F-27 ? / Help

[LearLove]

For you guys that have flown the F-27 or thoes in the know.....

I can't seem to get the history and versions of this fine aircraft down correctly. Here's some ?

Whats the diff in the versions? F-27, F227, and F-50

Are they the same type rating?

What about egines and systems in diff versions?

Any short histroy on the aurcraft, I know it was big in Europe.

Are their any opertors left outside of MAC, Senic ?, and Empire?

Comments from thoes that flew/fly it.


Thanks

 

[AA717driver]

Whistle Pig

I flew the Fokker F-27 at Air Wisconsin in 1987-1988. Fairchild built the FH-227 and I believe made some improvements to build the F-27. I don't know when Fokker took over but ARW had the last 14 off the assembly line. The came from Chicago Air who got them from Mid State Airlines(please correct me if this is incorrect--it's been awhile).

ARW got the F-27 idea from their acquisition of Mississippi Valley Airlines. MVA operated both the FH and the domestic F-27. Much to the chagrin of the ARW pilots, the new Fokkers replaced the much-loved DH-7's.

The F-27 was a pain to operate. The flap and gear speeds started at 170 which is what ORD approach wanted to the marker. It was hot in the summer and the fresh air intake was inboard of the engine on the leading edge of the wing. When you were sitting downwind waiting to take off, the exhaust blew up over the wing and into the air intake so the cabin smelled like jet fumes. Couple that with 90 degree cabin temps and you get a spontaneous evacuation like ARW had on the 32R pad at ORD(before I got there).

It didn't have hydraullics(other than the nosewheel steering)--it had compressed air. Many times during the overnight in Rhinelander, WI, the air bled out and you had to run the engines for 20-30 minutes to build up air pressure. You couldn't just stick a hose in there and pump it up.

Oh, yeah, it had stiff landing gear so it was really tough to make a smooth landing. Did I leave anything out? Anyone? TC

 

[LearLove]

DHC-7 now there's an airplane.

 

[metrodriver]

The F27 was developed in the early 1950's by Fokker in The Netherlands as a DC3 replacement. Fairchild built it under license as the FH227 and made a few changes to it.
In the 1980's Fokker stretched the F27 a little into the F50, with PW 127? engines replacing the RRdart, a CRT cockpit, and more but smaller windows and 5 or 6 bladed props (I believe 6). They later stretched it into the F60 of which only 4 were built before bankruptcy, all going to the Dutch airforce. The type certificate for the F50 is actually F27-50. A few years back the first production plane was still flying in Germany hauling boxes every night.
After Fokker built the F27 they started on the F28, a true regional jet that was popular all over the world. After they finished the F50 Fokker redid the F28 and called it the F100, it was a little longer, glass cockpit, RRtay instead of RRspey engines. They later shortened it and called it the F70, and it's size is comparable to the long version of the F28.

There are still many F27's flying in third world countries, like the F50, the F28 and F100 / 70. I have no clue why there is no F50 flying in the states. This plane is still popular in Europe though.

I once flew in a c130 and after that in a F27 troopship. The F27 was sooo quiet compared to the c130, you didn't need earplugs and you could have a conversation at a normal voice level. Talking in the c130 was nearly impossible.

 

[JBcrjca]

Here are some details that I found in a magazine article about the F.27/F27.

The Fokker F.27 was built in the Netherlands, and the Fairchild F-27 was built in Hagerstown MD. Fokker and Fairchild agreed in 1956 on a joint production plan. First flight of the prototype F.27 was in Nov '55...the first production standard F.27 flew in Jan '57. The Fairchild F-27 first flew in April '58, with Dick Henson as the test pilot. The F-27 was type-certified in July of '58 and entered service with West Coast Airlines in Sept. The F-27 actually carried revenue passengers before the original F.27.

Fokker made further developments to the design... the F.27 Mk 100 through the final Mk 500 had various versions of the RR Dart, fuselage lengths, weights, doors, etc. The last F.27 built, a Mk 500, was delivered to Air Wisconsin in 1986. A total of 581 were built.

Fairchild made similar developments with the F-27A, B, F, J, and M. In 1966, Fairchild/Hiller first flew the FH-227, with a 6' fuselage stretch over the F-27. The FH-227 had several versions up through the D model. Fairchild built a total of 126 F-27s and 79 FH-227s when production ended in 1973.

Though the airplanes looked similar, they were actually very different. Most airlines flew either one type or the other, because each required different manuals and spare parts.

Some visual differences:
F.27s need boarding stairs, while F-27s have integral steps in the doors.
F.27s had pitot/static tubes on the wingtips, F-27s were on the nose.
F.27s had heat exchanger intakes on the lower aft fuselages, while the F-27 intakes were smaller and mounter up on the fin (stretched models only)
Counting windows is difficult because of the various versions and fuselage lengths.

An F.27 airframe was used to build the F-50 prototype, first flown in 1985. As Metrodriver mentions, it had PW125B/127B engines in new nacelles, six-blade props, EFIS cockpit, smaller windows, twin-wheel nose gear, forward pax door, 'Foklets' (small winglets), and completely new electric, air-conditioning and hydraulic systems. Production ended in 1997.

It's official....I have waaaaaay too much spare time tonight.

 

[LAZYB]

Fokker F-27 forum