Voting Station

Anthony Fokker

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Aviator

The Resume

    (April 6, 1890-December 23, 1939)
    Born in Blitar, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)
    Pilot and aircraft designer
    Designed the Eindecker monoplane, Fokker D.VII biplane and Fokker Triplane for the German military
    Designed the Fokker trimotor as a commercial aircraft
    Helped invent the interrupter gear that allowed WWI aircraft to fire machine guns through a spinning propeller

Why he might be annoying:

    He dropped out of high school.
    He could not convince the Dutch military to buy his warplanes, even after WWI demonstrated how well they worked.
    He claimed in his autobiography to have invented the interrupter gear in 48 hours, but company records show that it was worked on for six months and that much of the design was done by a company engineer.
    After WWI, he violated the Treaty of Versailles by smuggling a train load of planes and spare parts from Germany to the Netherlands.
    He was nicknamed 'the Flying Dutchman.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He built his first airplane at age 20.
    After he demonstrated his Eindecker for the German military, combat ace Max Immelmann wrote, 'Fokker, especially, amazed us with his skill.'
    His triplane was famous as the craft flown by the Red Baron.
    Fokker trimotors were used by Richard E. Byrd for the first flight to the North Pole and by Amelia Earhart in the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman.
    I made it through the entire profile without a single joke based on the similarity of 'Fokker' and 'fucker.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 132 Votes: 59.85% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 238 Votes: 48.74% Annoying