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Typenumber	Fokker C-2
Type of aircraft	Military version of F.VIIa 3M
Country	U.S.
Date first flight	1927
Crew	Two - pilot and flight mechanic
Number of passengers	8
Wingspan	19.28 m
Lenght	14.78 m
Height	3.99 m
Enginetype	3 x Wright Wirlwind J5
Engine power	220 hp
Cruise speed	150 km/h
Max take-off weight	3600 kg
Empty weight	2100 kg
Range	1000 km
Service ceiling	12.500 ft

Famous flights

Some famous flights were made with the C-2. On 28 and 29 June 1927, Lieutenants Lester J. Maitland and Albert F. Hegenberger flew the military C-2 'Bird of Paradise' over a distance of 2,400 miles between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Degrees of the compass were drawn on the fusulage for navigation purposes

The plane was a Atlantic-Fokker C-2 named "Bird of Paradise" specially modified at Wright Field for this particular flight. Although this was the greatest distance ever flown over open sea up to that time, the real significance of the flight was the high degree of navigational accuracy employed to find such a "pinpoint" destination in the vast Pacific.

It marked the beginning of an era in Air Corps application of new methods, equipment, and training in dead reckoning and celestial navigation.

The aircraft (S/N 26-202) was the first C-2 ordered; however, it was fitted with a larger wing and extra fuel tanks for the long flight and became the last C-2 actually delivered to the Army. The standard 63' wing was replaced by a 71' wing built by Atlantic using the center section developed for the Atlantic XLB-2 (Light Bomber).

The aircraft was also equipped with a radio compass and a directional radio receiver, but both failed shortly after take off from Oakland - forcing the crew to rely on dead reckoning for navigation.

For their historic flight, Hegenberger and Maitland were awarded the Mackay Trophy for 1927.

The "Bird of Paradise" remained in service in Hawaii as a transport plane for about 10 years.

In the late 1930's the aircraft was disassembled and shipped to the Air Corps Museum at Wright Field.

The aircraft was destroyed in 1944 because of a critical shortage of storage space needed for the war effort. The USAF has a few artifacts from the "Bird of Paradise" on display including a main landing gear wheel and tire and a stool used by the crew to "shoot" the sun (or stars) during position checks with a sextant.

The second impressive performance was with the C-2 'Question Mark' which in January 1929 remained continuously airborne for 150 hours and 40 minutes, corresponding to nearly a week aloft. During this time the engines consumed 5,812 U.S gallons of fuel.

The tanks on the aircaft were of course insufficient for such an amount, so the Question Mark was refuelled in the air at intervals. In total, more than 20 tons of goods were transferred to the Fokker in the air by other aircraft. On 7 January, an engine failure forced the record flight to be terminated. By then the aircraft had been refuelled 37 times.

The crew consisted of Chief Pilot Major Carl Spaatz, First Pilot Ira C. Eaker, Pilot Lieutenant Harry A. Halverson, Pilot Lieutenant Elwood R. Quesada, and Flight Engineer Sergeant Roy W. Hooe.

Fokker C-2

An American Fokker C-2

Fokker C-2, refuel in the air

The succes of the F.VII continued

The excellent performance of the Fokker F.VIIa-3m in the Ford Reliability Tour did not go unnoticed by the U.S. Army. The Army Air Corps asked if it could test the aircraft and in response Fokker loaned it the F.VIIa-3m which had been used in the contest. The military were enthusiastic and ordered three aircraft.

The Corps had some requirements of its own, such as a wider fuselage and a cockpit in front of the wing instead of partly under it.

The Army designated its modified F.VIIa-3m the C-2. The letter 'C' was the standard prefix for aircraft in a cargo or transport role.

As a Douglas type had been the first cargo aircraft acquired by the Corps, the Fokker became the C-2, The company designation was Model 7. Surprisingly perhaps, the American Fokker company retained the C-2 military designation for F.VIIa-3m civil derivatives. In addition to the Army, the U.S Navy also showed interest.

It ordered three aircraft and introduced its own designation, TA-1, the 'T' indicating a transport role and 'A' the manufacturer, the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation.
The military aircraft were all equipped with Wright Whirlwind J5 engines of 220 hp.
The civil versions had the somewhat less powerful Whirlwind J4 of 200 hp. The first aircraft for the Army was modified for long distance flights.

To make a higher take-off weight possible, it was fitted with a wing of 7 ft 10 in greater span which Fokker had already used in Amsterdam on the F.VIIb-3m.

This was so successful that both the Army and the Navy demanded the larger wing as standard for their follow-on orders.

Eight wider-span aircraft for the Army kept the designation C-2 but three for the Navy were redesignated TA-2.

The Navy later changed its designations to RA-1 and RA-2 to avoid confusion with torpedo aircraft which also used 'T' in their designation. When the more powerful 300 hp J6 version of the Wright Whirlwind was introduced, the Navy aircraft with this engine were designated RA-3.
The Navy aircraft were put into service in 1927 and '28 when they were needed in Nicaragua where the U.S forces were deployed at the time. For the Army, a later version, the C-7, was also developed.

The C-2's were assigned to various transport and liaison duties into the early 1930s. One aircraft was temporary converted as an airborne radio test lab.

Various communications and navigation equipment was installed and tested during the program conducted at Wright Field, Ohio.

Civil

The civil C-2's had accommodation for eight passengers. Fokker delivered four of these aircraft to Pan American Airways, two to Colonial Airways and one to Richard E. Byrd. The latter used the C-2 for a transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. This took place only six weeks after the pioneering flight by Charles Lindbergh.

The Fokker aircraft, named 'America', should have crossed the Atlantic ahead of Lindbergh but was unfortunately damaged in an accident, injuring the pilot Bennet. Byrd had to wait for the aircraft to be repaired and so allowed his fellow-countryman the honor. The America departed New York on 29 June 1927.

Byrd was accompanied by Bert Acosta, Bernt Balchen and George Noville. After 40 hours flying in bad weather, the Fokker appeared over Paris but because of fog could not land.

The crew decided to try a landing on the beach at Ver-sur-Mer. The attempt was not very successful: the aircraft touched down in the sea and sank up to its wings.

The French Navy hauled the America ashore where it at once became prey to souvenir hunters who quickly reduced the fuselage virtually to its bare steel frame. The mail destined for Paris and an American flag for presentation to the French President, were all that could be saved from the grasping hands.

The crew remained in Ver-sur-Mer for one night and left for Paris the next day. The house where Richard Byrd spent the night, which at that time was the home of the Mayor, was later bought by a trust for conversion into a museum.