Guys , seems like very few fans so far , for The Wigwam , BAT , ADVANCED Technical Problem , Parrot , Budgies Big Bruvver .
4 V. Happy years on her , challenging and lots of good points ..... However . If she’d have been built East of the Pennines ; and used £1 gizmos instead of 50P gizmos ...... she’d have been much better !
A few corrections .. 1st 20 pax went in the BACK , if less than 20 . We had trolley loads of ballast bags [ shingle ] around the network to put in the ‘boot’ . Apart from empty legs back from Germany ... filled up the boot with crates of Engineers beer , and flogged it around the hangar when back in the North .
Long nose gear , supposedly for airbridges . Worked ok . Short noselegs came in and worked equally well on airbridges around the Fatherland and most of UK domestics.
Yep Super 748 had switchery of the ATP in cockpit [ LIAT ] .
Like any modded a/c she was heavier than a clean sheet design .
Engine deicers were a problem early on in N Europe winters . Manx engineer told our guys the fix ... undo some screws [ drains ] and blow out with hairdryers when a/c stops for the night .
Deice boots yep ; individually fettled to fit each a/c . Our 1st batch supposedly were cast off from a Californian order and had V.V. thin boots . Thus the boots wore out very quickly , and a long slow fit of new ones ! Was told Phantom canopies were the same , each one drilled in a different pattern at the whim of the fitter .
About a year or so in ’G-BTPF’ had the 1st update program completed . Conference for operators at Woodford ... ‘’ Best thing since sliced bread ‘’ from Bae ....
‘’ Mmmm ‘’says fleet boss ...’’ just heard PF is Northbound up South corridor, and shut down No. 1 eng. .... Any ideas ? Russians say she can land at Halle’ , but best guess is she’s going on to Tegel ‘’
1st uk a/c certified to JAR ,not BCAR . So wot we say .... aileron control rod breaks in LSI [ 70 kts on ground ]..... JAR only 52 kts tailwind on ground , BCAR 65-70 kts tailwind on ground .
X-wind limit ,more a max demonstrated , as 60 kts across in Bennie was not uncommon . U/C like the brick built Kha*** . Then close RWY for 30 mins , pax off , pax on . Easy Batt start , Reverse up Rwy , launch , job done .
Stornoway rwy 36 , 40 kts from the East Apr '92 . Flare only just started Flap29 , rudder just starting to kick off drift .
Internal controls ok , but a Shetland n/s ... park into overnight forecast wind . External control locks in ... V. young fit f/os , skippers young ish too ! 100kts really hammered the hotel , a/c snug .
Cargo holds supposedly not as good as the Budgie , Galley wall unbolted and swung around to load the boot . Repatriation of coffins more difficult than Budgie [ luckily Hebridean folk not too tall ]
Total 600kgs an hour at 240 kts TAS . 6 ½ tonne payload ish . Newspaper flights equated to 4 stacks about 18 inches high . Island flights seat back sacks for small freight .
CAT 2 Man land 100ft radio and 400m came in too late [ lack of investment and late simulator ] .
Both feet on the panel and Puuuull at Vr , trimming into the flare , heavy ailerons , all normal stuff .
1 in 1 descents [ empty ] , got to FL 250 once . Doors freezing on winter N Sea crossings [ hairdryers fitted ] ; daylight through back door seals . All ATP delights .
Atlantic 252 on the ADF , knowing the whole fleet would be tuned in at 0730ish waiting for a dedication .
16 ft diameter 6 bladed plastic props , looked Huge when shutdown on your side on 6 monthly base checks / IRs [ ‘til sim came in ].
That's it folks all typed out .
rgds condor .