Embraer/FMA CBA-123

[hesham]

From Air International 2/1988,


here is the original drawings and Models to Embraer/FMA CBA-123 regional transport aircraft,which known
essentially as Embraer EMB-123.

 

[Triton]

Brochure for Embraer-FAMA CBA-123

 

[trexslee]

Brochure for Embraer-FAMA CBA-123

These are very good concept art pictures of the Embraer-FAMA CBA-123.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

was that a real early concept to this aircraft ?;

https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdWings/comments/csy9ex

 

[hesham]

Also,was there an early concept for engines was mounted in wing ?.

https://forum.contatoradar.com.br/index.php?/topic/26750-cba-123-vector/

 

[Apophenia]

Also,was there an early concept for engines was mounted in wing ?...

No. The advert is simply emphasizing the 'family' relationship btween the EMB-120 and EMB-123 (the latter using a shortened version of the Brasilia fuselage).

 

[hesham]

Thank you my dear Apophenia,

but what about the concept in reply # 4 ?.

 

[Apophenia]

but what about the concept in reply # 4 ?.

My guess would be an outside artist's impression of what the then-future EMB-123 might look like. The wings look vaguely '123 but the fuselage (especially cockpit glazing) looks more early-model Cessna Citation than anything else. Not at all Embraer-like. Unsure what the V-tail suggests ... overactive imagination, perhaps?

 

[Erdosain]

Early configuration of CBA-123 wich was tested in FMA's wind tunnel....or maybe an early configuration of Embraer 145?

I understand that in its early days, the FMA was invited to join the EMBRAER 145 project

 

[Erdosain]

Introducing the IA-70

Aerospace Magazine No. 543, September - October 1986

 

[Erdosain]

Some CBA-123 exploded views and tooling

 

[Erdosain]

http://historiasdeaviones.blogspot.com/2012/09/resena-del-cba-123ia-70.html
http://historiasdeaviones.blogspot.com/2017/07/el-atl-y-el-cba-123.html

 

[Erdosain]

VECTOR A South American Hope

Aeroespacio Magazine Nro 478, November - December 1990

 

[Erdosain]

Model of the CBA-123 being tested in FMA's wind tunnel

 

[Erdosain]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1456966651749048334

View: https://twitter.com/RengelGonzalo/status/1456966651749048334?t=fZMK0hMbdx1f6qu41SkT0A&s=19

 

[Erdosain]

One of the first configurations of the Embraer/FMA CBA-123, with foreward canards and the powerplant nacelles in two different configurations. Source Archive of the FMA via Jose "Pepe" Martinez

https://twitter.com/x/status/1543954749942386688

View: https://twitter.com/RengelGonzalo/status/1543954749942386688/photo/2

 

[Erdosain]

Tail section of the CBA-123 being tested in the FMA wind tunnel, Credits: FMA Archives via José Martínez

 

[hesham]

From Flight 1986.

 

[Alexandre Julião]

The CBA-123 never took off (bad joke intended), basically because the then Brazilian president Sarney, for some reason never fully explained, forced Embraer, which was then a state-owned company, to collaborate with FMA on this project. The problem was that at the time, FMA was in a chaotic state, not at all resembling the company it once was, and Embraer was certain that this would seriously harm the project.

Embraer tried its best to minimize FMA's participation in the project as much as possible, giving them only one part to manufacture, which was the tail of the aircraft. Even so, FMA took ages to produce that part, and when the prototype was finally made its initial flight, the market had changed, and there were no more customers willing to operate this type of aircraft. Or at least, one that was brand new. So the project was canceled.

There are those who say here in Brazil, that FMA dragged its feet for so long, to deliberately sabotage the project. This is because, Brazil and Argentina have never been countries that... let's say... liked each other very much. Is that really, what happened? No one knows. Maybe it was a factor, but the truth is that at the time, the Argentine government was incompetently managing the FMA, making the company barely capable of building a model airplane, much less a real aircraft.

Fortunately, the CBA-123 was not a total loss, as the aircraft's nose was reused in the EMB-145 prototype, which ended up being a great success for Embraer.

 

[Apophenia]

... because the then Brazilian president Sarney, for some reason never fully explained, forced Embraer, which was then a state-owned company, to collaborate with FMA on this project...

Probably because Presidents Sarney and Alfonsín were working towards what became the Mercosul/Mercosur common market.
At the time, combining the assumed capabilities of Embraer and FMA probably seemed sensible.

Perhaps, as you said, the market had changed by the time the CBA-123 appeared. Or maybe such a market never really existed?

 

[fortrena]

One has to wonder if the liberal reforms initiated by the Brazilian president Fernando Collor de Mello, elected in late 1989, liberal reforms which included the potential privatisation of government-run companies like Embraer, played a (minor?) role in the decision to drop the CBA-123. The economy of Brazil was indeed in dire straits at the time and the hyperinflation which hit in early 1990 dit not help.

