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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 1330.PDF
Corporate aircraft Taiwan- Czech joint venture Ibis sees demand for 800 of its Ae-270 corporate turbines turboprop market for another player, pro ducing a market of 800 units. The design was modified, with the wing lowered, fuse lage lengthened and engine cowling re- engineered for a turbine. "The Ae-270 design was 80% completed in 1992," says Ciprovsky, "but the project was frozen due to lack of funds". Aero Vodochody cast its net around for risk-sharing partners, and South Africa's Denel showed strong interest before AIDC approached the company in 1995. By July 1997, a new joint venture had been formed. AIDC would provide the wing to Aero Vodochody, which produces the fuse lage and has the final assembly line. The aircraft is then sold through Ibis, which is a separate company. Six members, three from each country, control the board of the new company, and a limited personnel swap has begun. Know-how, no cash Karel Sovak, Ibis sales director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, says: "We had the know-how, but no cash. AIDC had the cash and needed a project in which to invest." With a highly skilled workforce available at much lower salary levels than in Western Europe, and forecast sales in excess of 800 units, the Taiwanese were eager to conclude a deal. The project is, however, now interna tional, with Canadian engines and Ger man seats. The company is also excited about the arrival of green primer paint to replace the Soviet-era deep burgundy in time for the first production aircraft's maiden flight in September. Over the German border in southern Bavaria, Grob has, like Pilatus, struggled to survive. The company claims to be the first to mass-produce gliders when it started an assembly line for the Schempp-Hirth Standard Cirrus in the early 1970s. Plastics manufacturer Grob was in a good position to exploit the new composite materials, such as glassfibre reinforced plastic and plastic foam, for aircraft construction to replace traditional craftsman-built gliders of the 1960s. That the company should then essons learne from building aircraft for the military have seen important cross-overs for all "tree companies develop its own glider, the G102 Astir CS in 1977, was as much testimony to Swiss founder Dr Ernst Grab's passion for avia tion as any hard-headed business decision. It was his enthusiasm and that of his son Burkhart that propelled the aerospace busi ness forward. Despite only accounting for a small share of the company's total profits, the aircraft found customers among air force flying schools - notably the UK's Royal Air Force air cadets - and the company started to explore the market for a dedicated trainer aircraft built from composites. The resulting G115 was developed together with the military of several coun tries. Grob took two years to modify the stall characteristics and test the structural integrity of the aircraft before launching an aerobatic version, the G115D, specifically requested by the Norwegian and UK navies. Two years later, the design team developed a glassfibre reinforced plastic variant of the original carbonfibre model, the G115E, in response to a need for a faster aircraft. Reworked aircraft Hans Doll, Grab's sales director, says the request for a 135kW (180hp) engine, cou pled with the requirement for a constant speed propeller, meant reworking every detail of the aircraft. "Because it's going to be flown for over l,000h a year it needs to be strong," Doll adds. So successful was the redevelopment that the company now offers a 195kW variant, the 115TA. The rolling development process is cen tral to Grab's philosophy, says Doll. It was as part of work on the latest trainer update, the G120, that the company again started thinking about a civilian product. The company integrated instrument flight rules avionics into the aircraft for launch cus tomer Lufthansa Flight Training, which trains German air force pilots under a pri vate finance initiative. This led Grab to commission a market study last year into how IFR single-engined turboprops are used. The survey found that many owner- flyers like to take one or two passengers and baggage, but often feel six-seaters are "overkill". This led to the launch of the G140 four-seater turboprop. "We were overwhelmed by the demand for the aircraft," says Doll, but Grab is still cautious of the civilian market, and is keen not to let the excitement caused by the air craft's launch at last year's Paris air show overshadow the trainers. One reason why the company is so reluctant to expose itself to the vagaries of the civilian market is because of its experience with two civilian product developments in the 1980s. The then-West German border police had expressed an interest in the acquisi tion of a low-observable surveillance air craft and part-funded research into the 56.6m (185ft)-span, pressurised, all-com posite Strato 1 aircraft capable of cruising at an altitude of 54,000ft (16,460m). But the end of the Cold War rendered the project obsolete. Despite attempting to build a commer cial case for a weather-monitoring scien tific aircraft, the Strato 2 project failed to meet its objectives. Additional funding was killed following German press allegations over the company's political connections. Following this expensive episode, the company was reluctant to diversify from trainers. A pusher-turboprop four-seater business aircraft, the GF 200, was dropped by Grab despite having its proof of con cept phase promoted by the German research and technology ministry. Lessons learned from building aircraft for military customers have seen impor tant cross-overs for all three companies. This should stand them in good stead as they explore a future which now lies firmly in the corporate sphere. • xxii 30 APRIL - 6 MAY 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL EUROPE SURVEY www.fliqhtinternational.com
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