The VFW-Fokker 614 (also VFW 614) was a twin-engined
jetliner
A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly clas ...
designed and constructed by
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
aviation company
VFW-Fokker
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.
The Entwicklungsring Nord (Northern development circle) — abbreviated ERNO — was a ...
. It is the first jet-powered passenger liner to be developed and produced in West Germany (the East German
Baade 152
The Baade 152 also known as Dresden 152, VL-DDR 152 or simply 152, was a post-war airliner designed and manufactured by East German aircraft company VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden. The aircraft was named after German aeronautical engineer Brunolf Ba ...
being the first German jet airliner), as well as the first German-built civil aircraft to have been manufactured for a decade.
[Mendenhall 2005, p. 326.]
The VFW 614 was originally proposed during the early 1960s as the E.614, which was a concept for a 36–40 seat aircraft by a consortium of West German aircraft companies, who were soon re-organised into
Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke
Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) was a West German aerospace manufacturer.
The company was formed by the 1964 merger of two German aerospace firms, Focke-Wulf and Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH (Weserflug). The formation of VFW was a natural outco ...
(VFW). Originally intended as a
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner
manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II.
It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
replacement, its most distinctive feature was that its engines were mounted in
pods on pylons above the wing. The VFW 614 was produced in small numbers during the early- to mid-1970s by
VFW-Fokker
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.
The Entwicklungsring Nord (Northern development circle) — abbreviated ERNO — was a ...
, a company resulting from a
merger
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
between VFW and the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
aircraft company
Fokker
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 program was cancelled in 1977, since anticipated sales and thus production were not achieved.
Development
![13-02-24-aeronauticum-by-RalfR-023](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/13-02-24-aeronauticum-by-RalfR-023.jpg)
The VFW 614 was originally proposed in 1961 by the
Entwicklungsring Nord
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.
Jet-power ...
(ERNO) group, comprising
Focke-Wulf
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 ...
,
Hamburger Flugzeugbau
''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 pare ...
(HFB) and
Weser
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...
as the E.614, a 36–40 seat aircraft powered by a pair of American-built
Lycoming PLF1B-2 turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engines. During this time, the West German industry underwent a substantial reorganisation, resulting in the establishment of
Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke
Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) was a West German aerospace manufacturer.
The company was formed by the 1964 merger of two German aerospace firms, Focke-Wulf and Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH (Weserflug). The formation of VFW was a natural outco ...
(VFW), based at
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
, Germany. Development of what would become the VFW 614 proceeded under the new combined company.
[Mellberg 1995, pp. 94–95.]
Lycoming ultimately chose to abandon development of the PLF1, which led to development of the type continuing using an alternative powerplant, the
Rolls-Royce/SNECMA M45H
The Rolls-Royce/SNECMA M45H is an Anglo-French medium bypass ratio turbofan produced specifically for the twin-engined VFW-Fokker 614 aircraft in the early 1970s.
The design was started as a collaborative effort between Bristol Siddeley and ...
turbofan engine, in its place.
Unlike the PLF1, the M45H was developed specially to power the VFW 614.
At the time, it was considered to have been a relatively bold ambition to develop both an entirely new airframe and a new engine in parallel.
Throughout development, a major priority placed upon the engines was upon noise reduction, so as to allow the airliner to use small municipal airports without incurring noise abatement restrictions upon its operations.
In 1968, the project was given the go-ahead;
[Mellberg 1995, p. 95.] at this point, 80 percent of the secured backing for the type originated from the West German Government. During 1970, full-scale production of the VFW 614 was approved, by which time VFW had merged with Dutch aircraft manufacturer
Fokker
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 ...
, a move which had the distinction of being Europe's first transnational aircraft company.
Aerospace publication
Flying Magazine
''Flying'', sometimes styled ''FLYING'', is an aviation magazine published since 1927 and called Ziff Davis#Popular Aviation, ''Popular Aviation'' prior to 1942, as well as ''Aeronautics'' for a brief period. It is read by pilots, aircraft owners ...
accredits Fokker's involvement in the project with several refinements and changes to the emerging design of the VFW 614, which included the discarding of a
T-tail
A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane is ...
in favour of a conventional unit, furnished with a low-set
vertical stabilizer
A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...
and
dihedral.
[Fricker, John]
"Ach du Leiber Flugindustrie."
