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| ROMBAC 1-11 [WikiMedia image by Luc Willems] |
Romania when led by Nicolae Ceauşescu attempted to manufacture British BAC 1-11 airliners in the late 1970s: it was hoped to manufacture up to 80 aircraft for the so called "third world countries" including the Rolls-Royce Spey engines. The aircraft was redesignated ROMBAC 1-11.
Interestingly, the Romanians invested heavily to manufacture western aircraft engines. The Romanian manufacturer Turbomecanica S.A. web site says:
"The best available manufacturing equipment was purchased, and licenses to manufacture and build Viper 633-41, Turmo IV C engines and PUMA helicopter gearboxes and rotorheads were obtained from Rolls-Royce, Turbomeca and Aerospatiale respectively. Due to the lack of reliable local sources for special components, accessories, and tooling, the facility was required to produce all this material on a self-sufficient basis, but at the expense of efficiency. The size of the company was gradually increased, to accommodate an estimated capacity of 4,400 employees....In 1980, a license was obtained ... from Rolls-Royce for the manufacture of the Spey 512-14 DW civil turbofan, powering the Romanian built variant of the BAC-111-500 airliner." [1]
When the Romanians selected the BAC 1-11 to licence built [2], it was a failure already: Boeing 737, McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and Fokker F-28 had dominated the market. The airliner proved to be noisy, underpowered and uneconomical.
"Between 1972-1982 only 35 1-11 were built...This [The last delivery] took place on 30 May 1984. A total of 235 aircraft had been delivered from Hurn and Weybridge." [3]
"There were two reasons why the production line was kept open [1972 onwards]...: first, BAC hoped that Rolls-Royce would develop a quieter and more powerful version of the Spey engine, making possible further One-Eleven developments; second, throughout the early part of the period Romania was negotiating to buy the entire One-Eleven programme and transfer production of the type to Bucharest." [4]
As the Rolls-Royce was recovering from the bankruptcy, it did not design quieter and more powerful versions of the Spey engine. However, the Romanians insisted to manufacture the BAC 1-11!
"The first flight of a Rombac 1-11 YR-BRA took place on 18 September 1982. Production continued until the 9th and last ever new production 1-11 YR-BRI came off the line. It's first flight took place in April 1989. It was delivered to Romavia in 1991...2 further airframes remained incomplete in Romania." [5]
At the end, the Romanians procured airframe and engine licenses of a failed design and manufactured just 9 airliners without any export success! What a huge financial loss! George Friedman of STRATFOR wrote recently:
In Europe Stage III noise abatement regulations took effect in March 2003 and effectively grounded the infamously noisy BAC 1-11 there, although it continues to fly like in very small numbers in other parts of the world:
Finally, on 12 February 2010, the European Aviation Safety Agency revoked the Type Certificate for the BAC 1-11. [8]
I think the ROMBAC 1-11 disaster is a brilliant example of "irrational" industrialization attempt: nationalism and wishful thinking blind eyes. Simply procuring licenses by pouring money at the expense of lower life standards for the citizens is no substitute for decades long research and development work in many areas! The developed countries know very well the developing countries look for shortcuts and exploit it skillfully.
Final note: it looks like that as of 2009 all the ROMBAC 1-11's are retired.
"...as of November 2010 there are less than 10 aircraft still in service and many of these only fly occasionally." [7]
Finally, on 12 February 2010, the European Aviation Safety Agency revoked the Type Certificate for the BAC 1-11. [8]
I think the ROMBAC 1-11 disaster is a brilliant example of "irrational" industrialization attempt: nationalism and wishful thinking blind eyes. Simply procuring licenses by pouring money at the expense of lower life standards for the citizens is no substitute for decades long research and development work in many areas! The developed countries know very well the developing countries look for shortcuts and exploit it skillfully.
Final note: it looks like that as of 2009 all the ROMBAC 1-11's are retired.
[4] Wikipedia article.
[6] http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20101115_geopolitical_journey_part_3_romania?utm_source=GJourney&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=101116&utm_content=readmore&elq=d1f11346bb8846b6b2a94972d409a8f8
[7] http://www.bac1-11jet.co.uk/bac1-11jet.co.uk%20History.htm
[8] http://www.easa.europa.eu/ws_prod/c/doc/Design_Appro/EASA%20Certification%20Information%202010-1.pdf [7] http://www.bac1-11jet.co.uk/bac1-11jet.co.uk%20History.htm
