Fokker Forges Ahead

By way of background, it may be worthwhile to summarise the events that led to the company’s formation, and its subsequent development. Anthony Fokker was born in 1890 in Java (then part of the Dutch East Indies), but the family moved back to Holland shortly afterwards for the sake of the children’s education. At that time much pioneering work in aviation was being done in Germany, so Fokker went there to learn how to design and build his own flying machines, the first of which took to the air in 1910. In the following year, he taught himself to fly his aircraft and became one of Europe’s pioneer aviators. However, there was still no market for his designs in Holland, so he established his factory at Berlin-Johannisthal, winning his first orders from the German Army in 1913.

The First World War meant a vast expansion in aircraft production, and it also brought fame to the Fokker name, firstly through the Fokker-patented interrupter gear that allowed a fuselage-mounted machine gun to be synchronised with the rotation of the propeller, and then through the development of more advanced fighters, such as the Dr. 1 triplane and the D. VII biplane of 1918. The D. VII was undoubtedly the finest fighter to be employed on the German side, and the Armistice agreement specifically ordered that all aircraft of that type were to be handed over to the Allies. Fokker nonetheless managed to hide 200 aircraft (including about 120 D. Vlls), 400 engines, and large quantities of equipment and tooling, which were smuggled across the border to establish a new company in Holland.

To digress briefly, there are currently only seven D. Vlls in existence, one of which was recently purchased by Fokker for $US50,000 at an auction organised by the Wings and Wheels Museum of Orlando, Florida. This aircraft had several American owners, being first used in air races and later (in 1927) by Howard Hughes as a camera plane for his classic film Hell’s Angels, then appearing ten years later in Men With Wings. Today the D. VII stands in a corner of the Schiphol factory, minus most of its covering but structurally complete and with the original Mercedes engine. It is being restored by enthusiastic Fokker employees in their spare time, and will eventually be placed on permanent display on the company premises.

The new company (from which the current Fokker has descended) was founded under the title Netherlands Aircraft Factory Fokker on 21 July 1919. The military aircraft that had been built in Germany and smuggled out by train gave the company its initial sales, being purchased by the air forces of the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. However, it was clear that for the longer term, the company had to enter the commercial aircraft field, and that the largest potential market was America. Anthony Fokker consequently established a US branch of the company in 1921 and lived in America from 1925 until his death in 1939.

Fokker transport aircraft included the 11-passenger F. IV of 1922 with which the US Army Air Service made the first nonstop flight across America from coast to coast (the “Army T-2” still being preserved in the National Air and Space Museum Washington), and the eight-passenger F. VII, with which the air route from Holland to the East Indies was pioneered. The F. VII gave rise to even more important three-engined deliveries, notably the F. VIIAl3m, in which in 1925 Byrd made the first flight over the North Pole, and the F. VIIB/3m of 1928, in which Kingsford-Smith bridged the Pacific. Fokker meantime continued with a variety of military aircraft, the best remembered being the D. XXI radial-engined, fixed-gear fighter, which saw active service not only with the Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht) in Europe and the east indies but also with the Finnish Air Force (llmavo1mat) in the Winter War against the Soviet Union.

Following the German occupation of Holland in 1940, the Fokker company was obliged to build aircraft under the direct control of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium in Berlin, wartime production including 702 Buecker Bestmann trainers and 66 Arado 196 seaplanes. In 1943 the main factory in Amsterdam was hit by a series of heavy raids, and the work had to be dispersed to 48 small plants. As the end of the war in Europe approached, the company facilities were stripped of equipment and raw materials by the retreating Germans, hence May 1945 Fokker with no factory and no means to restart production in the short term.

Fortunately, the company had deposited a large sum with a New York bank in 1939, and this enabled Fokker to make a new beginning, initially building gliders and converting Dakotas to civilian use. The S11 piston-engined trainer and the S14 jet trainer were developed in-house, a new factory was opened at Schiphol in 1951, and funds poured in from a series of licence manufacturing contracts for the Hawker Sea Fury, Gloster Meteor 8, Hawker Hunter, and F-104G Starfighter, in addition to which wings were made for the Breguet Atlantic and centre fuselages for the Northrop NF-5.

