Air Anglia Fokker F28

[Mooncrest]

Does anyone know which routes these aircraft flew ? As I recall, the airline operated just two British-registered aircraft plus a third Dutch-registered example (PH-MOL) which seemed to keep coming and going well into the Air UK days.

They occasionally appeared at Leeds Bradford not long before the BIA merger and didn't usually stop long.

Thankyou.

[DaveReidUK]

They also operated another Dutch-registered -4000 (PH-BBV) briefly during 1979, still in basic CityHopper colours with Air Anglia titles.

[Herod]

Aberdeen-Edinburgh-Amsterdam was certainly one. The two British registered ones were G-JCWW and G-WWJC. Wilbur Wright and Jim Crampton. I was a newbie in Anglia at the time, but I'm sure some old hands will be along soon to help you out.

[Mooncrest]

I've been trawling the web and found a few pics at Edinburgh and, obviously, the Norwich HQ. I don't know if the Air Anglia folk had adequate opportunity to make up their minds about the F28 before the advent of Air UK. Must have sown the seeds though for the aircraft to keep reappearing.

[Herod]

Of course it's big reappearance was the Fokker 100 (officially the F28-100). Wonderful aeroplane, although some of the crews will dispute that.

[treadigraph]

Sure I saw them at Heathrow once or twice, not sure if they were regular though.

[OUAQUKGF Ops]

Winter 1979/80 Timetable F28 Services:

EDI/LBA/ORY and return
ABZ/NCL/ORY and return
ABZ/STV and return
EDI/ABZ/STV (Sat only on F28)
STV/ABZ/EDI (Sun only on F28)
ABZ/EDI/AMS and return
AMS/NWI (Sat only on F28) No F28 on NWI/AMS services.

[WHBM]

The two Dutch-registered ones, described above, were both leased until the two definitive ones of the fleet were delivered, the second of these only weeks before the Air UK merger. MOL was a Fokker lease fleet aircraft, and did short term work for a range of carriers over the years, including back at Air UK later on. Built in 1969, it spent 20 years doing such work before Fokker finally sold it off their books. The two proper Air Anglia aircraft were disposed by Air UK to France a few months after the merger, so they actually had a longer period running the interim lease fleet than the definitive pair.

[Mooncrest]

Thankyou for the information folks. Lots of double drops for the aircraft - looks like they were kept quite busy and there are now explanations for the LBA appearances and PH-MOL's reluctance to go away.

Interesting to note that the BIA 1-11s didn't last a lot longer than the F28s after the merger. Jets clearly didn't have a place in Air UK's business plan at the time.

[Harry Wayfarers]

Circa 1985/6/7 PH-MOL was still around on occasions. I seem to recall it operating the GLA/NCL/AMS route, then Air UK dry leased in 2 BIA BAC1-11 Geriatric Jets for the Scottish/AMS routes before acquiring some BAe146's which would have been around 1987/8.

The F70 remains my favourite airliner to fly in.

[DaveReidUK]

Circa 1985/6/7 PH-MOL was still around on occasions. I seem to recall it operating the GLA/NCL/AMS route, then Air UK dry leased in 2 BIA BAC1-11 Geriatric Jets

PH-MOL was, of course, even older (1967) than any of BIA's "geriatric" One-Elevens.

[Harry Wayfarers]

PH-MOL was, of course, even older (1967) than any of BIA's "geriatric" One-Elevens.

But PH-MOL had been subjected to some TLC during it's career :)

[OUAQUKGF Ops]

With regard to Air Anglia and the F28, Peter Villa at that time Chief Exec of Air UK is quoted in an article on Air Anglia in 'The Aeroplane' January 2017:

"They put 85 seater aeroplanes on what had previously been operated by 44 seat F27s, and they put F27s on routes that had been operated by Chieftains. The traffic didn't come up to the requirements. I don't think they'd really worked out the market potential - it very rapidly became obvious they were loosing a fortune".

[OUAQUKGF Ops]

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/800x537/1203579_large_cdb0ce284bfe72ff5758efbb9317a2e328c1a098.jpg
PH-ZBT later G-JCWW at Norwich 21/7/1979. Credit George Baczkowski with thanks.

[WHBM]

As we seem to be interested in PH-MOL, it was third off the line, the first two were scrapped quite early on but MOL was leased out all over the place, often for quite lengthy periods of a year or so (as with Air Anglia). It went around Europe, Africa, Asia, and got as far as New Guinea. After Fokker finally sold it off, long after the F28 was out of production, it was dumped in Bamako, Mali, where the Dutch Aviodrome museum made quite some efforts to get it airworthy again to bring it back home, but to no avail.

Google Earth seems to show a couple of F28s pushed out into the weeds at Bamako, here. I hope, having now passed her 50th birthday, she's the one at the top and not the one at the bottom.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@12.5370326,-7.951157,205m/data=!3m1!1e3

[Mooncrest]

Speaking of leased Fokker aircraft, Air Anglia also used two ex-Linair F27s during 1977-78, PH-ARO and G-BFDS. I assume these two aircraft weren't one and the same. I don't know what became of them after Air Anglia but I hope they received a more dignified send-off than MOL, which seems to have worked hard for a living.

[Herod]

Coincidentally, one of the F27 captains at LBA during the eighties had, in a previous incarnation, operated MOL in, I think, Ghana.

[treadigraph]

I hope they received a more dignified send-off than MOL, which seems to have worked hard for a living.

