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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 0636.PDF
FOKKER 50 SPECIFICATION Passengers 50 at 32in pitch Max payload 12,5001b (5,760kg) Speeds: typical climb 200kt IAS typical cruise 287kt TAS typical descent 227kt IAS Max operating M0-507 Ceiling: Max operating 25,000ft Press diff 5-7 p.s.i. cabin alt 8,000ft Weights: MT0W 41,8651b (18,990kg) MTOW (optional) 45,900lb (20,820kg) MLW 41,8651b (18,990kg) MLW (optional) 43,500lb (19,731kg) MZFW 40,000lb (18,144kg) Op empty 27,500lb (12,474kg) Max fuel load 9,090lb (4,123kg) Power: Pratt & Whitney PW124, take-off power 2,160 s.h.p. reserve take-off power 2,400 s.h.p. Propeller: Dowty Rotol six-bladed, composite, 12ft (3-66m) diameter at the controls have reduced. The wing has been strengthened. Peschier says: "I have to say it wasn't necessary. It has never broken". But it meets FAR gust requirements well into the future and "it is a marketing advan tage to be able to say that we meet all foreseeable requirements". The strength ening has been achieved by the use of beef ier stringers, so the weight increases slightly. Fokker uses the wing as one of its prime marketing lines. It has flown 13 million hours, Peschier proudly points out, and inspection procedures currently indicate a potential 90,000-cycle life. Relatively inconsequential cracks which had been found developing around F.27 fuel hatches at as much as 45,000 cycles should not even trouble the Fokker 50, says Peschier, because materials and design around those areas have been improved. Of course, with such a radically differ ent engine shape the cowling is altered for its entire length, compared with that of the F.27. The older aeroplane had its water-methanol tank stowed in the cowl behind the wing trailing edge, but a take off power-boosting supply is not needed in the Fokker 50. The Fokker 50 fuselage structure manu facturing techniques are basically the same as those in the F.27, using metal adhesive bonded laminate plus stringers for most of the length. Redux metal bond ing gives an excellent fatigue life, Peschier points out; any cracks tend to stop at layers or overlap. The result is excep tional—the Fokker 50's fuselage structure is cleared to 90,000 cycles as a brand new aircraft, according to Peschier. The major fuselage structural change, apart from the Fbkker 50—use of composite materials Above The Fokker 50 cockpit will be a major advance on that of the F.27, using cathode ray tube instrument ation and the "dark quiet" philosophy. Top opposite Fokker has directed a great deal of its design effort and expenditure on the assumption that the future regional air passenger will demand much more comfort, sophistication, and quietness increased numbers of doors and windows, is the fact that larger, and therefore fewer, sheets are used overall. Minor modifi cations have been made to frames and stringers for easier production, weight saving, and to meet foreseeable regulatory changes. Windows, doors, and floor structure are totally different from those of the F.27. There are nearly twice as many cabin windows—one between each pair of frames—amounting to 21 windows ("window pitch" is 18in), which gives the aircraft a more pleasing and modern external appearance than the fewer, big Carbon Aramid Glass oval "portholes" of the F.27. The Fokker 50 has four type 1 doors/ emergency exits, where the F.27 had two and some underwing escape hatches. The new aircraft's main passenger entry point is via the forward port door, which has an integral airstair. It is positioned where the F.27 galley used to be in the forward fuse lage, the main passenger entry in that aircraft being via the stairless aft port door. Standard galley location for the new machine is at the rear of the cabin. Fokker sells hard on the "airport compati bility angle, claimed that the 50's interior is uncommonly accessible, and FOKKER 50—WHAT'S NEW Pratt & Whitney Canada PW 124 engines Dowty-Rotol six-bladed composite propellers Flightdeck and avionics Cabin furnishing, layout, integral stairs for main door. Systems—electrical hydraulic air-conditioning/pressurisation New twin telescopic nose gear F.27 Mk500 MODIFIED COMPONENTS Wing Fuselage Empennage Flight controls Main gear Increased strength and aerodynamic refinements Improved accessibility for ground handling four doors additional windows Increased strength Added horn balances on rudder and ailerons Hydraulics replace pneumatics 32 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 22 March 1986
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