I had an inquiry about this and thought maybe some here could benefit from my detailed response.
Quoted Text
While searching for alternative color schemes for my Roden Fokker D.VI, I noticed I could not find any example painted with streaky camouflage relative to that of the Dr.I. So I would like have to ask our experts: All 60 D.VI's came out covered with lozenge? In case it is so, then how come the first D.VII's (that followed in production lines) have a streaky painting again? Under what conditions did the Fokker people decide which scheme to use? JF
Greetings JF;
First of all let me encourage you to note the correct designations for the aircraft your looking to find information on. It is easy to make mistakes I am just trying to help you here.
Next the Fokker D VI and the Fokker D.VI were different airframes. The first is the Fokker company's designation the next is the military. Again these were not the same aircraft.
The prototypes (V.9 & V.11) for the machines that would become the Fokker D.VI and D.VII were typetested in Jan - Feb 1918.
A.The inline engine Fok. D.VII contracts were a primary concern and went into production almost immediately for frontline operations. The fuselage and wings being done at different production plants.
B. The rotary engined airframes small contract of some 60 Fokker D.VI types were not intended for frontline use but trainers and familiarization aircraft for the more powerful / higher horsepower rotary engines coming down the line. As such their production time line was different. The fuselage and wings being done at different production plants. It was a shortage of these higher horsepowered machines that forced Jasta 80b to be assigned at least two flights of the Fok. D.VI. Even Jasta 64w had a couple. Most other Jastas saw them issued in singles.
As such The streaked camouflage went on the fuselages of the Fokker D.VII early production upto about D.376/18. After that all examples were covered in either 4 or 5 colour lozenge. Other Fokker D.VII licensed manufacturers began their production and followed suit and from the start were in all lozenge.
On the D.VI recent studies have noted that some components of the Fokker D.VI though done in all lozenge had some components done in 4 colour (fuselage and horizontal tail unit) while the wings were in 5 colour. The fuselage and wings being one at different production plants. There were also airframes done in all one type supposedly.
There was an excellent study published in WWI Aero on the subject.
"Fokker D.VI" by R Houchin
World War 1 Aero #77, June 1980.
World War 1 Aero #85, January 1981.
Also note that the Fokker E.V (which gained some serials from canelled Fok. D.VI contracts) was also built at the same time as the Fok. D.VI. The parasol monoplanes were to be fitted with the higher horse powered rotary engines at some point BUT the metalurgical concerns that plagued them kept the powerplant installations at the lower rated Oberursels.
Several of the experimental Fokker E.V and later D.VIII type airframes had the higher horsepower rotaries but none of the small contract Fok. D.VI had them after the Jan. - Feb. 1918 fighter tests.
I may have given you more than you wanted but the study of these machines leads into the Caos theory pretty quickly. To understand why a certain machine had only one type of covering it often goes into when, where, what engine and who wanted it first for what purpose.
