Photo: © Ralph Pettersen.
This is how N127HP looked on 03May2003, for many years now stored with Hawkins & Powers..
The following information was provided to me by Charles E. 'Charlie' Snyder :
I came across your website while researching Fairchild turboprop aircraft for another endeavour. I was curious about c/n 33 and consulted my old notes and did some further research. Perhaps the following history of N127HP, c/n 33, will be of some interest to you.
The Fairchild F-27F, current registration N127HP (with Hawkins & Powers of Greybull,WY), was formerly operated by Imperial Aviation (possibly for a U.S. Naval Air Development Center in the U.S. - actual location of basing to be determined by additional research -see below-) with a prior registration of N1004. In its military life it was unofficially designated as a UC-27 with military (Navy) registration number 161628. This information is from unofficial records that I located in the remains of the Fairchild original equipment manufacturer engineering files in Hagerstown, Maryland, U.S. in the late 1990's.
Nota Bene (from the sources below) -- Later, in its military life, it was assigned as a support aircraft for the Atlantic Underwater Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) and operated for the US Navy by Imperial Aviation. By 1994, it was used by the Naval Air Warfare Center - Aircraft Division (NAWC - AD) and by May 1996, it was out of US Navy service and registered N1004 again. It was formerly operated by Butler Aviation (Pepsi Cola Bottling Company), to which it was delivered on 10 April 1959 as N1004.
The following is corroboration (and additional details) of my personal research through URL; with the technical information sources below the text: www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/baugher_other/c-31a.html (link was found dead in June 2005).
A single example of the Fairchild built F-27A (equivalent to the F27 Series 200) was obtained by the US Navy. It was unofficially designated UC-27A. It was formerly operated by Butler Aviation (Pepsi Cola Bottling Company), to which it was delivered on 10 April 1959 as N1004. It was assigned to the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) for special duties. Later, it was assigned as a support aircraft for the Atlantic Underwater Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) and operated for the US Navy by Imperial Aviation. By 1994, it was used by the Naval Air Warfare Center - Aircraft Division (NAWC - AD) and by May 1996, it was out of US Navy service and serialled N1004 again.
Aad van der Voet (of OldWings.nl) photographed this bird at West Palm Beach,FL on 27Oct86; click on the image for a larger photo.
Specification of the Fokker F-27A Friendship
Powerplant:
Two 2,353 shp Rolls-Royce Dart RDa.7 Mk 532 turboprops.
Performance:
Cruising speed: 479 km/h at 6,095 m. Range: 1,926 km with 44 passengers. Service ceiling: 8,990 m.
Dimensions:
Wingspan: 29.01 m. Length: 23.56 m. Height: 8.50 m. Wing area: 70.00 m2
Weights:
Empty weight: 12,148 kg. Take-off weight: 20,412 kg.
Sources :
Alles over de Fokker Friendship, Hugo Hooftman, L.J. Veen's Uitgeversmij N.V., 1963.
Military Aircraft Database, Emmanuel Gustin, Elevon - Aviation on the Internet, 1998.
Praktisch Handboek Vliegtuigen - Burgerluchtvaart - 1935 tot 1960 (Deel 5), Hugo Hooftman, Uitgeverij Helmond B.V., 1978.
The Encyclopedia og World Aircraft - The development and specifications of over 2500 civil and military aircraft, D. Donald, Blitz Editions, 1997.
The Observer's Book of Aircraft - 1980 Edition, William Green, Frederick Warne & Company Limited, 1980.
United States Air Force and Navy 1996, M.G. Jennings, Mach III Plus, 1996.
United States Military Aircraft since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Putman Aeronautical Books, 1989.
United States Navy Aircraft since 1911, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Putman Aeronautical Books, 1990.
United States Military Aircraft Serials (USMIL), Andy Mower, Aviation Associates, 1994.
Ruud Deurenberg, 5 June 1998
Respectfully submitted,
Charles E. Snyder, , Master of Science, Logistics Management
Major, U.S. Army (Retired)
FAA Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor
Principal Consultant, Aviation Logistics Engineering
T.R. Huston, Inc.
Hagerstown, Maryland, USA
Herbert Ayer wrote me the following in June 2005:
I flew on this Fokker F.27 and on her sister ship (Fairchild F.227 tail no. unknown) as a loadmaster for Imperial Aviation Inc., in West Palm Beach, Florida. This F.27 was left in the military transport gray scheme, but the F.227 was painted white/blue. Call sign back then was Autec-1 and Autec-2; we rotated these aircraft depending on their maintenance schedule.
We were subcontracted at that time from General Electric, whom had the contract from the Department of the U.S. Navy to supply transportation for their military and civilian tech support teams. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we made two flights to Andros; the 1st was passengers and baggage, while the 2nd we had the seats folded up and converted for cargo. Saturdays we flew the passengers over to Nassau for the day.
I flew on both ships while evacuating employees off the island during a hurricane. Another event I remember well was when the Fairchild F.227 had a leaking fuelline in the right engine nacell, it filled the bay with avgas and when we lowered the gear for landing we saw fuel gush out! With the skill of pilots, they averted a possible catastrophic like an inflight fire or worse and we landed safely at Nassau; we evacuated every one off with out injuries.
If you look up U.S. Navy AUTEC ("Your Lab in the Sea") you'll find some more information there; here is the link to their Air Operations.
Thanks Herb!
| Steve Lauer wrote me in Jan.2007: "A couple of us picked up N1004 (your N127HP) at Albuquerque to temporarily replace FH-227 N7801M (former Mohawk aircraft), which was in repair because of an on-ground gear collapse... N7801M was out of service a couple of times: it also had an engine fire and another one after that... This was in the early-1980s. I was chief pilot for Imperial during the entire evolution of N1004 becoming a Navy aircraft and a temporary replacement for 7801M to support the AUTEC contract (twice). So N1004 filled in and was transferred to NAS Warminster,PA between events. As I recall, the original livery was red and white while it was assigned to Ross (AEC/DOE). The story was that Champion Batteries was also one of the previous users." My (webmaster) reply: N7801M was involved in an incident 1980 according to NTSB website. Later it went to Bamiyan A/L and last recorded as stored in Tehran. So both sit waiting in the desert for things (or the scrapman) to come! |
Here is N127HP on Airliners.net
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Last updated 20.9.2006
