APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

In the priming booth, the outside of the body is automatically sprayed in one
operation. In the next booths, only a few finishing operations have to be carried
out marually. Electrostatic processes ensure that the maximum amount of paint is
applied to the metal. The new paint facility is designed to process heat-hardeaing
acrylic paints.

Taking 2 years to complete, the huge final assembly hall at the Long bridge works
was completely rebuilt, and the floor area of the building was expanded by 25,000
m2, An adjoining building contains new fitting lines. The five old assembly lines
were replaced by three 335-meter-long, raised lines, each with about 60 stations
(Fig 3). The bodies, complete with their interior fittings, are taken to final
assembly on a ceiling conveyor.

In the final assembly area the supply of engines, chassis components, wheels and
other parts is controlled completely electronically. When the finished cars roll
off the line (Fig 4), they are first subjected to a test of safety-related compon-
ents, such as steering and brakes. This is followed by checks of exhaust emissions,
the electrical system and various other functions. An electronic diagnostic system
speeds up the correction of possible faults.

The final delivery hall has a floor area of 7,500 m*, Paint damage is attended to
in a special facility, which has its own paiat oven and conveyor belt. The touched-
up cars are then put back on the line leading to the final check. Along the way, at
several stations, decorative paint stripes are applied and special equipment ordered
by the customers is installed (fig 5). After the cars have their final cleaning and
inspection, the conveyor belt takes them through spray booths in which they are
given a protective wax coat on the outside and the underside.

Fig. 1 Automatic holding fixture
for body shells.

2

. FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Airbus A-300 Deliveries as of 1 September 1981

3

sites | Compagnies Meteurs Versions Tout
ier Airave Ge = 1 84200 7
Be LAW Algene GE. = 2 B4-100 2
ap | Air France Ge 9 82.100 14 Be-too00 rs
il Ge $2100 1 B00 ]
az GE ~ 7 54200 1
86 Ge = 2 Be200 2
ex GE 2 Be200 17 Beto 6
% u = | eee |
ur 1 420 5
8 P. and W - 4 Bato. 4
& a | de = i
Ke GE = 6 BAI é
ok GE = 3 bea 3
rr GE 6 8210 3 Ba100 3
MH ce - 4 b4200 4
On Ge = 6 Bet00 é
PK Ge = 4 Bam ‘
PA Ge = 3 6e100 3
+8v ce = 2 Be100 2
5k ® and W. re) < i
39 ris = 3 84200 3
BS oe 482.200 + Be200 H
io éE 3 62200 “ 3

ie Airlines =
Te | Trane cau ‘arnines ge ter 2 Bez00 2

Tiens European Airways, m
ne [via Sore mm Ge - 1 64200 1
Taal @ 102 rr

* Air Algerie: the two A~300 B4-100's are planes leased from Lufthansa. Egyptair:
two of the four A-300's are leased from Hapag Lloyd. Saudi Arabian Airlines: the
two A-300 B4-100's are leased from Korean Airlines.

1. ID letters 2. Companies 3. Engines

15 June and the first A-300 B4-200 to TAA, thus increasing the number of users to
28. As of 15 August, the 147 Airbuses in service had flown more than 800,000 hours
and had made 550,000 takeoffs, which represents an average of 1 hour 45 minutes of
flight per takeoff. Twenty planes had flown more than 10,000 hours, and the maximum
recorded for a plane was 14,000 hours. The rate of technical regularity of the
A-300's in service was 98.3 percent for the fleet as a whole, and 99.7 percent for
the top three companies. Of the 148 deliveries as of 31 August (see table above),
46 were A-300 B2's (including 4 with Pratt and Whitney engines delivered to SAS),
and 102 were A-300 B4's (also 4 with Pratt and Whitneys, delivered to Iberia).

Three companies are actually using planes leased from Lufthansa (by Air Algeria),
from Hapay Lloyd (by Egyptair), and from Korean Airlines (by Saudi Arabian Airlines.

The 149th plane will be delivered to Thai International on 29 September, and the
150th, to Eastern Airlines on 7 October. As of 31 December, 38 A-300's will have
been delivered since the beginning of the year; some 50 will be delivered in 1982,
which enables us to predict the delivery of the 200th in September 1982.

