Fokker F.27 Friendship Srs.200

The extremely successful Friendship arrived at a time when airlines were keen to upgrade their equipment from the World War 11 designs which were still prevalent in the late 1950’s. The prototype F-27 had a 30 seat capacity and first flew in 1955. The first version, which entered service with Aer Lingus in 1958, was the Series 100(84 built) which first flew in 1957 and was powered by 2x 1715shp(1279kW) Rolls- Royces and with a maximum take-off weight of 39,000lb (17,706kg). The Series 300 (13 built) was a passenger cargo version of the Series 100 featuring a large cargo door on the port side forward of the wing, and a strengthened cabin floor. The Series 400 which was the passenger cargo version of the Series 200. The Series 300 and 400 were mainly for military customers. The Series 600 combined the fuselage of the Series 200 with the cargo door of the Series 300, but without the strengthened floor. A large number of these models remain airworthy. The Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation of the United States signed an agreement with Fokker in 1956 to build the F.27 under licence. The Fairchild F.27 was equivalent to the Series 100 and the F.27A was equivalent to the Series 200. A Fairchild F.27 of West Coast Airlines had actually entered service three months earlier than the Fokker F.27 of Aer Lingus. The F.27J was powered by 2x 2250shp(1678kW) Rolls-Royces. Fairchild built a total of 128 F.27’s and a very small number are still active. The FH-227 was a separate project by Fairchild and is described under Fairchild.

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