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 draft design was amended to a STOL 40-44 passenger jet with overwing engines, for easier operation from unprepared runways.

The collaborative production arrangements involved Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) in Germany, Fokker VFW in the Netherlands and SABCA and Fairey in Belgium.

[1][2] The European Space Agency ESA in June 1974 named a consortium headed by ERNO-VFW Fokker (Zentralgesellschaft VFW-Fokker GmbH) to build pressurized modules for Spacelab.

The ERNO plant in Bremen continued as the headquarters for Spacelab design, production management, component testing, and assembly.

The VFW 614 used by the DLR for ATTAS in the 1990s