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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1516.PDF
620 FLIGHT, 19 October 1961 Transall rear fuselage top section in jigs at Hamburger's Finkenwerder factory. Noratlas overhaul is under way in the background Tourist class airline seats awaiting completion and delivery at the Stade factory of Hamburger Flugzeugbau The German Industry . . . the process of making their production jigs from master jigs and patterns supplied from Burbank. Individual pieces are still sent from Lockheed, but German detail parts will be progressively incorporated. This is probably the most difficult stage of all in the licence production procedure. The capacity of HFB is by no means fully taken up with licence production. Since the company was re-formed it has been building up a design team, and systematically trained personnel from shop- floor to design-engineering level. Three years ago, HFB was able to propose to the German Government two new transports, the HFB 219 turboprop and the HFB 314 short-range jet transport. Although the design capacity was there, government financial support was essential if these projects were to get under way. But the government did not provide the necessary assistance. HFB continued to work until Boeing announced the 727. After this, the HFB 314 was abandoned. In the meantime, design and manufacture of airliner seats was taken up and HFB seats have been supplied for Lufthansa Viscounts and Super Constellations and for South African Airways and others.HFB are tendering for the Lufthansa Boeing 727 seating. The Stade factory is responsible for seat production and a batch ofthem is shown in col 1. A major design and production venture is, of course, the Trans-porter Allianz C.I60 Transall, during the early stages of which HFB submitted a complete design study of their own. For the C.160itself, HFB are designing and making the forward fuselage and tapered aft-fuselage section for all the companies concerned. Theywill also assemble and fly one of the three prototypes themselves. Altogether, five sets of components are needed, three for theflying prototypes and two for static testing. It has been generally reported that orders have recently been confirmed for a pre-produc-tion batch of six Transalls. HFB have joined in the formation of the EntwicklungsringNord, which has been formed as joint design centre for new projects of various types. It has been reported, although the companiesthemselves were either unwilling or unable to confirm it, that ER Nord will design an STOL or VTOL transport to NATOMilitary Basic Requirement 4. At all events, the Ring has only just been formed and the first meetings were only recently held.A good deal of administrative work still remains to be done before the Ring can start constructive design work at a specific head-quarters. For the present, the prospects for HFB are good. They havecompleted the first licence-building stage successfully and are taking the first and most difficult hurdles in the F-104 programme. Butthey have also built up a reasonably strong design team over a period of years and are eager to develop their own aircraft. Duringthe development period, whether it be solely an HFB venture or through participation in the Ring, the F-104 and Transall pro-grammes will provide factory work and considerable additional experience. Focke-Wulf AFTER a brilliant pre-1945 history of aircraft design under ProfKurt Tank, Focke-Wulf began building gliders in 1951 and then made the Piaggio P.149D trainer under licence. They also startedhydraulics and plastics departments and made the two prototypes of the Blume B15O2. The P.149D, Sea Hawk, Gannet and GrummanAlbatross are being overhauled. Focke-Wulf are joining in the North Group of companies making the F-104G. They provide theengine access-door with the central hydraulic installation mounted on it, and the intakes and air ducts. In 1960 Focke-Wulf signed an agreement with SNECMA forfurther development of the Coleoptere and at the Paris Salon this year a multi-engined lift pod for a transport aircraft was exhibited.Now, Focke-Wulf have begun to co-operate closely with Hawker Aircraft at Kingston for the development of a VTOL fighter. The factory is at Bremen airport and most of the 3,000,000 DMcapital (about £270,000) is held by Standard-Elektrik Lorenz and Bottscherstrasse GmbH. Employees number about 1,000 and factoryfloor area is 42,600sq ft. MARK LAMBERT This jig for the side panels of the tapering Transall tail is now well filled at Finkenwerder
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