FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1968
1968 - 0059.PDF
PLIGHT International, II January 1968 61 The factory and airfield of FFA (Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke AG) at Altenrhein, on the shore of Lake Constance Switzerland's Aircraft Industry By JOAN M. RIECK In a two-part article in recent issues of "Flight" (Novem- ber 23 and 30, 1967) the author described the organisation and work of the German aircraft industry; here she deals with the smaller, less well known, but no less interesting Swiss industry. The present article also complements her articles (December 21 and 28) on the Swiss Air Force. SMALL BY INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS, the Swiss aircraftindustry has nevertheless shown over the past few yearsof building the Mirage III under licence that its manu- facturing skills can stand comparison with those of aircraft industries many times its size. And while the original designs it has to offer are more modest in scope, they have still managed to score gratifying successes on the world market. Sound engineering talent, love of precision and pride in quality are important factors in the industry's strength. The aircraft industry proper, i.e., those companies which design (or at least assemble) complete aircraft, consists of the Government-owned Federal Aircraft Works at Emmen, north of Lucerne, and two privately owned companies, Pilatus Air- craft Works at Stans, south of Lucerne, and Flug-und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein on Lake Constance. In the Mirage programme these three organisations, together with Sulzer Brothers of Winterthur, main contractors for the licence-built Snecma Atar 9C engines, have been supported by something like 700 other companies responsible for supplying materials, parts or sub-assemblies. In addition, Contraves AG of Zurich makes missiles and fire control equipment, and Oerlikon- Buhrle produces ammunition, rockets and anti-aircraft guns. Federal Aircraft Works, Emracn This plant is run by Federal Government personnel as a non-profit-making com- mercial operation and is responsible for the supply of aircraft to the Swiss Air Force. Since the first small group of workers started licence construction of French Morane-Saulnier air- craft here in the spring of 1940 nearly 900 aircraft have been built or assembled. When a new foreign-designed aircraft is chosen for licence manufacture in Switzerland, Emmen acts as main contractor, Preparing and co-ordinating the whole programme and award- ing sub-contracts for everything from nuts and bolts up to complete fuselage sections or wing assemblies. At the other end of the programme Emmen takes over again, being responsible for final assembly, flight testing and delivery to the Air Force. In cases where the Swiss Air Force buys aircraft direct from abroad—for example, the 100 Hawker Hunters purchased from Britain in 1959—Emmen handles the modifications required to enable them to operate from small mountain bases, besides overseeing any programmes for re-equipping existing aircraft with new weapons or other systems. Apart from actual aircraft assembly, Emmen also does extensive research and test work for both Swiss and foreign customers, private or government. Its installations include advanced subsonic, transonic and supersonic wind tunnels, as well as a large engine test-bed. As this work is almost always confidential, no information can normally be obtained about it. But it is known (for example) that Emmen has done some extremely interesting work on metal fatigue, in the course of which it has been found that the Venom airframe can continue to be operated safely at the present annual rate up to about 1980 (the Swiss Air Force operates some 200 of these aircraft). In addition, valuable information on structural materials and on ways of postponing fatigue has been acquired. At the present time Emmen can look forward to about another 18 months' work on the Mirages, the last of which are not due for delivery until towards the middle of 1969. After that, however, there is a big question mark on the production side, at any rate pending the Government's decision on a new combat type to replace the Venoms in the ground- attack role. Pilatus Aircraft Works, Stans The Pilatus factory lies in a peaceful green valley in the shadow of the 8,000ft mountain group from which the company takes its name. A wholly owned subsidiary of the Oerlikon-Biihrle concern, one of its three original founders in 1939, it today employs a total of approximately 800 people. Some 750 of these work at Stans itself, the remainder at the Pilatus service centres at Zurich and Geneva airports. The company's share, now completed, in the Mirage pro- gramme has been the manufacture of fuselage sections and the assembly of complete fuselages. Pilatus describes the experience as "very stimulating" and now looks forward to
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
