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Dream of building a “homegrown” plane, what Germany received was only disappointment and default in “solitude”

France and the United Kingdom have always been major aircraft builders, a tradition that has continued since the Second World War. In West Germany, however, things were different. The only jet aircraft built there after the war was the VFW 614, which made its maiden flight in July 1971. However, this aircraft was a commercial failure as only 16 were sold.

The program was canceled in 1978, but is still considered an important milestone for Germany on the way to becoming a major partner in the Airbus pan-European program. In the late 1990s, Germany launched its last major efforts at building an aircraft. This reached both its zenith and ended 20 years ago.

Dreaming of building a homegrown plane, what Germany received was only disappointment and default in loneliness - Photo 1.

Graphic image of the Fairchild Dornier 928JET flying in the sky

Company airport

For many years, Oberpfaffenhofen, a small conglomerate airport south of Munich, was the “home” of the civil aircraft manufacturer Dornier Luftfahrt. This is the “child” of the famous Dornier of the 1920s, which once built the legendary Do-X flying boat.

From 1988 on, the regional aircraft manufacturer became a subsidiary of the car manufacturer Daimler Benz, which also took over Fokker in the Netherlands with the aim of merging them into a branch for aircraft. in the area. After this attempt failed, the American company Fairchild Aviation took over in 1996 and renamed the company Fairchild Dornier.

At that time, other companies built mostly Dornier turbofan engines 228 and the next generation Dornier 328. Meanwhile, Fairchild Dornier quickly launched the latest version of 328JET soon after take over.

Dreaming of building a home-made plane, what Germany received was only disappointment and debt default in solitude - Photo 2.

Fairchild Dornier models were introduced at the ILA show in 1998

Great vision

In 1998, the German-American company unveiled some bold plans at the ILA air show in Berlin. With the desire to create a regional jet line, the company displayed the 428JET, 528JET, 728JET and 928JET models.

Four years later, on March 21, 2002, Fairchild Dornier invested in a major product launch for the 728JET regional jet. When the curtain fell, a slightly “chubby” looking plane appeared. Although everyone was talking about it, the goal of that day was still unattainable. “When we pressed the red button to reveal the plane, I knew it was essentially an empty shell, unable to fly,” said Nico Buchholz, who was then director of aircraft purchasing at Lufthansa.

Lufthansa was in dire need of new 70-seat aircraft and decided to order 60 728JETs plus another 60 in April 1999. This gave the project the credibility it needed. However, Mr. Buchholz revealed that he knew the contract was never fulfilled.

“For me, this rollout was a sad event, because I knew what was coming,” he said. Less than two weeks after the disclosure, Fairchild Dornier had to file for default. Most attempts to revive the 728JET, and several similar aircraft to the 928JET, which Lufthansa is also very interested in, have failed. Not a single plane had any hope of taking off.

Dreaming of building a homegrown plane, what Germany received was only disappointment and debt default in solitude - Photo 3.

Interior of Fairchild Dornier 728

High expectations

Before this failure, people had high hopes for Fairchild Dornier. At the time, the market was ripe and the market’s inflated forecasts raised expectations. The company set a sales target of up to 500 units of the 728JET. The order book has quite impressive numbers, including 125 corporate orders (of which 60 are from Lufthansa and 50 are from leasing company GECAS) plus 164 other options, worth $11.7 billion.

Mr. Buchholz said:The aircraft looks very good in terms of performance and aerodynamics data, especially the wings are ahead of their time and will remain very good to this day. From an engineer’s point of view, the plane is perfectly designed. But on the other hand, from a production point of view, its design is “disaster”. A good engineer must look at the whole manufacturing process.”

The 728JET has a rather conventional design. The slightly chubby appearance of the 27 meter airframe is due to the wide cabin diameter, which has been scaled down from the original 3.4 meter wide design. The company marketed the idea as a line of planes, offering airlines the flexibility to deploy essentially identical planes, just different in size. The cockpit is universally designed, requiring only one pilot to operate, from 428JET (44 seats), 528JET (55 seats) and up to 928JET (95-110 seats) and even 1128JET (110-120 seats) seats).

Dreaming of building a homegrown plane, what Germany received was only disappointment and default in loneliness - Photo 4.

Fairchild Dornier 728 fuselage at Berlin Museum of Technology

Mr. Buchholz explained: “Fairchild Dornier wanted to give everything to everyone and worked on too many projects at once, resulting in increased energy consumption and constant delays in their timetables.“.

After the story ended, the major aircraft manufacturers from all over the world spent a long time, diligently examining what was left of Oberpfaffenhofen to see if anything could be “salvaged”. But no one wants to invest or commit to any kind of takeover.

However, traces of the plane still exist today. “If you look at the nose of the A220 or the Boeing 787, you can’t deny there are similarities. Cockpit 728 has a specific shape by complying with functions and aerodynamics. It is the legacy of Fairchild Dornier 728“, Mr. Buchholz analyzed.

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