Fairchild F-27 - Design and Development

Design and Development

Probably the closest to being a true replacement for the fabled Douglas DC-3, the Fokker F27 Friendship series, including the Fairchild-built F-27 and FH-227, was built in greater numbers than any other western turboprop airliner.

The Fokker F27 began life as a 1950 design study known as the P275, a 32 seater powered by two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops. With the aid of Dutch government funding, the P275 evolved into the F27, which first flew on November 24, 1955. The first prototype was powered by Dart 507s and would have seated 28. To correct a slight tail-heaviness and to allow for more seats, the second prototype (which first flew in January 1957) had a 3-foot-longer (0.91 m) fuselage, which would allow seating for 32.

By this stage Fokker had signed an agreement that would see Fairchild build Friendships in the USA as the F-27. The first aircraft of either manufacturer to enter service was in fact a Fairchild-built F-27, with West Coast Airlines in September 1958. Other Fairchild F-27 operators in the U.S. included Air West, Aloha Airlines, Bonanza Air Lines, Hughes Airwest, Pacific Air Lines and Wien Air Alaska. U.S. operators of the Fairchild Hiller FH-227 included Delta Air Lines, Mohawk Airlines, Northeast Airlines, Ozark Air Lines and Piedmont Airlines.

Fairchild F-27s differed from the initial Fokker F27 Mk 100s in having basic seating for 40, heavier external skinning, a lengthened nose capable of housing a weather radar, and additional fuel capacity.

An important difference between the Fairchild and the Fokker versions was that the Fairchild incorporated a passenger loading airstair door into the rear of the aircraft, operated by a flight attendant. Fokker never built such a door and, as a consequence, operators spent hundreds of thousands of hours pushing loading steps up to and away from hundreds of Fokker airplanes.

Developments were the F-27A with more powerful engines and the F-27B Combi version.

Fairchild independently developed the stretched FH-227, which appeared almost two years earlier than Fokker's similar F27 Mk 500. The FH-227 featured a 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) stretch over standard length F27/F-27s, taking standard seating to 56, with a larger cargo area between the cockpit and the passenger cabin.