Air Wisconsin  Fokker F.27-500 Friendship    N511AW                                    (c/n  10690)

                              

                                  In 1985 Air Wisconsin ordered fifteen Fokker F.27-500s.  By that time the locally (US) designed
                                  Fairchild-Hiller FH-227 series was no longer in production, so they had to look to the parent firm
                                  for their order of stretched Friendships.   In fact, the company took delivery of the very last batch
                                  of F.27s built (before production commenced on its successor, the Fokker 50).  Although originally
                                  delivered in full Air Wisconsin livery, they did not remain that way for long, since Air Wisconsin soon
                                  afterwards entered into a "code-sharing" option with United and these machines were then quickly
                                  re-painted in UAL Express livery (much to the chagrin of the airline's founder, Preston Wilbourne!).
                                  The two shots on this page are by Gary C. Orlando.  The one above, taken at Moline/Quad City
                                  International Airport in March of 1987 is somewhat rare showing a Friendship as originally delivered,
                                  while the more common illustration (below) shows a sister ship after it had been "United-ized" (Chicago
                                  O'Hare, November, 1992).

                                 Fokker F.27-500  N503AW                          (c/n  10671)