The Quick Change (QC) concept describes the ability to convert a passenger aeroplane to a freighter and vice versa in a short space of time. (Figures quoted for the F27 varied between 19 and 30 minutes). The basic principle behind the QC concept was that the same aeroplane could fly passengers during the day and freight by night. The QC version of the Fokker F27 Friendship was the first QC aeroplane to be developed in Europe. The freight handling system was designed by the Brownline Corporation of California, USA. Working out of their European branch at Hounslow near Heathrow Airport, Brownline designed, delivered and installed the system in less than six months.

The QC facility was offered as an option on the standard F27 Mk 400 which featured a large forward freight door and a heavy duty metal freight floor which was sealed to contain liquid spillage and provided numerous tie-down points, although it was not palletised. The standard F27 Mk 400 version also included folding hat racks to maximise cabin volume but this feature was not included in the QC version of the Mk 400. The QC option introduced a light weight metal floor to which were attached roller tracks and pallet locks but with no tie-down points on the floor itself. This floor, which featured panels comprising an end-grain balsa core between light gauge aluminium sheets, was known as the Mallison floor.

In October 1965, Ansett-ANA was the launch customer with an order for five F27 Mk 400 with the Quick Change option. Trans-Australia Airlines (TAA) also ordered the F27QC and eventually operated eight of the type. In the event, no other customer ordered the F27QC and only these 13 aircraft were built.

Initial QC production aircraft were designated as Mk 400 but in late 1968 Fokker decided that the Mk 400 with the Mallison floor should have its own designation and accordingly these aircraft became known as the Mk 600. The first aircraft to be completed as a Mk 600 was VH-TQN (c/n 10385) a QC for Trans-Australia Airlines. The Mk 600 designation was then notionally applied retrospectively to earlier Mk 400 aircraft which had been completed with the Mallison floor. However, there was evidently no mandatory requirement for this retrospective redesignation to be applied as evidenced by the fact that the Fokker data plate in VH-FNQ still showed the aircraft as a Mk 400 when a New Zealand registration was applied for in 1990. When this apparent anomaly was questioned by the NZ airworthiness authority, Fokker stated that the only significant difference between the Mk 400 and the Mk 600 was the floor. Indeed, the Mks 200, 400 and 600 have a common Flight Manual, the same Dart Mk 7 engines and all are certificated to the same maximum take-off weight (20,410 kg). Therein lies the problem with the F27QC which is heavier because of the weight of the extra structure around the big door and the weight of the freight floor with its associated rollers and pallet locks and effectively having a double floor when operated in passenger configuration. Given that the maximum take-off weight is the same as the lighter Mk 200 which was already in service, this results in a reduced payload. The only way to offset this payload penalty was to operate the aeroplane as a freighter at times that would have been unattractive to passengers.

One very curious aspect of Ansett's order for the F27QC is that three of the five aeroplanes were delivered in the liveries of Ansett subsidiary companies that never operated them! The first aircraft, VH-FNO, was delivered in the livery of Airlines of South Australia but it was repainted in Ansett-ANA livery before entering service. Similarly, VH-FNR and VH-FNS had to be repainted in Ansett-ANA livery after being delivered in the colours of Ansett-MAL, an Ansett subsidiary which operated in Papua New Guinea.

It is difficult to speculate charitably on why it was necessary to repaint three aeroplanes immediately after delivery but clearly the aeroplanes were not suited to the intended markets. The fundamental problem for Airlines of South Australia and Ansett-MAL was that the F27QC was uneconomical if operated only during daytime with mixed traffic (passengers and freight/mail). For the F27QC to be economical it had to be operated also at night and this simply did not happen in PNG! Also around this time, the road from Lae to the highlands was opened and this brought about a diminished need for air freight. When the first Ansett F27 eventually arrived in PNG in February 1967, it was VH-FNM, a Mk 200 passenger aeroplane. Apparently a similar situation prevailed in South Australia with a diminishing freight market and no need to fly at night.

One aspect of operating the F27QC was the logistical challenge of ensuring that the seat pallets were available at stations where the aircraft was to be returned to passenger configuration. On freighter sectors where there was rarely any backload available, this sometimes resulted in the aircraft flying return legs as empty freighters so that they could be reunited with their seats. One such sector was Cairns-Brisbane (3.5 hours) with the only load being empty pallets to balance station stocks.

The F27QC aeroplane brought about the introduction of an interesting item of ground support equipment. When the aircraft was operated as a freighter, the seat pallets had to be loaded/unloaded and transported to and from the aeroplane while protected from inclement weather. The seat pallets also had to be stored safely out of the weather. Ordinarily this would have required the use of tarpaulins, six pallet dollies and floor space in a hangar or a freight terminal. The solution, for Ansett in Brisbane at least, was a large pantechnicon trailer fitted with a roller bed floor to accommodate the five seat pallets and the galley unit pallet. Because it was not required to carry heavy weights and did not have to be roadworthy, the trailer was built on only two axles with single, car-sized wheels and tyres. The open end had a heavy vinyl curtain for weather protection. When Ansett had finished with the trailer in Brisbane it was used briefly by Qantas as a "mobile warehouse" for storage of low density freight when the company was transitioning to the new Temporary International Terminal which opened in December 1975. When last sighted, the trailer was doing duty on the Brisbane fire dump, no doubt substituting for a crashed aircraft in training exercises.

Despite its initial promise, the F27QC cannot be regarded as a great success with only thirteen aircraft produced for the two Australian domestic airlines. Indeed, the Ansett F27 operating pattern for Queensland (see below) suggests that the aircraft was not fully utilised as originally intended. Furthermore, it is believed that both Ansett-ANA and TAA later removed the QC facility from some of their aircraft, presumably attaching the seats directly to the Mallison floor.

Note:

The following photographs were kindly provided by Fokker historian Jan Homma. Unless stated otherwise, they were taken in Amsterdam as attested to by the pristine Fokker overalls! The featured aircraft is almost certainly VH-FNO.