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Week ending June 1, 1997
+++ Eurofighter financing still in the balance +++ German Airbus Plans Capacity Expansion +++ Luftwaffe tries to keep continuity in procurement plans +++ Cathay grounds Aribus A330-300 fleet +++ Aerospatiale launched THAICOM 3 in orbit +++ Regional Airlines: no German company +++ Explorer grounded by McDonnell Douglas +++ Arianespace names new candidate for company chairman +++ Final assembly of first MD-95 begins +++ Honeywell Rotary Actuators used by Iridium satelites +++ News in brief +++
Eurofighter financing still in the balance
Finanzierung des Eurofighter bleibt in der Schwebe
The poker games for the financing of the Eurofighter production investment phase are continuing apace. The latest speculations centre around a diversion of Airbus startup loans, which Dasa has to pay back after the year 2000. Accroding to finance minister Theo Waigel, this money could be "repayed" sooner and then used as interim financing for the EF2000. In effect, Dasa would "pay" itself - a quite remarkable financial trick which may not even be legal under German budget laws as it may entail new borrowings by Dasa. Anyway, there is now increasing pressure to come to a conclusion by early July to secure EF2000 a place in the 1998 defence budget.
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German Airbus plans capacity expansion
Airbus-Fertigungsanlagen in Hamburg wird erweitert
Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus (DA), the German part of the European Airbus consortium, announced on May 29 that it will expand its plants at a cost of 600 million DM (355 million U.S. dollars in the next two years.DA management leader Gustav Humbert said Thursday in Hamburg that the expansion would boost production in Germany from the current six Airbus planes per month to 11 per month in order to keep pace with a boom in orders. According to Humbert, the Airbus consortium as a whole now has 762 orders on its books, enough to keep its plants busy for the next 3.5 to four years. The Airbus group had reached a "dimension which we've never reached before," he said. Output at the group's European plants was now 17 planes per month, which would be raised to 24 per month, he added.
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Luftwaffe tries to keep continuity in procurement plans
Planungskontinuität soll sich für Luftwaffe auszahlen
According to Generalleutnant Bernhard Mende, Luftwaffe Chief-of-Staff, the German air force is trying to keep continuity in its procurement plans - despite a serious lack of money. Addressing the German Air Force Association in Bonn, he outlined the main areas for improving the operational capabilities of the Luftwaffe:- Command and control: A higher mobility and more modern systems, allowing the optimization of the information exchange on an international scale.
- Airborne air defence: In spite of the worries about the financing, General Mende is optimistic that the Eurofighter will be procured: "The necessity for a new fighter is undisputed. Air superiority is a question of sovereignty. The decision for the EF2000 certainly requires some political courage in the current situation. But without courage one can never achieve anything! At any rate, the price for the aircraft is not an issue any more."
- Expanded air defence: The defence against ballistic missiles and cruise missiles has priority. Only these systems will be able to become a threat for Germany in the foreseeable future. As an answer, the Patriot systems are to be updated and, beginning in 2005/2006, Meads will be procured.
- Stand-off and precision guided weapons: The Luftwaffe has a lot of catching up to do in this area. At least, a laser target designator is being procured and, according to Mende, a solution for the modular stand-off weapon is in reach.
- Transport: The procurement of the NH90 from 2003 is a first step. The first squadron is earmarked for combat search and rescue missions, a capability which the Luftwaffe does not have at this point. The conversion of A310s to tankers is important also. Concerning the FLA freighter, which is slotted to replace the Transalls, the Chief of Staff "currently does not see possibilities to agree on the financing".
Cathay grounds Airbus A330-300 fleet
Airbus A330 mit Trent-Triebwerken gegroundet
After four in-flight engine shutdowns, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair have decided to remove their Airbus A330-300s from service until Rolls-Royce finds a solution to the Trent 700 problems. The grounding took effect on May 24, idling 17 per cent of the Cathay fleet with corresponding consequences to the operations of the Hong Kong airline. How long the grounding will last was not clear, and it is too early to assess the financial consequences, Cathay said.The problems with the Trent began on November 11, 1996 with further incidents on May 6, May 9 and May 24 this year. It is suspected that unusual wear in a Hispano-Suiza gearbox is to blame. Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce is working full speed on a solution and has already designed a modification, which is under test.
