Summer/Fall 2009 A company rich in tradition and promise MTU Aero Engines Holding AG Technology + Science MTU Global Report Dachauer Straße 665 80995 Munich • Germany Tel. +49 89 1489-0 Fax +49 89 1489-5500 A stake in a record- Demanding terrain Suspended between www.mtu.de www.75-years-mtu.de breaking engine risk and routine Contents Editorial MTU Aero Engines Dear Readers: A company rich in tradition and 4 - 5 2009 is a very special year for MTU Aero We achieved the best results in the compa- promise Engines, as the company is celebrating its ny’s history and took on more stakes in new A company rich in tradition and promise 75th anniversary this year. The origins of programs than in any single year before. In Of paramount importance to MTU: 6 - 7 MTU date back to 1934, when its predeces- total, taken over the full terms of these con- the RB199 MTU Aero Engines, a global player in the aviation industry, has been providing sor company BMW Flugmotorenbau GmbH tracts, we have secured revenues amounting propulsion systems to power aircraft for 75 year now, keeping military and com- was founded and set up business in Allach to to around 30 billion euros. We have acquired Flying high in the commercial market 8 - 9 mercial fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft in the air with its innovative technolo- the north of Munich. This traditional site is workshares in Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbo- gies, products and services. Page 4 home to MTU’s corporate headquarters to fan engines for the CSeries and the MRJ Successful subsidiary 10 - 13 this day, and will remain so in the future. regional jet, in the PW810, and in two General Electric engine programs, the GEnx Exterior view 13 Much has happened in the 75 years since the commercial engine and GE38 military heli- official launch of the company, whose roots copter engine. Through these programs, we actually go back even further, to the early are investing today in the bestselling propul- Technology + Science days of powered flight. Over the years, MTU sion systems of tomorrow, and in the future has seen times good and bad, successes and of the company. A stake in a record-breaking engine 14 - 17 setbacks alike. It has lived through several changes of name and ownership. As the MTU has a long and distinguished tradition. Three in one go 18 - 19 commercial aviation business began to gain In this anniversary year, we want to take a more and more momentum, the main focus in look back on its fascinating history, also in A stake in a record-breaking engine the company’s product and service portfolio this edition of MTU Report. We intend to MTU Global gradually shifted from the military to the uphold this long-established tradition and MTU has taken a stake in another GE engine: The GEnx for the Boeing 787 and commercial sector. Through it all, however, make every effort to ensure MTU remains a Demanding terrain 20 - 23 747-8 promises to become a bestseller. Boeing estimates a demand for almost one thing has remained the same: The engine success in the future. 8,000 new aircraft over the next 20 years, for the two models combined. manufacturer has always succeeded in stay- Page 14 ing at the forefront of technological progress. Sincerely yours, Customers + Partners The past 75 years go to show that nothing Demanding terrain has ever proved capable of truly shaking Working hand in hand 24 - 25 MTU’s foundations, let alone of jeopardizing To be able to operate more effectively its continued existence. When the Tiger learned to fly 26 - 27 and efficiently in the future, the U.S. Marine Corps is now procuring the new Considering MTU’s impressive track record, I CH-53K heavy-lift transport helicopter look ahead into the future with great opti- Products + Services manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft Cor- mism, and I’m convinced that we will continue Egon Behle poration. MTU is supplying the power to hold our own, even in the current difficult Chief Executive Officer turbine for the General Electric engine Engine testing at its best 28 - 31 market environment. The successes and re- powering the CH-53K. sults achieved by the company in the past Page 20 Power packs on the high seas 32 - 35 financial year make me feel even more confi- dent: 2008 marked a record year for MTU. Suspended between risk Report and routine Without the courage and expert knowl- Suspended between risk and routine 36 - 39 edge demonstrated by test pilots, avia- tion would never have come as far as it has. Dieter Thomas, a pioneer in his In Brief 40 - 43 profession since the mid-1960s, and Eckhard Hausser, chief test pilot for Masthead 43 Airbus in Hamburg, exemplify two gen- erations of test pilots. Page 36 2 3 A company rich in tradition and promise By Martina Vollmuth In the aviation