Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder , Anthony Fokker . The company operated under several different names , starting out in 1912 in Schwerin , Germany , moving to the Netherlands in 1919 . During its most successful period in the 1920s and 1930s , it dominated the civil aviation market . Fokker went into bankruptcy in 1996 , and its operations were sold to competitors . History . At age 20 , Anthony Fokker built his initial aircraft , the " Spin " ( Spider ) — the first Dutch - built plane to fly in his home country . Taking advantage of better opportunities in Germany , he moved to Berlin where , in 1912 , he founded his first company , " Fokker Aeroplanbau " , later moving to the Görries suburb just southwest of Schwerin , where the current company was founded , as " Fokker Aviatik GmbH " , on 12 February 1912 . World War I . Fokker capitalized on having sold several Fokker Spin monoplanes to the German government and set up a factory in Germany to supply the German army . His first new design for the Germans to be produced in any numbers was the Fokker M . 5 , which was little more than a copy of the Morane - Saulnier G , built with steel tube instead of wood for the fuselage , and with minor alterations to the outline of the rudder and undercarriage and a new aerofoil section . When it was realized that it was desirable to arm these scouts with a machine gun firing through the propeller , Fokker developed a synchronization gear similar to that patented by Franz Schneider . Fitted with a developed version of this gear , the M . 5 became the Fokker Eindecker which , due to its revolutionary armament , became one of the most feared aircraft over the western front , its introduction leading to a period of German air superiority known as the Fokker Scourge until the balance was restored by aircraft such as the Nieuport 11 and Airco DH . 2 . During World War I , Fokker engineers were working on the Fokker - Leimberger , an externally - powered 12 barrel Gatling gun in the 7 . 92x57mm round capable of firing over 7200RPM . Later during the war , the German government forced Fokker and Junkers to cooperate more closely , which resulted in the foundation of the " Junkers - Fokker Aktiengesellschaft " on 20 October 1917 . As this partnership proved to be troublesome , it was eventually dissolved again . By then , designer Reinhold Platz had adapted some of Junkers design concepts , what resulted in a visual similarity between the aircraft of those two manufacturers during the next decade . Some of the noteworthy types produced by Fokker during the second half of the war included the Fokker D . VI , Fokker Dr . I " Dreidecker " ( the mount of the Red Baron ) , Fokker D . VII ( the only aircraft ever referred to directly in a treaty : all DVII ' s were singled out for handover to the allies in their terms of the armistice agreement ) and the Fokker D . VIII . Return to the Netherlands . In 1919 , Fokker , owing large sums in back taxes ( including 14 , 250 , 000 marks of income - tax ) , returned to the Netherlands and founded a new company near Amsterdam with the support of " Steenkolen Handels Vereniging " , now known as SHV Holdings . He chose the name " Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek " ( Dutch Aircraft Factory ) to conceal the Fokker brand because of his WWI involvement . Despite the strict disarmament conditions in the Treaty of Versailles , Fokker did not return home empty - handed . In 1919 he arranged an export permit and brought six entire trains of parts , and 180 types of aircraft across the Dutch - German border , among them 117 Fokker C . I ' s , D . VII ' s and D . VIII ' s . This initial stock enabled him to set up shop quickly . After his company ' s relocation , many Fokker C . I and C . IV military air - planes were delivered to Russia , Romania and the still clandestine German air - force . Success came on the commercial market too , with the development of the Fokker F . VII , a high - winged aircraft capable of taking on various types of engines . Fokker continued to design and build military aircraft , delivering planes to the Dutch air force . Foreign military customers eventually included Finland , Sweden , Denmark , Norway , Switzerland , Hungary , and Italy . These countries bought substantial numbers of the Fokker C . V reconnaissance aircraft , which became Fokker ' s main success in the latter part of the 1920s and early 1930s . 1920s and 30s : Fokker ' s glory period . In the 1920s , Fokker entered its glory years , becoming the world ' s largest aircraft manufacturer by late 1920s . Its greatest success was the F . VIIa / 3m trimotor passenger aircraft , which was used by 54 airline companies worldwide and captured 40 percent of the American market in 1936 . It shared the European market with the Junkers all - metal aircraft but dominated the American market until the arrival of the Ford Trimotor which copied the aerodynamic features of the Fokker F . VII , and Junkers structural concepts . A serious blow to Fokker ' s reputation came after the TWA Flight 599 disaster in Kansas , when it became known that the crash was caused by a structural failure caused by wood rot . Notre Dame legendary football coach Knute Rockne was among the fatalities , prompting extensive media coverage and technical investigation . As a result all Fokkers were grounded in the USA , along with many other types that had copied Fokker ' s wings . In 1923 Anthony Fokker moved to the United States , where he established an American branch of his company , the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation , in 1927 being renamed Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America . In 1930 this company merged with General Motors Corporation and the company ' s new name would be General Aviation Manufacturing Corporation ( which in turn merged with North American Aviation and was divested by GM in 1948 ) . A year later , discontented at being totally subordinate to GM management , Fokker resigned . On 23 December 1939 , Anthony Fokker died in New York City . World War II . At the outset of World War II , the few G . 