Development
The prototype first flew on April 21, 1964 and was followed by a second prototype on October 19 of the same year. On May 12, 1965, the first prototype was lost in an accident caused by a design issue with the T-tail. Hamburger Flugzeugbau's chief test pilot perished in the crash. As a result of the accident, modifications were made to improve the aircraft's stall performance, including a stick pusher on production models. Assembly of the first ten production aircraft began in May 1965, with the first flying on February 2, 1966 and two others shortly thereafter. German type certification was achieved on 23 February 1967, with American certification following on 7 April 1967. Italcement of Italy took first customer delivery on 26 September 1967.
The Luftwaffe had ordered 13 HFB-320s in 1963. As part of the evaluation of the type, two pre-production aircraft were delivered to the Est61 test wing at Oberpfaffenhoffen in 1966. This resulted in six aircraft being ordered for VIP use by the Luftwaffe. Production deliveries for use as VIP transports commenced in 1969.
A further eight Hansa jets were purchased by the Luftwaffe for ECM training, these being delivered between August 1976 and April 1982. The Luftwaffe replaced its VIP Hansas by Canadair Challengers in 1987, but the ECM aircraft remained in service until 1994.
Increased competition from newer executive jet models and a comparatively poor safety record led to dwindling orders, with production ceasing in 1973. The Aviation Safety Network lists a total of nine accidents (six fatal) for the type, an astounding 20 percent hull-loss rate, but only the crash of the prototype was directly attributable to the aircraft's design. Pilot error was blamed in a majority of the accidents.
Read more about this topic: Hamburger Flugzeugbau HFB-320 Hansa Jet
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