Fokker F.XXIV

The Fokker F.XXIV was a late‑1930s Dutch four‑engine airliner that represented the last major design effort of the original Fokker company before its wartime suspension. Conceived in 1937 to serve intercontinental routes for KLM, the aircraft featured an all‑metal stressed‑skin fuselage, a low‑wing cantilever layout, and retractable main gear—technologies that were novel for Fokker at the time. Powered by four Wright Cyclone radial engines delivering 1,200 hp each, the F.XXIV could cruise at 300 km/h, attain a service ceiling of 8,500 meters and carry up to 45 passengers over a range of roughly 4,500 km. Its pressurised cabin and sound‑insulated interior offered unprecedented comfort for long‑haul flights. Although a single prototype performed its maiden flight in early 1939, the outbreak of World II halted further development and the aircraft never entered commercial service. Nonetheless, the F.XXIV’s advanced construction techniques and aerodynamic refinements influenced post‑war Dutch designs such as the Fokker F27 Friendship, and it remains a symbolic bridge between Fokker’s wooden‑era heritage and the modern metal age of aviation. Today, aviation historians regard the F.XXIV as a pivotal but overlooked milestone that showcased Dutch ingenuity and foreshadowed the jet age transition.