Embraer itself was in deep financial trouble. As the government refused to allow that firm to raise money through debt for equity swaps, its president, an engineer, Ozilio Carlos da Silva, resigned, in December 1990. His successor, Joao Rodrigues da Cunha, an economist, resigned in July 1991, possibly because the government did not deliver on the expected date a promised and sizeable rescue package. By then, the government may well have decided that Embraer would have to be privatised.

In order to make the firm attractive, its core would have to be preserved, which meant that unpromising projects would face the ax.

In that regard, one has to wonder if the change in leadership personnel which took place in July 1991 also played a (minor?) role in the decision to drop the CBA-123. Incidentally, that change in leadership included
- the return at the helm of Ozires Silva, an engineer and the founder of Embraer, who had not been involved in the development of the CBA-123, and
- the arrival as commercial director of the Frenchman Michel Cury, who was seemingly the director general of the French subsidiary of Embraer, Embraer Aviation International, until July 1991.

Incidentally, Cury was the flight engineer present during the first flight, in October 1968, of the aircraft which would become known as the EMB-110 Bandeirante, an aircraft whose design team was headed by Silva.

 

[Erdosain]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1875235411309817951

View: https://x.com/TucsonFulcrum/status/1875235411309817951

 

[Erdosain]

The Pampa at Farnborough and the CBA-123 World Gala

Aeroespacio N° 478

November - December 1990

 

[Erdosain]

First Flight of the EMBRAER/FMA CBA-123

Aeroespacio No. 500

September-October 1990

All articles uploaded from this official magazine of the Argentine Air Force are in English and Spanish, as was normal at that time. Later, due to cost considerations, it began to be published only in Spanish.

 

[hesham]

From Technika Lotnicza 1989.

 

[hesham]

From this book.

 

[Erdosain]

Image of an FMA calendar from the 1980s, featuring prototypes and domestically produced aircraft.

 

[Erdosain]

Embraer CBA-123 "VECTOR", registration PT-ZVB. Photography and editing: Johnny Michel.

 

[Erdosain]

CBA-123 Vector, a Missed Opportunity

The Embraer/FAMA CBA 123/IA-70 Vector was an unusual 19-seat turboprop commuter aircraft designed for fuel-efficient regional flights. It was a joint project between the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer and FAMA of Argentina.

Two prototypes were completed, and the first flew in 1990. However, the project was canceled in 1991, before any aircraft were delivered. The costs of thn had increased, making it increasingly difficult to commercialize. Embraer, instead, continued with the ERJ 145.

https://www.gacetaeronautica.com/gaceta/wp-101/cba-123-vector-una-oportunidad-perdida/

 

[Erdosain]

EL PROYECTO ARGENTINO-BRASILEÑO DEL AVIÓN DE PASAJEROS CBA-123 VECTOR, CRÓNICA DE UN EXITOSO FRACASO. Venturino & Venturino, Editorial Dunken, Buenos Aires, 2016, 208 páginas.

THE ARGENTINE-BRAZILIAN CBA-123 VECTOR PASSENGER AIRCRAFT PROJECT, CHRONICLE OF A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE. Venturino & Venturino, Editorial Dunken, Buenos Aires, 2016, 208 pages.

http://www.cba123vector.com/
The only book about this aircraft written in Argentina.

It's very padded, with the classic comparison between the trajectories of FMA and Embraer from their founding to the start of the program, covering the different stages, prototypes, and aircraft produced by both companies... the typical stuff many authors do to fill pages.

I think a lengthy article in an aeronautical magazine would have sufficed.

The authors present their theory that by bringing FMA into this project, Embraer gained a venture partner to finance part of it while simultaneously distancing FMA from Dornier and the promising ATL, as well as other civilian projects between the two companies—in other words, eliminating a competitor.

I know many engineers who opposed canceling the ATL to move on to the CBA-123—since they didn't see a commercial future for it—many even resigned and went to work abroad.

In short, Embraer took advantage of what was developed and tested in the CBA-123 for its ERJ-135 and 145 while FMA was being granted to Lockheed and entered a spiral of debacles in which it has already hit rock bottom and is closer to closure than to resurgence.

 

[capitan r8]

Incredible what the hedge of Nuclear Proliferation of 2 neighbor nations can produce: instead of the bomb, a futuristic plane.

 

[Erdosain]

Some advertising brochures for the EMBRAER / FMA CBA-123

 

[Erdosain]

Some three-view and interior configuration drawings of the Embraer / FMA CBA-123

 

[Motocar]

Cutaway Embraer/FMA CBA-123, author Mike Badrocke from Air International september 1990

 

[Erdosain]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

View: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZqkAeRtG9J/?igsh=cXZlY3FrOXVxYjkw

 

[Erdosain]

Those that fell by the wayside: CBA-123

Special issue of AVION REVUE magazine for Embraer's 50th anniversary, with an article dedicated to the infamous CBA-123