Fokker F . VIII The Fokker F . VIII ( or F . 8 ) was a large twin - engined airliner designed and produced by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker in the 1920s . Design and development . In 1926 , the Dutch airline KLM issued a request for an airliner with more passenger capacity than the " F . VII " variants in operation at the time . Designer Reinhold Platz immediately started work on the " F . VIII " in response . The " F . VIII " featured mixed construction : fuselage and tail section were constructed as a frame of welded steel covered with plywood ( sometimes known as multiplex ) , canvas and duralumin , but the wing framing was all wood covered with plywood . This had become standard Fokker construction and the result was one of their characteristic cantilever high - winged monoplanes . The " F . VIII " was Fokker ' s first twin - engined airliner , a reflection of the increasing power available from the light radials engines of the time . All their previous designs had an engine in the nose , and its absence in the " F . VIII " lead to less prop - wash wear and tear on the fuselage and much lower vibration levels for passengers . The first aircraft used 358 kW ( 480 hp ) Bristol Jupiter radial engines built under licence by Gnome - Rhone , strut mounted and uncowled under the wings . KLM later re - engined theirs with 391 kW ( 525 hp ) Pratt and Whitney Wasp T1D1 radials , cowled with Townend rings and mounted further forward than the Jupiters . One aircraft , which for part of its life flew as " PH - OTO " was used to explore the effects of mounting engines in , rather than below the wing . There were concerns that this arrangement , which became standard in later propeller driven aircraft would seriously disturb the airflow over the upper wing . It used 589 kW ( 790 hp ) Wright Cyclones . The standard cabin accommodated 15 passengers seated three abreast , but KLM chose a more luxurious 12 - seat arrangement , well received at the time . The prototype made its maiden flight on March 12 , 1927 . 11 F . VIII aircraft were built , three under licence by Manfred Weiss in Budapest . Fokker designed , but did not build a seaplane version designated " F . VIIIw " . Operational history . KLM accepted delivery of the first of their seven on June 24 , 1927 . They were used exclusively on the European routes . The Hungarian Malert company bought one aircraft and had another three built under licence at the WM factory , all using Gnome - Rhône Jupiter 9A engines . These Budapest airliners flew on Malert ' s short haul routes ; two were lost in crashes . In 1936 , two of KLM ' s Wasp - powered aircraft were sold to British Airways for use on their cross channel routes . In 1937 , KLM ' s " PH - AED " was sold to Venezuela . On the eve of war in 1939 , one of KLM ' s " F . VIIIs , " PH - AEG " , was transferred to the Swedish Air Force via ABA . Thus the airplane first flew with civil identification code " SE - AEB " but later on it got its Swedish Air Force designation , 916 " ' . This Fokker type was called " Tp 10 " in Swedish service . Another ex - KLM aircraft flew Sweden as " SE - AHA " ( sse below ) . Finnish service . The Finnish Air Force ' s sole Fokker F . VIII was ex - KLM Wasp - powered " H - NAEI " , production number 5046 . KLM ' s West Indies division used it for regular passenger service with registration " PH - AEI " . In 1937 , it was sold to British Airways Ltd , where it was registered as " G - AEPU " and used to transport passengers across the English Channel . Swedish company G . A . Flygrender purchased the aircraft in 1939 , and it was ferried to Sweden via Amsterdam , Copenhagen and Torslanda on April 7 , 1939 . In Sweden , registered as " SE - AHA " the aircraft mainly flew in the Gothenburg area . During the Winter War , the Swedish National Socialist organization " Nationella Samlingen " organized a national fundraising drive for Finland ' s anti - Bolshevik war . With money obtained , it purchased the above - mentioned F . VIII from G . A . Flygrederi , for 73 , 500 Swedish " kronor " . Thus , Swedish SE - AHA became Finnish " OH - FOA " and was flown to Finland on 11 November 1940 . Once in the Finnish Air Force , it was given code FE - 1 . Due to the bad condition of its wings , it first had to be overhauled . It took until 4 August 1941 before the plane was transferred to LeLv 46 . There , it was mainly used to transport wounded soldiers from the island of Lunkula . Ten flights were made before the aircraft was destroyed on 27 September 1941 , due to engine failure caused by air in the fuel system . The crew escaped unharmed despite their crash - landing in the woods ; they were transporting at least one seriously injured passenger at that moment .