Fokker 50

infobox Aircraft
name = Fokker 50 / Fokker 60
type = Airliner
manufacturer = Fokker

---

caption = A Palestinian Airlines Fokker at El Arish International Airport.
designer =
first flight =
introduced =
produced =
retired =
status = Operational
primary user = KLM cityhopper
more users = Avianca
Republic of Singapore Air Force Kish Air
number built = 213
unit cost =
developed from = Fokker F27
variants with their own articles =

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 for the Royal Netherlands Air Force.

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.

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 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. [Flight International, 3-9 October 2006]

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 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 60's (U-01, U-03) were converted in 2005 to MPA aircraft as a temporary solution when the Royal Netherlands Navy P-3 Orion 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 C-130's the Fokker 60's were phased out. The last flight of a 'normal' Fokker 60 was made in November 2006. Currently they are stored at Woensdrecht airbase and are up for sale.

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 up to 62 passengers over a range of 2,000 km (1,243 mi, 1,080 nm) at a typical speed of 530 km/h (329 mph, 286 kts IAS), a 50 km/h (31 mph, 27 kts) increase over the Fokker F27.

Variants

Fokker 50

;F27 Mark 050:Marketed as the Fokker 50 (or sometimes referred to as the Fokker 50-100), based on the F27 Mark 500 with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW125B or PW127B turboprop engines with 6-bladed propellers, updated systems and cockpit instrumentations, increased use of composite structure, double the number of windows, change from pneumatic to hydraulic systems and addition of an electronic engine and propeller controls and electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) and integrated warning system. [EASA Type Certificate] ;F27 Mark 0502:Marketed as the Fokker 50, same as the 050 with reconfigured interior layout and change in type of aft emergency exits, six built (two for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, two for the Singapore Air Force and two for Brunei). [EASA Type Certificate]

Fokker 60

;F27 Mark 0604:Marketed as the Fokker 60, same as the 0502 with an increased fuselage length (1.02m in front of wing and 0.80m aft of wing), increased design weight and introduction of a large cargo door in the forward right side of the fuselage. Two Pratt & Whitney PW127B turboprop engines, four built. [EASA Type Certificate]

Operators

Fokker 50 operators

The following airlines or military operators currently fly the Fokker 50 in passenger or cargo roles: [ [http://www.fokkerservices.com/page.html?ch=DEF&id=5718 Fokker Services - F50 Operators ] ]

*Aero Condor
*Aero Mongolia
*Air Astana
*AirBaltic
*Air Central
*Air Iceland
*Albanian Airlines
*Alliance Airlines
*Amapola Flyg
*Aria Air
*Avianca (only operator of the -300 series)
*Crescent Air Cargo
*Denim Air
*Dutch Antilles Express (Expected 1st quarter of 2008) -->(needs confirmation)
*Ethiopian Airlines
*FlyAsianXpress
*Firefly
*Iranian Air Transport
*Kish Airline
*KLM Cityhopper
*KLM Cityhopper UK
*KLM
*Magic Bird Airlines
*Mandarin Airlines
*MASwings
*OceanAir
*Palestinian Airlines
*PT Indonesia Air Transport
*PT Transwisata Prima Aviation
*PT. Riau Airlines
*Royal Netherlands Air Force.
*Skywest Airlines
*Unijet
*SAS Braathens
*Skyways Express
*Skywest Airlines
*Sudan Airways
*SWE FLY AB
*Taftan Air
*Tanzania Government Flight Agency
*VLM Airlines;NLD
*Royal Netherlands Air Force.;ROC
*Republic of China Navy - as VIP transport.;SIN
*Republic of Singapore Air Force - as Utility Transport Aircraft (UTA) and Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA).

Former Fokker 50 Operators

;MYS
*FlyAsianXpress
*Malaysia Airlines

Former Fokker 60 Operators

;NLD
*Royal Netherlands Air Force.

pecifications

Fokker 50 series 100

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?= plane
jet or prop?= prop
ref=
crew= Two (pilot & co-pilot)
capacity=Up to 58 passengers
length main= 25.25 m
length alt= 82 ft 10 in
span main= 29.00 m
span alt= 95 ft 2 in
height main= 8.32 m
height alt= 27 ft 4 in
area main= 70.0 m²
area alt= 736 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 12,250 kg
empty weight alt= 27,602 lb
loaded weight main= 18,600 kg
loaded weight alt= 41,000 lb
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= 20,820 kg
max takeoff weight alt= 45,900 lb
more general=
engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney Canada PW125B
type of prop= turboprops
number of props=2
power main= 1,864 kW
power alt= 2,500 hp
power original=

max speed main= 425 km/h
max speed alt= 231 knots, 266 mph
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main= 2,055 km
range alt= 1,110 nm, 1,284 mi
ceiling main= 7,620 m
ceiling alt= 25,000 ft
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
* 2 × AGM-84D Harpoon missiles and radar, sonar systems (Republic of Singapore Air Force Fokker 50s)
avionics=

Fokker 60

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?= plane
jet or prop?= prop
ref=
crew= Two (pilot & co-pilot)
capacity=
length main= 26.87 m
length alt= 88 ft 2 in
span main= 29.00 m
span alt= 95 ft 2 in
height main= 8.32 m
height alt= 27 ft 4 in
area main= 70.0 m²
area alt= 736 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main=
empty weight alt=
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=22,950 kg
max takeoff weight alt=50,595 lb
more general=

engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127B
type of prop= turboprops
number of props=2
power main= 2,050 kW
power alt= 2,750 hp
power original=

max speed main=
max speed alt=
cruise speed main= 532 km/h
cruise speed alt= 287 kts, 331 mph
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main=
ceiling alt=
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=

avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Fokker F27
* Fairchild Hiller FH-227

similar aircraft=
* Antonov An-140
* ATR 42 and 72
* CASA CN-235 and EADS CASA C-295
* de Havilland Canada Dash 8
* Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia
* Fairchild-Dornier 328 family
* Ilyushin Il-114
* Saab 2000 and 340
* Xian MA60/Xian Y-7/Antonov An-24

sequence=

lists=

see also=

References

* European Aviation Safety Agency Type-Certificate Data Sheet - Fokker F27 (TCDS A.036 Issue 2 20 May 2005)

External links

* [http://www.fokkerservices.com/ Fokker Services]
* [http://www.fokkerservices.com/page.html?ch=DEF&id=2076 Fokker 50 Official Page]
* [http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=218 Fokker 50 information]
* [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=Fokker+50&distinct_entry=true Fokker 50 photos]