On Monday 7 December, His Majesty the King has visited the wind tunnel of the German-Dutch Wind Tunnels DNW in Flevoland Marknesse at the invitation of the Netherlands Aerospace Centre NLR. During the visit, the king studied the wind tunnel model of China’s COMAC C919 airliner, which is being tested in the DNW-LLF wind tunnel. He was accompanied by the Ambassador of China in the Netherlands, Mr. Chen Xu.
The working visit of the King to the DNW is a follow-up of the state visit to China last October. During the state visit a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed, in the presence of King Willem-Alexander and President Xi Jinping, between the Dutch and Chinese government in order to promote cooperation in the field of civil aviation technology. This MoU is directly connected to the Partners for International Business ‘D2RAGON’ program of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. This program supports a cluster of Dutch companies in gaining access to the Chinese market, in close cooperation with government and research organizations like NLR and DNW.
The wind tunnel tests of the COMAC C919 is a good example of the role that the Dutch industry and knowledge organizations can play in the development of China’s aerospace industry. NLR and DNW have made several contributions to the development of the COMAC C919. The Chinese airliner, manufactured by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China COMAC, recently experienced its roll-out.
During the tour, the King spoke with representatives of NLR, DNW and COMAC, subsequently followed by a round table discussion with representatives of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the aerospace sector trade association NAG, Fokker, TenCate, ADSE, KVE Composites Group, DNW, TU Delft and NLR. They are all part of a cluster of companies, knowledge institutes and government, exploring further cooperation in aviation technology with Chinese parties in the context of the MoU.
DNW is a joint venture between the Dutch and German Aerospace Centres NLR and DLR and is specialized in conducting wind tunnel tests. The Large Low Speed ​​Facility LLF Marknesse focuses on the testing of aircraft in the take-off and landing phase of flight, with flight performance (safety) and noise production (environmental impact) as priority areas.