Fokker Takes Off

Building aircraft under licence provided the means to keep the company going for the short term, but for long-term security, Fokker needed to regain its prewar position in commercial aviation, and to this end began market surveys in 1950 for a new transport aircraft. The resulting prototype F27 Friendship (PHNIV) took to the air from Schiphol on 24 November 1955, powered by two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops. It might be said with some justification that this date marked the rebirth of Fokker as one of the major airline constructors since the F27 proved to be not only the first but also the most successful aircraft in its class.

For its generation, the F27 represented a bold gamble, in combining turboprop engines, the extensive use of fibreglass components and metal bonding to give a smooth surface finish and an absence of stress concentrations, a pneumatically sprung undercarriage, and a high wing for improved visibility and ease of loading. The F27 was purely a Dutch venture, funded jointly by the company and the Netherlands Government, which is not a shareholder in this privately-owned company but assists by means of risk-sharing loans in the development of new projects through the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programmes.

According to information recently published in the Dutch press, the government’s investment in the programme amounted to a total of DFI 35 m (approx. $A12. 7 m), and the return from royalties has thus far reached 2. 43 times the original outlay.

There are currently two principal commercial F27 models: the short-body, 44-48 passenger Mk 200/600 (the Mk 600 has a large cargo door), and the long-body 52-56 passenger Mk 500, which also has the special cargo door. At the time of this writer’s visit in March, firm F27 orders totalled 739 (Fokker does not bother to quote options) for 160 operators in 64 countries. The total includes 205 built under licence by Fairchild in America, and 13 of the special Maritime variant discussed later in this report. Regional F27s now in service include 37 in Australia, 15 in New Zealand and 17 in Papua New Guinea.

Indicative of the international nature of Fokker’s market, F27s to be seen at Schiphol in their brand-new airline paint schemes included one for the Merpati subsidiary of Garuda Indonesian Airways, one for Air Zaire, and two for Oman Aviation Services. Due partly to the fuel price increases of recent years, demand for the highly economical F27 is increasing despite the recession, and production is expanding accordingly, from 16 units in 1981 to 24 this year.

The F28 Fellowship has yet to rival the phenomenal success of its predecessor, but it is selling steadily, and the production rate is being increased to meet a growing demand. The first prototype (PH-JHG) had its maiden flight on 9 May 1967, powered by two Rolls-Royce RB. 183 Mk 555 turbofan engines. Unlike the F27, this was a cooperative venture with Hamburger Flugzeugbau (part of MBB) and VFW in Germany and Short Brothers in Northern Ireland acting as risk-sharing partners, involved from the outset in development and production. In this case, the Dutch Government investment was DFI 196 m ($A 71. 3 m), of which 80 per cent has so far been recouped from royalties.

The current production versions are the 65-seat Mk 3000 and the long-body 85-seat Mk 4000, both of which have longer wingspans and more powerful engines (RB. 183 Mk 555-15P) than the earlier models. In March 1982, F28 sales totalled 189 units for 46 operators in 31 countries, the total including 15 for Australia. Present in the flight sheds was the first of four Mk 4000s in the attractive colours of Airlines of Western Australia, which will operate the aircraft as a 75-seater in view of its long stage lengths and comparatively short airfields.

It is anticipated that the AWA fleet will eventually be increased to eight Mk 4000s, replacing the seven 60-seat Mk 1000s now in service. The first four of the new series will be delivered in July and December 1982 and in July and September 1983. In addition, there are three Mk 4000s on order for East-West Airlines, with entry into service scheduled for March 1982 (followed by subsequent aircraft in 1984 and 1985). Fitted with 80-seat cabins, the F28s will be operated in parallel with EastWest’s ten F27s, and will introduce jet services to Norfolk Island. The current unit price for an F28 is $US10 m – 11 m fully equipped, compared to $US6. 5 m for an F27.

