what is it?
Koolhoven F.K.52 was a Dutch-designed, two-seat reconnaissance-fighter biplane, which was developed in the 1930s by Koolhoven. The aircraft was equipped with an enclosed cockpit and single-strut landing gear. Only six aircraft were produced.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 9.8 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 89 years ago, in 1937.
- Top speed is 2.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 9.8 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
- Range of 1,130 km: 6× Amsterdam to Brussels.
- Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1937-02-09
- introduced
- 1939
- retired
- 1943
- status
- retired
- number built
- 6
- role
- reconnaissance-fighter
- makers
- Koolhoven
- engines
- 1× Bristol Mercury VIII
- crew
- 2
- length
- 8.3 m
- wingspan
- 9.8 m
- height
- 3.3 m
- max take-off weight
- 2,500 kg
- top speed
- 380 km/h
- cruise speed
- 308 km/h
- range
- 1,130 km
- ceiling
- 9,800 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5404247, Wikipedia: Koolhoven F.K.52 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.