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Avro/ Howker Siddeley 748


Many was the manufacturer who tried their
hand at a DC-3 replacement. Of course,
nothing ever truly succeeded the Douglas
classic, but the 748 did better than many.
It started as an Avro product, the first
Avro 748 Series I (G-APZV shown here
with second prototype G-ARAY) flying
on 24 June I 960, and service entry soon
followed with Skyways. Production
switched in 196 I to the Series 2, and
that was when the twin Rolls-Royce
Dart-engined turboprop regional
airliner really'took off '. Known
from 1963 onwards as the HS748,
and still later as the BAe 748, 380
ended up being produced both in
Britain and by HAL in lndia. lts most
successful derivative was of course
the Andover, with its 'kneeling'
undercarriage and re-designed rear
fuselage incorporating a loading
ramp, of which 37 were built.
Today, the 748 can still be found
in service in small numbers with
various operators worldwide,
mainly as a freighter, continuing
the life of this unassuming British
success scory.
liAF 5lrterrs
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Hqwker Siddeley Tridenl


That just I I TTridents were produced as against 1,832 Boeing 727s
tells you all you need to know. British European Airways wanted a
1O0-seat airliner capable of over 600mph, and chose de Havilland's
DH l2l design powered by the Rolls-Royce Medway. But then BEA
decided it was too large, and the Trident design was 'downsized'
to 79 seats,while the Medway engine was cancelled and Speys G-
\
used instead. lt took to the air in January 1962,ayear before the
727,but the larger Boeing design had already stolen a march in
terms of sales and theTrident would never catch up.This was in
spite of successively improved, enlarged and longer-range versions
being produced, culminating in the I 80-seatTrident 3 as depicted
here by G-AWZB.TheTrident was never the best performer
on take-off,the latter variant requiring a tail-mounted auxiliary
RB I 62 turbojet to augment the Speys, which were not the quietest
powerplants around it thus came as no surprise when tighter
-
noise regulations forced British Airways to retire its fleet in 1985.
A fondly-remembered aircraft, then, and one which made history in
November I966 when aTrident performed the first fully-automatic
'blind' landing by an airliner, but also one thar never
achieved its potential.

4
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Howker Siddeley HSt 25 AirTeamlmages


com Collectron

de Havilland, long purveyors of fine


'gentlemanl aerial carriages', came early
to the burgeoning business jet market. lt
came up with the DH 125, flown inaugurally
in August 1962,and it is a testament to
the excellence of that original design that
the aircraft remains in production today,
looking much the same as the original.
The first major change came with the
stretched HS 125 Series 600, while the
-700, introduced in I 976, replaced the
Vickers VCI O
type's Rolls-RoyceViper engines with
HoneywellTFET3 ls, variants of which have Yet another of the post-war British airliner'what might have beens', theVC l0
equipped it ever since. British Aerospace came about aftervickers suffered the cancellation of its four-jetvl000. lt was
continued its development, initially with launched in 1958 with the intention of offering excellent airfield performance
the re-designed I 25-800 boasting a glass for'hot and high' operations, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)
cockpit, and then the longer-range - I 000. having already ordered the Boeing 707 which was nor really suitabre for such
Keen even then to start getting out of operations.The government of rhe day pressured BoAC into ordering 25 vc I 0s,
the civil business, BAe sold its Corporate and there followed a great deal of wrangling between the two parties and the
Jets division to Raytheon in l993,which manufacturer, all of which effectively killed off the type's wider sales chances.
started offering the 125 under the Hawker The first prototype of what became known as the StandardVCl0 flew in
June
banner, and transferred final assembly l962,the stretched SuperVCl0 foltowing up in May 1964,a couple of weel<s
to Wichita, Kansas, during l995.Today, after BoAC had put the Standard aircraft into commercial service. lt eventually
Hawker Beechcraft offers the 750,850XP purchased just I 2 Standards and I 7 Supers, the last of which were retired by
and 900XP as its current production British Airways in 198 l.Total VC l0 production amounted to just 54, although
range. Can the 125 family be described this elegant, quiet, comfortable and rapid airliner surely deserved better.
as Britain's most successful post-war Its lengthy RAF service as a transport and tanker, continuing today, remains
civil productsfThis elegant type has an testament to that. Shown here is the third Standard VC 10, G-ARVB, which
excellent case. undertook many BOAC route proving flights.