Additional commercial manufacturing workload is provided by the Airbus and Shorts 330/360 programmes. The Dutch Government invested DFI 127 m ($A 46. 2 m) in the Airbus A300, of which 20 per cent has already been recovered. This investment gives Fokker a 6. 6 per cent stake in the programme and has resulted in the company being made responsible for the production of all wing moving parts for the A300B2 and -84 versions. In the case of the A310, Holland has just over 1. 0 per cent of the work, producing wing components and carbon fibre undercarriage doors. Fokker is also a risk-sharing partner in the 33-seat Shorts 330 and 36-seat 360, for which the company builds the outer wings and struts.

Commercial aircraft manufacture accounts for approximately 75 per cent of turnove_r, which is currently running at around f)FI 1. 1 b ($A 363 m). The construction of military aircraft makes up around 17 per cent, the remainder being accounted for mainly by repairs and maintenance work, and space activities. The principal military programme for Fokker is now the F16, in which Holland aimed to achieve 58 per cent offsets, and is close to this figure.

Fokker is responsible for the final assembly of all F16s for the air forces of the Netherlands (102 aircraft, with follow-on orders for 22 and 18 units) and Norway (72 aircraft), the first Dutch aircraft being delivered in June 1979 and the first for Norway in January 1980. In addition, the company is making (on the basis of current orders) 762 sets of centre fuselages and wing moving surfaces, 509 main gear door sets, 179 tailplanes, 295 rudders and 295 fin leading edges.

The Dutch follow-on orders (out of a planned 111 further aircraft) will result in additional component manufacture work, and further offsets are expected to arise from F16 sales outside the European consortium. Touring the production line, one is struck by the protective material added to the wing and tailplane to minimise the risk of injuries on sharp edges, the fin extension to house the braking parachute of the Norwegian aircraft, and he new enlarged tailplane to restore stability in the ground attack configuration. Judging by construction numbers, aircraft 100-11 0 were in the final assembly area at the time of this visit.

F27 Maritime

The only transport aircraft that is currently in production at Schiphol but is not yet in service in Australia is the F27 Maritime, which was developed and equipped specifically for sea patrol tasks, with an endurance of 11 hours, and a radius of action of 1200 nm. Typical duties include the surveillance of offshore oil rigs and coastal shipping routes, fisheries protection, search and rescue, pollution control, and anti-smuggling operations.

The Maritime is dealt with at Fokker as a separate entity from the commercial F27, coming for marketing purposes under the control of Robert van Dijk, Manager of Government Programs. Work on the project began in 1972 when the Icelandic Coastguard began using a standard F27 for fisheries protection and SAR duties. The aircraft had a very useful performance for such roles, plus a comfortable cabin and an excellent field of view by virtue of its high wing, but it lacked the radar, precise navigational aids, and autopilot to exploit its full potential for maritime patrol, and Fokker was naturally concerned about possible corrosion problems in the case of the aircraft being flown for long periods at 200-400 feet above the waves.

As a first step, Fokker and Rolls-Royce embarked on a thorough investigation of possible saltwater corrosion problems. The Dart engine was found to be free of corrosion and overheating due to blade contamination, although it is nonetheless recommended that the engines of the Maritime are washed with fresh water after every six flights. The Maritime airframe is subjected to special protective treatment during manufacture, which is one reason why it is not practical to rebuild existing F27s to full Maritime standards.

In 1973, Fokker began studying possible equipment fits for a dedicated sea patrol aircraft, and undertook the conversion of an old ex-THY Turkish Airlines F27 Mk 100 (c/n 10183) to act as a flying testbed and demonstrator. Fitted with search radar, inertial navigation system and autopilot, the aircraft was registered PH-FCX and made its first flight as a Maritime prototype on 28 February 1976. For this first phase, the R & D expenditure amounted to DFI 15 m ($A 5. 5 m), although additional funding was later found necessary for equipment development.

