The worldÕs first successful powered flight was made by the Wright brothers in 1903. By 1919 the performance of aeroplanes had been transformed and reliability and utility were so improved that regular long-distance flights were made with no fanfare and every expectation of arrival. Along the way the form of the aeroplane had evolved so that particular types bore little relationship to the pre-war norm. Foremost amongst these radical designs were the aircraft built by the Fokker concern and it is their design and development that provides the substance of this book. The twelve chapters tell the story of how Tony Fokker developed the wooden cantilever wing, the Fokker DVII fighter biplane, the cantilever monoplane and explains Fokker aerofoil and aerodynamics development. Chapters also describe the development of Fokker wire-braced biplanes of 1916 Ð 1917, the background in engine and airframe technologies and the Fokker plant in Schwerin.