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Aerospatiale launched THAICOM 3 in orbit
Aérospatiale bringt THAICOM 3 in den Orbbit
Positioning manoeuvres and in orbit testing operations for THAICOM 3 were completed in nominal conditions and on record time after the April 16th launch of the satellite, Aérospatiale announced to its customer Shinawatra Satellite Public Company of Thailand. The in-orbit positioning and in orbit testing of the satellite were successfully handled by the company's specialists at the CNES facility in Toulouse, France, and in the ground control station in Bangkok. THAICOM 3 is placed in a geostationary orbital position at 78,5 * longitude East and is the largest satellite ever built by Aérospatiale. It is a Spacebus 3000A with a launch mass of 2650 kg and a power supply of 5300 Watts end of life. The satellite carries 39 transponders in C and Ku bands.
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Regional Airlines: no German company
Keine deutsche Tochtergesellschaft von Regional Airlines
The French Regional Airlines, which took over the turboprop routes from Deutsche BA, will not form a German subsidiary, due to "repeated problems and misunderstandings with the German authorities". Instead, it will serve the routes with F-registered aircraft. DBa Saabs were re-registered in France. Also, the routes to Switzerland will be served by Crossair. German personnel will be offered employment with the French company. The sales office with eight people is now located at Stuttgart.
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Explorer grounded by McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas groundet Explorer
McDonnell Douglas has grounded its Explorer light helicopter following discovery of a broken adjustable collective drive link during a post-flight inspection on May 8, 1997. The drive link assembly is a component of the rotor head system. A second, dual-path, fixed link assembly continued to function in the May 8 incident and is not impacted by this action. McDonnell Douglas issued a notice of the incident to operators of the helicopter on May 9 and began immediate investigation and testing of the drive link to determine the cause. At the same time, the company sent operators replacement link assemblies with instructions to replace the part. Subsequent laboratory tests revealed that the drive link assembly requires redesign. Time required to design, test, manufacture and distribute new link assemblies is not known.
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Arianespace names new candidate for company chairman
Arianespace nominiert neuen Kandidaten als Präsident
The board of directors of Arianespace has decided to propose the nomination of current ESA Director Genral Jean-Marie Luton as Chairman of Arianespace S.A. to the annual Meeting of Shareholders on June 16th in Paris. Nobody doubts Luton will be elected, as the term of Charles Bigot ends on July 1st, 1997, and the previously nominated Francis Avanzi has not been accepted by the French side. Obviously his effecient management style and experience with the American aerospace industry with CFMI spook against him with the French political/industrial elite. With Luton the French side expects a smoother way of business without any irritations on the national side.
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Final assembly of first MD-95 begins
Erste McDonnell Douglas MD-95 ist in der Endmontage
Final assembly has begun on McDonnell Douglas' new 100-seat airliner, the MD-95-30 twin jet. Production workers at Douglas Aircraft Co. lowered the MD-95's first center fuselage barrel onto the wing May 24, marking the start of final assembly. In the days ahead, they will join all three fuselage sections and then attach the nose and empennage. The airplane is scheduled to be sitting on its landing gear by the end of June. First flight of the MD-95 is planned in the second quarter of 1998, with joint certification by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Europe's Joint Airworthiness Authority in 1999. ValuJet Airlines of Atlanta, the launch customer, is scheduled to receive the first MD-95 in mid-1999.The aircraft's fuselage was built by Alenia in Italy and its wing was produced by McDonnell Douglas-Canada. Tracor Flight Systems in Palmdale, Calif., mated the wing halves. Beginning in 1998 MD-95 wings will be built by Hyundai Space and Aircraft Co. in Seoul, Korea. McDonnell Douglas' Salt Lake City facility produced the first empennage. Empennages for production aircraft will be manufactured by the Aero Industry Development Center in Taichung, Taiwan. The first nose came from McDonnell Douglas in Huntington Beach, Calif. All other MD-95 noses are being producedby the Aerospace Division of Korean Air in Pusan, Korea.
