BAC 111 Low Level

[Lower Hangar]

On behalf of a colleague - where will I find the photograph of a BAC 111 at low level (Hurn or Weybridge ??) on I think the pilot concerned last day in the company

[llanfairpg]

Gordon Ward shortened his airline career at BHX flying a BAC 1-11 at low level over the chief pilots house--oopps

[Flap40]

Do you mean the 1-11 or are you after the VC10 at White Waltham?
http://www.vc10.net/Memories/Images/GARVM_ww71.jpg

[David Eyre]

I would suggest posting a topic on the BAC One Eleven discussion forum on Yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BAC1-11

Or try the BAC One Eleven website:
http://www.bac1-11jet.co.uk/

The website owner's email contact: [email protected]

Regards,
David

[ICT_SLB]

It wasn't his last day at the company - far from it - but I can still remember Dave Glaser practicing his Farnborough demo at Hurn and he got at least as low as the VC-10. As you know the 1-11 isn't exactly the quietest jet ever built but it just whistled - think it was dived onto the runway so that the actual pass & initial climb out was all energy management. Might be a shot from Farnborough in the Flight archives.

[ZeBedie]

The Hurn pic looks like he's flying between two hangars. It was on Roger Bacon's page about 10 years ago.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

I've got picture upstairs somewhere I took years ago at a Barton airshow of Captain Chris Wren of BA doing a low pass in a 1-11... with only one main gear down!

That was a quiet, whistling pass as well. Followed by a mighty roar from the Speys as he re-applied power for the subsequent climb. I seem to remember the aeroplane was full of spotters, who'd all paid for the ride. This was before the Biggin Hill tragedy which led to banning of passengers on display flights.

SSD

[STATSMAN]

I think at that time Chris was Chief Pilot on 1-11 fleet, then finished days on 747-400's. Last heard retired living in Alderley Edge playing with his cars.

[tinpis]

Followed by a mighty roar from the Speys ......
http://www.augk18.dsl.pipex.com/Smileys/laughpound.gif

[PLovett]

tinnie

You have never heard a roar until you experience a flight of four Spey powered Phantoms at dot feet then going vertical. Followed by a Vulcan and a Nimrod both trying to emulate.

Biggin Hill, Battle of Britain air show 1975.

Keeerist. I still think my deafness dates from then.:}

[ICT_SLB]

Loudest I've heard so far is a KS ANG Bone going vertical on full reheat from a high subsonic low pass over the crowd. Noise as a weapon! Happened at Riverfest in Wichita just about every May in the late 90s.

[Tempsford]

I remember G-AWWZ at STN. Crew Training, pulled CB14 Ldg Gear Warning Horn for Flapless Landing, first thing they knew that the gear wasn't down was the fact that they were lower down than usual when they touched terra firma and then the scraping 'noise'.
When the a/c was put on the inflatable recovery bags and gear slected down, the gear cam down, and locked. After a survey and temp repairs, it was flown to BOH for permanent repairs.

Hiya Tin how's things? The Spey may have had a 'mighty roar, but the expression 'toothless tiger' when fitted to the 1-11 springs to mind.

It was a horrible a/c to work on, and from my perspective it was a heap of junk, but built like a brick blockhouse.

Temps

[Offchocks]

Ahhhhhh G-AWWZ I remember it well..........it was back flyng with Monarch within two weeks, pretty good for an aircraft having just done a wheels-up!
BTW the TRE/IRE doing the training at the time later became 1-11 fleet manager.

[PLovett]

Temps

How so a "horrible" to work on and a "piece of junk"?:confused:

I heard that they were built like the proverbial brick outhouse and could withstand a lot of abuse but intrigued about the rest. Please enlighten.:hmm:

[Tempsford]

From an Engineering perspective, the following:
1. Pneumatics were notoriously unreliable and the stub wing panels should
have had zips on them they were on and off so much.
2. To get to many of the components you had to be a contortionist (eg
Outflow valve, ACM, Re-Fuel Valves and Water Injection Tank.
3. The wonderful 'Wiffle Tree' was a work of art.
4. The Elevator PCA were in such a small acces panel that you had to have
midget hands to access them.
5. The Cabin Windows had a tenadncy to fill up with water thawed from
frozen condensation.
6. The Trunnion Mount on the engine was an art to line up. Even though uou
weren't supposed to use your finger to feel for alignement, many did at
the risk of losing a finger.
7. The Water Injection Sytsem was a pain with matched orifi on the Water
Injection Pump and the Water Injection Valve.
8. The Toilets were pneuamtically flushed which and often failed.
9. The CASC on the engine was fun to change with virtually every bolt being
a different size.
10. The CSDS was a pain as was smacking its PRV with a suitable percussion
instrumemt to start the engine. We used to wait for two good starts or
the perverbial 'wheeeeee' as the drive shaft sheared.
11. On medicals I am told that my hearing is very poor I SAID VERY POOR,
oops have to shout make myself heard nowadays. This is mainly due to
engine checks on power runs and in particular that delightful engine, the
Spey. LP Shat re-sets, fuel leaks, Manual Starts, working near that very
noisy APU.
12. I could go on, but after 20 odd years since working on that example of
British manufactured aircraft, the scars are still there.
And that is not even mentioning such other delightful examples as the Britannia and Vanguard, no wonder we don't have a Commercial Aviation Manufacturing Industry any more..........
Gets off soap box, don's tin hat and waits to fend of the purists.
Temps

[tinpis]

Merry Xmas to you and yours Temps :ok:
Agree BAC 1-11,Trident bloody ghastly things .
1-11 especially so in the tropics with its low level earth hugging after T/O performance converting kero to noise.
Now now temps :=at least yer Merch had somewhere nice for the drivers to sit :ok:

[Tempsford]

I have heard it said, 'if it looks right etc etc' . We may have made some good looking commercial aircraft, but not many that were commercially successful for the manufacturers. If we have to quote the Viscount as one of our major successes then again, where did it all go wrong?
yep you are right tin, I forgot the trident. Many's the day that I watched a CY 1-11 struggle to get airborne out of BAH. And as for the guardsvan tin, yep, the office was a good size. All those years ago with ABC and Invicta at LTN.....

Temps

[llanfairpg]

BTW the TRE/IRE doing the training at the time later became 1-11 fleet manager.Funny how having a major incident seems to further your career with the airlines.

Remember the Comet wheels up at Newcastle, the first words the chief pilot was supposed to have said as the firemen looked in the window was

"Dont they have tall fxxxking firemen up here"

[EGGW]

BTW the TRE/IRE doing the training at the time later became 1-11 fleet manager.

I think you'll find he became the Chief Pilot actually. :E

EGGW

[Offchocks]

EGGW............could be, I think he was 757 fleet manager when I left Monarch, Don Richardson was CP at that time.

[EGGW]

I know, i used to work there. He was CP when i joined. Don Richardson left just before i joined.

EGGW

[26451]

The picture you are after is of a Tarom BAC 1-11 overflying the BAC factory at Hurn. It is very low over the factory and the first time I saw it I thought it was a fake picture.

It is pictured in the book BAC 1-11 The Whole Story by Stephen Skinner on Page 128.