A well funded team looking at new production of the Fokker F50 twin-turboprop transport and its stretched F60 version expects to be in a position to announce success by the end of the year.

The Dutch company, Forward Aircraft NV, was formed two years ago by entrepreneur Wichard de Waard, who has a banking background and is supported by a number of former top Fokker employees, one of whom, senior design engineer Dick Rijs, is with him here at Farnborough.

De Waard believes there is tremendous potential in the Fokker F50 and F60, and that their production careers were brutally cut short by Fokker's collapse, which had nothing to do with the aircraft's virtues.

"Although Fokker went into liquidation in 1996, a tremendous market still exists for these turboprops," de Waard said. "Our two years' work has included feasibility studies covering finance, marketing and production."

De Waard is focusing his marketing efforts initially on military services with F50 and F60 variants designed for cargo and troop transport, and such missions as paratroooping, supply-dropping and medevac.

The involvement of the residual Fokker company is not essential to Forward Aircraft's plans; the design rights are not the property of the receiver who possesses some of the collapsed company's assets but of the Dutch government. They could be obtained for payment of a probably modest royalty on aircraft sold while the Hague would be interested in the jobs created and the resumption of aircraft manufacture within the Netherlands.

The tacit support of the Hague can be assumed from the fly-bys performed by one of the RNethAF's F50 transports on Monday and Tuesday here, with another due on Thursday. On each day the aircraft has been flying in official visitors from the Netherlands. It has been operating from RAF Northolt to make its show appearances.

De Waard believes a batch of orders from several customers for three dozen aircraft would be enough to put the Fokkers back into production, with the first new F50 or 60 being delivered within 18 months of the go-ahead.

Given resumption on the back of military orders and the renewal of a support network for the type, Forward Aircraft believes that smaller airlines would also find these aircraft well within their reach.

More than 200 F50s and the RNethAF's four F60s are in military and commercial service around the world.

By Bob Rodwell