- Entwicklungsring Nord
The Entwicklungsring Nord (Northern development circle) - abbreviated ERNO - was a 1961 joint venture of Bremen-based Weserflug and
Focke-Wulf withHamburger Flugzeugbau to develop parts for rockets and get involved in space activities.In 1961 work began on a small, jet-powered transport aircraft initially styled Erno-61-4.
After Weserflug and Focke Wulf formally merged into
Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) in 1964, the machine was redesignated VFW 614. The draft design was amended to aSTOL 40-44 passenger jet with overwing engines, for easier operation from unprepared runways. German government subsidies enabled development to start in earnest in 1966. The first prototype started in August 1968, but then VFW andFokker of the Netherlands formed a joint transnational holding company.The prototype flew on July 14, 1971, but crashed next February. Two more prototypes flew in 1972. German, FAA, and French DGA certifications completed in 1974, 1975, & 1976 respectively. The collaborative production arrangements involved
Messerschmitt Bolkow Blohm (MBB) in Germany,Fokker VFW in the Netherlands and SABCA andFairey in Belgium. The first sale was toCimber Air , which started commercial flights in November 1975.The VFW-Fokker alliance affected the VFW 614 negatively, as Fokker needed to sell its competing F27 and F28.Fact|date=October 2008 National subsidies were diverted to the
Airbus program, and the end came for the VFW-614. On August 19, 1977 the nineteenth (including prototypes) and last machine was completed.Few VFW 614 aircraft remained in use. Only the Koln/Bonn Flugbereitschaft der Luftwaffe continued flying VFW 614 until they finally ceased in 1998. Only DLR in
Braunschweig (region) andEADS Airbus at Bremen now retain the machines for research duties.The
European Space Agency ESA in June 1974 named a consortium headed by ERNO-VFW Fokker (Zentralgesellschaft VFW-Fokker GmbH) to build pressurized modules forSpacelab .British Aerospace , under contract to ERNO-VFW Fokker, built five convert|10|ft|m|sing=on-long, unpressurized, U-shaped pallet segments.West Germany provided 53.3% of Spacelab's cost and fulfilled 52.6% of all Spacelab work contracts. ERNO VFW Fokker, in competition with MBB, submitted the winning design, and became the prime contractor for Spacelab. MBB in 1981 took over VFW Fokker. The ERNO plant in Bremen continued as the headquarters for Spacelab design, production management, component testing, and assembly. Today, it is a part of
EADS Astrium Space Transportation .External links
* [http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRTypen/FRVFW614.htm VFW-Fokker Vfw 614 Regional jet]
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