PH-ARO and G-BFDS both found their way to the Guatemalan Air Force and are now derelict at Guatemala City.

Probably the two in this image (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@14.591435,-90.5234506,206m/data=!3m1!1e3).

[DaveReidUK]

Speaking of leased Fokker aircraft, Air Anglia also used two ex-Linair F27s during 1977-78, PH-ARO and G-BFDS. I assume these two aircraft weren't one and the same.

They were indeed the same aircraft, MSN 10270.

PH-ARO and G-BFDS both found their way to the Guatemalan Air Force and are now derelict at Guatemala City.

They went everywhere together. :O

[Mooncrest]

Thanks treadi and Dave. Seems she didn't fare any better than MOL. Pity.

[treadigraph]

Explains a lot! There's 3 F-27s in that shot I notice, she must have been cloned twice!

[DaveReidUK]

The other two F-27s WFU at MGGT are reportedly two former Guatemalan Air Force aircraft, one ex TAA/Air Niugini and the other originally a Nigerian example.

[WHBM]

Isn't that a DC3 behind the two F27s ?

[treadigraph]

Third F-27 is slightly further to the south.

[DaveReidUK]

Isn't that a DC3 behind the two F27s ?

No Latin American airfield is complete without the hulks of at least one DC-3, a DC-6 and, in some cases, a C-46. :O

[treadigraph]

I always enjoy having a nose around Latin American airfields with Google Earth - reminds me of the much missed Cockroach Corner at Miami. Alaskan airfields are good value too, plenty of four engined Douglas hulks.

[Harry Wayfarers]

With regard to Air Anglia and the F28, Peter Villa at that time Chief Exec of Air UK is quoted in an article on Air Anglia in 'The Aeroplane' January 2017:

"They put 85 seater aeroplanes on what had previously been operated by 44 seat F27s, and they put F27s on routes that had been operated by Chieftains. The traffic didn't come up to the requirements. I don't think they'd really worked out the market potential - it very rapidly became obvious they were loosing a fortune".

That coming from the guy that commenced replacing his BIA 1-11's with MD83's and soon thereafter went tits up!

He, at BIA, accused us, at Air UK, of air piracy after one evening when we had declined to return one of his 1-11's to LGW where there were 89 punters waiting to go to PMI, next day our Commercial Director came in to Ops uttering "I'm supposed to give you lot a rollocking" before he burst out laughing and left :)

[DH106]

As we seem to be interested in PH-MOL, it was third off the line, the first two were scrapped quite early on but MOL was leased out all over the place, often for quite lengthy periods of a year or so (as with Air Anglia). It went around Europe, Africa, Asia, and got as far as New Guinea. After Fokker finally sold it off, long after the F28 was out of production, it was dumped in Bamako, Mali, where the Dutch Aviodrome museum made quite some efforts to get it airworthy again to bring it back home, but to no avail.

Google Earth seems to show a couple of F28s pushed out into the weeds at Bamako, here. I hope, having now passed her 50th birthday, she's the one at the top and not the one at the bottom.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@12.5370326,-7.951157,205m/data=!3m1!1e3

Am I looking in the right place - pretty sure the upper one shown is a short fus. 1-11, and the lower one (being dismantled) a DC-9/MD-80.

[DaveReidUK]

If I'm not mistaken, here is PH-MOL at Bamako: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@12.545118,-7.940569,205m/data=!3m1!1e3

[PV1]

That coming from the guy that commenced replacing his BIA 1-11's with MD83's and soon thereafter went tits up!

He, at BIA, accused us, at Air UK, of air piracy after one evening when we had declined to return one of his 1-11's to LGW where there were 89 punters waiting to go to PMI, next day our Commercial Director came in to Ops uttering "I'm supposed to give you lot a rollocking" before he burst out laughing and left :)
Pity you are so light on facts. I remember that evening we needed the 1-11 back. It was a Friday and Air UK did not operate the aircraft at weekends. We asked politely if we could have it back for the weekend and adjust the lease rate accordingly. Air UK said no. Not sure how I could instruct your Commercial Director ,
We were not replacing the 1-11’s with MD83’s we were supplementing them. I suppose in your world the recession of 89/90 never happened and it was coincidence Air Europe and Dan Air disappeared about the same time!

[OUAQUKGF Ops]

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1024x683/1206604_large_f_28_104927fff1559135917c977a5e0edb442b4f2173. jpg
G-JCWW at Norwich September 1979. Photo George Baczkowski with thanks.

[Herod]

Nice picture. When I joined in late '78, the talk was F28 command in two years. We all know how that turned out. However, sticking with it, I did get the F28 command in August '92, albeit on the F28-100.

[greybeard]

PH-MOL was also in Western Australia for a short time, MMA (later to be Ansett)

[Asturias56]

Always liked the F-28 - rugged, pretty reliable and a reasonable ride - not too noisy (inside) either

[Phileas Fogg]

Always liked the F-28 - rugged, pretty reliable and a reasonable ride - not too noisy (inside) either

The world's original mini-jet, they stopped manufacturing them in favour of later F70/F100 variants even though airlines still wanted to buy, more recently flying on the later generations of mini-jets is alike flying in airfix kits, the F28 aka F70/F100 was/is a brick toilet by comparison and I have always enjoyed flying in them

[Asturias56]

I an remember going into Balikpapan in the old days on a Pelita F28 that had less cockpit instruments than the C-172 I was flying in the USA......... firm landings were the order of the day - but you could drive them round the odd big Cu with some panache