1 s and D . XXI s of the Dutch Air Force were able to score a respectable number of victories against the " Luftwaffe " but many were destroyed on the ground before they could be used . The Fokker factories were confiscated by the Germans and were used to build Bücker Bü 181 " Bestmann " trainers and parts for the Junkers Ju 52 transport . At the end of the war , the factories were completely stripped by the Germans and destroyed by Allied bombing . Post - World War II rebuilding . Rebuilding after the war proved difficult . The market was flooded with cheap surplus aeroplanes from the war . The company cautiously started building glider s and autobuses and converting Dakota transport planes to civilian versions . A few F25 s were built . Nevertheless , the S - 11 trainer was a success , being purchased by several air forces . The S - 14 Machtrainer became one of the first jet trainers , and although not an export success , it served for over a decade with the Royal Netherlands Air Force . A new factory was built next to Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam in 1951 . A number of military planes were built there under license , among them the Gloster Meteor twin jet fighter and Lockheed ' s F - 104 Starfighter . A second production and maintenance facility was established at Woensdrecht . In 1958 the F - 27 Friendship was introduced , Fokker ' s most successful post - war airliner . The Dutch government contributed 27 million guilders to its development . Powered by the Rolls - Royce Dart , it became the world ' s best selling turboprop airliner , reaching almost 800 units sold by 1986 , including 206 under license by Fairchild . There is also a military version of the F - 27 , the F - 27 Troopship . In 1962 , the F - 27 was followed by the F - 28 Fellowship . Until production stopped in 1987 , a total of 241 were built in various versions . Both an F - 27 and later an F - 28 served with the Dutch Royal Flight , Prince Bernhard himself being a pilot . In 1969 , Fokker agreed to an alliance with Bremen - based Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke under control of a transnational holding company . They collaborated on an unsuccessful regional jetliner , the VFW - 614 , of which only 19 were sold . This collaboration ended in early 1980 . Fokker was one of the main partners in the F - 16 Fighting Falcon consortium ( EPAF , European Participating Air Forces ) , which was responsible for the production of these fighters for the Belgian , Danish , Dutch , and Norwegian Air Forces . It consisted of companies and government agencies from these four countries and the United States . F - 16s were assembled at Fokker and at SABCA in Belgium with parts from the five countries involved . Aerospace . In 1967 , Fokker started a modest space division building parts for European satellites . A major advance came in 1968 when Fokker developed the first Dutch satellite ( the ANS ) together with Philips and Dutch universities . This was followed by a second major satellite project , IRAS , successfully launched in 1983 . The European Space Agency ( ESA ) in June 1974 named a consortium headed by ERNO - VFW - Fokker GmbH to build pressurized modules for Spacelab . Subsequently , Fokker contributed to many European satellite projects , as well as to the Ariane rocket in its various models . Together with a Russian contractor , they developed the huge parachute system for the Ariane 5 rocket boosters which would allow the boosters to return to Earth safely and be reused . The space division became more and more independent until , just before Fokker ' s bankruptcy in 1996 , it became a fully stand - alone corporation , known successively as Fokker Space and Systems , Fokker Space , and Dutch Space . On 1 January 2006 , it was taken over by EADS - Space Transportation . Fokker 50 , Fokker 100 , and Fokker 70 . After a brief and unsuccessful collaboration effort with McDonnell Douglas in 1981 , Fokker began an ambitious project to develop two new aircraft concurrently . The Fokker 50 was to be a completely modernised version of the F - 27 , the Fokker 100 a new airliner based on the F - 28 . Yet development costs were allowed to spiral out of control , almost forcing Fokker out of business in 1987 . The Dutch government bailed them out with 212 million Guilders but demanded Fokker look for a " strategic partner " , British Aerospace and DASA being named most likely candidates . Initial sales of the Fokker 100 were good , leading Fokker to begin development of the Fokker 70 , a smaller version of the F100 , in 1991 . But sales of the F70 were below expectations and the F100 had strong competition from Boeing and Airbus by then . In 1992 , after a long and arduous negotiation process , Fokker signed an agreement with DASA . This did not however solve Fokker ' s problems , mostly because DASA ' s parent company Daimler - Benz also had to deal with its own organisational problems . Bankruptcy . On 22 January 1996 , the Board of Directors of Daimler - Benz decided to focus on its core automobile business and cut ties with Fokker . The next day an Amsterdam court extended temporary creditor protection . On 15 March the Fokker company was declared bankrupt . Those divisions of the company that manufactured parts and carried out maintenance and repair work were taken over by Stork N . V . ; it is now known as Stork Aerospace Group . Stork Fokker exists to sustain remarketing of the company ' s existing aircraft : they refurbish and resell F50s and F100s , and converted a few F50s to transport aircraft . Special projects included the development of an F50 Maritime Patrol variant and an F100 Executive Jet . For this project , Stork received the 2005 " Aerospace Industry Award " in the Air Transport category from " Flight International " magazine . Other divisions of the company that were profitable , continued as separate companies , like Fokker Space ( later ) and Fokker Control Systems . In November 2009 , Stork Aerospace changed its name to Fokker Aerospace Group . As of 2011 , the Fokker Aerospace Group changed its name to Fokker Technologies . The five individual business units within Fokker Technologies all carry the Fokker name : The former Fokker aircraft facilities at Schiphol were redeveloped into the Fokker Logistics Park . One of the former Fokker tenants is Fokker Services . Meanwhile , Rekkof Aircraft ( " Fokker " backwards ) is attempting to restart production of the Fokker XF70 and XF100 , supported by suppliers and airlines .