BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT FOKKER F-32
The Fokker F-32 was a passenger aircraft built by the Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America in 1929. It was the first four-engined aircraft designed and built in the United States. The first F-32 made its first flight on September 13, 1929. The Fokker F-32 only entered limited commercial service. Its high cost and problems with the cooling of the after engines proved prohibitive.
The United States Army Air Forces evaluated the F-32 as the YC-20, but did not purchase it. Initially, Western Air Express and Universal Air Lines each ordered five aircraft. However, despite the painting of a prototype for Universal Air Lines, they cancelled their order, and Western Air Express only picked up two instead of the planned five.
The first F-32 crashed on November 27, 1929 during a demonstration of a three-engined takeoff. One of the two port engines was stopped, but the other failed shortly after takeoff, causing a loss of control. The aircraft came down on a house in Carle Place, New York, and was totally destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire. The crash displayed the F-32's most notable problem, that it was underpowered, which was made worse by the aircraft's back-to-back engine configuration, with an engine on each end of the underwing nacelles. The front engine powered a two-bladed propeller and the rear engine a three-bladed one. The after propellers, working in the disturbed air from the front, were inefficient, and the rear engines suffered from cooling problems.
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