Fokker F.27 VH-CAT

Fokker F.27 Friendship VH-CAT

DCA ordered two brand new Fokker F.27 Mk 1 Friendship 100s during 1959 so that the regulator had experience on the same airliner type that was being purchased in numbers at that time by Australian airlines such as TAA, East West Airlines, MacRobertson Miller Airlines, Ansett-ANA and its subsidiaries Airlines of NSW, Airlines of SA and Queensland Airlines. VH-CAT & VH-CAV were delivered from the Fokker factory in Netherlands to Australia in September 1959. VH-CAT was built by Fokker at Schipol, Netherlands, (c/n 10132) and originally registered PH-FAZ. Both Friendships were based at Melbourne/Essendon and used for a variety of roles, including radio navigation aid calibration work throughout Australia and Papua New Guinea. VH-CAT is seen above at Adelaide/West Beach in August 1962. It has the original metal nose, which was later replaced by a radome covering a weather radar antenna.

The image above shows VH-CAT, with the radar nose, at its Essendon base on 12 October 1964, while the image below shows it a Sydney/Kingsford Smith on 12 March 1966.

Below, both Department of Transport, Air Transport Group, airways survey F.27s VH-CAT and, behind, VH-CAV wait on a wet Essendon apron, on 4 November 1975. Note that the DCA Flying Unit logo has been removed from the nose and fin of both aircraft, but they do not carry the DOT logo.

(Photos: 1-Geoff Goodall / 2-John Hopton/The Collection / 3-CAHS/Ben Dannecker collection / 4-George Canciani) Click here to see the cockpit of VH-CAT Back to Departmental Aircraft index page If this page appears without menu bars at top or left, click here