Fokker 50

Fokker 50 / Fokker 60

Fokker 50 taking off from Gardermoen (Oslo, Norway)
Type	Airliner
Manufacturer	Fokker
Primary users	Royal Netherlands Air Force Republic of China Navy Republic of Singapore Air Force
Number built	213
Developed from	Fokker F27

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 version of the Fokker 50 that was only produced in limited numbers.

Development

Fokker 50

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 an aircraft with aerodynamic and electronic updates from both the Fokker F27 and the Fokker F28 (the short-range twin jet for 85 passengers) was sensible. Design of the Fokker 50 started in 1983.

Fokker 50

Certification of the Fokker 50 (initially known as the Fokker F27 Mk050 or Fokker 50) by the Dutch aviation authority RLD was successfully completed in 1987 after four years of design review and flight testing. First delivery was made to DLT of Germany. Production ended in 1996 after the Fokker Aircraft Company went into liquidation. By the end of the program, 213 Fokker 50s had been produced. In 2005 a majority of these were in operational service and in August 2006 a total of 171 Fokker 50 aircraft remain in airline service. Major operators include: Malaysia Airlines (10) (now operated by FlyAsianXpress and Firefly), Denim Air (12), KLM Cityhopper (16), Skyways Express (18) and VLM Airlines (20). Some 27 other airlines also operate smaller numbers of the type.^[1]

Fokker 60

The Fokker 60 is stretched 1.62 metres longer than the F50 for a total length of 26.87 metres. It has a large cargo door on the right side immediately behind the cockpit. Only four planes where built, all of them delivered to the Royal Netherlands Air Force. All of them are part of 334 Squadron based at Eindhoven airbase (EIN/EHEH). They are used to transport equipment and soldiers. Paradrops are done as well. Another 60 was under construction, but was never completed due to Fokker's bankruptcy.

Design

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 aileron 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 1700 to 2300 HP was replaced with two more fuel efficient Pratt & Whitney Canada PW124 powerplants of max 2500 HP each, driving a 6 bladed Dowty Rotol propeller.

Compared to the Fokker F27, the Fokker 50 can carry around 50 passengers over a range of 2000 km at a typical speed of 530 km/h, a 50 km/h increase over the Fokker F27.

Variants

Fokker 50
Fokker 60

Operators

Fokker 50 operators

Fokker 50 - Royal Netherlands Air Force

Fokker 50 - Ethiopian Airlines at Lalibela airport

The following airlines or military operators currently fly the Fokker 50 in passenger or cargo roles: ^[2]

Aero Condor
Aero Mongolia
Air Astana
Air Baltic
Air Central
Air Iceland
Albanian Airlines
Alliance Airlines
Amapola Flyg
Aria Air
Avianca (only operator of the -300 series)
Crescent Air Cargo
Denim Air
Ethiopian Airlines
FlyAsianXpress
Firefly
Iranian Air Transport
Kish Airline
KLM Cityhopper
KLM Cityhopper UK
KLM
Malaysian Airlines
Mandarin Airlines
OceanAir
Palestinian Airlines
PT Indonesia Air Transport
PT Transwisata Prima Aviation
PT. Riau Airlines
Republic of China Navy - as VIP transport
Republic of Singapore Air Force
SAS Braathens
Skyways Express
Skywest Airlines
Sudan Airways
SWE FLY AB
Taftan Air
Tanzania Government Flight Agency
VLM Airlines

Fokker 60 Operators

Netherlands

Royal Netherlands Air Force.

Specifications

Fokker 50 series 100

General characteristics

Crew: Two (pilot & co-pilot)
Capacity: Up to 58 passengers
Length: 25.25 m (82 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 29.00 m (95 ft 2 in)
Height: 8.32 m (27 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 70.0 m² (736 ft²)
Empty weight: 12,250 kg (27,602 lb)
Loaded weight: 18,600 kg (41,000 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 20,820 kg (45,900 lb)
Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney Canada PW125B turboprops, 1,864 kW (2,500 hp) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 425 km/h (231 knots, 266 mph)
Range: 2,055 km (1,110 nm, 1,284 mi)
Service ceiling: 7,620 m (25,000 ft)