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BAG One-Eleven
As British jet airliners went, the
One-Eleven was a notable sales
success.The British Aircraft
Corporation tool< quite a risl< in
starting the twin-let regional airliner
programme in 196 I with an order for
l0 Series 200s from British United
Airways, but US carriers Braniff
and Mohawk signed up for more of
these 8O-seaters soon after, and then
American Airlines chose the Series
400 with its uprated Spey engines in July 1963.
This was a month prior to the maiden flight,
yet national carrier British European Airways
still wasn't on the order bool<.American would
remain the largest single customer, talcing 30,
while BEA waited until the stretched I l9-seat
Series 500 became available in 1967 to buy the
type. Production (including those licence-built by
ROMBAC in Romania) ended at 244 units.
The proposed Series 700 and 800 versions, the
latter powered by CFM56 turbofans, never left
the drawing board, while a proSramme to
re-engine One-Elevens with the Rolls-RoyceTay
failed to get beyond the test flying stage.All of
these could have prolonged the One-Eleven's
life; as it is, just a few remain airworthy, mostly in
executive configuration. Shown is a Series 409AY
(G-AXBB) of British lsland Airways.
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Britlen-Normon
BN-2 lslonder
It would appear that the
only aircraft that can
replace an lslander is...
well, another lslander.
The longevity of this early
1960s design by John Brirten
and Desmond Norman's
company has proved
outstanding the basic
-
lslander design has changed
BAC TSR2 little since the first prototype
(it and the second aircraft are pictured),
Few other in fact, no other British aircraft that never entered production which took to the air in June 1965,
- - as theTSR2.That symbolism was a result of its
would achieve such symbolic status although today's aircraft are significantly
cancellation by Harold Wilsoni government, a decision bemoaned to this day.The enhanced. lt has also proved supremely
story of why this Mach 2 Bristol Siddeley Olympus-engined strike aircrafr ended up adaptable, the long list of individual
being canned is a decidedly complex one, it having been created jointly byVicl<ers and derivatives including the military Defender
English Electric, combined into BAC in I 960, to meet what was in effect a Canberra (itself available in several versions over the
replacement requirement.The design and development process, though, proved less years) and the three-engined Trislander.
than harmonious, and the ever-increasing costs of what was a very advanced aircraft Popular for such diverse roles as police
became a matter of some concern. Nonetheless,the first prototype flew in September work and island-hopping passenger
I 964, and in spite of some teething troubles all agreed that its flying characterisrics flights, the lslander and sub-types have
were outstanding.The cloud on the horizon,though,was the General Dynamics F-ll l, notched up a production run of over
in favour of which the TSR2 was abruptly cancelled on cost grounds in April 1965. | ,200, in spite of the Britten-Norman firm
Of course,the F-l I I deal never came to fruition either, leaving the RAF to operate changing hands several times. Certainly,
Buccaneers and Phantoms both of which, it must be said, served very well. But it represents one of the biggest British
would theTSR2 have been -betterl aviation successes since the war.
Hondley Poge/Scotlish Aviqtion /
BAe Jetstreom
It's often forgotten that the Jetstream, of which 458 were
built (and that excludes the 4 I version and the unrelated,
except by name, 6l) beat theViscount's production run
to became Britain's most successful turboprop airliner. lt
all began when Handley Page decided to develop a small,
I 2-seat, twin-turboprop commuter airliner, the jetstream

