Fokker

RE: Fokker

count me in for a test flight…..

JW

RE: Fokker

When I was five years old I went on an Ansett airlines F-27 for a mystery flight, it was the first time that I had ever been on an a/c. I flew from Sydney to Cooma and then to Marimbula before we returned to Sydney, the flight lasted for half the day and we (My mother, my brother and my sister) then went to McDonalds for a late lunch. our curising height was 23,000ft, and I remember looking at the cars on the road below and thinking WOW they’re lik ants 🙂

When Fokker went belly up, it did impact here on the Australian domestic market, companies like Ansett and TAA had a large number for their short haul services and both owned the F-27 and F-28, but by the time of the Fokker demise TAA had gone, forming two new airlines (East West and Australian) and Ansett was under new ownership (they later bought out both East West and Australian), and of the F-27s and F-28s well if no air line in Australia could opperate them then no-one would buy them, there are a few still around, but under some very heavy air restrictions as parts can’t be found to keep them going on the same level as they once had been. Even the RNZAF had to get rid of them, they didn’t want to, but they couldn’t keep them :'(

The loss of Fokker is a real tradgety and there will never be another plane as highly respected as these little work horses who did the job till someone else forced them out. Personally I’d really like to buy an F-27, if I really could I’d like to buy the F-27 that I flew in all those years ago, but I think that is in the PNG now, still soldiering on for the air line up there!

When push comes to shove, don’t stand near a cliff

RE: Fokker

Yes, those numbers seem to be right. The management did take one off the biggest gambles when they did decide to renew their entire range. This was one of the factors, which contributed to the downfall off the company, development costs allot of money and the benefits will come a few years later. So in the mid 1980’s the Fokker company had allot of dep., mostly with the government and the output, aircraft, was virtually zero. Towards the end of the 1980’s they were able to produce around 75 aircraft (if memory surfs me right) then the Gulf war came along with the world-wide demise of the airline demand.

I think the Fokker 70/100/130 series would have been a good alternative in the current world market even though it is older then the airlines currently available.

JW

RE: Fokker

A few of the subsidiaries are stil operating. All companies survived, except for the actual planebuilder and the mother company (more or less the administration, they owned all the subsiduaries including the actual plane builder).

The companies that are still left are:
– Fokker Services, maintenance, overhaul etc;
– Fokker Elmo, electrical wiring I believe, but I am not quite sure;
– Fokker special products, military equipment etc;
– Fokker Space, solar panels, satelites, robot arms, the name says it all. I believe this company has been taken over/will be taken over by SAAB Space.

283 F100 were build in its 9 year history. 38 Fokker 70s were build in its 3 or 4 year history. Of the F28 241 units were build during a period of roughly 25/30 years. You could say the F70/100 were very succesful.

The production of the F27 is as follows:

581 F-27s (Fokker)
128 F-27s (Fairchild)
78 FH-227s
687 total

These sales were spread out over roughly 30 years. The F50/60 sold 205 times in 10 year. They were therefore more or less even with the F27.

All numbers from www.airliners.net

RE: Fokker

Dutchy just out of interest how did the “new a/c” sell compared to the older versions – i.e. Fokker 50/60 – F27/FH227, Fokker F28 – 70/100 as they seemed to switch both lines at about the same time? – and also i believe that there is still a couple of Fokker subsideries operating as a Parts service centre and overhaul unit – could u please clarify this.

RE: Fokker

I’ve read that one. On most points I agree. Fokker would have made a profit if the dollar went up to an exchange rate of $1 to fl. 1,80 at the moment the dollar is something like fl. 2,50 for every fl. 0,01 the dollar went up in Guilders would mean an extra profit of fl 50.000.000,- so the time were bad an a numerous other factors led to the end to one of the best aircraft manufactures in the world. It is a shame that the Dutch hadn’t have enough hard for the airline industry in Holland and indeed it would be a far better investment then the € 5.000.000.000,00 that this line will cost. Well don’t vote for D’66 then in the upcoming elections, Wijers (D’66) was the minister of economic affairs in Holland at the time.

JW

RE: Fokker

Oh, by the way, this book you just finished. Did you just finish it writing or reading? I believe there is already a book called Fokker Vleugellam.

Book : Fokker Vleugellam
Writer : Cok Martijn (no jokes please!)
Publisher : F&G Publishing, Bunnik
Year of release : 1996
ISBN : 90 75432 194

RE: Fokker

How everything could be different if the Dutch government had given some more money. They say they did everything they could, which is not true. When you compare how much Boeing, Airbus and other aircraft builders get, the amount Fokker got was a shamble.

Just imagine, projects like the Betuwe freight rail line has already costed roughly 1,100,000,000 Euro. The Betuwe line wil never make a profit. For only a fraction of the cost overrun of this railline we (the Dutch) would have had a highly profitable aircraft builder supporting 100s or maybe even 1,000s of jobs.

All the signals were there at the time indicating that better times were ahead. The Fokker planes sold better than ever. The F60 was just launched. The F130 attracted massive interest from airlines all over the world. The Dollar rate went up. Even the Dutch public opinion finally agreed that is was justified to give Fokker some money (and that had not been the case for a long time).

Of course it is not all the fault of the government. I have read in a newspaper that the DASA kept Fokker long enough to steal everything valuable (ranging from money to technical knowledge) and then left it. Apparently with the last government-loan Fokker could have lived longer, had the Germans not transfered it to themselves.

RE: Fokker

well unfortunately they couldn’t sell the aircraft to suport the comapy therefor ethey went out of business. also the dutch af is so small there is no military base suporting them. they probable would have surviced if there was firther inter europrean comapny collaberation on aerospace like a400m and nh90.

rabie :9

RE: Fokker

Hi there,

When Fokker went down the pan it meant a great loss to regional airports like Leeds/Bradford (my local) as airlines struggled to find a/c with such capacity’s. The fokker range was a “filler” a/c range and this was a time before RJ’s we’re common. Embraer hadn’t brought the RJ135/40/45 range out yet, and Canadair hadn’t launched any other varients of the CRJ-200. The Fokker 70 and 100 we’re used extensivly in the mid-late 1990’s at NM with KLM UK operating the 50 and 100, British Midland the 70 and 100, and Aer Lingus with the nifty 50. This range of aircraft offered these local airports with an aircraft that was route specific and operated a fleet commonarilty and without these a/c Leeds wouldn’t have some of the routes operated today without this range of a/c