Fokker M-9 Build
The Fokker M-9 was the results of the German military encouraging aircraft firms to fit a machine gun to the observer's cockpit of their two seat types. Such armament was purely defensive; what was need was an offensive fighter aircraft.
With this in mind, Anthony Fokker decided to build such an aircraft without official guidance or advice. He confidently expected to achieve quick results by using components of existing types.
Two M.7 fuselage structures, engineless but each with its individual standard tail group, were joined by a biplane structure. Between these fuselages a nacelle was mounted centrally on the lower wing. In this the pilot sat, sandwiched between two 80 hp Oberursel rotaries, one driving a tractor airscrew, the other a pusher. Outboard of the fuselages the equal span wings had two bay bracing. Two gunners were to be carried, one in the front of each fuselage; no armament was ever fitted, however, and there was no provision for rearward defense.
For the first take off, six men were posted along the intended run armed with fire extinguishers; others sat in two motor cars and on motorcycles with engines running, ready to rescue the pilot in the event of mishap. The take off run was rather long. On landing, Fokker complained that the fuselages moved when the wings were warped. He made another flight alone, and finally took up two passengers (military mechanics) in the gunners' positions in an attempt to correct the M.9's tail heaviness. These flights took place within the space of a few days and were quite short.
After this perfunctory testing of a radical new design, Fokker gave up. The M.9 was put aside for dismantling, and its development was completely abandoned. Any aeronautical engineer could have forseen that the lack of any rear connection between the fuselages would permit flexing and lead to unsatisfactory control. If Fokker had had more patience he might have made something of the M.9.
The above information is taken from the book "Fokker The Creative Years" by A. R. Weyl, pages 138 - 141.
With the history out of the way, let's get to the good part, the kit its self. It comes in a nice sturdy box with a rendering of the model inside. The instruction sheet is two sided packed with a mountain of information. There are two exploded views, color scheme and for the first time, some reference material.
The parts are very safely packaged in a five pouch bubble pack. There are two beautiful and thin one piece wings. All of the major parts are well molded and there is a minimum of bubbles. The parts dry fit exactly; the three fuselages matching just right with the lower wing. The
There are four engines. Two for the masochist and two for normal
There are nine pieces of steel rod that I can't at this time figure out were they go. The longer piece appears to be the axel but without a head on shot, I can't be sure. The eight shorter pieces do not match the struts or cabanes. I don't plan on using them but it would be nice for the purpose of this review to at least know what the manufacturer had in mind.
There are four decals for the rudders as that was all of the markings on the actual aeroplane. I will be painting mine a color as if it was operational. There will also be two machine guns in the gunners positions.
This model does not appear to present any building problems. It appears straight forward for as strange a plane as the M.9 was. But only time will tell. Let's get to building this beauty and see what happens.
The first step was to take my Dremel to the gunners area and hollowed out as much as I could. The resin is thick in the front but thin on the sides. So as much as I dared, I hollowed it out. It adds a touch of realism to this section.
The seats were painted and masking tape seat belts were added. A simple instrument panel was glued in after the dremel thinned the front section. I had some "Fotech" bezels so I added one. Believe it or not, the control stick, pedals and pump all survived the cutting and cleaning phase although there was a hollow spot on the pedal bar. I added a
The upper portion of the pilot's fuselage was glued on, there was some putty work and sanding and this section is complete. So far, there are no surprises except that I was able to get some of the very fine pieces cut out without destroying them. But we can all live with surprises like that.
There is one bad report to make. My AMS has spread and my medication is no longer responding. It doesn't look good at this time. I've added more detail to this kit so far than to most kits in total. I have people working around the clock on the problem but they fall silent when I enter the room and look at the floor.
After a lengthy absence (upon the advice of my mental health professional), construction is again under way.
The two booms and the fuselage were added to the lower wing. The fit is not the best and sanding and constant dry fitting is required to get the
After the assembly was complete, painting was next. I used the German colors of late 1915 to early 1916. The German crosses were added and I went into my coma. After emerging, I realized that the plane probably would have had white backgrounds for the crosses. My support group confirmed this, so, all decals were removed, painting was
As I mentioned earlier about the engines, I used the pre-assembled version but I did relapse and added the rocker arms. I'm fighting the urge to add the spark plug wires. Oh, no, the twitch is back.
At this point the kit is very fragile and must be handled with extreme
With this caution in mind, it is now time to add the top wing. The outer struts were glued to the bottom wing and they slant inward just a bit. After they are dry, the top wing is laid flat upside down, as the model. Then one strut and one drop of super glue at a time, the struts are glued. Support is necessary under the booms so the wings will be
Rigging is next and it is not easy. There is very space to work in the center sections so it is a slow process. The rigging instructions are poor to say the least but the actual photographs I used as reference are not much better. So the rigging may not be exactly right but it's done and I'm going to live with it.
After the rigging is complete, I add the props and the guns and with quivering hands, proclaim the M.9 is complete. It joins 131 other kits in the case and the builder never looks back.
This is not an easy kit to build due to its complexity and scant amount of reference material. It is not helped by very complicated and vague instructions. I want to highly commend the dedicated kit manufacturers
And, finally, I wish to thank my friend John Freeman for the M.9 as a gift. John is a regular attender at my class at HobbyTown and is very helpful with my students that build four wheeled things that don't fly. He has a growing collection of WW1 kits and I want to say how much I
Last Revised 6/2/2005