Koolhoven FK.51

History

Early 1935 Koolhoven developed and built the FK.51 at own risk in just 13 weeks. Koolhoven hoped for an order of the LVA, who was looking for a new transitional trainer. The prototype made on May 25, 1935 its first flight.

In June 1935 the plane was a month long evaluated by the LVA and compared with the AVRO Tutor. Ultimately the FK.51 was chosen and the LVA placed an initial order for ten aircraft.

Soon after also orders from the RNlNAS and NEIAF followed and further there was another large order for delivery to Spain.

To handle all this Aviolanda Papendrecht was engaged as a subcontractor. Aviolanda built approximately twenty-five hulls complete with instruments.

The first FK.51s for the LVA, in fact a preproduction series, were delivered in late 1936 and early 1937. From February 1937, they were replacing the Fokker C.I as training aircraft.
In the course of 1937 a second order of the LVA for fifteen pieces followed. These differed with respect to the first ten devices in the sloping vertical fin, a 7.7 mm machine gun in the top left wing. Moreover, these aircraft were painted light blue, while the first ten examples were dark brown.

Later, a third order of the LVA was received for another 29 aircraft, which had to be designed as a light scout. These had, in addition to the machine gun in the upper wing also a machine gun in the rear cockpit, and bomb racks could also be applied.