In Plane Detail, Number 1: The Fokker Series 28, 70 and 100

Part of the reason I started this blog was to get people from outside of the realm of airplane freaks to understand just a little more of why us plane enthusiasts love these hunks of metal so much.  So, for this installment, I decided to take a look at one of my favorite airliners.

For your enjoyment, this here is a Fokker F28-4000, the most successful in the F28 series.  Why I picked this one specifically is because it's a very personal aircraft to me.  From '92 to '95 I lived in Balikpapen, Indonesia, due to my Dad worked for an oil company called Unocal (now extinct...).  If, by God's holy grace, you actually know of this town, you know it's only there because of oil.  There was nothing close to what you would find on a normal daily basis available in the town we lived in.  Mac and cheese, when I finally had it in my grasp, was like gold in that part of the world.  Our nearest escape to what I had grown up with was in the neighboring city/country of Singapore... which was ONLY available to us by this plane and airline specifically.  To us, it was our life boat back to civilization...

So, enough romantic bull crap from me, let's talk about the airplane itself!  Now, compared to other planes built back in the day, it did not stand out against the competition as being flashy or a hot comodity. It first flew only a month after the first flight of the Boeing 737 on May 9th, 1967.  The model number was F28-1000 and it could carry about 60-65 people.  It had a simple design and was made to transport smaller amounts of people on short-haul trips numerous times.  

Now, I could go on about what happened next and specifications and blah blah blah... but, I want to highlight two very important facts about this plane that in researching it made quite an impact on me.

First, the model, although changing it's name a few times, has been around forever.

May 1st, 1968

April 17th, 2011

True, it has changed over the years to keep up with modern specification (i.e. fly-by-wire, glass or computer cockpits, more efficient engines, etc.), but the style has had very little change.  It has kept it's goal of efficient, short-haul flights for decades and continues to be used.  The only argument I could think of is that the Boeing 737, as mentioned before, also has been around for just as long.  This brings me to my second point:  it has had a wide range of various airlines that have used this same airplane.  Here are two interesting examples to show you side by side:

Not to delve to much into politics, but I think it's a little remarkable that both these airlines have owned/still own this type of aircraft.  And, to go back to the top, not only did Pelita Air Services own this type of plane, but nearly every single Indonesian airline at one point owned this aircraft... which brings up an interesting point.  Aside from the range of countries using this aircraft,  mechanical and safety standards are starkly different in each country.  America being high, Iran mediocre, and Indonesia being one of the worst on the market (with almost all Indonesian airliners currently blacklisted by the European Union...).  To me, the dependability and strength of this airplane places it firmly in aviation history as a significant contribution to airline travel.

With this, it's also good to note that the B737 is also all over the globe...sigh...  As a Fokker enthusiast (please, minds out of the gutter for just a moment), this takes me down another notch, as both the two points I have presented have been ousted by the B737.  So, what does that mean?  Well, to me, the Fokker F28 in all of it's variants (F28, 70, 100) is a seriously underrated airplane.  At least in the United States, there's little knowledge of this aircraft's existence when it deserves all the recognition it can get.  I guess that's why I wanted to write this blog post after I saw this picture:

When I found this picture, it reminded me of the times I flew to and from Singapore years and years ago, when everything was a dream and my vantage point came from a mix of reality and my own imagination.  This plane will always be on my thoughts...

So, was this entire post about my own personal obsession about this plane and, well, nothing else?  Kind of... but, I would like to point out that there are many planes out there, past and present, that are unsung heros in the aviation world being constantly overlooked.  Hopefully, I can bring to light some of these great planes in my "In Plane Detail" series.  If not, I guess I go back to ranting :D