The resulting F27 Maritime has a normal crew of six, i. e. two pilots, a navigator/tactical co-ordinator, a radar operator, and two observers. It has a ventral search radar giving 360-degree cover, and is able to detect a trawler at a typical range of 40 nm, a Litton LTN-72 inertial navigator, windscreen desalting system, a chute for marine markers, enlarged observation windows, provision for a 60m candlepower searchlight, and two external fuel tanks (which were originally used on the commercial aircraft to extend ferry range on a Latin-American sales tour).

Whereas in normal military practice, an inertial navigation accuracy of 1. 5 nm/hr is reckoned to be good, the system in the Maritime is giving 0. 5 nm/hr from a 15-minute alignment with radar updates to around 0. 1 nm. Reliability is excellent, with an MTBF of 3000 hours. In this context it. Nay be noted that 800 hr/yr is a relatively high utilisation for aircraft in this role. The inertial system also has the advantage that it is completely self-contained, will operate anywhere in the world, and has software that can be optimised for maritime patrol, feeding pattern searches into the autopilot. The same system is being introduced by the US Navy on its Orions.

There were some early teething problems with the Litton APS-504 search radar, in that it gave less than the expected detection ranges. This led to a product improvement programme, giving increased sensitivity and double the detection range, and a comprehensive flight test programme over the North Sea and Ijsselmeer (formerly the Zuiderzee) using standard radar targets. These trials not only confirmed performance but enabled radar operating procedures (scan rate and pulse repetition frequency) and aircraft search height to be optimised for different sea states. For a detection probability of 50 per cent, the range varies from 55 nm against a 150 sq m target in sea state 1 down to 20 nm in sea state 3-4. The improved radar is designated APS-504(V)-2 and represents a cost of around $US 0. 35 m, roughly three times the cost of the inertial system.

The Maritime is now equipped with the Sperry SPZ-600 dual-channel autopilotlflight director system and dual radio altimeters; enabling the aircraft to be flown safely hands-off as low as 150 feet. The new autopilot is basically two SPZ-500s working together; if one should command a hard-over control input, the system ignores it.

The aircraft being built for the Dutch Government differs from earlier Maritimes in having Global GNS-S00A VLF-Omega as a backup to the LTN-72, TACAN instead of DME, an automatic track plotter, and searchlight provisions in the starboard fuel tank. The searchlight is the Spectrolab Nightsun SX-16 HIPAS (High Power Airborne Searchlight), which can produce either a 10° or 1° beam, controllable by means of a miniature joystick operated by the co-pilot to limits of 10° inboard, 60° outboard, and 45° down. Identification of a suspect vessel is normally done by approaching on instructions from the radar operator, switching on the wide beam at 1. 5 nm, and then selecting the narrow beam to read the boat’s name.

The first Maritime sale came in 1976, for two aircraft for the Peruvian Navy, which are used for fisheries protection, SAR, and sovereignty patrol, and also for general transport duties involving operation to rough strips high in the Andes. The Spanish Air Force next ordered three Maritimes to replace the HU-16 Albatross amphibians of No. 802 Sqn in SAR duties around the Canary Islands. Angola ordered one tor fisheries protection, to be flown and maintained by TAAG-Angola Airlines. The Philippine Air Force bought three to replace its HU-16s in SAR and anti-smuggling duties.

The most recent published order is for two Maritimes for the Dutch Government to replace P-2 Neptunes based at Curacao in SAR, anti-smuggling and general liaison duties. These aircraft will have a mixed air force and navy crews and will be designated as No. 336 Sqn of the RNAF, although coming under naval control. In addition, two Maritimes are being built for an unnamed operator, with the first delivery in April 1983. Aside from repeat orders, purchases are confidently expected from Africa and Asia in the near future.

