Fokker 70

Fokker 70
KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70
Role	Airliner
National origin	Netherlands
Manufacturer	Fokker
First flight	4 April 1993
Introduction	October 1994 with Ford Motor Company
Status	Active service
Primary users	KLM Cityhopper Tyrolean Airways Carpatair
Produced	1992-1997
Number built	47 (+1 prototype)
Developed from	Fokker 100

The Fokker 70 is a narrow-body, twin-engine, medium-range, jet airliner produced by Fokker as a smaller version of the Fokker 100 jetliner. With its first flight in 1994, 47 aircraft, plus one prototype, have been manufactured and most are still in active service with airlines around the world, especially European airlines.

Design and development

The Fokker company of the Netherlands started to develop the airliner in November 1992 with an aim to replace its aging Fokker F28 airliner, with a more modern and fuel efficient aircraft. The Fokker 70's first flight occurred on April 4, 1993, at the company's base at Woensdrecht in southern Netherlands, and had a duration of three hours. Following its first flight, the Fokker 70 was flown to Granada and Spain, where many hours were realised in order to obtain the certification at the end of 1994. The first production aircraft first flew in July 1994. Certification was granted on October 14, 1994, while the first delivery of a Fokker 70 to a customer, Ford Motor Company (in an "Executive Jet" configuration), occurred later in the same month. The launch customer of this aircraft by the airline, was now defunct Indonesian airline, Sempati Air.

The development of the Fokker 70 was based on the need of some airlines for which the Fokker 50 or ATR 42 were too small and Boeing 737 or MD-80 too large for their needs. The development consisted in cutting various sections of the fuselage of the Fokker 100, removing 4.62 metres (15.2 ft) of the plane's total length but keeping wings and tail. With these specifications, total capacity is 80 passengers, 70 inches (180 cm) the U.S. due more so to meet "scope clause" requirement than to any Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification.

Air Panama Fokker 70

The Fokker 70 is powered by two Rolls-Royce Tay 620 turbofans placed at the back of the fuselage with 61.6 kN (13,849 lb) of thrust. The weight varies from 22,673 kilograms (49,990 lb) when empty to 41,730 kilograms (92,000 lb) at maximum takeoff weight (MTOW). An air brake on the 70's tail section – similar to that found on the BAe 146 – which allows it to conform with the 5.5° glide slope at London City Airport. Its avionics suite is similar to the Fokker 100.

Most Fokker 70 aircraft were delivered for service in Europe, but in 1995 two aircraft were delivered to America West Express as part of an effort to try to introduce the Fokker 70 to the United States.^{[citation needed]} Although the earlier Fokker 100 did moderately well in the United States with orders from American Airlines and USAir (now US Airways), only two aircraft were delivered for service in the United States.^{[citation needed]} Fokker's March 1996 bankruptcy ended any hopes of further production for the U.S. market; the two America West Express aircraft became an expensive subfleet and were sent to Europe in 1997, ending the very short tenure of Fokker 70 operation in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

The last Fokker 70 was delivered in April 1997, when the production line closed following Fokker's bankruptcy the previous year. Over the 70's short production life, 47 were built. Although official production of the Fokker 70 is completed, Rekkof ("Fokker" spelt backwards) has, since 1999, tried to negotiate the re-opening of both the Fokker 100 and Fokker 70 lines.

Operators

One of Vietnam Airlines's two Fokker 70s on the ground at Luang Prabang International Airport, Laos.

As of November 2011 47 aircraft are still in operational use with the following airlines:

• Air Panama (2)
• AirQuarius Aviation (1)
• Alliance Airlines (2)
• Carpatair (3)
• KLM Cityhopper (26)
• Tyrolean Airways (9)
• Vietnam Airlines (2)

Other users:

• Government of Kenya (1)
• Government of The Netherlands (1)

Specifications

	Fokker 70
Cockpit crew	Two
Seating capacity	85 (1-class, maximum) 79 (1-class, typical) 72 (2-class, typical)
Seat pitch	30 in (76 cm) (1-class, maximum) 32 in (81 cm) (1-class, typical) 36 in (91 cm) & 32 in (81 cm) (2-class, typical)
Length	30.91 metres (101 ft 5 in)
Wingspan	28.08 metres (92 ft 2 in)
Wing area	93.5 square metres (1,006 sq ft)
Height	8.50 metres (27 ft 11 in)
Fuselage diameter	3.30 m (10 ft 10 in)
Cabin width	3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)
Cabin height	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Typical empty weight	22,673 kilograms (49,990 lb)
Maximum take-off weight	36,740 kilograms (81,000 lb) (standard) up to 41,730 kilograms (92,000 lb) (optional)
Max. cruising speed	845 km/h (525 mph, 456 kn), Mach 0.77
Range fully loaded	1,085 nautical miles (2,009 km; 1,249 mi) - 1,840 nautical miles (3,410 km; 2,120 mi)
Fuel load	10,371 kg (22,860 lb)
Service ceiling	35,000 ft (11,000 m)
Powerplants (2x)	Rolls-Royce Tay Mk.620
Engine thrust	13,850 lbf (61.6 kN)

• Sources: airliners.net, aer.ita.br, flyfokker.com, flugzeuginfo.net

Accidents and incidents

• On 5 January 2004 at 08:17 local time, an Austrian Airlines Fokker 70 (registred OE-LFO) crash-landed on a snow covered field near Munich International Airport. The aircraft had been operating Flight 111 from Vienna to Munich with 28 passengers and four crew on board, when its engines failed during landing descent due to icing. The aircraft was severely damaged, however only three passengers suffered minor injuries.

See also

Related development

• Fokker F28
• Fokker 100
  

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• BAe 146
• Bombardier CRJ700
• Embraer E-Jets
• Fairchild Dornier 728 family
  

Related lists

• List of civil aircraft
  

External links

• Fokker Services homepage
• Rekkof Project
• airliners.net "The Fokker 70"