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The Entwicklungsring Nord (Northern development circle) - abbreviated ERNO - was a 1961 joint venture of Bremen-based Weserflug and Focke-Wulf with Hamburger Flugzeugbau to develop parts for rockets and get involved in space activities.
In 1961 work began on a small, jet-powered aircraft initially styled Erno-61-4. After Weserflug and Focke Wulf formally merged into Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) in 1964, the machine was redesignated VFW 614. The draft design was amended to a STOL 40-44 passenger jet with overwing engines, for easier operation from unprepared runways. German government subsidies enabled development to start in earnest in 1966. The first prototype started in August 1968, but then VFW and Fokker of the Netherlands formed a joint transnational holding company.
The prototype flew on 14 July 1971 but crashed next February. Two more prototypes flew in 1972. German, FAA, and French DGA certifications completed in 1974, 1975, & 1976 respectively. The collaborative production arrangements involved Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) in Germany, Fokker VFW in the Netherlands and SABCA and Avions Fairey in Belgium. The first sale was to Cimber Air, which started commercial flights in November 1975.
The VFW-Fokker alliance affected the VFW 614 negatively, as Fokker needed to sell its competing F27 and F28.[ citation needed ] National subsidies were diverted to the Airbus program, and the end came for the VFW 614. On 19 August 1977 the nineteenth (including prototypes) and last machine was completed.
Few VFW 614 aircraft remained in use: The German Luftwaffe (Koln/Bonn Flugbereitschaft) continued flying VFW 614 until they finally ceased in 1998. The Luftwaffe machines went on to serve EADS/Airbus at Bremen (one aircraft for fly-by-wire development for the A380), and DLR in Braunschweig for development and research duties – the final flight of the last airworthy VFW 614 was on 7 December 2012.
ERNO participated in several satellite programs mostly being responsible for structure and thermal control, propulsion. A mechanically very challenging item (i.e. the antenna of the German satellite HELIOS) was manufactured by ERNO.
The European Space Agency ESA in June 1974 named a consortium headed by ERNO-VFW Fokker (Zentralgesellschaft VFW-Fokker GmbH) to build pressurized modules called Spacelab. British Aerospace, under contract to ERNO-VFW Fokker, built five 10-foot (3.0 m)-long, unpressurized, U-shaped pallet segments.
West Germany provided 53.3% of Spacelab's cost and fulfilled 52.6% of all Spacelab work contracts. ERNO VFW Fokker, in competition with MBB, submitted the winning design, and became the prime contractor for Spacelab. MBB in 1981 took over VFW Fokker. The ERNO plant in Bremen continued as the headquarters for Spacelab design, production management, component testing, and assembly.
The Bremen team of the new MBB-ERNO prepared the first COLUMBUS proposal as Prime Contractor based on the experiences gained on Spacelab. As next step MBB-ERNO became a section of Daimler-Benz called DASA (Daimler-Benz Aerospace). Following it became a part of EADS Astrium Space Transportation, then Airbus Defence and Space. The engineering team for crewed space developments is responsible for Columbus operations and maintenance and involved in the development of NASA's Orion program.
The Bremen launcher team was split off and integrated in Airbus Safran Launchers part of ArianeGroup.
Fokker, legally N.V. Koninklijke Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek Fokker, was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 the company moved its operations to the Netherlands.
DASA was a German aerospace manufacturer.
Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, and other related hardware housed in the Shuttle's cargo bay. The components were arranged in various configurations to meet the needs of each spaceflight.
Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It is one of the predecessor companies of today's Airbus.
Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) was a West German aerospace manufacturer.
Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB) was an aircraft manufacturer, located primarily in the Finkenwerder quarter of Hamburg, Germany. Established in 1933 as an offshoot of Blohm & Voss shipbuilders, it later became an operating division within its parent company and was known as Abteilung Flugzeugbau der Schiffswerft Blohm & Voss from 1937 until it ceased operation at the end of World War II. In the postwar period it was revived as an independent company under its original name and subsequently joined several consortia before being merged to form Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). It participates in the present day Airbus and European aerospace programs.
Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH, known as Weserflug, was an aircraft manufacturing company in Germany.
VFW-Fokker GmbH was a joint venture of Fokker and Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) started in 1969 that, from then on, controlled the ERNO initiative.
Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) was a West German aerospace manufacturer. It was formed during the late 1960s as the result of efforts to consolidate the West German aerospace industry; aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt AG merged with the civil engineering and aviation firm Bölkow in 1968, while rival aircraft manufacturer Hamburger Flugzeugbau was acquired by the company in the following year.
The Focke-Wulf Fw 187 Falke ("Falcon") was a German aircraft developed in the late 1930s. It was conceived by Kurt Tank as a twin-engine, high-performance fighter, but the Luftwaffe saw no role for the design, perceiving it as intermediate between the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Bf 110. Later prototypes were adapted to two-seats to compete with the Bf 110 in the heavy fighter (Zerstörer) role, but only nine aircraft were built in total.
The Henschel Hs 127 was a German bomber that was built as two prototypes, but cancelled without entering mass production.
The VFW-Fokker 614 was a twin-engined jetliner designed and constructed by West German aviation company VFW-Fokker. It is the first jet-powered passenger liner to be developed and produced in West Germany, as well as the first German-built civil aircraft to have been manufactured for a decade.
Transall was a consortium created to design and manufacture the Transall C-160 military transport aircraft.
The Focke-Wulf Fw 300 was a proposed very-long-range civil airliner, transport, reconnaissance aircraft and anti-ship aircraft, designed by Focke-Wulf in 1941 and 1942. The design was intended to replace the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor.
Airbus SE is a European multinational aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft. The company also has separate commercial, defence and space and helicopter divisions. Since 2019, Airbus is the world's largest manufacturer of airliners as well as the leading helicopter manufacturer.
Flugwerft Schleissheim is an aviation museum located in the German town of Oberschleißheim near Munich, it forms part of the Deutsches Museum collection and complements the aviation exhibits on display at the main site. The museum was opened on 18 September 1992. Many aerospace exhibits are on display including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and aircraft engines. The main display hangar is a restored glazed building, visitors are able to view exhibits undergoing restoration.
Manfred Fuchs was an Italian-German entrepreneur who was the founder of the German space company OHB.
