Fokker F.27

History

In 1939 Fokker had developed an (all-metal) successor of the Douglas DC-2 and DC-3, the Fokker F.24. KLM had ordered four examples and at the time of the German invasion was the first one was under construction.

During the war, the development was secretly continued and in December 1945 Fokker proposed a number of aircraft types that they wanted to develop, including an all-metal airliner.

In autumn 1949 Fokker received subsidy from the Nederlands Instituut voor Vliegtuigontwikkeling, NIV (Dutch Institute for Aerospace Programmes) for a feasibility study on a passenger aircraft with jet engines or turboprops.

In 1951, the first models of the new aircraft were tested in the wind tunnel and in 1953 the final form was established. The same year it was also the first time the new airliner was shown to the public at the Paris Salon Aeronautique .

Two flying prototypes, internally referred to as F.1 and F.3 and two static prototypes, referred to as F.2 and F.4 were built.

On November 24, 1955 the F.1 made its maiden flight. The aircraft, registered as PH-NIV, was equipped with two Rolls Royce Dart RDa6 507 of 1540 hp each, each driving a propeller with a diameter of 3,05 m.

Later these engines were replaced with two Rolls Royce Dart RDa 6 511 of 1740 hp each and driving propellers with a diameter of 3,57 m, as would be applied to the production version, the Fokker F.27 series 100.

In 1957 the engines were replaced by two Rolls Royce Dart 7 RDa 528 of 1835 hp each, as would be applied to the F.27. 200 series

In June 1961, the last flight was made and the unit was eventually dismantled.

Fairchild had acquired the license rights but wanted a version for 32 to 36 passengers, four more than the original version, which could take 28 to 32 passengers.

The second flying prototype, F.3, registered as PH-NVF, had a longer fuselage; This was made ​​91 cm longer in front of the wing and the fuselage length was therefore 23,16 m. The aircraft had two Rolls Royce engines  RDa 6 511-7E of 1742 hp each driving a a propeller of 3,66 m diameter.

The F.3 was widely used for demonstration flights, especially for long flights two additional wing tanks were fitted.

Versions.

Often the "Mark" designation instead of 'series' was used for the several subtypes, for example Fokker F.27 series 100 was then known as Fokker F.27 Mark 100 (or Mk. 100).

The Fokker built aircraft were designated F.27. They were usually equipped with English instruments.

The Fairchild built aircraft were designated F-27 and had American instruments.

Both types seemed not to differ much, but most parts were not interchangeable.