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Fokker first began manufacturing planes in Germany in 1912. On 21 July 1919,
Anthony H.G. Fokker founded the "N.V. Nederlandse Vliegtuigfabriek" in Amsterdam.
To commemorate Fokker's thirty years of aircraft manufacture in the Netherlands, they were
granted the title "Royal Dutch Aircraft Manufacturer Fokker" on 21 July 1949.
Until production ended after Fokker collapsed due to financial problems on 15 March 1996,
Fokker have developed and constructed over 100 different types of aircraft, both for military
and civil aviation. Design studies for Fokker's first airliner after World War II were initiated in 1950.
In 1951 Fokker received support for this study for "Ontwerp 271" and the
next two years were spent studying a variety of different configurations
before the decision was made in favour of a twin-Dart aeroplane with
pressurised accommodation for 28 passengers and a minimum range of 483
km with a capacity payload. On 1 September 1953, the development
programme for the F-27 Friendship started. Four prototypes were to be
built, two for test flying (F-1 and F-3) and the other two for static
fatigue tests (F-2 and F-4). The first prototype (F-1) was powered by
two Rolls-Royce Dart 6 Mk.507 engines and flew first on 24 November 1955 as PH-NIV.
The second prototype (F-3), which had a 0.91 meter lengthened fuselage
and the higher-powered Rolls-Royce Dart 6 Mk.511, followed on 31 January 1957 as PH-NVF.
The first production aircraft (F-5 c/n 10105), a Fokker F-27-101 made its first flight on
23 March 1958 as PH-FAA and was h/o to Aer Lingus on 19 November 1958 as EI-AKA. Until production of the
Fokker F-27 ended in 1986 a total of 786 aircraft were built, including
206 manufactured under licence by Fairchild in the U.S.A.
The ICAO
Aircraft Type Designator for the Fokker F-27-300M Troopship is F27. |
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In 1966, NLM (Nederlandse Luchtvaart Maatschappij) was formed as a subsidiary of KLM to operate domestic
services for a trial period of two years. On 29 August 1966, NLM started regular services out of Amsterdam
to 5 regional airports in the Netherlands: Eindhoven, Enschede, Maastricht, Groningen and Rotterdam operated
with two Fokker F-27-300M Troopships leased from the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Troopship PH-KFA and PH-KFB
were aircraft of the RNethAF, owned by Staat de Nederlanden and leased to KLM for the period 12 May 1966 to
3 May 1972. The number of flights at the Amsterdam-Groningen service increased over the years from 2 up to 5
times a day with a growing number of passengers. The NLM was renamed NLM Cityhopper and used by the KLM as a
feederliner. After the KLM decided to reduce the number of flights at the NLM Cityhopper route Groningen-Amsterdam
to two times a day, the number of passengers went down dramatically and finally the NLM-service AMS-GRQ succeeded.
On 21 November 1960, Fokker F-27-300M Troopship s/n 10161 was registered PH-FBZ with NV KNV Fokker, Schiphol-Zuid.
On 22 November 1960, Fokker F-27-300M Troopship PH-FBZ was flown first. On 2 February 1961, the aircraft was delivered
to the Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht) 334 squadron at Ypenburg Air Base with registration C-11 /
callsign PE-CAK. On 10 February 1961, registration PH-FBZ was cancelled. In 1966, it was decided that Fokker F-27-300M
Troopship C-9 and C-11 should be equipped for passenger transport for the NLM operations on the regular services out
of Amsterdam to five regional airports in the Netherlands. On 12 May 1966, Fokker F-27-300M Troopship C-11 was
registered PH-KFB with KLM as holder and Staat der Nederlanden as owner. On 29 August 1966, NLM started the regular
services out of Amsterdam with the PH-KFA "Jan Dellaert" and PH-KFB "Willem Versteegh". On 3 May 1972, registration
PH-KFB was cancelled and the aircraft was returned to the Royal Netherlands Air Force 334 squadron at Soesterberg Air Base.
In 1968, Ypenburg Air Base became a reserve base and 334 squadron was moved to Soesterberg AB were it stayed until May 1992,
before the last move to Eindhoven AB where 334 squardon still is stationed. In 1992, the C-11 was modified and painted all
white for UN recognisability to serve during UN peace keeping operations in Cambodia, where it was operated between 20 May
1992 and 18 November 1992. On 4 June 1996, Fokker F-27-300M Troopship C-11 was withdrawn from use by the Netherlans Air Force;
stored at Woensdrecht and offered for sale. In December 1997, the aircraft was sold to Luft Afrique and registered ZS-OEK
on 22 September 1998. In South Africa, Troopship ZS-OEK was mainly used as cargo plane by Luft Cargo. In June 2001, after the nose
wheel collapsed, the aircraft was left derelict at Pretoria-Wonderboom National airport, South Africa. Over the years the Luft
Cargo titles were complete faded and the tail logo was overpainted with UN. On 17 July 2017, the mayor of
Tshwane community named the airframe "Little Solly". The remains of the aircraft are in a very poor condition. |
