Alfonso Tobar/SANTIAGO Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
Santiago's bi-annual FIDAE airshow is as much a showcase for Chile's aviation industry as it is a marketplace for the world's manufacturers. A year ago, the centrepiece of FIDAE '98 was a display of local company Enaer's capabilities in aircraft maintenance, modification and, increasingly, design and production.
Last year, Enaer was poised to benefit from the Chilean air force's imminent choice of a new fighter, with the competing manufacturers offering a range of industrial offsets. Then the Asian flu struck, and Chile's economy took a turn for the worse.
While a fighter decision has been delayed indefinitely, the impact on Enaer has been lessened by the company's increasingly diverse business base. Santiago-based Enaer expected sales of around $40 million last year, and projected to increase to $60 million in 1999, largely due to growing production of components for other manufacturers.
Enaer is a state-owned company, formed in 1984 from the air force's industrial organisation and now employing some 1,300 people. The company's charter has been to develop Chile's aerospace industrial capabilities, and give the country a degree of independence from offshore manufacturers.
Wider customer base
Enaer's core capability was maintenance of the airframes, engines and systems of the major aircraft types operated by the Chilean air force. The company has subsequently increased its capabilities to support the air force and expanded its customer base to include other military and commercial operators in the region.
It has extended its maintenance capacity to include Boeing 727s and 737s operated by local airlines, while its DTS avionics repair division has expanded into electronics production for civil, military and industrial markets. The largest growth, however, has been in manufacturing.
"Enaer capabilities include the design and production of small to medium-sized aircraft," says marketing executive Alejandro Vargas Berenguerm. "In addition to the maintenance of airframes, engines and accessories, Enaer can produce parts for aircraft."
Expanding the maintenance and manufacturing business has prompted the company to upgrade its facilities and production capacity to meet its own needs and those of international firms seeking to do business with Enaer, Vargas says. "A significant part of our business is the growing production of shipsets [of components] for several manufacturers," he says.
Initial projects were the co-production of a version of the Piper PA-28, as the T-35 Pillan basic trainer, and the Casa C-101 advanced trainer/light attack aircraft, as the T-36 and A-36 Halcon. Both types were assembled locally for the Chilean air force.
Enaer has also performed a number of upgrades for the air force. Under the Aquila programme, Hawker Hunters were fitted with locally developed radar warning receivers and chaff/flare dispensers. Subsequently, the company undertook substantial upgrades, with Israeli assistance, of the country's Dassault Mirages and Northrop F-5s.
Under the Pantera programme, 15 Mirage 50s were modified with Israeli avionics and radar, Chilean electronic warfare equipment and aerodynamic and structural upgrades, including canard foreplanes and additional hardpoints. A similar avionics upgrade was performed on 16 F-5E/Fs under the Tiger III projects. Both programmes were completed at the end of last year.
Illustrating the independence that Enaer has granted to Chile, the company has performed a number of other upgrades. Air force Boeing 707s have been converted to aerial refuelling tankers, and F-5s modified with in-flight refuelling probes. The capability these local modifications provide was illustrated when Chile used the 707 tankers to deploy upgraded F-5s to Easter Island in the Pacific.
In addition to the 707 tanker/transport, designated Eagle in Chilean service, the company supports the air force's sole 707-based Condor airborne early warning aircraft, which was modified by the Isarelis to carry the Elta Phalcon phased-array radar. Enaer also maintains and modifies Lockheed Martin C-130s for the air force and other operators in the region.
The company has sought from the outset to diversify its business. Its first major venture was the Namcu light aircraft programme launched in 1986 (above). The first aircraft of indigenous design, the Namcu is an all-composite two-seater. The aircraft was first flown in 1989.
Although consideration was given to marketing the Namcu in the USA as a kit-plane, Enaer instead formed a joint venture with a group of Dutch investors to certificate and produce the aircraft in Europe, as the Eaglet. Euro-Enaer was set up in 1995 to manage the project, and certification is now expected in the second half of this year.
International partners
Plans call for Enaer to ship airframe sections to Den Helder in the Netherlands, for assembly and delivery. The joint venture is aiming for US certification by the end of the year. "The aircraft will be targeted at the civil market, under the utility [certification] category," says Vargas. The Eaglet will be aimed at flying clubs, private buyers, police forces and the military, for use as a screening trainer.
Production of the basic piston-powered Pillan is complete, but the aircraft remains available to order, says Vargas. Five reconditioned Pillans have been sold to the El Salvador air force and a further five ex-Chilean aircraft were delivered to Guatemala's air force. The company first flew a turboprop version of the aircraft in 1986, but has yet to secure an order for the T-35DT Turbo Pillán.
Instead, Enaer teamed with Russian partners to design an improved aircraft, the Pillán 2000, with a new wing which would substantially increase performance. The aircraft would be available with piston or turboprop powerplant. "The improvement and modification of specific parts is now being studied under a commercial agreement with a foreign manufacturer," Vargas says.
The company's most successful venture has been its involvement with Embraer as a risk-sharing partner on the Brazilian manufacturer's regional jet programme. Enaer manufactures the horizontal and vertical stabiliser for the 50-seat ERJ-145. The same components are also used on the 37-seat ERJ-135, which is scheduled to be certificated this year.
Embraer's regional jet programme has been a remarkable success. Combined ERJ-135/145 production was increased to eight a month in March and is scheduled to reach 12 a month in May 2000. When Enaer joined the programme, the projected production run was 400 ERJ-145s. Now Embraer is forecasting a market for at least 1,000 ERJ-135/145s.
The Brazilian manufacturer is now looking for risk-sharing partners to join its ERJ-170/190 programme to develop and produce all-new 70- and 90-seat regional jets. A formal launch is expected by mid-year.
Enaer, meanwhile, is looking for new programmes to increase its business base. At FIDAE the company unveiled a link-up with US engineering company Snow Aviation, to upgrade the Cessna T-37. The firms were proposing to remanufacture Chilean air force T-37s and re-engine them with twin turbofans. The programme's current status is uncertain.
At that time, much of Enaer's future planning was tied to the air force's impending fighter purchase. The competing manufacturers and their major suppliers had been to visit Enaer, and the promise of substantial offset work was on the table. "The technology in the aircraft offered to the air force would certainly allow Enaer to upgrade its production processes," Vargas says.
The Asian economic crisis, and the subsequent downturn in Chile's economy, forced the indefinite postponement of a fighter purchase. The bidders remain confident, however, that the requirement will re-emerge when Chile's economy recovers.
Perhaps as early as FIDAE 2000, as the world's aerospace manufacturers gather again in Santiago, Enaer can expect, once again, to be the focus of industry attention.
Source: Flight International