I taking to the air duringAugust l967.Alas, troubles with


the Turbomeca Astazou engines, cancellation of a USAF
order, rising costs and delivery delays all contributed to
Handley Page going bankrupt, and production ceasing in
I 970. Scottish Aviation took the
Jetstream on, notably
attracting orders from the RAF and Royal Navy. But it tool<
Scottish Aviation's own banl<ruptcy and subsequent merger Howker Siddeley Nimrod
into BAe in 1978 to really make the most of the design, the
The worldt first four-let maritime patrol aircraft, the Nimrod was
Jetstream 3 I /32 series (with I 8 seats and Garrett TPE33 I
designed in 1964 to meet an RAF requirement for a successor to
engines) racking up customers the world over. lt was a
its Avro Shackletons.Although based on the Comet 4 airliner, more
fine achievement. G-WMCC, shown here, was in fact the
economical Rolls-Royce Spey turbofans were adopted, and the changes
first production Jetstream 3 I and later saw airline service
to the airframe were of course substantial, incorporating a ventral
including with BA Express.
weapons bay, MAD boom and fin-mounted radome.A maiden flight
occurred inM'ay 1967,and the RAF took on its first Nimrod MRI on
I October l969.The upgraded MR2,as depicted,followedfrom |1977
onwards, and is still in RAF service, although increasingly used for
overland ISTAR duties as opposed to its originally-intended maritime
role. Other variants have enjoyed mixed success, the R I ELINT-
9ft gathering version having served since 1974, though the AEW3 airborne
early warning platform was cancelled ignominiously, and the new
MRA4 has been plagued with problems and delays.
8AE Systemr

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Hqwker Siddeley Horrier SEPECAT
Here is one of those outstanding aircraft that sums up'Best of Joguor
British'.The brief history of the Harrier is well-known, but bears Opinions on the
repeating it began as a technological exercise relating to a NATO Jaguar changed
-
close support aircraft requirement, the Bristol Pegasus thrust- markedly during
vectoring engine and the Hawker P I 127 devetopment aircraft its years of
proving the concept of a fixed-wingV/STOL fighter.The P I 127 made service with
its first tethered flight in October 1960. Following on from that the RAF.AI the
was the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel, of which a small number were Lrbrary outset, many deemed it disappointing
lan Allan
evaluated by the RAE the USA and West Germany.At that time, underpowered, slow and uninspiring.When
the RAF was still intending to receive the supersonic Pl 154 to -its premature retirement came in 2007, its many
meet its needs, but it was cancelled during early 1965, whereupon advocates considered the'Jag' irreplaceable as a close
it was decided to develop the Kestrel for operational service.A support, tactical strike and tactical recce platform.This
development aircraft flew in August l966,and the initial production early example ofAnglo-French aircraft development
Harrier GRI in December l967.When No I Squadron at RAF co-operation brought together Br6guet and BAC
Wittering received its first GR ls in July 1969, it made history as the in the SEPECAT consortium, formed in 1966, and
first operational unit in the world to fly aV/STOL jet aircraft. l3l saw the inaugural flight of a prototype in September
'first generation' Harriers were proCuced for the RAE culminating 1968. Service entry with the French Air Force
in the GR3,while and RAF came in 1973-74.The RAFi Jaguar force
McDonnell Douglas became a potent Cold War asset, not least through
built it as the AV-8 for its dual conventional/nuclear capability, and remained
the US Marine Corps relevant long afterwards French and RAF Jaguars
-
fought valiantly in the Gulf conflict of 199 l, and were
and the Spanish Navy.
This was far from the involved for many years in ongoing operations over
end of the Harrier line, lraq and the Balkans. Four other nations purchased
though, thanks to the Jaguars,with lndia and Oman continuing to operate
very different Harrier them today. Many believe, with much justification,
ll family, which will be that the RAF should still be amongst currentJaguar
featured next month. operators, its'ultimate' GR3As having been highly
capable upgraded beasts.
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A6rospoliqle/ BAC Concorde


