Originally Posted by
DaveReidUK
Yes, the Pocket Rockets were a different kettle of fish from the Super One-Elevens.
Probably belongs in the History section, but if I recall correctly BA, certainly latterly, had two One-Eleven fleets kept separate. One was the original Manchester fleet, plus the three late build BA ones, and the other was the ex- B Cal fleet which came in 1988 and were retained, plus the oddball secondhand short ones, which had come via Cambrian and had started life with Autair.
The BAC standard had switches which operated in one direction, but the BEA Tridents had switches that worked the opposite way, so when they bought One-Elevens they had a custom flightdeck arrangement which worked the Trident way round to maintain airline consistency. However that meant when they took the B Cal fleet over thy now had half of each arrangement. The CAA would not allow a common pilot pool where all the intuitive switches might be either way round, and rebuilding was not worthwhile, so two distinct fleets were organised. The "Manchester" ones did Manchester flights, and such Berlin and Heathrow ones as remained, while the "B Cal" ones ran from the Gatwick and Birmingham bases. Both fleets ended service at pretty much the same time.