Fokker M.7

The Fokker M.7 was an unarmed German biplane observation aircraft developed during the First World War by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke for the Imperial German Navy's Naval Air Service. First flown in 1915, it was used by the armed forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary and, as it became obsolete, relegated to training. The Naval Air Service and the Army Air Service had wanted improved but differing versions of the M.6, and since Fokker could design and build only one type at a time, the larger Army orders for what became the M.8 took priority. The Navy first ordered seven aircraft and then tripled the order, and the Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops ordered 12 on 20 September 1914. To meet the Navy's coastal defence needs Anthony Fokker widened the fuselage and made the M.7 a one-bay sesquiplane with slightly staggered wings using wing warping for roll control and tandem open cockpits with the pilot in front, keeping the M.6's 59 kW Oberursel U.0 rotary engine.