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| Time, December 21, 1923 |
Tony Fokker was a brilliant pilot, a pioneer manufacturer of airplanes and a lousy businessman. In the Netherlands, he designed, built and flew his first airplane in 1910. In 1912, he opened a factory in Germany. During World War One, his company built many successful airplanes for the German Army, including the Eindecker, the Dr.I Triplane and the D.VII fighter. Shoddy workmanship caused the Triplanes to lose their top wings until the problem was corrected. DVIIs also lost their top wings; Fokker blamed a design change forced upon him by the army inspectors. Fokker and his team developed the first successful synchronization gear, which allowed a machine gun to fire
When the Armistice banned aircraft production in Germany, Fokker was able to sneak off to the Netherlands with much material from his German factory. He founded a new company which built successful civilian and military airplanes. In 1926, he moved to the US and started an American branch of his company. His most famous product in this period was the F.VII Trimotor. Fokker died in the US in 1939.
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