Ross Aviation Fairchild Hiller FH-227 Cargonaut

Additional Information:

The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engine, turboprop, passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standard Fokker F27, while the FH-227 was an independently developed, stretched version.

The Fokker F27 began life as a 1950 design study known as the P275, a 32-seater powered by two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops. With the aid of Dutch government funding, the P275 evolved into the F27 and the aircraft first flew on November 24, 1955. Fairchild independently developed the stretched FH-227, which appeared almost two years earlier than Fokker’s similar F27 Mk 500. The FH-227 featured a 6 foot fuselage stretch over standard-length F27/F-27s which allowed for seating to expand to 56 and include a larger cargo area between the cockpit and the passenger cabin.

Ross Aviation, based in Albuquerque, inherited the commuter airline service of Carco Air Service in 1969 and maintained the shuttle flights between Albuquerque and Los Alamos. Ross initially started using Piper Aztec and Beech Queen Air aircraft but upgraded to 18-passenger de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters in the early 1970s. Flights operated every two hours from 0600 am until 1000 pm each weekday. By the mid-1980s the carrier began using 50-seat, four engine, de Havilland Dash-7 aircraft on flights with heavier loads. Ross also flew to other cities, particularly in Nevada, using separate aircraft including Douglas DC-9 jets. As government traffic to Los Alamos downsized into the 1990’s, Ross Aviation cut back on flights until all service was discontinued on September 29, 1995. Since then Peacock Air, Mesa Airlines, Rio Grande Air, New Mexico Airlines, and Boutique Air have all flown the Albuquerque to Los Alamos route.

Ross Aviation operated this Fairchild Hiller FH-227, Cargonaut, N2784R, a “stretch” model of the F-27 Friendship, under contract to the Atomic Energy Commission beginning in August, 1974.

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