''Flying Magazine
''Flying'', sometimes styled ''FLYING'', is an aviation magazine published since 1927 and called Ziff Davis#Popular Aviation, ''Popular Aviation'' prior to 1942, as well as ''Aeronautics'' for a brief period. It is read by pilots, aircraft owners ...
'', May 1966. Vol. 78, No. 5. ISSN 0015-4806. p. 77.
During this time, Fokker sought to broaden its financial basis and determined that the VFW 614 had promise; as such, the company intended to market the type through Fokker's established civil sales unit and support infrastructure; however, the union has been regarded by some commentators as having been an 'unhappy arrangement' and had only lasted for only ten years before its dissolution.
In addition, several risk sharing agreements had been concluded with other aviation companies, including
Siebel Flugzeugwerke ATG (SEAT) in Germany,
Fairey and
SABCA
SABCA (Sociétés Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques) is a Belgian aerospace company. Its main sectors of activity are civil aviation, space and defence.
SABCA was established during 1920. Presently, it is owned by the French aircraf ...
in Belgium and
Shorts
Shorts are a garment worn over the human pelvis, pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" b ...
in the United Kingdom. Final assembly of the aircraft was to be performed at VFW's Bremen facility.
Development of the aircraft had been heavily influenced by the pre-war American piston-engine
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner
manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II.
It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
passenger aircraft.
During late 1971, it was reported that the company had anticipated overall sales of the VFW 614 airliner to reach between 300 and 400 units, which was to have included its use by various American operators.
On 14 July 1971, the first of three prototypes performed its
maiden flight
The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets.
The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...
.
[Mellberg 1995, pp. 95, 98.] The first flight of the aircraft was also the first time that the engine had been airborne, having not been previously flown on a test-bed.
[Field 1974, p. 489.] To speed up flight testing, the first and second prototypes, which were reportedly almost identical, were dispatched to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
for three months of comprehensive trials to evaluate their performance under 'hot and high' conditions.
[Field 1974, p. 490.] Shortly after the accumulation of 800 flying hours, the design was frozen for production and manufacturing activity commenced on the first ten production airliners.
Development of the aircraft was protracted and orders slow to materialise, despite a strong marketing campaign. The situation was not helped by
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
's bankruptcy in 1971 which threatened the supply of engines. According to aircraft publication
Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...
, by 1974 the performance guarantees on both the thrust and fuel consumption of the M45H had been fulfilled.
On 1 February 1972, the programme was damaged by the loss of the first prototype, which was attributed to an instance of
elevator
An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
flutter;
[Mellberg 1995, p. 98.] which played a role in further diminishing the order situation. By late 1974, orders had been placed for the long-lead items to complete an anticipated 30 production VFW-614s, along with sufficient critical items to build up to 50 airliners.
By February 1975, only ten aircraft had been ordered. During April 1975, the first production VFW 614 made its first flight; it was delivered to Denmark's
Cimber Air Cimber may refer to:
* Lucius Tillius Cimber ( fl. 44 BC), ancient Roman governor, one of the assassins of Julius Caesar
* Cimber Sterling, Danish airline
* Cimber (airline), Danish airline, established in 2012
* Adam Cimber (born 1990), American ...
four months later.
Design
![VFW 614 ATTAS in test flight](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/VFW_614_ATTAS_in_test_flight.jpg)
The VFW-Fokker 614 was a twin-engined short haul
regional airliner
A regional airliner or a feederliner is a small airliner that is designed to fly up to 100 passengers on short-haul flights, usually feeding larger carriers' airline hubs from small markets. This class of airliners is typically flown by the re ...
; it was developed as in part to serve as a replacement for the popular
propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
-driven pre-war
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner
manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II.
It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
.
The 614 was the first passenger jetliner to be developed by West Germany, and featured an unconventional engine configuration. In its era, the aircraft was one of the smallest and slowest airliners to have been produced. The VFW 614 was powered by a pair of
Rolls-Royce/SNECMA M45H
The Rolls-Royce/SNECMA M45H is an Anglo-French medium bypass ratio turbofan produced specifically for the twin-engined VFW-Fokker 614 aircraft in the early 1970s.
The design was started as a collaborative effort between Bristol Siddeley and ...
turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engines. This powerplant, being relatively quiet and smokeless, had been specially developed to power the airliner.