The Way Ahead

Future projects were next discussed with Mr J. Cornelis, Director for New Aircraft Projects. Any change to the F27 that involves a substantially higher TOW (take-off weight) may be costly, due to the need to strengthen the structure, although a thicker wing skin could be introduced fairly easily. Any further stretch of the fuselage is currently restricted (as on the Boeing 737) by rotation considerations, but Fokker is investigating the benefits of lengthening one component of each main undercarriage, which would make possible a further three seat rows, increasing capacity from 56 to 68 passengers. The low-cost option would then be to decrease range, in order to hold TOW constant.

If the Dart were to be replaced by a new engine, this would clearly ease the TOW problem, both through the reduction in powerplant weight and the decrease in fuel requirements, The extra 12 passengers could then be carried over the range of today’s F27 with no TOW increase. However, there is clearly an argument in favour of increasing TOW when the new engine is introduced, in order to provide a simultaneous improvement in payload and range.

In such considerations, the engine is the pacing item, though Fokker’s decision on the future of the F27 is waiting on current market investigations. The General Electric T64 (as used in the DHC Buffalo) is not particularly attractive, on account of its weight, fuel consumption, and its effect on cabin noise level. Conversely, the Pratt & Whitney PW100/9 and Rolls-Royce RB. 51O are still three or four years from first flight, and the latter engine may be on the large size tor Fokker requirements.

Regarding possible aerodynamic refinements, Fokker takes the view that the F27 aerofoil section offers little scope for improvement within the present speed range, although fuselage and nacelle junction shapes might be improved using methods developed in association with supercritical wings. In Cornelis’ own view, it is possible that within ten years there may be aerofoil sections available that will give a significant chordwise extension of laminar flow, with sufficient boundary layer stability to eliminate the traditional problem of insect impacts, although such wings might have to washed down each day.

Turning to future development of the F28, Fokker is well aware of the need to keep its operating costs to a minimum, as efficient aircraft such as the Boeing 727, 757 and 767 will (in effect) set the tares even on short stages. However, with some of the new small American operators showing growth rates of 12-15 per cent even in a year of recession, the F28 could have a very good future, bearing in mind its low plane-mile costs in comparison with larger aircraft such as the 737 and DC-9.

The basic Spey used in the Trident and BAC 1-11 is undoubtedly a noisy engine, but the “Spey Junior” of the F28 has the lowest thrust of the series and the highest bypass ratio (1. 0, compared to 0. 6), and this aircraft thus satisfies both FAR Part 36 and ICAO Chapter 2 noise regulations by ample margins. Nonetheless, a whole range of measures are in hand, with the ultimate aim of meeting the “not impossible” future Chapter 3 requirements. One result is the 10-lobe internal flow mixer developed by R-R in cooperation with Fokker and the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory. Other measures include acoustic linings to the jetpipe and intake, and a revised flap setting to reduce drag on the approach.

Noise considerations rule out the use of a more powerful Spey in future F28 developments, and there is no suitable high bypass engine in prospect, hence the current engine is certain to be retained. Any fuselage stretch would have to be associated with an increase in wing area, as dictated by cruise altitude demands. Fokker is currently looking at three different ways by which wing area might be increased.

Fokker’s broad strategy is to keep the F27 and F28 saleable until such time as increased fuel prices and financially healthier operators make possible the launch of a new aircraft. The F27 and F28 were both launched ahead of market demands, but Fokker will not do this again. Cornelis is personally convinced that there is a growing gap in the Fokker section of the market, i. e. between the SO-seater and the 130-seater.

The company feels that US propfan developments do not yet make this a practical proposition for the short term, although its 25 per cent decrease in consumption relative to a high bypass turbofan will clearly make it attractive if fuel prices rise sufficiently. With more conventional powerplants, Fokker would expect to reach certification within four years from the go-ahead, although the green light is not expected until at least a year from now.

For a larger aircraft (e. g. a 150-seater), some form of partnership would be essential. Cornelis foresees the possibility that the list of single-company manufacturers of large airliners may be reduced to Boeing and Airbus. In this event, there would be a strong case for a third force, combining an American company, Japanese interests, an. d a European company. Cornelis is convinced that the European company is going to be Dutch because Fokker is (above all) a survivor.