Annual Report 2003 by the Friends of the VFW 614

Dear friends of the VFW 614,

the departing year 2003 was a good one for our 614. A lot of things have gone in motion. More exact the VFW 614 was on the move. From Copenhagen via Hamburg to Wales. From Lidkoeping via Cuxhaven to Nordholz. From Copenhagen to Lemwerder. I am meaning the former Luftwaffe aircrafts, the VIP transport A/C of the German goverment. All three aircraft of the swedish owner Ruben Werjefelt were returned to germany.

G19 (Luftwaffe 17+03) was acquired by Lufthansa Technik AG, Technical Training. She was ferried from Copenhagen to Hamburg in april and ferried to Great Britain on april 15th. It was her last flight. Lufthansa is using the aircraft as a ground training demonstrator for aircraft engineers technical training (at their subsidiary company "Resource Technical Training").

The other two aircraft could not fly any more.

G14 (Luftwaffe 17+01) was dismantled in Copenhagen and transported to Lemwerder to ASL (Aircraft Services Lemwerder). She was purchased by University of Oldenburg, institute for applied physics (acoustics). They are going to use the A/C fuselage as an environmental simulator on the ground. Subject of their investigations are (among others) the noise influences of passengers and crewmembers.

So the aircraft is returning to its birthplace where she was produced and where she made her maiden flight on march 16th, 1977.

G18 (Luftwaffe 17+02) never flew in Sweden. She was purchased by the museum "Aeronauticum" in Nordholz near Cuxhaven for static display. In august she was moved by ship from Lidkoeping, Sweden to the "German Airship and Naval Aviation Museum" . On december 17th, the day of anniversary "100 years of motorflying" the museum celebrated her official opening to the public. The presence of Mr. Ulrich Stampa, the design-father of the VFW614, made this opening to a special event.

The "Aeronauticum" is a swell and groomed museum. G18 got a nice homestead and the museum people are happy about her big antiquarianism. The Friends of the VFW 614 are glad having procured this attainment. Best whishes and many visitors for the VFW 614 at the "Aeronauticum". Come to Nordholz!

Many thanks for the help and support of the aircraft engineers from ASL, Mr. Hellmerich and Mr. Hagestedt. They made a good job during dismantling and assembly of G14 and G18. An excellent job was also done by the Aeronauticum staff and the crew of the university of Oldenburg under the direction of Prof. Dr. Gert Reich.

Already on january 14th, 2002, the DASA testing-aircraft ATD, the VFW 614 G15 (D-ASAX), was moved to its final display location at Bremen Airport. On the visitor's terrace, just beside the "Bremen Hall", the gallery of Bremen aviation and aerospace, the VFW 614 will remain as exhibit. She will take price of place to keep company with the atlantic flyer Junkers W 33 "Bremen", the ERNO-"Spacelab" and Focke-Wulf "Stieglitz". With her presence she will close the famous series of the Bremen Aviation Projects. The aircraft is now ready for tours having a worth seeing flight deck with her digital electronic flight controls and sidesticks.

G17, the ATTAS aircraft of the DLR German Aerospace Center in Braunschweig is the last remaining flying VFW 614. She will be in service in the long term driven by the unique Rolls Royce Engine M45H.

Together with G4 (Cimber Air, OY-TOR ) in "Technik Museum Speyer" we now have six preserved models oft the VFW 614.

Just the last month manifested the 614 has many friends and supporters. All the more we welcome the initiative of the authors Wenz and Zistler for their new book about the VFW 614 with the title "VFW 614 - Deutschlands erstes Kurzstrecken-Düsenverkehrsflugzeug".

The Stedinger Verlag, Lemwerderm is an experienced publisher in aviation topics. The book is a very good overview for the reader with many details about the aircraft'ss program. The book of the VFW 614 closes a vacancy in documentation seriens of german aviation projects. The work is a welcome enrichment in the aviation library of
specialists and and freaks. Many thanks to Mr. Wenz und Zistler.

We will preserve the memory of the VFW 614. So the book was issued just in the right moment for us. This progressive Western-German jet transport aircraft has deserved not to fall into desuetude.

In april at Bremen Airport and in november at Diepholz Airport we participated exhibitions with an information board about the VFW 614. Company K-ROBOTIX, the "BremenFlug"-Organisation, Stedinger Verlag, Airport Bremen, Airbus Bremen and Aeronauticum are about to support us with the VFW 614- Promotion.

We produced a number of 50 popular baseball-cabs with VFW 614-Logo. The Bremen group of the VFW 614 friends (e.g. design engineers, pilots) have established regular relaxed meetings every 3 months in Bremen.

Dear friends of the VFW 614, we wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year 2004. Special greetings to our friends Bill Mellberg in the USA, Graham Reddin in Australia, Ber Beentjes in Holland, Leif Nielsen in Denmark and Jürgen Hammer in France. Many greetings also to Dr. Rolf Stüssel and Udo Dräger.

Joachim Kruth
Philipp Jordan

December 2003