How to sum up the story of Concorde? lt was a tale
of the highest highs and the lowest lows, from the
great day in Toulouse on 2 March 1969 when prototype
00 I tool< to the air, to 2000's tragedy in Paris and its
final retirement by British Airways in 2003. By far the
highest-profi le example of Anglo-French aerospace
co-operation, the Rolls-Royce Olympus-powered
supersonic airliner once looked set for over I 00 orders,
but gradually, as the 1970s oil crisis and other factors
intervened, they drifted away, leaving just the national
carriers of Britain and France to tal<e l4 Concordes
between them.The early years of Concorde operations,
after the simultaneous service entry with BA and Air
France in January 1976, were difficult commercially, but
Beogle Pup/Scottish Aviqlion Bulldog it was greatly to BAi credit that it ended up turning a
profit on its Concorde services by the end of the I 980s.
A rather odd aircraft to include, you might thinl<, but the Pup and By then, it was well established as a true aeronautical
Bulldog represent the last major products of a famous name, Beagle. icon, unmatched in beauty and performance all of
The Pup, the civilian aerobatic trainer/tourer, first flew in April 1967, which made July 2000's disaster at Gonesse, -France,
and 176 were produced good going in a light aircraft market involving an AF aircraft all the more shocl<ing, despite
dominated byAmerican-built- types. However, Beagle itself was only the type's excellent safety record until then. By the time
surviving thanks to Government support, and when those funds were Concordes of both carriers were cleared to resume
withdrawn near the end of 1969 the company collapsed.The Bulldog commercial services in late 200 l, following safety
military trainer had flown that May, and was tal<en over by Scottish modifications, the airline world had changed thanks to
Aviation. Early deals were all for export, headed by the Swedish Air '9l I l'. Load factors never reached their pre-accident
Force, until the RAF decided to buy l3Q in 1972. Replacing the de heights, and suddenly Concorde no longer seemed to
Havilland Canada Chipmunk as a basic trainer, it became a mainstay make commercial sense.Thatl as maybe, but part of the
of the UniversityAir Squadrons until retirement in favour of the magic of aviation, and particularly civil aviation, still died
Grob Tutor in 200 I . when Concorde landed for the final time.

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Wesllqnd Seo King


Already a tried and tested design, being
a licence-produced Sikorsky 5-6 l, the
Westland Sea King first flew and was first
delivered to the Royal Navy 40 years ago,
having been selected to replace theWessex
in the anti-submarine warfare role.Today,
the Sea King is nearing the end of its service
life with the UK armed forces, the ASW
versions having been phased out in favour
of the Merlin (though some have been
converted for rescue and utility duties),
while the commando and ASaC (Airborne
Search and Control) examples are also due
for eventual replacement, and the RAF's
rescue Sea Kings will be superseded by
civilian-operated helicopters.
Different variants have served
extremely well in all the major
conflicts in which British
forces have participated
since the Fall<lands, while
Westland-built Sea Kings
were purchased by the
,iil8
mffi?
, . air arms of nine other

n
"{ts-
;
countries, and are still used
by all of them.The example
in the photograph is a
Commando Ml<2 of the
Egyptian Air Force.
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Westlqnd lynx Airbus A300