The principal users at present are Air France (20 péadnes), Lufthansa (9 planes), and
Thai {international (also 9).

T
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

‘TRANSPORTATION

UPDATE ON CURRENT AIRBUS SALES, DELIVERIES
Paris AIR & COSMOS in French 19 Sep 81 pp 21, 23, 25, 27
{Article by Regis Noye: "Airbus Industrie Delivers Its 150th A-300"]

[Text] On 7 October, when Airbus Industrie delivers to Eastern Airlines the 150th
A-300, there will still be 319 planes to deliver-~i.e., more than double--since 469
orders have been taken so far. This means that in a little more than 7 years, since
the deiivery of the first A-300 to Air France, the European GIE [Economic Interest
Sroup| has become the Western world's second-ranking supplier of commercial trans-
port planes, tehind Boeing but ahead of Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas. Airbus In-
dustre's market share with the A-300 and A-310 programs alone--that is, the big

- short-range and medium-range planes--is about 50 percent today; it only drops to
30 percent if the long-range market is added in. This indisputably represents a re-
markable performance, achieved in a period of economic recession in a market long
dominated almost entirely by American builders. Out of some 100 companies ap-
proached, 40 have already signed firm order contracts, and with the delivery of the
first A-300 to the Australian company TAA [Trans-Australia Airlines] on 1 July, the
European airplane is now in service on the five continents.

We note briefly that Mr Lathiere stated during the Le Bourget Salon that as of Air-
bus No 360 (which is to come off the line toward the end of 1984), Airbus Industrie
will have repaid to the member states the loans granted for development of the
A-300. Taking into account the further expenses of manufacturing and costs relating
to the A~310 program, the break-even point for the Airbus program is now at around
900 planes--a total very close to the estimated needs of the 40 companies that have
- already ordered A-300/310's. The slowdown presently to be observed in the rate of
orders announced is explained by the fact that Airbus Industrie's commercial efforts
: were initially concentrated mainly on those companies that had not yet made their
choice and whose needs were urgent. Moreover, there is nothing disturbing about
this if one considers that the preser.t order book represents a work load until the
end of 1985, at which time the first customer companies will begin to think about
replacing the first planes delivered (the average lifetime of an A-300 is 15 years).

We note also that this slowdown is entirely independent of the present problems of
the American companies due to the recent air-traffic controllers’ strike; because
its involvement in the United States is still weak, Airbus Industrie has felt no re-
percussions.

The two current preoccupations of the European GIE, which demands big investments
from its partners, are, on the one hand, increasing the rate of production, and on

4

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

COPYRIGHT: VD1-Verlag GmbH, Duesseldorf 1981

9581
cso: 3102/30
3

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

Fig. 4 Mini Metros roll off the line for final inspection.

Fig. 2 Body manufacture using welding robots.
Fig. 5 The final stage.

Fig. 3 Raised conveyor belt.


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Airbus A-300/A-310 Orders as of 1 September 1981

T 3 a
Styles Companion Versions Meporigrwe | Commandos Options 1
BK Kr Atnque vo =
a a eens We) ae 3 °
ge 2 2 s
Ne Aur inter GE H a 3
AZ ‘Alita GE 8 3 "
os P. and W. 2 4
ER GE. 3 6
gt P. and W. 4 4
se ee. 2 2
‘ Ge
vis Egypterr GE % 5
Gn Garuda. indo: P. and W. 9 2
HF Et Ge 7 7
8 P. asd W. 6 6
tc Ge. 8 9
2 2
® Ge.
KL GE ® 3
Ke GE. 3 8
KU and W. 8 8
GK Loker Airways = | Agooee-200 GE. ° °
ta Lutthonee {| 3008210076200 GE " ”
4310 Ge B 2
mu Molaysian Airline System . GE. 4 = 4
MP pemnien 4310 Ge 3 1 4
wr ‘310 4 ‘ 6
OA 30084.100 GE 3 2 10
eK 30086 4 6 10
PA ‘n30088: G. 5 = 5
SN 4 : : 310. P. and W. 3 3 8
sv Saudi Arabisr Airlines SI] A3006«-e00 Band W. " = 1
x Seonanatar"Aininen” Systm ‘530082-300 Pd W. 4 4 8
BA South Alcan 2 6 . . °
e. 7
sa | Swann Sod W. rH ® FA
iG That International gi R 2 4
io Tee_Dom g 9 = r
IN Trane Aust ¢ 8 2 7
HE Trans Europe Ge. : 1
w Toms aw ¢ 1 2
AG Varig. Airines GE 2 2
ve vase oe 3 = 3
wo Warder. inter 6 ¢ 2
Nom annones - 3 3
Tout 318 ist Cm
Key:
l. ID letters 4. Firm orders
2. Companies 5. Not announced

