Originally Posted by
Fly.Buy
I was walking around a static BAE-146 this morning and reminiscing about the passenger jet, I presume it was the last produced British passenger jet? Just wondered if anyone had any memories which they wish to share about this aircraft type? From the flight deck was it a good aircraft to fly? From an operational point of view was it a reliable and liked aircraft? I apologise for using a ‘past tense’ for this aircraft and appreciate that it still flies, I gues it must be in its twilight years now?
It was originally designed by the De Havilland part of Hawker Siddely ie nothing to do with BAE originally.
I recall that there wan't enough interest in it when first proposed in the '60s so it was put on the back burner until Wedgie Benn (the bloke who gave government money to build the DeLorean car in Northern Ireland) 'discovered' it and pushed for its development.
I found it quite pleasant to fly in; I did 3 fam flights (flight deck rides for Air Traffic Controllers) these being Heathrow - Jersey, Gatwick - Berne and Gatwick - Bergen via Newcasrle and always marvelled at the smooth touchdowns. On departure from Bergen, there was a Hatfield based test pilot in the left hand seat and he demonstrated for me what it could do if allowed; with a full load of pax we were passing 2,000ft before the end of the runway.
I also visited the production line at Hatfield in I think 1985; those 'De Havilland' workers were incredibly proud of the aircraft they were building and took great pride in their product.