Fokker Eindecker fighters The Fokker " Eindecker " fighters were a series of German World War I monoplane single - seat fighter aircraft designed by Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker . Developed in April 1915 , the first " Eindecker " ( " Monoplane " ) was the first purpose - built German fighter aircraft and the first aircraft to be fitted with a synchronization gear , enabling the pilot to fire a machine gun through the arc of the propeller without striking the blades . The " Eindecker " granted the German Air Service a degree of air superiority from July 1915 until early 1916 . This period was known as the " Fokker Scourge , " during which Allied aviators regarded their poorly armed aircraft as " Fokker Fodder " . Design and development . The " Eindecker " was based on Fokker ' s unarmed Fokker M . 5K scout ( military designation Fokker A . III ) itself following very closely the design of the French Morane - Saulnier H shoulder - wing monoplane , but using chrome - molybdenum steel tubing for the basic fuselage structure instead of wooden components . It was fitted with an early version of the Fokker synchronizer mechanism controlling a single Parabellum MG14 machine gun . Anthony Fokker personally demonstrated the system on 23 May 1915 , having towed the prototype aircraft behind his touring car to a military airfield near Berlin . The history of the " prototype " Eindecker aircraft , ( Fokker factory number 216 ) used for Fokker ' s initial synchronizer trials is closely associated with Leutnant Otto Parschau , who was allotted this aircraft , then a Fokker A - series monoplane with the Idflieg military serial number A . 16 / 15 , at the beginning of World War I . This unarmed monoplane had previously " belonged " to one Oberleutnant von Buttlar , and had been painted a shade of green , the color of von Buttlar ' s Marburg - based Jäger regiment . Parschau eventually spent most of the first year of the war with this aircraft , flying it on both the Eastern and Western fronts . At some stage he had the words " Lt . Parschau " painted on the right upper side of the fuselage behind the cockpit . This aircraft had its main fuel tank located behind the cockpit . In late July 1915 , while it was based at Douai with Feldflieger Abteilung 62 , the Fokker factory outfitted Parschau ' s aircraft with the first trial version of the Fokker " Stangensteuerung " synchronizer and a Parabellum MG14 light machine gun . Parschau made several attempts at aerial combat during June 1915 , but at this stage the gear proved very unreliable , the Parabellum gun repeatedly jamming in action . The aircraft was later returned for factory armament installation trials . At this time the wing was lowered to mid - fuselage , as in production Eindeckers , although this modification was not fitted to the initial batch of five M . 5K / MG production prototypes . Production E . Is , and all further Fokker Eindeckers , were also fitted with the definitive version of the " Stangensteuerung " gear , with a large cam wheel replacing the early drive taken from the oil pump driveshaft . One distinctive feature of the appearance of all the sheet metal paneling on the Eindeckers was a special form of " dragged " engine turning peformed on all their surfaces , both exposed and internal parts . The exact reasoning for this appearance feature is not exactly known , with one theory surmising that the duralumin panels were being mechanically " clad " in pure aluminum , through using discs of pure aluminum to impress such a cladding directly into the sheet metal parts ' surfaces in short , irregular paths , repeated all over the Eindeckers ' sheet metal cowl and associated fuselage panels . All the E . I to E . IV " Eindeckers " used a gravity fuel tank which had to be constantly filled by hand - pumping from the main fuel tank , which starting with the Fokker E . II was mounted behind the pilot ; this task had to be performed up to eight times an hour . Both the rudder and elevator were aerodynamically balanced , and the type had no fixed tail surfaces . This combination rendered the " Eindecker " very responsive to pitch and yaw . For an inexperienced pilot , the extreme sensitivity of the elevators made level flight difficult ; German ace " Leutnant " Kurt Wintgens , who along with " Leutnant " Parschau were the primary " Luftstreitkräfte " pilots responsible for bringing the first armed Fokker monoplanes into active service during the spring and summer of 1915 , once stated " lightning is a straight line compared with the barogram of the first solo " . The roll response of the Eindecker , on the other hand , was poor . This is often blamed on the use of wing - warping rather than ailerons - although the monoplanes of the time , even when fitted with ailerons , often had unpredictable or unresponsive roll control due to the flexibility of their externally braced wings . The main difference between the E . I and E . II was the engine - the former having the seven - cylinder 60 kW ( 80 hp ) Oberursel U . 