The Money Hunt May Soon Be Over and the Century Jet a Flying Reality

Final deals to bring the long-delayed Century Jet to fruition early this century are now within sight, according to Century Aerospace chairman and president Bill Northrup.

"The situation is very fluid right now and things are really in flux, but I have five or six deals that I am working on right at this moment which I expect to have resolved in the near future," Northrup told Show News on the eve of NBAA. "We are now moving towards the assembly of our structural test airframe and the first flight article."

The Williams FJ-33-1-powered CA-100 Century Jet began life in 1993 as the single-engined Paragon Spirit, only to be relaunched in its current twin-engined configuration at the 1998 NBAA Convention. At that time, Century Aerospace had hoped to begin work on the first prototype in 1999, with a first flight scheduled for June 2000. This has been delayed by the quest for funding, but the search may soon be coming to an end.

Northrup confirmed that Century Aerospace is hoping to find a major risk-sharing partner in the form of the Taiwanese government. According to Taiwan's Committee for Aviation and Space Technology Development (CASID) the agreement will cover the supply of components to Century Aerospace, and the primary Taiwanese partner will be the state-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC)-though other firms will also be involved.

The deal with Century Aerospace is part of Taiwan's wider plan to expand and diversify its own aerospace industry. According to Taiwanese sources the deal will see industry money-not state funds-invested in the Century Jet program, with technology transfer and access to design and manufacturing know-how coming in return.

Century Aerospace reportedly needs around $60 million in outside investment to complete its development, and Northup confirmed the risk-sharing deal with Taiwan could provide up to $25 million of this. However, while confident that the deal would be a vital element of Century Aerospace's near-term plans, he stressed that no agreement has yet been formally signed.

One risk-sharing agreement has already been made with SGL Carbon/Hitco, for the supply of fuselage assemblies for the CA-100. "We are now in final negotiations with our fuselage people to deliver four ship-sets for trials. In addition, I am looking at two sites for our final assembly line-one which is already an aircraft builder and one which is a components supplier, but it's too early to say which one will work out," Northrup said.

According to earlier Century statements, the first Century Jet should make its maiden flight about 20 months after the final partnership agreements have been signed. Certification and customer deliveries would follow in another 18 months. Century's order book is believed to stand at about 50 aircraft, each valued at some $2.7 million.

Northrup also confirmed that the management line-up at Century Aerospace would be boosted once the final Century Jet go-ahead is given, saying, "I have several key people from elsewhere in the industry ready to step in and take charge of things."

By Robert Hewson