Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker

(born April 6, 1890, Kediri, Java, Netherlands East Indiesdied Dec. 23, 1939, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Dutch-U.S. aircraft designer and manufacturer. He built his first plane in 1910 and taught himself to fly. In 1912 he established a small aircraft factory near Berlin. In World War I he produced over 40 types of airplanes for Germany, having originally offered his designs to both sides. He also developed a gear system that allowed a machine gun to fire through a spinning propeller's field. In 1922 he moved to the U.S. and opened an aircraft factory, where he produced numerous commercial aircraft that were used in the newly developing U.S. airlines business.