Misplaced Pages

#625374

28-587: Transall ( Transport Allianz ) was a consortium created to design and manufacture the Transall C-160 military transport aircraft . Established in 1959, the company was initially a joint venture between Nord Aviation of France and Weser Flugzeugbau (WFB) and Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB) of Germany. It was later operated by French aerospace company Aérospatiale and German aircraft manufacturers Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). Production of its sole product,

56-480: A key component of the multinational Airbus consortium. It was also involved in numerous experimental aircraft programmes, such as the MBB Lampyridae , an aborted stealth aircraft . The ownership and assets of MBB changed drastically throughout its roughly two decades of existence. The company was bought by Deutsche Aerospace AG (DASA) in 1989; following several mergers and restructures, the assets of what

84-493: A reputation for reliability and safety, MBB, along with one of its major shareholders , Boeing Vertol , began studying options during the 1970s for producing an enlarged version to accompany the Bo 105. However, Boeing withdrew from the venture, leading to MBB search for another partner; this was found in the form of Japanese company Kawasaki Heavy Industries . On 25 February 1977, MBB and Kawasaki signed an agreement to cooperate on

112-618: A single assembly line in Toulouse . Changes from earlier aircraft include the cargo loading door on the port side of the fuselage being replaced by provision for additional fuel tanks in the wing centre section, as well as the installation of updated and improved avionics. During 1981, the first of these second generation C-160s made its first flight. Aircraft produced in this batch included 29 for France (an additional four non-standard aircraft were constructed for special missions), and six for Indonesia. This aeronautical company–related article

140-509: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Transall C-160 Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 221297026 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:57:15 GMT Messerschmitt-B%C3%B6lkow-Blohm The company

168-720: The Eurocopter EC135 during the early 1990s which, like its Bo 105 ancestor, achieved similar commercial success. Perhaps the most important partnership that MBB was involved in was the Airbus A300 . On 26 September 1967, the British, French, and West German governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding to start development of the A300. At this point, the A300 was only the second major joint aircraft programme in Europe,

196-496: The French Postal Service . Production continued until October 1972. In July 1977, France placed an order for 25 C-160 aircraft, which were built to an improved standard. Production work for this batch was split 50-50 between French aerospace company Aérospatiale (the successor to Nord) and Germany aviation firm Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) (which had absorbed VFW and HFB), while all aircraft were completed at

224-723: The Airbus A300, the world's first twin-engine widebody airliner. The project intended to produce an aircraft that was smaller, lighter, and more economical than its three-engine American rivals, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar . Shortly after the Paris Air Show agreement, it was decided that, to provide effective management of responsibilities, a Groupement d'intérêt économique would be established, allowing

252-562: The American company Chrysler Corporation , the aerospace division was renamed DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG on 7 November 1998. As part of the prevailing trend of European defense consolidation of the late 1990s saw DASA being merged with Aerospatiale-Matra of France and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain to form the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) during 2000. The former assets of

280-492: The Bo 105C, was developed, this model quickly superseded the Bo 105A. Following its introduction to service in 1970, the Bo 105 quickly proved to be a commercial success. Production continued until 2001; by the end of production, 1,406 rotorcraft had been manufactured and delivered to operators in 55 nations worldwide. It served as the basis for several derivatives, such as the MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 . Having established

308-409: The Bo 108 was originally intended to be a technology demonstrator, combining attributes of the successful Bo 105 with new advances and an aerodynamically streamlined design. Technologies included the first full-authority digital engine controls ( FADEC ) on a helicopter, a hingeless main rotor, and the adoption of a new transmission. First flown on 17 October 1988, a production version was introduced as

SECTION 10

#1732780635626

336-757: The C-160, was terminated in 1985. The three later companies merged to form the multinational aerospace company EADS, which subsequently rebranded itself the Airbus Group . During the late 1950s, a requirement arose to replace the piston-engined Nord Noratlas transports operated by the French Air Force and the German Air Force . In the postwar era, many politicians in both countries were keen to encourage industrial co-operation between France and Germany; examples of this had already occurred in

364-616: The aircraft manufacturing sector, such as a previous arrangement in which Noratlases for the German Air Force had been produced under license by German aircraft manufacturer Weser Flugzeugbau . On 28 November 1957, representatives from both France and Germany signed an agreement calling for the joint development of a successor to the Noratlas. The Italian government also became involved in the project early on to meet their own air force's requirements; however, Italy's participation in

392-587: The design of which was headed by German engineer Ludwig Bölkow , made use of a revolutionary hingeless main rotor composed of fibreglass . On 13 October 1970, the German Civil Aviation Authority certified the Bo 105; initial deliveries for the first customers, ADAC Air Rescue and the Bavarian State Police , took place shortly thereafter. During 1972, an improved version of the rotorcraft with more powerful engines,

420-601: The development of a new rotorcraft. Under the terms of this agreement, the two corporations merged their previously separate projects to produce twin-engined general purpose helicopters, these being the Bo 107 by MBB and the KH-7 from Kawasaki. Separate elements were assigned to each company; MBB were responsible for developing the rotors (these were based on the rigid rotor system previously used on MBB's Bo 105 ), tailboom, flight controls and hydraulic system while Kawasaki undertook

