Fokker

There arrived in the U. S. on board the Berengeria two gentlemen of the air. One was the Duke of Sutherland, British Under Secretary of State for Air; the other, Anthony H. G. Fokker, Dutch aircraft designer, a name which most airmen fighting the Central Powers in the Great War can hardly pass over without an involuntary shudder.

Short, stocky, robust, Anthony H. G. Fokker looks like a typical Dutchman, with the rosy complexion of his race, a calm but somewhat stubborn look in his blue eyes. He can speak English perfectly, but pretends he cannot and, through shyness or perhaps caution, generally allows someone to interpret for him. His heavy build does not prevent him from being most active and energetic as a pilot, or from rushing rapidly 'round the field of a flying meet busily taking pictures with a neat little kine-camera. (He has the most extensive collection of aeroplane moving pictures in the world.) Only 33 years of age, he has achieved a fortune of several millions in real money, a world reputation and--he has married one of the most beautiful women in Holland.

Many pilots in the war remember with bitterness the Fokker D VII, which in German hands brought down so many pilots. At the outbreak of the War he offered his services to the British Government, received a flat turn down, and was received with open arms by the Germans, who gave him carte blanche for experimentation and received their most effective fighting planes in return. Although he was refused permission to exhibit at Paris in Dec., 1922, Fokker has never forsworn his Dutch nationality, was never in the German military service and has established the most cordial relations with the United States and British Air Services.

Fokker is not a mathematician or aerodynamicist. But he can design his own ships, build them in his shops and test them himself. It is this wonderful combination of practical gifts, together with great firmness of character which have earned him success. Besides his famous fighting planes, the T2, which Macready and Kelly flew across the continent, stands to his credit. The Royal Dutch Air Line operates with Fokker machines and has never had a casualty. Fokker has also built and flown the only two-seater glider in existence, and his cantilever wing construction, with its avoidance of all struts and wires, is generally recognized as of great value in increasing the commercial efficiency of aircraft.

Fokker is in the U. S. again on his third visit since the War. He has sold many machines to both the Army and Navy and has established himself solidly. The Dutch fear greatly that they will lose him because of the larger possibilities of the U. S. This fear is not ungrounded. Fokker is negotiating for the purchase of one of the largest aircraft factories, and is studying an air route from Detroit to Chicago and St. Louis. American manufacturers regard him with very mixed feelings. They dread his competition in securing Government contracts, but would be delighted to see him use his unique experience in air transportation in an experimental air-line venture here.

Whether this enterprising Dutchman makes his home in the U. S. or not, he is certainly out for business all over the world. He expects world-wide use of the aeroplanes, and in five or ten years thinks that it will be possible to cross the ocean in less than one day as safely as liners do now in five. There is no doubt that when that day comes, Fokker will still be one of the most prominent names in commercial aviation.

Sutherland

His Grace the Duke of Sutherland, who accompanied Fokker, said he had come "to study the manner in which the United States had undertaken the development of flying by establishing personal contact with the Government air service and the industry through the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce."

The Duke said that the new British military aeronautical program contemplates the building of 52 new squadrons within the next five years, in order to place Britain on an equal "footing" with the European continental Powers. On the civil side, he said that the Government had decided to grant a subsidy totaling -L-1,000,000 extending over a period of ten years to the three leading commercial air companies (recently amalgamated) to enable them to maintain their air transportation services.

Said he: "England looks upon flying as an economic contribution as essential to commerce as shipping. Aviation should not be regarded as a menace, to be curbed. Aviation ended England's insularity. England is now as much a part of Continental Europe as France or Germany. England's effort is to develop commercial flying, and at the same time provide for its air defenses in proportion to the size and importance of the British Empire. The only thought of competition in the air which England entertains is commercial competition.

"With regard to civil aviation, I believe we are ahead of America, partly, no doubt, on account of the subsidies the British Government pays to operating firms. Rightly or wrongly, we believe in this policy for the purpose of fostering the growth of civil aviation at the start."

Later in the week the Duke of Sutherland had a conference with President Coolidge on the subject of an international conference for limitation of air armaments. After leaving the White House he said: "The position of the British government is well known. We favor an air conference. In view of the general conditions existing in Europe, however, I do not believe that France would agree to any reduction in aircraft, and consequently a conference would be fruitless."