Fokker F27 Friendship

F27 Friendship
Role Airliner
National origin Netherlands
Manufacturer Fokker
First flight 24 November 1955
Introduction 19 November 1958
Status Out of production, in active service
Produced 19551987
Number built 586
Variants Fairchild F-27/FH-227
Developed into Fokker 50

The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the defunct Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker.

Design and development

Design of the Fokker F27 started in the 1950s as a replacement to the successful Douglas DC-3 airliner. The manufacturer evaluated a number of different configurations before finally deciding on a high-wing twin Rolls-Royce Dart engine layout with a pressurised cabin for 28 passengers.

The first prototype, registered PH-NIV, first flew on 24 November 1955. The second prototype and initial production machines were 0.9 m (3 ft) longer, addressing the first aircraft's slightly tail-heavy handling and also providing space for four more passengers, bringing the total to 32. These aircraft also used the more powerful Dart Mk 528 engine.

In 1956, Fokker signed a licensing deal with the US aircraft manufacturer Fairchild for the latter to construct the F27 in the USA. The first U.S.-built aircraft flew on April 12, 1958. Fairchild also independently developed a stretched version, called the FH-227. Most sales by Fairchild were made in the North American market.

In the early 1980s, Fokker developed a successor to the Friendship, the Fokker 50. Although based on the F27-500 airframe, the Fokker 50 was virtually a new aircraft with Pratt & Whitney Canada engines and modern systems. Its general performance and passenger comfort were improved over the F27.

Operational history

Aer Lingus was the first airline to operate the F27 Friendship
Braathens SAFE F27-100 Friendship in August 1974

The first production model, the F27-100, was delivered to Aer Lingus in November 1958. Other early Friendship customers included Braathens SAFE and Luxair in Europe; New Zealand National Airways Corporation; Trans Australia Airlines and its Australian competitors Ansett and East-West Airlines; and Turkish Airlines.

Basic price for an RDa.6 powered F27 in 1960 was £239,000.[1] At the end of the Fokker F27’s production in 1987, 586 units had been built (plus another 207 F-27s and FH-227s in the USA by Fairchild), more than any other western European civil turboprop airliner at the time.

Many aircraft have been modified from passenger service to cargo or express-package freighter roles. The last major cargo user of the F27 in the United States was FedEx Express, as cargo "feeder" aircraft. These were retired and replaced by ATR 42 and ATR 72 aircraft by the end of 2009, with the last of the aircraft being donated to the Hickory Aviation Museum.

As of July 2010 a total of 65 F27s were in commercial service with almost 30 different airlines.[2] By July 2013 only 25 Friendships remained in service, operated by 13 different airlines; most were F27-500s, with two -400s and a solitary -600 series aircraft in service. Italian cargo airline MiniLiner operated six F27s and Air Panama had four in its fleet.[3] The United States Army Parachute Team has used a C-31A Troopship for its skydiving exhibitions since 1985.[4]

Variants

F27-300M Troopship of the Royal Netherlands Air Force in the mid 1970s

Operators

Map of F27 operators. Light blue indicates civilian use only. Dark blue indicates both civilian and military use. Red indicates military use only.

Notable accidents and incidents

Aircraft on display

The first production Fokker F27 in NLM colours at an airshow in 2006

Specifications (F.27)

F27-400M of Thai Navy in 2012.
F27 Rolls Royce Dart

Data from [21]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
Related lists

References

  1. "fokker - fairchild - 1960 - 2694 - Flight Archive". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  2. "2010 World Airliner Census", p. 44.
  3. "2013 World Airliner Census", p. 57.
  4. "Aircraft". U.S. Army Parachute Team "Golden Knights". Retrieved 2014-01-19.
  5. "Who was behind hijacking of IA plane 'Ganga'?". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  6. "Did India plant 1965 war plans?". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  7. "Hijack into terror". The Times Of India. October 6, 2001.
  8. Accident description for S2-ABJ at the Aviation Safety Network
  9. "AROUND THE WORLD; 49 Die in Bangladesh As Plane Plunges". The New York Times. 6 August 1984. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  10. Archived April 8, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Air Disaster.com". Air Disaster.com. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  12. Crossette, Barbara (1990-02-15). "NY Times". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  13. "Article about TC-72". Diario Crónica, Comodoro Rivadavia.
  14. "South Asia | No survivors in Pakistani crash". BBC News. 2006-07-10. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  15. Govindasamy, Siva (2009-04-07). "VIDEO: Indonesian military Fokker F-27 crashes in Bandung - Asian Skies". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  16. http://www.jetphotos.net/news/index.php?blog=1&title=24-killed-in-indonesia-f-27-crash&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
  17. "detikNews : Korban Rumah Terbakar Akibat Fokker 27 Ngungsi ke Rumah Dinas TNI AU". News.detik.com. 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  18. "Wanaka National Transport and Toy Museum, Wanaka, New Zealand". wanakatransportandtoymuseum.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  19. "Ferrymead Aeronautical Society Inc.". ferrymeadaero.org.nz. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  20. "Fokker F27 - South Australian Aviation Museum". saam.org.au. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  21. Green, William, The Observers Book of Aircraft, Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd, 1970. ISBN 0-7232-0087-4

External links

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