|Fokker 50 / Fokker 60|
|First flight||28 December 1985|
|Primary users||VLM Airlines
|Produced||1987 - 1997|
|Developed from||Fokker F27|
The Fokker F27 Mk. 50, known as the Fokker 50, is a turboprop-powered airliner, designed as a refinement of and successor to the highly successful Fokker F27 Friendship. The Fokker 60 is a stretched freighter version of the Fokker 50. Both aircraft were built by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 60 has also been used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
The Fokker 50 was designed after sales of the Fokker F27 Friendship, which had been in continual production since 1958, were beginning to decline by the 1980s. Fokker management, notably Frans Swarttouw, decided that aircraft with aerodynamic and avionics updates, derived from both the Fokker F27 and the Fokker F28 (the short-range twin jet for 85 passengers), were sensible. Design of the Fokker 50 started in 1983, with DLT and Ansett Airlines of Australia being launch customers.
Fokker built two prototypes derived from F27 airframes, the first of which flew for the first time on 28 December 1985. Certification of the Fokker 50 by the Dutch aviation authority RLD was successfully completed in 1987 and the first production aircraft was delivered to DLT of Germany. Production ended in 1996 after the Fokker Aircraft Company went into liquidation, with the last aircraft delivered the following year. By the end of the program, 213 Fokker 50s had been produced. As of August 2006 a total of 171 Fokker 50 aircraft remain in airline service. Major operators include: Malaysia Airlines (10) (now operated by Maswings and Firefly), Denim Air (12), KLM Cityhopper (14), Skyways Express (18) and VLM Airlines (20). Some 27 other airlines also operate smaller numbers of the type.
The Fokker 60 is stretched 1.62 m (5.31 ft) longer than the F50 for a total length of 26.87 m (88.16 ft). It has a large cargo door on the right side immediately behind the cockpit. Only four examples were built, all of them delivered to the Royal Netherlands Air Force. All of them were part of 334 Squadron based at Eindhoven airbase (EIN/EHEH). They were used to transport equipment and soldiers. Paradrops were done as well. Another 60 were under construction but never completed, due to Fokker's bankruptcy. Two of the Fokker 60s (U-01, U-03) were converted in 2005 to Maritime Patrol aircraft as a temporary solution when the Royal Netherlands Navy P-3 Orions were phased out due to budget cuts. They were stationed at Hato AB Curaçao, until they were replaced by civil DHC-8 aircraft in October 2007. When the Royal Netherlands Air Force decided to buy two extra Lockheed C-130s, the Fokker 60s were phased out. The last flight of a 'normal' Fokker 60 was made in November 2006. Currently they are stored at Woensdrecht Air Base and are up for sale. The two Fokker 60 examples converted to MPA were sold to the Peruvian Naval Aviation on 23 February 2010.
The Fokker 50 was based on the stretched F27-500 airframe, but with a larger number of smaller windows in the fuselage and a two-wheel nose gear.
Basic construction of the fuselage, wings and empennage (tail) remained unchanged apart from strengthening the various sections where required. The wing was equipped with upturned ailerons and wingtips, effectively acting as wing endplates or winglets.
The major design change from the Fokker F27 was in the engines, and in equipping the aircraft with an electronic flight and engine-management system. The original Rolls-Royce Darts in various marks of basically 1,268-1715 kW (1,700-2,300 hp) was replaced with two more fuel efficient Pratt & Whitney Canada PW124 powerplants of 1,864 kW (2,500 hp) each, driving six-bladed Dowty Rotol propellers.
The Fokker 50 can carry up to 62 passengers over a range of 2,000 km (1,243 mi, 1,080 nmi) at a typical speed of 530 km/h (329 mph, 286 kn), a 50 km/h (31 mph, 27 kn) increase over the Fokker F27.
As of August 2009 168 aircraft are still in operational use with airlines.
The following governments or military operators currently fly the Fokker 50 in passenger or cargo roles:
Data from airlines.net
Data from airlines.net