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Honeywell Rotary Actuators used by Iridium satelites
Iridium-Satelliten nutzen Honeywell-Aktuatorensysteme
The five Iridium satellites launched May 5th use rotary actuators developed and produced by Honeywell Space Systems. These actuator systems point the K-band antennas of the satellites, permitting communication between the satellites, the ground and adjacent satellites in the planned 66 spacecraft orbiting constellation. Honeywell's Space Systems is based in Phoenix, Arizona, and has already delivered 41 shipsets of a total of 110 for the Iridium system with the last delivery scheduled for end 1997. Each shipset consists of 12 actuators. For Honeywell this is a growing business as Dave Rieder, Honeywell's Iridium program manager explains. The growth rate is 10 to 15 percent per year.
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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN
Middle East Airlines (MEA) of Beirut has become the first Airbus A321 operator in the Middle East, following the handover of the first of two aircraft being leased form International Lease Finance (ILFC). MEA already operates two A320s on routes to neigbouring Arab states and to Europe. It also has five leased A310s.+++
Lufthansa will conduct its first Internet ticket auction on June 5, with around 30 trips up for grabs. Minimum bid is DM 10, then going up in 10, 20 or 50 DM steps. Interested buyers must pre-register to take part (at http://www.lufthansa.com). Destinations offered include Miami, Bangkok, Singapore, Paris, Vienna, London and more.
+++
The German Luftwaffe is very pleased with the level of applications it gets for officer and NCO jobs. According to General Bernhard Mende, Chief-of-Staff, the service can now choose from 15-16 candidates for pilot training, a sharp improvement from the 7-8 applications in the 1995/95 timeframe. The same applies to almost any other specialisation sought by the Luftwaffe.
+++
The board of VDI, German Engineers' Association, has elected Professor Hubertus Christ as new president of Europe's largest engineering association effective January 1st, 1998. Christ is member of the supervisory board of ZF Friedrichshafen AG.
+++
The Space and Defense Systems division of McDonnell Douglas in Huntingdon Beach announced the finalists for the site selction process of major component production for the company's new launcher Delta IV, which will be offered to the US Air Force in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) programme. Seven sites are now under consideration: Huntingdon Beach, California; Huntsville and Decatur, Alabama; Yellow Creek and Bay St. Louis, Missouri; Cocoa Beach and Titusville, Florida.
+++
Dasa has pushed its turnover 39 per cent to 3,9 billion DM in the first four months of 1997, parent Daimler Benz AG has revealed. The firmer Dollar exchange rate had a positive effect.
+++
Four McDonnell Douglas-built F/A-18 Hornets arrived at the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base in Butterworth, Malaysia, May 26. The 8,228 mile flight originated at St. Louis' Lambert International Airport. The state-of-the-art strike fighters touched down in Butterworth at approximately 11:56 a.m. Malaysia time. The F/A-18Ds are the first four of eight two-seat model Hornets ordered by the RMAF. The remaining four aircraft are scheduled for delivery in August
+++
On May 26, Thai Airways International has signed an acquisition contract with Airbus Industrie covering the firm order of four A330-300 and five A300-600R twin engine widebody aircraft. The A300-600Rs are scheduled for delivery from the first quarter of 1998, with deliveries of the A330s beginning in the second quarter of the year. Both types will be powered by versions of the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine series. The newly-ordered aircraft will join existing A330 and A300 fleets at the airline, operating on the carrier's extensive regional route network. The latest contract with Thai Airways International increases total sales for the new generation A330/A340 widebody family to 361 firm orders from 42 customers worldwide, while total sales for the A300/A310 family rise to 748 firm orders from 83 customers.
+++
British Aerospace has decided to stop making Jetstream 41 regional turboprop airliners, with the loss of almost 400 jobs at the Prestwick site in Scotland. A write-off of 250 million pounds will be necessary to provide for the expected decreased values of Jetstream 31s and 41s which are owned by BAe. Closure of the line will likely save BAe more than 30 million pounds a year. It lost a million pounds on any Jetstream sold.
+++
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Previous updates are still available:
May 25, 1997
May 18, 1997
May 11, 1997
May 4, 1997
March 23, 1997
March 16, 1997
March 9, 1997
March 2, 1997
February 23, 1997
February 16, 1997
January 26, 1997
January 19, 1997
January 12, 1997
January 5, 1997
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Copyright 1997 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved.
Last updated May 30, 1997
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