0 rotary engine which was essentially a direct copy of the French - made 60 kW ( 80 hp ) Gnome Lambda seven - cylinder rotary engine , while the latter had the nine - cylinder 75 kW ( 100 hp ) Oberursel U I , a direct copy of the 75 kW ( 100 hp ) Gnome Monosoupape rotary . The larger diameter of the E . II ' s nine - cylinder rotary mandated raising the upper nose paneling to match the larger - diameter cowl the U . I required — this also caused the outer edges of the upper nose paneling to overhang the fuselage ' s upper longerons , making it necessary to add " soffit " - like surfaces , projecting outwards and upwards from the upper longerons ' forwardmost length behind the cowl to fully enclose the nose once more on all E . II and E . III aircraft . Production of the types , built in parallel , depended on engine availability . Many E . IIs were either completed as E . IIIs or upgraded to E . III standard when returned for repair . The definitive version of the " Eindecker " was the Fokker E . III , which used a slightly narrower - chord ( 1 . 80 meter , or 71 inch ) wing than earlier versions . Boelcke ' s " Feldflieger Abteilung " 62 began operating the E . III towards the end of 1915 . A few E . IIIs were experimentally armed with two 7 . 92 mm ( . 312 in ) calibre LMG 08 " Spandau " machine guns , while most E . IIIs and the production E . I through E . III Eindecker models used only one of the same model . The final variant was the Fokker E . IV which received a 119 kW ( 160 hp ) Oberursel U . III , 14 cylinder twin - row rotary engine ( a copy of the Gnome Double Lambda rotary ) and was fitted with twin machine guns as standard , after repeated failure of an experimental triple - gun installation , which was initially intended be standard for the E . IV . Total production for the entire Fokker E . I through E . IV series was 416 aircraft ( the exact breakdown by type is nor clear , although the E . III was the most important model ) . Operational history . The first " Eindecker " victory , though unconfirmed , was achieved by " Leutnant " Wintgens on 1 July 1915 when , while flying one of the five M . 5K / MG production prototype aircraft , numbered ' E . 5 / 15 ' , he forced down a French Morane - Saulnier L two seat " parasol " monoplane . By this time the first E . Is were arriving as supplementary equipment , one per unit as " attached " aircraft , for the ordinary Feldflieger Abteilung - initially to provide escort protection for their usual quantity of six two - seat reconnaissance biplanes per unit . Three days after his " unconfirmed " victory , Wintgens downed another " Morane Parasol " with the same E . 5 / 15 aircraft , and a full fortnight after his initial engagement , on 15 July 1915 , he became the first Eindecker pilot to be credited with such an official victory . The two most famous " Eindecker " pilots were Oswald Boelcke ( initially flying M . 5K / MG aircraft " E . 3 / 15 " ) and Max Immelmann , both of " Feldflieger Abteilung " 62 , who scored their first kills in E . Is in August 1915 while sharing Boelcke ' s E . 3 / 15 aircraft . " Leutnant " Otto Parschau , who was instrumental in the introduction of the " Eindecker " from the very start , flew the M . 5K / MG aircraft numbered E . 1 / 15 , after the Fokker factory took back his worn - out A . 16 / 15 aircraft . Immelmann shortly thereafter received an early production E . I , bearing IdFlieg serial number E . 13 / 15 for his personal use , which survived past the end of the war . Oswald Boelcke scored the most " Eindecker " victories - 19 out of his final tally of 40 . His last victory in an Eindecker occurred on 27 June 1916 . Max Immelmann had the second - highest " Eindecker " score . He achieved all of his 15 victories in the type before being killed when his E . III broke up in June 1916 after the synchronisation mechanism failed , causing at least 7 bullets to shoot through one propeller blade , which broke off . The resulting vibrations were so severe that the loads exceeded the structural limits of the aircraft . 11 pilots scored five or more victories in the " Eindecker " . Boelcke , Immelmann and Wintgens all received Germany ' s highest military decoration , the " Pour le Mérite " or " Blue Max " , while flying the Eindecker , after each pilot passed the then - required eight victory total for each aviator . The arrival in early 1916 of the Airco DH . 2 and Royal Aircraft Factory F . E . 2 and F . E . 8 pusher aircraft , along with the French Nieuport 11 , brought the dominance of the " Eindecker " to an end , and with it , the " Fokker Scourge " . Wintgens flew the E . IV version of the " Eindecker " long enough to have been confronted by the much more advanced SPAD S . VII fighter of French flying ace Alfred Heurteaux on September 25 , 1916 , which resulted in Heurteaux fatally bringing down Wintgens , as Huerteaux ' s victory number eight . Variants . " Note : The Fokker E . V bore no direct relation to the earlier Eindeckers , being a parasol aircraft , only built in small numbers before production switched to the improved Fokker D . VIII . " Survivors . Only one original " Eindecker " remains . On 8 April 1916 , a novice German pilot took off from Valenciennes with a new E . III ( IdFlieg serial number 210 / 16 ) bound for Wasquehal but became lost in haze and landed at a British aerodrome east of St . Omer . He was forced to surrender before he realised his error and could destroy the aircraft . The E . III was test - flown against the Morane - Saulnier N and other Allied types at St . Omer before going to Upavon in Wiltshire for evaluation and finally going on museum display . It now resides at the Science Museum in London . Immelmann ' s original E . I , with IdFlieg - issued serial " E . 13 / 15 " , also survived the war and went on display in Dresden where it was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II .