3, Engines chosen

Garuda, Iberia, Kuwait Airways, Sabena, Saudi Arabian Airlines, SAS and Swissair.
The planes for which the choice does not seem to have been made yet are: the three
a-300 C4-600's of Kuwait Airways (though it can be supposed that it will be for
Pratt and Whitney), the eight A-310's of Nigeria Airways, the 12 A-310's of Wardair,
and the A-300's of the unannounced company--i.e., a total of 26 planes (13 + 13),
including 20 A-310's.

State of Deliveries

In 2 years, the number of planes in service and the number of users have more than
doubled, going from 67 to 148 planes and from 13 to 28 companies.

Since the Le Bourge Salon, when 140 A-300 B2's and B4's were in service with 26 car-
riers, 8 planes have been de!ivered, including the first A-300 B4-200's to Varig on

6
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

JPRS L/10190

15 December 1981

FBIS

West Europe Report

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

(FOUO 16/81)

FOREIGN BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

TRANSPORTATION

FIRST AIRBUS A-310 TO FLY IN MARCH 1982
Paris AIR & COSMOS in French 19 Sep 81 p 29
[Article: "The A-310 Will Fly in March 82, the A 300-600 in Mid-83"]

[Text] While the 150th A-300 will soon be delivered, the A-300 (220 passengers) and
A 300-600 (improved version of the A-300 B2/B4) programs are proceeding along. and
as we have already had occasion to note at various times (cf AIR ET COSMOS, Nos 870
and 872), the A-310 is taking shape very rapidly at Toulouse. We mention first of
all that the manufacture of these planes will be characterized by a phenomenon unique
in the world: the assembly of two big transports on a single line, not just one
plane as usually, even though these two planes have a lot of fuselage in common.
Moreover, it should be stressed that the integration of the A-310 into the A-300
B2/B4 line, and then the A 300-600, will be done simultaneously with a steady but
rapid rise in the rate of fabrication.

A-310

‘The final assembly of the first A-310 is presently taking place in the "Concorde"

- room of the Saint-Martin factory of the SNIAS [National Industrial Aerospace Co].
Following the horizontal tail unit, the two half-wings, which arrived at Toulouse on
30 and 31 August, are now fixed to the fuselage, assembly of which was completed in
the first days of July. After receiving its landing gear, in mid-October the air-
plane will go to the new room (M90) that Aerospatiale has just built for the pur-
pose, in the medium term, of extending the present A-300 assembly line by transfer-
ring two work stations to it and in which airplane No 3 is presently under construc~
tion. The mounting of the fin, then of the engines, and finally, "turning on the
current," will de carried out successively in the M90 room. After checkout of the
systems, A-310 No | will leave the shop at the end of January; its first flight is
still planned for March or April 1982.

After its departure from the "Concorde" room it will later be replaced by airplane
No 2, whose wing spar boxes, already delivered to Breme by British Aerospace, are
being equipped, and delivery of which to Toulouse is planned for the beginning of
November. Likewise, the first four or five A-310's will be assembled separately so
as to break in the various operations perfectly and not impede the production-rate
increase on the A-300 line. The integration will be done in Autumn 1982, starting
with No 5 or 6. It should be noted in passing that a convertible version of the
A-310 is now being planned.

9

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

The 150th A-300 Delivered Bears Series Number 152

The 150th Airbus A-300, to be delivered to Eastern on 7 October, actually bears ser-
ies number 152, because of the fact that two of the planes built at Toulouse have
not been delivered (one prototype and No 3, owned by Airbus Industrie, and presently
being used for flight-testing). It is an A-300 B4-203 (the first of this type de-
livered to Eastern), equipped with General Electric CF6-50C2 engines. This plane
has in fact, at the request of the American company, undergone structural modifica—
tions so that its takeoff mass can reach 165 t, as against 157.5 t for a standard
R4-200. Its layout is with 245 passenger seats--24 first-class and 221 tourist-
class. Eastern is in fact one of the companies requesting the biggest seat pitch in
tourist class.

