The Fokker F27 Friendship Story

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Fokker Friendship was without doubt the most successful medium airliner ever produced by Fokker. With many aircraft manufacturers of the fifties busy with the development of a Douglas DC-3 successor, we can say that only Fokker managed to develop and manufacture a true replacement of the famous Douglas product. There have been already several books devoted to this well known and well appreciated turbo-prop powered airliner. Mr. Jan Homma and Hans Groen have now published THE definitive Friendship publication . It is not a book. If published as a book it would have spanned several volumes since total number of pages would have been more than 3000. The writers have decided to put their hard work for many years on a CD-ROM.

The advantage is that it is a lightweight work of less than a 100 grams that can be put inside the pocket of your coat! Where a series of books would have been very expensive, you can buy this CD-ROM for less than 30 Euro!

The authors have started their CD-ROM with a rare colour video showing first flights and early flight testing of the first prototype PH-NIV. In  36 separate pdf multi-page files the complete story of the F27 Friendship is presented. And when I say complete, we can boldly say it is the COMPLETE and FINAL Friendship story ever published!

In 10 separate chapters the following details are given:

Chapter 1: After a short introduction of the person A.H.G. Fokker and the Fokker aircraft works, full details are given on the early designs and the development of the final F27. In 42 pages many details and drawings are given that were never published before!

Chapter 2: Dedicated to the prototypes of the F27 including the two prototypes that were used for static and fatigue testing. Also the promotional tours in various countries to gain interest and orders are described; of course with many photo’s.

Chapter 3: F27 proposals with a description of all proposed Friendship versions that were never built. Included are totally unknown projects like a Fokker F27 flying boat (that was an April 1st Fool’s Day joke!!) and an all-jet version. Of course all projects are amply illustrated with drawing and artist impression material!

Chapter 4: F27 systems description including details and of course illustrations and detail photo’s of engines, propellers, auxiliary power unit, landing gear, fuel systems, pneumatic systems (the F27 used a pneumatic system rather than the more common hydraulic systems), de-icing systems, cabin pressurization system, electrical systems and flight controls.

Chapter 5: cockpit systems  including all cockpit instrumentation, avionic etc. etc. It is illustrated with drawings from the manuals and with additional photo’s. Also the flight simulators are discussed in this chapter.

Chapter 6: F27 standard versions. A detailed description of the various standard ‘Marks’ versions from the F27 prototypes and Mark 100 up to the never built Mark 900.

Chapter 7: a description of all specialized versions including the military patrol versions. Also a target towing version was built. A maritime enforcer version was actually fitted with a range of offensive underwing loads like rockets, torpedoes and depth charges. For self-protection this version also carried a chaff dispenser.

Chapter 8: F27 production gives full details of the production process and production locations.. Also the marketing highlights over the years are given.

Chapter 9: A 300 page production list and their fate over the years including a registration index of all Friendships built.

Chapter 10: a full list of all operators that have used the Friendship, both civil and military.

Sample pages as printed from CD-ROM

In 24 additional parts (more than 2000 pages in total!) full details are given on the operators of the Friendship in alphabetical sequence with illustrations of all 787 Friendships manufactured. In total this impressive F27 Friendship work contains more than 3000 pages in pdf format with a few thousand photographs and drawings. I can only say on this CD-ROM: RECOMMENDED!!

Details:

Title:                       Fokker F27 Friendship story

Authors:                Jan Homma and Hans Groen

Format:                 single CD-ROM in illustrated durable plastic box

Pages:                    3062 in 36 separate multi-page pdf files (free Acrobat Reader required); English language.

Distributor:            specialized aviation hobby shops or directly from author (JanF.Homma@zonnet.nl)

Price:                      EURO 29.90 excluding P&P

With special thanks to Jan Homma for providing a free review copy.

Nico Braas