448-478: The development of the landing gear , airframe , main transmission, electrical system and other minor components. Each company established its own final assembly line for the type, on which they produced the rotorcraft to meet demands within their respective local markets. An even more advanced derivative of the Bo 105, initially designated by MBB as the Bo 108 began development during the 1970s. The company developed it in partnership with France's Aérospatiale ;

476-655: The first being the Anglo-French Concorde . Under the terms of the memorandum, Britain and France were each to receive a 37.5 per cent work share on the project, while Germany received a 25 per cent share. France's Sud Aviation was recognized as the lead company for A300, while Hawker Siddeley was selected as the British partner company. On 29 May 1969, during the Paris Air Show , French transport minister Jean Chamant and German economics minister Karl Schiller signed an agreement officially launching

504-537: The first production airframes were delivered to France and Germany. The first batch included 110 C-160Ds for the German Air Force ( Luftwaffe ), 50 C-160Fs for the French Air Force , and nine C-160Zs for the South African Air Force . Four C-160Fs were subsequently converted to the C-160P air mail transport aircraft configuration, and were operated by the national flag carrier Air France on behalf of

532-600: The fledgling program was soon terminated in favour of the smaller and locally-built Fiat G.222 instead. In January 1959, a consortium, named the "Transporter-Allianz" or Transall , was formally established to develop and produce this new transport aircraft; its initial membership comprised the French aircraft manufacturer Nord Aviation and the German companies Weser Flugzeugbau (which became Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) in 1964) and Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB). Each of

560-441: The merger of the aircraft manufacturers Focke-Wulf , Focke-Achgelis , and Weserflug . During the following year, MBB acquired the astronautics company Entwicklungsring Nord (ERNO; to reflect this change, the company was rebranded as MBB-ERNO . In 1989, MBB was taken over by Deutsche Aerospace AG (DASA), which was renamed "Daimler-Benz Aerospace" in 1995. Following the 1998 merger of the German industrial group Daimler Benz and

588-592: The newly formed company. On 15 March 1974, type certificates were granted for the A300 from both German and French authorities, clearing the way for its entry into revenue service. Ten years after the official launch of the A300, the company had achieved a 26 per cent market share in terms of dollar value, enabling Airbus Industries to proceed with the development of its second aircraft, the Airbus A310 . During 1981, MBB acquired rival company Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), which itself had been formed via

SECTION 20

#1732780635626

616-430: The number of orders placed. While Nord produced both the wings and engine nacelles, VFW manufactured the centre fuselage and horizontal tail, and HFB constructed the forward and rear fuselage; the aircraft's tail fin was also built by Dornier . Three separate assembly lines were established, where the sections produced by each of the three main partner companies were brought together to form complete aircraft. During 1967,

644-494: The production partners was responsible for the construction of a single prototype; the first (built by Nord) performed its maiden flight on 25 May 1963, while the VFW and HFB-built prototypes followed on 25 May 1963 and 19 February 1964 respectively. These prototypes were followed by six pre-production examples, which made their first flights between 1965 and 1966; these aircraft were stretched by 51 centimetres (20 in) compared with

672-443: The prototypes. Production orders were delayed by the unsuccessful efforts of American defence company Lockheed to sell its C-130 Hercules transport to the German Air Force as an alternative to the C-160. On 24 September 1964, a formal production contract was signed, ordered a combined lot of 160 C-160s (110 for Germany and 50 for France). Workshare on the type's manufacture was divided between Germany and France broadly in line with

700-598: The shares in MBB was owned by the Blohm family, Willy Messerschmitt and Ludwig Bölkow ; 22.07% was owned by the German State of Hamburg , 17.05% by the state of Bavaria , 7.16% by Thyssen AG , 7.16% by Siemens AG , 7.13% by Allianz Versicherungs-AG , 7.13% by Robert Bosch GmbH and 6.15% by Friedrich Krupp GmbH . Perhaps the most successful product produced primarily by MBB was the Bo 105 helicopter. This rotorcraft,

728-470: The various partners to work together on the project while remaining separate business entities; this would be the origins of the Airbus Group. On 18 December 1970, Airbus Industrie was formally established following an agreement between Aérospatiale (the newly merged Sud Aviation and Nord Aviation ) of France and the antecedents to Deutsche Aerospace of Germany, each receiving a 50 per cent stake in

756-436: Was MBB presently form a part of Airbus . On 6 June 1968, Messerschmitt AG merged with the small civil engineering and civil aviation firm Bölkow , becoming Messerschmitt-Bölkow. The following May, the firm acquired Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB), which had originated as a branch of Blohm+Voss . To reflect the latter's acquisition, the company changed its name to Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). Upon its formation, 51% of

784-455: Was responsible for the development and manufacture of various aircraft during its existence. Among its best-known products were the MBB Bo 105 light twin-engine helicopter and its enlarged derivative, the MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 . MBB was also a key early partner on the Airbus A300 , a wide-body twin-jet airliner ; the company's involvement in the A300's development and production led to it forming

#625374