Aer Lingus BAC1-11s. What routes did they perform ?
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Aer Lingus BAC1-11s. What routes did they perform ?
A niche fleet of just four identical aircraft for over twenty years. I'm sure Aer Lingus could have had more if they wanted but, evidently, four was the magic number. Initially, a little more than the Viscount 800 capacity-wise and then slotting in between the Viscount and the 737-200. The 1-11 turned up frequently at Leeds Bradford on the Dublin flights (along with the 737) and I believe was also used on the fifth freedom trips from Dublin to Copenhagen, Milan etc., staging through Manchester on the way. Aer Lingus must have been very satisfied with their four pocket rockets to have operated them for so long but I guess there was more to the fleet than what I've mentioned.
I remember being in Dublin soon after the 1-11s went to Nigeria and talking to one of the Aer Lingus engineers. He was a bit cross and said, "we never put a scratch any of them in 20 years and the F***ing ***s have written off one and damaged another within months.
The 1-11s operated the summer schedule Dublin to Jersey service for many years. The first I remember of them was, however, operating inclusive tour services from Dublin to several Spanish destinations at weekends. Later on, 1974, I flew Edinburgh to Dublin return on two of them.
Last edited by kcockayne; 18th Jun 2021 at 21:07. Reason: Extra information
Flew back from LGW in one in '88.
That must have been almost heart breaking for the EI engineers who looked after them for all those years. Just an aluminium tube etc, but yet so much more. I remember seeing some photos only a few years ago of quite a few 1-11's parked together, covered in a thick layer of gunk somewhere in Nigeria, perhaps Kano (?) or Lagos. Might one of those have been the remaining EI cohort, or were these ROMBAC examples ?
That must have been almost heart breaking for the EI engineers who looked after them for all those years. Just an aluminium tube etc, but yet so much more. I remember seeing some photos only a few years ago of quite a few 1-11's parked together, covered in a thick layer of gunk somewhere in Nigeria, perhaps Kano (?) or Lagos. Might one of those have been the remaining EI cohort, or were these ROMBAC examples ?
The fourth was scrapped at Southend.
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I remember seeing Aer Lingus Leeds Bradford to Dublin before the runway extension, used to look like a Cat shot
Cheers
Mr Mac
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Mr Mac
Last edited by Mr Mac; 26th Jun 2021 at 07:10.
If I remember rightly in the late 70's/early 80's, Aer Lingus usually scheduled a 1-11 on their Sunday LBA-Dublin slot, with the 737-200 operating the same several times mid-week.
The 1-11 certainly seemed much noiser departing R15 from the Scotland Lane estate!
The 1-11 certainly seemed much noiser departing R15 from the Scotland Lane estate!
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Aer Lingus BAC1-11s
They also flew domestically. I had many pleasant flights DUB-SNN. Am I correct in thinking they had no reverse thrust ?? Landings always were pleasantly quiet (by today's standards).
I'm fairly sure they had reverse thrust but the reverser vanes were inside rather than the clamshell type on some other designs.
All 1-11s had reverse thrust with cascade vanes on top and underneath the aft section of the nacelle and clamshell doors inside.
Some operators used them quite vigorosly while others used reverse idle and more brakes.
Some operators used them quite vigorosly while others used reverse idle and more brakes.
I would say that Aer Lingus 1-11s were used on most, if not all, European and on all UK routes from Dublin over their time in service with the carrier, though Aer Lingus's then network was limited by today's standards. Amsterdam, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Zurich were amongst the scheduled destinations and places like Barcelona, Ibiza, Palma and Tarbes saw charter services. I also recall the type being used on a service from Belfast to Shannon (connecting with transatlantic services) amongst other non-Dublin routes.
They used to fly into Birmingham quite often in the late 1980s. I remember watching one landing on 33, touching down on the threshold markings and turning off onto the cross runway after a landing run of around 2000ft!
