Ansett and the Fokker Friendship
 

When Ansett aqcuired the Fokker 50 was it operated by both mainline and also Ansett NSW?

What routes in NSW did the Fokker 50 operate on?

Was Ansett still operating the Fokker F-27 on RPT and freight operations when the 1989 dispute happened?

Did Ansett Express replace Ansett NSW after the dispute?

Must be a few F-27 and F-50 drivers out in Pprune land.

This get East West back online!!!!

Yes, but I think mainline were the only people who knew how to operate it properly :hmm:


Yes.

Yes

F50 routes in NSW: Sydney, Coffs Harbour, Ballina, Casino, Lismore, Dubbo, Wagga, Albury, Canberra (ACT), Cooma.

Also served at various times: Melbourne, Launceston and Hobart.

Probably others too.

My dad flew the F27 for ANSW, finishing with some 26,000 hours.

I remember him going to Holland to the Fokker Factory to receive an award for the highest flight time pilot on F27's in the world some 19,000 plus hours.

He still kicking at 91 and retains a keen interest in aviation be it through his son.

As a side note when the F50 was introduced to ANSW I can remember the amount of money the local Citation operators use to make taking engineers out to fix the fuel control units that continually broke/ went US.

Ah, yes the 40 ton dog whistle. Will never forget the ground school, one day just on the prop, high locks, low locks, blue lights, red lights and amber lights. Nightmare of a thing. I never flew the 50 but a close friend lost two engines on descent due to icing, managed to get both back but even today still has a slight stutter! Built like a concrete outhouse and if I remember correctly MMS and MMO had over 50,000 cycles. Then the checkies on it, 'the gang of four' including 'the white haired assassin', happy days.

She would have been struggling a little at 40 tonnes!!!

I was rostered to fly Ansetts last ever turbo-prop flight- Sydney-Cooma return as a cross-hire to Impulse. Came back from leave with a cold and couldn't make it!!

Two great years on the F50, probably the most enjoyable flying of my (airline) life!

Great machine, the prop lock system was a work of engineering art that nobody on my course understood until we saw one disassembled... so very British.

Loved the pneumatics too... taxying was an acquired skill with pneumatic nosewheel steering.

And then there was the fuel trimmers... "gear up, power up, trim up" if I recall correctly...

Happy memories of the F27.

What date was the last Ansett turbo-prop flight?

When did the F-50 enter sevice?

Oops...

Didn't you arm the Water Meth?

:uhoh:

Hear about the Channex (UK) F27 that mistakenly had it's water meth tanks filled with Jet A1?

Not much left of the hot section...

. . . . oh yes . . . . a complete anecdotal history of the dear old frugal in Australian service would out rival brittanica in volume.

. . . . . . engineering school? who now could say explain in simple terms the function of that blessed third oil line?

met the son of the late Joe Waxman the other day who pranged at Launie
resulting in the loss of VH-F?? all covered in foam. A man, the son, with many colourful tales of his dad. The very first one to enter service (I'd stand corrected ) here was TFB 'Abel Tasman' and how ironic her fate.

. . . .. and how weird the many conflicting stories of how come that night off Mackay she speared into the sea with all souls lost



A low level bad weather circuit , especially in the later models like 500 series , felt just like a bigger C210 . Dream machine


who wants to tell the story of the ANSW one en route SYD-Broken Hill that had the controls lock up when passing Parkes? (Struthers in command)

F50 also went to Merimbula.
Ah yes the F50.Paid for a lot of home mortgages for the AN SYD engineers.What a blooming nightmare they were early on.
prop de-ice, EEC's, PEC's, battery chargers, AHRS, MFC's, weather radar (most unreliable rotable in the system), cockpit lighting dimmers OMG... the list goes on.Small aircraft, serious piece of $#!T.:{
F27s took the 50's place when they were grounded with the aforementioned engine intake anti ice problems hence the 50's "euroglider" nickname.
F50's did improve markedly over the years.They had to !
Did some service in WA flying out of PER to the mining towns as well as Albany Esperance Geraldton etc.
Airlines of NSW had some of the best down to earth crew and FA's around.Great fun, easy to deal with.:ok:

The F27 with the gust locks was` Captain by Russ Strother. He put the tech log, in those day in an aluminum jacket behind the seat and inadvertently pushed in the gust lock around Parkes.

The sad part later was Russ's son also a captain with ANSW died of a brain anuism whilst playing sport - a terrible loss.

Air New South Wales, apart from being owned by Ansett and having the obligatory Ansett Management was a good company with excellent comradeship - unlike the companies today all with no soul.

Sorry Wizofox, you are quite correct, 44,000lbs which is 20 tons. Some of our old girls went to South America and some to 'Air UK' it would be interesting to know if they are still active.

If they went to Air UK then no, they are almost certainly sitting on a scrapheap in Norwich (the airport "graveyard"). From memory they were all scrapped when Air UK was swallowed up by KLMuk. One or two may have found their way to BAC but not likely.

ah . . . Russ , of course . . . . . a true character rest his soul . . . . larger than life ..

first encountered him one fine morning getting a free ride in the jump-seat SYD-MER thanks to an old mate from Canberra Aero CLub days Dave Bowyer who was Russ's FO that day. No one newish to the game today could comprehend the spirit and the cameraderie there was back then ...... the last traces killed forever by we all know who some of us

fondly remember the warm hospitality of Doug Way of AN ex-ANA up front in his three holer.

fondly remember many many similar occasions going back to an AN Viscount skipper first name Keith . . . tall skinny freckled red head.


or Hughie Bond of AN . . . who held court in the brickmakers on Bulla road

. . . and the late Col McKenny ex Butler, Lib pilot of 24 SQN . . . his photo hangs in the tiny terminal building at Tooraweenah.

if you know of any of these vets today in retirement villages or still at home . . . look 'em up while there's still time. Most love to have a chat.

some of the yarns are rivetting.. or very funny . . . or both . . . PM if you want a lead or 2.

Wow, 19,000 hrs on the frugal. I`ll bet he's deaf! ANSW was a sausage factory in the 80's. All F/O's joining Ansett had to fly the F27 first even if only for a few months before moving onto something bigger, quieter and faster. But they were fun days.
http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/t...7scans0022.jpg

Fond memories of the F27...
 

...passenger flying as a whipper-snapper ADL-KGC for the school holidays in the '70s and early '80s. The old Fokker seemed a pretty cool thing back then and still does. Sitting on a window seat near the wing to watch the gear retraction/extension was always a bonus for this kid who was fascinated by anything that had wheels and spinny things on it. :}

And the scud-run along the coast from Wynyard to Devonport was a fun ride!

The F50 used to also do a WLM-BNE-OOL-WLM trip towards the end as well. I think back in the old days too the F27 used to go to Moree before Eastern took it over.

Never had a ride on the F27 but had one on the F50, was a nice machine to ride on. Eastwest used to do SYD-NLK in a F27 before the F28, now thats long haul !