Fokker 100

Fokker F100 of British Midland

The Fokker F100 is a small twin-engine regional jet airliner and feederliner from the Fokker company. Low operational costs and almost no modern competition in the 100-seat short-range class made it a best seller when it was introduced in the late 1980s, but improved models of the Boeing 737 and Airbus A319 and 318 squeezed it into a niche and Fokker was soon insolvent. Production ended in 1997 with 283 airframes delivered.

The F100 design was announced in 1983 as an updated replacement for their popular, but outdated, Fokker F28 Fellowship design. The most noticeable difference is the much longer fuselage, which almost doubled the seating from 65 in the original F28 series to 107 in a three-by-two single-class arrangement. Fokker also introduced a redesigned wing for the F100, which they claimed was 30% more efficient in cruise. The engines were upgraded to the modern Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, while the cockpit was updated with an all-glass instrumenation package.

Two prototypes were built. The first, PH-MKH, flew for the first time on November 30, 1986, and the second, PH-MKC, followed on February 25, 1987. The type certificate was awarded in November 1987. Testing went smoothly and the first deliveries of the Tay 650-15 powered versions started to Swissair in February 1988.

By 1991, Fokker had already produced 70 units and had orders for a total of more than 230. An extended range version with additional fuel tanks in the wings was introduced in 1993, and a quick-change passenger/freighter version in 1994, the F100QC. A shorter version was introduced as a direct replacement for the earlier F27, known as the F70, which removed 4.70m of the fuselage and reduced seating to 79. Studies on the 130-seat F130 and Fokker Executive Jet 100 were never followed up on.

Fokker collapsed financially in 1996, and wound up production in early 1997. Rekkof Restart (Fokker backwards) has been negotiating to re-open the Fokker F70 and F100 lines.

Specifications

Wing span: 28.8m Length: 35.3m Height: 8.6m

Gross weight: 44.5 tonnes Engines: 2x Rolls-Royce Tay Mk. 650-15, 15,100 lb thrust (6849 kg) Cruising speed: 755 km/h (845km/h high-speed cruise) Range: 4,300 km (4,750 in the ER versions)

Passenger capacity: 85-122, 107 typical Crew: 2 flight crew, 2 to 3 cabin crew