For further internal noise reduction,
soundproofing
Soundproofing is any means of impeding sound propagation. There are several basic approaches to reducing sound: increasing the distance between source and receiver, decoupling, using noise barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of the sound wav ...
was present within the cabin.
[Field 1974, pp. 489–490.]
These engines were installed on the airliner in an unconventional manner, having been mounted above the wings upon pylons at a mid-wing position.
[Eriksson and Steenhuis 2015, pp. 121–122.] This arrangement had several advantages, such as avoiding the structural weight penalties imposed by rear-mounted engines and the potential ingestion risks present when engines were mounted beneath the wings.
The engine configuration allowed the adoption of a short, sturdy
undercarriage
Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include:
*The landing gear of an aircraft.
*The ch ...
, which was specially suited to performing operations from austere or otherwise poorly-prepared runways.
The position of the engine over the wing, compared to under-wing, also shielded people on the ground from intake noise during flyovers; this shielding effect is also present for aft-mounted engines.
In conjunction with the above-wing engine installation, an
unswept wing outfitted with a continuous
trailing edge
The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...
flap
Flap may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Flap'' (film), a 1970 American film
* Flap, a boss character in the arcade game ''Gaiapolis''
* Flap, a minor character in the film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland''
Biology and he ...
was adopted; this possessed no unfavourable interaction with the engine flow.
[Kocivar, Ben]
"."
''Popular Science
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
'', October 1971. p. 67. The continuous flap gave excellent low speed performance, however, during high speed travel, interference between the wing and pylon flow fields resulted in flow separation, which in turn limited the cruise speed to
M0.65. A recent aircraft, the
HondaJet
The Honda HA-420 HondaJet is a light business jet produced by the Honda Aircraft Company of Greensboro, North Carolina, United States.
Original concepts of the aircraft started in 1997 and were completed in 1999.
It took its maiden flight on D ...
, which also featured an over-wing engine installation, used a high speed natural laminar flow airfoil and an engine configuration that actually produced favorable interference at high speed.
The flight deck of the VFW 614 was designed to facilitate easy two-crew operations.
The flight crew are provided with a large windscreen, providing favourable external visibility, and a relatively spacious environment. Instead of using side-mounted consoles, a large centrally-mounted console accommodates the primary engine controls and
VHF com/nav radio systems, along with the individual controls for adjusting the
spoilers,
flaps, and
trimming.
Avionics included a
Collins
Collins may refer to:
People Surname
Given name
* Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat
* Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration
* Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...
-built flight director,
autopilot
An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...
, and a pilot alerting system.
According to Flight International, the VFW 614 possessed relatively docile and easy to handle flight tendencies, along with light controls, favourable
aileron
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
characteristics and a high rate of roll.
[Field 1974, pp. 491–492.] One negative flight performance attribute was its
stall characteristics, which was described as initially occurring "at almost the worst possible place – the inboard end of the ailerons". The stalling regime was explored heavily during the flight test programme, which led to a re-profiling of the wing's
leading edge
The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...
for additional outboard camber being adopted on production aircraft to improve this performance. This gave greater warning and a tendency for relatively straight flight during typical stall conditions.
[Field 1974, p. 491.]
Operational history
![Cimber Air VFW-614](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Cimber_Air_VFW-614.jpg)
Shortly after the VFW 614's entry to service, it became clear that sales had fallen far short of expectations. According to author Mark E. Mendenhall, the management within VFW-Fokker was divided and split along national lines. While a number of German staff in the company attributed the poor sales performance to the Dutch sales team having paid the type little heed, even allegedly regarding it as a competitor to Fokker's established product lines for orders, and that salesmen had prioritised the promotion of Dutch-designed airliners instead.
Reportedly, some Dutch managers did hold a preference for their own aircraft, regarding them as established successes and the VFW 614 as a waste of effort to market. Dutch management was alleged by Mendenhall to have interfered with the firm's marketing structure to curtail independence and maintain support for their own aircraft.
West German airline
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
declined to procure any VFW 614s. At the time the company had prioritised its development of long haul routes, for which regional airliners were not applicable, while the German government had declined to pressure the airline to buy the type. According to authors H. Dienel and P. Lyth, Lufthansa's lack of interest in the type was attributed as having been a major factor in the commercial failure of the VFW 614. Only three airlines and the
German Air Force
The German Air Force (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War a ...
would ultimately operate new VFW 614s.
