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The Fairchild 228 was a
regional jet A regional jet (RJ) is a jet-powered regional airliner with fewer than 100 seats. The first one was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by the widespread Yakovlev Yak-40, Fokker F-28, and BAe 146. The 1990s saw the emergence of ...
developed for the United States market by
Fairchild Hiller Fairchild was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas. History Early aircraft The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in 19 ...
using Fokker F28 sub-assemblies.


Design and development

In 1967 Fairchild-Hiller sought to develop their own regional jet, the FH-327. Fairchild elected to leverage their relationship with
Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...
aircraft in building F.27 aircraft, with a similar arrangement. The plan was to purchase sub-assemblies for the then new F.28 regional jet and assemble them in America into a shortened configuration aircraft with different engines. The Fairchild 228 was to be a 50-passenger twin-engine
turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
regional aircraft. The engines were mounted on the rear of the
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
, with a swept
T-tail A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane is ...
arrangement. The wings were equipped with triple-slotted flaps for short-field operations. A new thrust Rolls-Royce RB.203 Trent turbofan was selected to power the aircraft. Fairchild estimated orders of 260-460 aircraft for the US market and 600-800 Internationally. The first sub-assemblies were shipped to
Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States and the county seat of Washington County. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2020 census was 43,527, and the population of the Hagerstown metropolitan area (exte ...
in 1967 with two prototype aircraft assembled for testing. The first order was placed by
West Coast Airlines West Coast Airlines was an airline (then called a "local service" airline as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) linking small cities in the Pacific Northwest with larger cities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Montana, California ...
of Seattle, Washington. Tests of the F.28 aircraft's short field performance was better than expected with simpler flap construction. The Trent engines performance uncertainty and delayed
certification Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...
of the 228 compared to the F.28 led to the 1968 announcement that the project would be halted. Fairchild wrote off nearly $30 million in expenses in 1968 relating to canceling the F-228 program. The losses contributed to Fairchild's canceled plan to acquire Douglas aircraft. The tail sections were shipped back to Fokker and used in production F.28 aircraft.


Specifications (228)


References

{{Fairchild aircraft Fairchild aircraft Aviation in Maryland