The plane started on the assembly line on 5 March 1981. After going through the nor-
mal circuit in the Aerospatiale factory of St-Martin (11 work doors on the line, 1
day of pressurization tests, painting, mounting of engines, runway building), it
made its first flight on 22 June before leaving for Hamburg (interior fittings),
from which it returned on 2 September.

It will leave Toulouse on 5 October in the hands of two Airbus Industrie pilots; it
will Ely to New York (with or without a stop at Gander), then on to Atlanta, where
it will be officially delivered to Eastern on 7 October. It is only at that moment
that it will become the property of the company. It will then go to Miami--this
time with two American pilots in command--where it w.11 be placed in service on that
same day.

It is the 20th A-300 to be used by Eastern, but only the 18th delivered by Airbus
Industrie, since two other planes already in service come from Iran Air. The East-
ern Airlines contract comprises a total of 60 A-300's (B2-200's and B4-100/600's),
including 34 firm orders and 26 options. Six more planes will be delivered between
now ard the end of the year.

COPYRIGHT: A. & C. 1980

11267
CSO: 3102/14

8
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

the other, development of the A-310, the manufacture of which has largely been
started, as we shall see (see article "First Airbus A-310 to Fly in March 1982").
The present rate is 4.1 to 4.2 A~300's per month; it will reach 5 next year, and
the will gradually rise to 10 in 1985-1986. At that time, the A 300-600 will al-

. ready have replaced the A-300 on the line, since integration of it into the line is
planned for the second quarter of 1983. Finally, let us not forget that the near
future is also reserved for the A~320 program, the launching of which was officially
announed at Le Bourget and which has already received 25 conditional orders plus 25
options for Air France.

The Order Book

We present on the following pages the tables, established by Airbus Industrie as of
31 August, summarizing the orders for the A~300/310. The grand total is thus 469
airplanes (318 firm sales + 151 options) placed with 40 customers, plus one not yet
announced. It breaks down as follows:

--A-300: 316 planes (239 firm sales + 77 options) placed with 32 companies;

--A-310: 153 planes (79 firm orders + 74 options) placed with 11 companies, three of
which have ordered both A-300's and A-310's (Air France, Lufthansa and Kuwait Air-
ways).

The only news since the Le Bourget Salon is the recent conversion by Indian Airlines
of two of its options for A-300 B2-100's into firm orders for two A-300 B4-200's to
be delivered in Summer 1982. Furthermore, Kuwait Airways has changed 3 of its 12
orders for A-310's into orders for A~300 C4-600's, thus becoming the first customer
to order the convertible version of the A 300-600.

We note also that while a decision in principle has indeed been taken by Middle East
Airiines for 19 A-310's (5 + 14), the signing of the contract has been postponed un-
til the end of September, which prevents the order from appearing in the table.

The companies that are the biggest customers at present are Eastern (60 A-300's),
Lufthansa (61 planes, including 11 A-300's and 50 A-310's), Air France (50 planes,
including 35 A-300's and 15 A-310's), and then KLM (20 A-310's) and Swissair (like-
wise 20 A-310's).

As regards choice of engines, the following breakdown is noted:

--A-300 (all versions, including the A 300-600): out of 310 airplanes identified!
(236 + 74), 269 (202 + 67) have General Electric engines, and 41 (34 + 7) have Pratt
and Whitney engines;

--A-310: out of 133 airplanes identified! (69 + 64), 95 (46 + 49) will have General
Electrics, and 38 (23 + 15) will have Pratt and Whitneys.

‘This makes a total of 364 (248 + 116) airplanes equipped with General Electric en-

gines and 79 (57 + 22) equipped with Pratt and Whitneys; or as percentages, 82 per-
cent for General Electric and 18 percent for Pratt and Whitney. There are nine com-
panies that have chosen Pratt and Whitney so far: Austrian Airlines, China Airlines,

1. That is, the airplanes for which the engines have been chosen.

5
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

TRANSPORTATION

FULLY INTEGRATED MINI METRO FACTORY AT BRITISH LEYLAND
Duesseldorf VDI-Z in German No 18, 1981 pp 772-773

[Text] A fully integrated manufacturing plant for the new Mini Metro auto model
has been put into operation by British Leyland at Longbridge. The largest, com-
pletely new complex in this plant is the Longbridge West works, in which the body
shells for the Mini Metro are built.