industry, three simple letters stand for top-notch The BMW 132 was the first engine produced by BMW During World War II, assembly of the BMW 801 was MTU’s company headquarters in the late 1950s. engine technology: MTU. The company has been providing propulsion Flugmotorenbau GmbH. in full swing. systems to power aircraft for decades now, keeping military and com- mercial fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft in the air with its innovative MTU has a long tradition of success, the The company’s innovative power has been a reputation as an expert in military tech- technologies, products and services. company’s roots reaching back to the dawn its hallmark throughout its long history: nology, MTU decided to expand into the of aviation. In 1934, BMW Flugmotorenbau Over the decades, MTU and its predecessor commercial sector in the 1970s, launching GmbH, MTU Aero Engines’ legal predeces- companies have taken major roles in the into full-scale commercial maintenance—and sor, was founded and set up business in progress of aircraft engines. And this holds successfully so. The MTU Maintenance Allach on the northern outskirts of Munich. true to this day. In cooperation with the group has since become the world’s leading This is where the company’s headquarters major players in the industry—General independent provider of commercial engine are located to this day. 2009 marks the 75th Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce— maintenance services. In the military arena, anniversary of the company’s founding. the company develops engines to power MTU Aero Engines continues to be the future aircraft. Its expertise in vital areas of Bundeswehr’s No. 1 partner. As the industrial In the course of its eventful history, MTU engine technology make MTU an indispen- lead company, it provides the country’s fly- Aero Engines has been through a string of sable partner. Its low-pressure turbines and ing units with advanced technologies and takeovers and changes in corporate identity high-pressure compressors are the finest to top-notch service. and ownership. The company’s owners be found in the marketplace. included BMW, M.A.N., Daimler-Benz and For interesting multimedia services DaimlerChrysler. Since 2005, Germany’s In the field of manufacturing and repair, the associated with MTU’s anniversary, go to: www.75-years-mtu.de leading engine manufacturer has been a company time and again set new standards publicly listed, independent company. by introducing novel processes. Having built 4 MTU Aero Engines 5 But that’s not the whole story. The RB199 all From the RB199 to the EJ200 Of paramount importance to at once gave the Europeans a technological MTU, Rolls-Royce and Avio went on to build lead of four or five years over the Americans. on the success of the RB199, founding the Thanks to its active collaboration on this pro- Eurojet Turbo GmbH consortium along with MTU: the RB199 ject, MTU emerged as a world leader in terms Spanish engine manufacturer ITP in 1986 and By Dr. Dominik Faust of development, manufacturing and mainte- developing a novel twin-shaft reheated turbo- nance expertise—and in the process made fan engine in the 90-kilonewton thrust cate- 75 years of MTU, 40 years of the RB199: The history of Germany’s the necessary technological leap from the gory, the EJ200. This engine now powers leading engine manufacturer is inextricably linked to that of this aero 1940s to the 1970s. “Without this highly both the Eurofighter and its export version, engine powering the Tornado, the first fighter jet to be jointly devel- advanced product, MTU wouldn’t exist today,” the Typhoon. MTU’s production workshare in oped and built by a European consortium. The venture, launched in maintains Martin Steinberger, a former Mem- this program is 30 percent and includes the 1969, ultimately became a roaring success for everyone involved. ber of MTU’s Board of Management. Having manufacture of the low-pressure and high- Today, the RB199 is Europe’s most successful military engine and is previously elected to concentrate most of its pressure compressors, the electronic control set to remain in operation on the Tornado until long after 2025. efforts on military engines, the company sub- unit, parts of the high-pressure turbine, and sequently decided to invest the experience it assembly and testing of the engines destined had gained in the expansion of its commer- for service in Germany. “A total of 2,500 engines were delivered to European cooperation on the project paid cial business. Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the dividends. As Michael Schreyögg, MTU Aero As Schreyögg points out: “The seamless Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” says Karlheinz Engines Senior Vice President, Defense Pro- Let’s just recap a little.