Romaero (Bucharest)

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In 1979, Romanian president Nicolae Ceauşescu signed the contract for One-Eleven licence production in Romania. This was to involve the delivery of three complete One-Elevens plus the construction of at least 22 in Bucharest, with reducing British content. It also involved Romanian production of Spey engines and certification of the aircraft to British and US standards. A market for up to 60 or even 80 cheap Romanian-built aircraft was mooted at the time, largely in China, the Third World and possibly Eastern Europe. The aircraft was redesignated ROMBAC 1-11.

The first flight of a Rombac 1-11 was on 18 September 1982 and production continued until 1989 at a much slower pace than foreseen in the contract: nine aircraft were delivered. There were three reasons why the Rombac initiative failed: Romania's economy and international position deteriorated to the point where supplies for One-Eleven manufacture slowed to a trickle; the market foreseen by the Romanians failed to show an interest, though some Rombac machines were leased out to European operators; the One-Eleven's noise level and fuel economy had failed to keep pace with US and West European competition. With reference to the last reason, Rolls-Royce repeatedly refused to allow its Tay engine to be used on Romanian One-Elevens. This reluctance is assumed to reflect fears that the Fokker 100, the Tay's launch airframe, would suffer from Romanian competition.