Modern-Aviation

The Koolhoven F.K.58 was a single engine, interceptor-fighter aircraft designed by Koolhoven under contract by France. Intended for Armée de l'Air use, the F.K.58 saw limited service in the Battle of France.

n 1937 it became apparent to the French Air Council that domestic manufacturers could not equip the Armée de l'Air with enough fighters. The Dutch were contracted to produce a cheap, high performance fighter to supplement French needs. As produced, the F.K.58 was rather better than the M.S.406 and comparable to the Bloch MB.151 but inferior to the D.520 and most of the German aircraft it was to face.

The FK.58 can be seen as a further development of the Fokker D.21 (also Erich Schatzki) with retractable undercarriage. It had the same composite structure: fuselage of steel tubing with a skin of metal plating and linen; the wing of wooden structure with plywood and linen skin.

The prototype Model 1166 (later named F.K.58) first flew on 17 July 1938. The French placed an order in January 1939 for 50 F.K.58s Just 17 of the French order were completed at the Koolhoven works due to insufficient French-supplied engines and instruments, and they were subsequently sent to France fitted with Dutch equipment. Production was transferred to Nevèrs where just one more F.K.58 was produced. The completed fighters (7 F.K.58s, 11 F.K.58As) were fitted with French equipment and their loaner parts returned to the Netherlands. Even had the order of 50 aircraft been available for the Battle of France, it is unlikely that the small number of aircraft, outclassed as they were by German fighters, could have changed the outcome much. Had they been employed in their intended role as colonial fighters, they might have acquitted themselves well against the Italian aircraft in that theatre.

The Dutch placed an order in late 1939 for 36 fighters powered by Bristol Taurus engines. As the Taurus was no longer available due to British restrictions these engines were to be replaced by Mercury VIII , spares of the Dutch Fokker D.21 and G.1A The lower output of these engines would have reduced the top-speed to some 480 km/h.

he F.K.58 was originally procured for use as colonial fighters. Instead, the 13 fighters operational by May 1940 were manned by expatriate Polish pilots of Captain Walerian Jasionkowski's improvised escadre, the patrouille DAT (Défense Aérienne du Territoire) based at Salon and Clermont-Aulnat. As delivered, the fighters were not armed and the Poles had to acquire machine guns and fit them. From 30 May 1940, they were used in the defence of French cities, patrolling in Avignon - Marseille area, then from Clermont-Ferrand, without any encounters with the enemy. The type's service life was short-lived with only 47 or so operational sorties recorded; the unit had no confirmed victories, but at least one F.K.58 was lost. After the fall of France, all surviving airframes were scrapped.