Fokker's design for the M.5 was very closely based on that of the French
Morane-Saulnier H shoulder-wing monoplane although the fuselage had a
welded steel tube frame in place of the wooden structure of the Type H. The power-plant was a
Oberursel U.0 7-cylinder
rotary engine (Gnome Lambda licence-built by
Motorenfabrik Oberursel). As in the Morane original, the
tail and
elevators were all-moving, having no fixed sections. There were two versions of the M.5: the long-span 'M.5L' and the short-span 'M.5K' ("K" for
kurz meaning "short" in German). The M.5 was light, strong and manoeuvrable, capable of
aerobatics (although, like all aircraft relying on the early style of Morane balanced
elevators, it had very sensitive
pitch control). Fokker himself flew the M.5 at
Johannisthal in May and June 1914, winning a number of awards. ==German army adoption==