are in
hangers today, according to word re-
ceived by oficials Of the Department Of
Commerce.
Oficials of Transcontinental-W Western
Air Express said today that the use of
its planes on the Los Angeles-Kan
City line had been discontinued Satur-
day, according to Associate Press dis
patches from Los Angeles. Other equip
ment Is being used in place Of the
grounded planes.
G. z. johnson of Boeing Air Trans
port and Pacific Air Transport said the
order grounding the FokkerS had been
anticipated and that three of the planes
acquired through a merger are not be-
ing used.
Schedules Maintained.
J. T. Trippe. president and general
manager of Pan-American Always, an
nounced last night from New York that
the Government order had been obeyed
and that the systems 22,o0o-mile in
ternational mail. passenger and express
routes to Cuba, Mexico, West Indies,
Central and South America, on two
sections Of which Fokker planes were
used, are being maintained on regular
schedule with other equipment.
Under our standard maintenance
system" Mr.. Trippe told the Associated
Press, "the 10 FokkerS which comprise
about 10 per cent of the Pan-American
feet, have proved satisfactory in OPP
Grafton. The company is offering the
Department Of Commerce every coop
GRAFTON in connection with the present
investigation of this type airplane."
The Department of Commerce had
not received today q report from Army
engineers at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio,
on their findings in tests of wings OF
Fokker planes, made at the request Of
the Department Of Commerce Aeronau-
tics Branch, it was stated,
Has CoIOrful Career.
Mr. Fokker, struggling under the blow
of the Department of Commerce order.
to maintain his reputation as one OF
the foremost airplane designers and
builders, has had one Of the world S
most colorful aviation careers.
He is one of the worlds real air
pioneers and is known as designer OF
great originality and daring. an inventor
of extraordinary technical skill and
vision and an ardent believer In the
future of aviation.
Fokker was born in 1890 at Kediri a
town on the Island of Java, colony CT
the Netherlands, in the Malay Archi-
pelago, the son Of a wealthy owner OF
coffee plantations. The family returned
to Holland when the boy was years
old. Fckker's intense interest in mo-
chanics put a stop to his formal educa-
ton and he plunged into aviation With
enthusiasm when the Wrights f1rst
called aviation to the attention OF the
world.
His first airplane was built in 1911
almost entirely with his own hands and
he taught himself to fly. With this
plane he created q great sensation ana
won an international military competi-
ton at st. Petersburg in 1912.
He Immediately turned TO the manu-
facture of airplanes on commercial
basis and has been engaged In this f1eld
without interruption ever since, always
at the head Of his own business.
Fame Spread DuFinE War.
He sought without success to interest
the Dutch and British governments in
his work and finally entered into a
three-year contract with the German
government for the instruction OF mill
itary pupils. This contract was in et-
feet when the World War began and
Fokker turned to the manufacture Of
fighting planes with such extraordinary
success that his fame spread to every
part Of the world.
In addition to his amazing series OF
fighting planes he produced the first
Synchronizing gear, which permitted the
firing of a machine-gun through the arc
of the propeller.
When the armistice threatened TO
cripple his work he succeeded in tyans-
ferring his material and data to his
native country. Holland, and there es-
tablished a large plant at Amsterdam
in which, up to 1926. he produced more
than 10000 Fokker airplaneS OF various
types.
of aircraft development lay in the
United States led him to establish
great American plant at Hasbrouck
Heights, N. j.
One of the forerunners Of his tri-
motored transport type, developed at
this plant, was the Army To. built at
Amsterdam, in which Lieuts. Kelly and
Mcready of the Army Air Corps made
the nrst nonstop coast-to-coast fight
In 1928. The first tri-motor built In
this country, after thousands Of miles
of travel, became the property Of the
Arctic expedition headed by Rear Ad-
miral Richard E. Byrd and made the
first flight across the North Pole.
Araatkar III -r,nntnred Enkker WAS used