[Jackson 1976, p. 62.] The aircraft was initially prone to engine problems, and it was too expensive for the small regional airlines for whose needs it was designed.
[Mellberg 1995, pp. 98–99.] Three aircraft were flown but were never delivered; a total of four airframes were broken up prior to completion.
![Visualisation of a wake vortex ATTAS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Visualisation_of_a_wake_vortex_ATTAS.jpg)
During 1977, the programme was cancelled as a result of the lack of sales, and the last unsold aircraft flew in July 1978. Mendenhall reports that there had been a widespread sentiment amongst German employees that they had been regarded as being subordinate to Fokker, which had increased over time as the VFW 614's commercial failure had become more and more apparent.
[Mendenhall 2005, p. 332.] By 1981, the majority of commercial aircraft had already been disposed of, partially due to the manufacturer having bought back many of the aircraft that year so that it could simultaneously terminate support for the type. Thereafter, only the
German Air Force
The German Air Force (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War a ...
aircraft remained in service, the last being retired in 1999. The last airworthy VFW 614 was in use with
DLR for the
Advanced Technologies Testing Aircraft System (ATTAS) project. After being based with DLR in Braunschweig, Germany for many years, this aircraft (registered D-ADAM) was retired in December 2012, to the
Deutsches Museum Flugwerft in
Oberschleißheim
Oberschleißheim () is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Munich (district), district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located 13 km north of Munich (centre). As of 2005 it had a population of 11,467.
Oberschleißheim is ...
, Germany.
Operators
![VFW-Fokker VFW-614, Germany - Air Force AN0678240](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/VFW-Fokker_VFW-614%2C_Germany_-_Air_Force_AN0678240.jpg)
;
*
Cimber Air Cimber may refer to:
* Lucius Tillius Cimber ( fl. 44 BC), ancient Roman governor, one of the assassins of Julius Caesar
* Cimber Sterling, Danish airline
* Cimber (airline), Danish airline, established in 2012
* Adam Cimber (born 1990), American ...
received two aircraft.
;
*
Air Alsace
Société Air Alsace was an airline with its head office on the grounds of the Colmar Airport, Colmar-Houssen Aerodrome in Colmar, France.
History
Air Alsace began as an air taxi operation based in Colmar in 1962. It commenced operations usi ...
bought three aircraft.
*
Touraine Air Transport
Transport Aérien Transrégional was a French regional airline with its head office on the grounds of Tours Val de Loire Airport in Tours. It was formed in 1968 as Touraine Air Transport (TAT) by M. Marchais. Air France acquired a minority stak ...
was main operator with eight aircraft.
;
*
West German Air Force
The German Air Force (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as ...
received three aircraft.
Specifications (VFW 614)
See also
*
Honda MH02
The Honda MH02 was an experimental business jet built by Honda, in cooperation with Mississippi State University, to research engine placement and composite construction. The prototype was completed in 1992, making its first flight on 5 March 1 ...
*
Honda HA-420 HondaJet
The Honda HA-420 HondaJet is a light business jet produced by the Honda Aircraft Company of Greensboro, North Carolina, United States.
Original concepts of the aircraft started in 1997 and were completed in 1999.
It took its maiden flight on De ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Dienel, H. and P. Lyth. ''Flying the Flag: European Commercial Air Transport since 1945''. Springer, 1999. .
* Eriksson, Sören and Harm-Jan Steenhuis. ''The Global Commercial Aviation Industry''. Routledge, 2015. .
*
* Green, William. ''The Observer's Book of Aircraft''. London. Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., 1976. .
* Jackson, Paul A. ''German Military Aviation 1956–1976''. Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1976. .
* Mellberg, Bill. "VFW 614:Ahead of its Time". ''
Air International
''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd.
History and profile
The magazine was fir ...
'', February 1995, Vol 48 No 2. Stamford, UK:Key Publishing. . pp. 94–99.
External links
Airliners.net photosphotos of the VFW614Airpics.com photosYouTube video of the VFW 614VFW 614 ATTAS – out of operation
{{VFW-Fokker aircraft
614
__NOTOC__
Year 614 ( DCXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 614 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
1970s German airliners
1970s German military utility aircraft
Twinjets
Low-wing aircraft
Engine-over-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1971