In addition, Metro production also required the construction of automated storage
for pressed parts, access roads and loading facilities for trucks and trains,
extensive modernization of paint plants and the attendant preparation areas, storage
for painted bodies, elevated conveyor belts for fitting, modernized assembly lines
for engines and transmissions, new final assembly tracks, dynamometers and water
test equipment, stands for emissions tests and a new final delivery check.

The pressed parts needed for the body are stored in a new, high-shelf storage area,
from which they are fed to assembly. The storehouse is equipped with an electronic
management system. This computer system supervises the inventory and its individual
positions as well as movements in the assembly areas. Data storage starts with the
suppliers, whose small computers are in constant communication with the main works
computer. Each pallet with pressed parts is identified at the time of delivery to
the central storehouse and reported to the computer by a controller with a "light
pencil."

The computer then automatically checks weight and dimensions to ensure correct lo-
cation in the storehouse. When the pallets are to be fed into the production stream,
they are picked up by forklift trucks at the storage area's delivery ramp.

‘The body subassemblies, such as sides, front ends, subflooring, etc, are built on
special lines. The prefabricated body parts are then fitted together in automatic
framing jigs (Fig 1) and welded into a body shell--also automatically (Fig 2).

An important part of the preparations for large-scale production of the Mini Metro
was the modernization and expansion of the facilities for corrosion protection and

= painting. <A completely new facility was built for the preparatory treatment of body
shells, a second one for cataphoresis dip priming and additional facilities for
priming, paint spraying, undercoating and the protection of blind box sections with
a wax spray.

1
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

IPRS L/10190

15 December 1981

WEST EUROPE REPORT
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

(FOUO 16/81)

ConTENTS

TRANSPORTATION

Fully Integrated Mini Metro Factory at British Leylend
(VDI-Z, No 18, 1981) csccssccseeseeseeeee cee eeeeeeeeeeeeenes beeeee 1

Update on Current Airbus Sales, Deliveries
(Regis Noye; AIR & COSMOS, 19 Sep 81) ...ssseseceeeeeseeeveceeeees y

First Airbus A-310 To Fly in March 1982
(AIR & COSMOS, 19 Sep 81) .

-a- [III - WE - 151 S&T FOUO]
FOR OFFICIAL USF ONTY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

NOTE

JPRS publications contain information primarily from foreign
newspapers, periodicals and books, but also from news agency
transmissions and broadcasts. Materials from foreign-language
sources are translated; those from English-language sources
are transcribed or reprinted, with the original phrasing and
other characteristics retained.

Headlines, editorial reports, and material enclosed in brackets
[] are supplied by JPRS. Processing indicators such as [Text]
or [Excerpt] in the first line of each item, or following the
last line of a brief, indicate how the original information was
processed. Where no processing indicator is given, the infor-
mation was summarized or extracted.

Unfamiliar names rendered phonetically or transliterated are
enclosed in parentheses. Words or names preceded by a ques-
tion mark and enclosed in parentheses were not clear in the
original but have been supplied as appropriate in context.
Other unattributed parenthetical notes within the body of an
item originate with the source. Times within items are as
given by source.

The contents of this publication in no way represent the poli-
= cies, views or attitudes of the U.S. Government.

COPYRIGHT LAWS AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING OWNERSHIP OF
MATERIALS REPRODUCED HEREIN REQUIRE THAT DISSEMINATION
OF THIS PUBLICATION BE RESTRICTED FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY.

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1


APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

The A 300-600

The first A 300-600 will also be assembled separately, but its integration into the
assembly line for the B?/B4's, which it will gradually replace, will be done direct-
ly with No 2, during the second quarter of 1983. Its first flight is planned for
mid-1983, while the first deliveries are scheduled for Spring 1984.

COPYRIUHT: A. & C, 1980

11267
cso: 3102/14

10
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000400080044-1