512. The Fokker F-28 Fellowship

Paper

Abstract

The F-28 ‘Fellowship’ is a twin-turbofan airplane specifically adapted to the requirements of short-haul, local, passenger transportation. It is a rather small airplane. Its general configuration and size were determined in a long and tedious process of analyzing economy, weights and performances, market prospects and airline requirements. Its designers believe that it will be difficult to make a smaller airplane with the same attractive speed, the same economy and the same airline appeal and the same airline appeal. Fundamentally, the extension of jet operation into the short haul market has been made possible by the development of the turbofan or by-pass engine. The basic advantage of this type of engine with respect to the pure jet is improved efficiency at low forward speed. This makes itself felt in terms of low specific fuel consumption. The particular engine selected for the F-28 is the Rolls-Royce Spey Jr. engine. This is the original Spey slightly simplified and reduced in power, cost and weight in order to match it exactly to the requirements of the airplane. In addition to its most satisfactory efficiency, the engine – in its original Spey version – will doubtless be fully proven by the time when the Spey jr. enters service in the F-28. Hence, F-28 operators won’t have to bear the burden of early engine development, though still cashing the benefits of advanced design and efficiency. Actually, the Spey may well prove to be the only engine in the thrust bracket concerned, which will reach world-wide service in quantity. This situation has proven its merits in the case of the F-27 ; it is most fortunate that the same opportunity did exist for the F-28.