During the 1950s, there was
no shortage of companies
competing to design and build
what they believed would be the
ultimate Douglas DC-3 replacement. Avro,
Convair, Fokker and Handley Page were
just a few of those whose design offices
were busy working on transport aircraft
projects, deciding whether to put the wings
on top of the fuselage or underneath, and
what type of powerplants should propel
their brainchild.
In Bremen, another group of designers
was also tackling the problem. It was the
early 1960s and the Entwicklungsring Nord
(ERNO) group, initially comprising Focke-
Wulf, Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB) and
Weser were designing an aircraft known
at that time as the E 614. This group
was then amalgamated and renamed as
Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW),
which translates as combined ight technical
works. Its aircraft was to be a 36-40 seat jet-
powered machine, and the rst civil transport
design to come out of Germany since the
end of World War Two.
The original plan was to power the
aircraft with a pair of US-built Avco-Lycoming
PLF1B-2 turbofans. The manufacturer
had invested heavily in the engine, which
produced high levels of thrust with relatively
low fuel consumption, and was exactly
the type of powerplant VFW was looking
for. However, there were few takers for theengine and Avco-Lycoming took the decision
to abandon its development.EUROPEAN ENGINES
Following this, VFW began looking at an
Anglo-French Bristol-Siddeley (later Rolls-
Royce)/SNECMA powerplant, the M45H
Mk.501. This was an original design, having
been developed speci cally to power the
VFW 614, the parameters being the ability
to operate over short sectors and up to a
dozen ights per day. One priority which was
placed upon the engine design was that of
low noise emissions, with a view to the 614
being able to operate from smaller downtown
airports without restrictions.
Funding for the development came largely
from the West German government and in
1968, the project was given the go-ahead.
By 1970, full production had been approved.
Additionally, VFW merged with the Dutch
aircraft manufacturer, Fokker and had
entered risk-sharing agreements with Siebel
Flugzeugwerke in West Germany, SABCA
in Belgium and Shorts in the UK, which
provided the engine pods, among other
items. Final assembly would take place in
the Bremen factory.
Fokker’s ultimate interest in becoming
a partner in the design and production
process was aimed at being given the
opportunity to become involved in other
West German military aviation work for the
government, of which there was plentyhttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 79
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) operated D-ADAM as a
research aircraft before it was retired to the Deutsches Museum
Flugwerft in Oberschleissheim, Germany. Key CollectionThe Luftwaffe acquired three examples, with the rst arriving in
1977 and the last retiring in 1998. Key-Alan WarnesAir Alsace operated two VFW 614s from
April 1976. Illustrated in F-GATH being
used by the airline in November 1979.
Bob O’Brien Collection