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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 3018.PDF
HEADLINES Fokker rescue plan put on hold PAUL LEWIS/SINGAPORE SAMSUNG'S PROPOSED re scue of Fokker has been put on hold until the South Korean Government and other other local aerospace manufacturers decide whether or not they should back the programme. The deal ran into a last-minute delay when Samsung sought South Korean Government approval and financial support for its take-over of the bankrupt Dutch company. Samsung and Netherlands Gov ernment receivers had been ready to sign a detailed memorandum of understanding. Seoul, in response, has appoint ed a 15-man commission, consist ing of university, state-funded institute and industry representa tives, to judge the feasibility of die Fokker purchase. Its findings will be presented to a Government review board, headed by die South Korean prime minister, for a deci sion in December. The Government, at the same time, is making it clear that any national funding for Fokker is con tingent on South Korean participa tion being widened to include other aerospace manufacturers. As a result, Samsung has reluctantly extended invitations to its former Korean Commercial-Aircraft Dev elopment Aircraft consortium partners, Daewoo, Hyundai and Korean Air, to join. Each has been asked to respond by IS November. They appear to be less than enthusiastic about the deal, however, with one senior aerospace executive complaining that Samsung has so far failed to provide sufficient information to make a decision. He describes Samsung's 15-page proposal as "rather more brief than usual presentation material and unsatisfactory". More details, in particular, are needed to assess the risk and level of exposure over the next four to five years. What is known is mat Samsung has agreed to keep open Fokker's production line in the Netherlands andmaintaina 1,100-strongwork- force until 2003, but does not expect the restructured operation to break even until the year 2000. Its plan calls for production to be set initially at 20 aircraft a year, increasing to an annual rate of be tween 42 and 46 units. Aside from the $150 million purchase price agreed by Samsung, $250 million more is needed to recapitalise the loss-making com pany. Final development of the fol low-on Fokker 130 is projected to cost a further $800-900 million, of which the Dutch Government has agreed to provide $255 million. Establishing a leasing company will require another $500 million, says a senior South Korean official. Co-operation with Samsung is further complicated by the partici pation of two of the companies in programmes which conflict with the existing Fokker 70/100 product line and planned new 125- to 130- seat development. Hyundai and Korean Air have already teamed with McDonnell Douglas (MDC) to build the 100- seatMD-95-30. Hyundai is keen to extend its supply of wings to include the pro posed 125-seat stretched MD-95- 50, and has already initiated discussions with MDC. At the same time, Korean Air, which will supply the MD-95's nose, is also being actively courted to join Aero International (Re- gional)'s planned new 70-seat-air- craft programme. J Aerospatiale discusses fresh proposals for FLA funding AEROSPATIALE IS holding "high-level discussions" with the French Government on a new proposal to fund France's share of the Future Large Aircraft (FLA) military transport. The latest twist in the French industry's efforts to salvage the pro ject, after funding was cut by the French Government in February, amounts to a novel solution for financing a major military-aircraft programme. The manufacturer is presenting a plan under which the Government would act as guaran tor on bank loans to pay for France's FLA requirement, now amounting to 52 aircraft out of the 250-300 total to be produced. The move would revive France's commitment to the project, which has been at a low key since Govern ment funding was withdrawn in the 1996 defence budget. Each of the FLA participatory nations (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, with Belgium and Portugal as associate partners) is expected to find its own financing for the FLA. Major doubts remain over Germany's stake, but it is hoped that these will be resolved at the Franco-German summit meeting scheduled for December, possibly using the French funding scheme as an example. The UK, according to Aero spatiale director of military busi ness Philippe Picq, continues to be "solidly behind" the military- transport programme, however. Aerospatiale says that it has already lined up "several" banks interested in providing the long- term financing required. "We're very optimistic," says Aerospatiale's FLA programme chief, Pierre Froment, who explains that it means that the cash- strapped Government would no longer have to find the upfront money for the programme, instead taking responsibility only for re paying the interest on the loans. Froment says that the series price of the FLA, expected to be around $75 million per aircraft, "...will include development, pro duction and financial costs". • Vantage jet prepares for first flight VISIONAIRE'S SINGLE-ENGINED Vantage business jet was being prepared for its first flight at Mojave, California, as Flight International went to press. Burt Rutan, president of Scaled Composites, which built the proof-of-concept composite air craft, says that the initial 40-flight test programme will".. .allow us to go out and quickly tweak the design and build a safe basis. Everything we do beyond that will be conformal and aimed at certification. We will assess the certificatability of its flying qual ities and we suspect it can do a lot of certification testing beyond that". The first "type-corubrming" Vantage is due to be ready for flight in November 1997, "...and, from then, it will take 12-18 months to certify it", he adds. The Vantage "...is not littered with bolts and fasteners and we don't have the interfaces with metal that other designs have, so it's more corrosion-resistant, field repairable and, most important of all, is being built with a method that makes it affordable". 6 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 20 - 26 November 1996
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