The Fokker 50 is a turboprop-powered airliner, designed as an improved version of the successful Fokker F27 Friendship. The Fokker 60 is a stretched freighter version of the Fokker 50. Both aircraft were manufactured and supported by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. The Fokker 50 was developed during the early 1980s following a decline in the sales of the company's earlier F27 Friendship. It was decided that the new airliner would be a derivative of its predecessor, sharing much of its airframe and design features, while incorporating new advances and several improvements, such as the adoption of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127B turboprop engines, in order to produce a successor that had a 30 per cent reduction in fuel consumption over the F27. The Fokker 50 performed its maiden flight on 28 December 1985, and entered revenue service during 1987. The Fokker 60 has been operated by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF), ex-RNLAF aircraft are also in service with the Peruvian Naval Aviation and the Republic of China's Air Force. Development Fokker 50 By the early 1980s, the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, who had identified that sales of the Fokker F27 Friendship, a turboprop-powered airliner which had been in continual production since 1958, were beginning to decline. Accordingly, the company decided to conduct a series of design studies for follow-up products to the key elements of their existing product line, these being the centered around the F27 and the Fokker F28 Fellowship jet airliner. In November 1983, Fokker decided to commence simultaneous work on two development projects to develop a pair of new airliners - these being the Fokker 100, which was to succeed the F28, and the Fokker 50, which was the successor to the F27. The Fokker 50 programme suffered some delays, leading to the first aircraft being delivered more than a year following the final F27 delivery. The Fokker 50 was basically an amalgamation of various refinements and improvements which had been made to the design of the F27 Friendship. As a result of these modifications, such as the adoption of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127B turboprop engines, Fokker was able to progressively reduce the F27's fuel consumption by 30 per cent. Various different propeller designs were adopted over timespan of the aircraft's production, while an increasing proportion of composite materials were used in the airframe, adjustments to the wing design, and a higher degree of cockpit