Although it was developed in conjunction with A6rospatiale, the WG I 3 design Britain's early participation in theAirbus
was conceived solely byWestland. Especially notable in that context was its programme! first product was decidedly
semi-rigid rotor, and combined with the Rolls-Royce Gem turboshaft engine patchy, although British involvement did
this helped deliver excellent performance the typek ftight in March prove crucial in shaping the design and
- 1972 by maiden
197 I by XW835, pictured, was followed during the setting of several building the aircraft. France, Germany
new helicopter speed records,while a modified example (with a more powerful and Britain were the three original
engine and advanced rotor blades) has remained the world's fastest helicopter partner nations in 1967, at which
since ic established the new benchmark in l986.Always intended to replace time the twin-let, wide-body 4300
the British ArmyAir Corps' Scout anti-tank helicopters and the Royal Navy's was intended to seat 300 passengers.
anti-submarine Wasps, the Lynx began to do so in I 978, and remains in use with Then, the French and British voiced a
both service branches,theArmy now using theAHT (as do the Royal Marines) preference for a smaller aircraft, the
and battlefield utilityAH9, and the Navy versions of the HAS3 and improved concept for which was presented by
HMA8.A consistently strong seller in its maritime form on the export market, Hawker Siddeley and Sud Aviation
especially when the upgraded Super Lynx became available, the advent of new this was the 250-seat 43008, which-
versions means that the Lynx will be flying on for years to come. became the production variant. But by
the timeAirbus lndustrie was set up
in 1970, the Brits were no longer on
board, having pulled out a year earlier,
apparently unhappy at the choice of the
General Electric CF6 engine. Hawker

-def"E
:t{' ' Siddeley, though, was still heavily involved,
1;*?SlE with a 20 per cent production stake. So
r there was a good deal of British content
in the first A300B to fly, which did so
on 28 October 1972.Gradually, after
an uncertain start in the marketplace,
Airbus started to be taken seriously as
a challenger to Boeing, all thanks to the
foundations laid by the,{300 programme.
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Pqnqviq Tornqdo
It seems incredible that the Panavia consortium was
formed 40 years ago this year, a year in which the
35th anniversary of the Multi-Role CombatAircraft
(MRCA) prototype's maiden flight and 30 years
since initial Tornado deliveries are also marked.A
tri-national (British, German and ltalian) consortium
from 1970, involving BAC, MBB and Aeritalia, Panavia
F-iluAu was tasked with producing a low-level interdictor/
strike aircraft using variable-geometry wing sweep,
;trl: f|,rl:1lr'.';i
the chosen design being a two-seater. Only the
UK desired an interceptor version of what
became theTornado.A German MRCA
prototype was the first to fly,from Manching
inAugust 1974,and service entry ofthe
Tornado IDS/GRl commenced five years
later, in which year theADV (Air Defence
\, Variant) for the RAF made its inaugural
flight.Just under l,000Tornados of all
\ variants were built, concluding with an IDS
for the Royal Saudi Air Force in I 998, but
the type still has quite a long service life
in front of it in the strike and recce roles.
The RAF's strikeTornados in particular
have been upgraded extensively since
the Cold War and their subsequent
involvement in'Desert Storm' and
the Balkans conflicts, now to GR4
standard; by contrast, the air defence
F3s are due for retirement in 20 I I .
Library
lan Al\an

www. o irc r afim a pa zi n e. ca t t k


Hqwker Siddeley/Brilish Aerospoce Howk Hqwker Siddeley/
2009 marks the 35th anniversary of the Hawk's maiden flight in August Brilish Aerospoce
1974,and perhaps only now is the design, albeit in its latest, very different Seq Horrier
form, starting to show its age.The RAF ordered Hawker Siddeleys
When the Royal Navy decided
HSI 182 as a Gnat replacement for the advanced training role in 1971,
it wanted the Harrier as a
and it also succeeded the Hunter as a weapons trainer. No 4 FTS took
strike fighter for V/STOL
on its first Hawk T I s in April I 976, and I 76 would be raken on charge,
carrier operations, it was
the most famous being those used by the RedArrows.Just under half
adamant that the design be
were modified toTlA standard in the l980s,these being capable of firing
adapted for the purpose,
AIM-9 Sidewinders (as well as the standard Aden cannon) in the wartime
rather than just having its name put on the side of
point defence role. Since then, the RAF's Hawks have also taken on target-
'ordinary' Harriers.The result, once the powers-
towing and aggressor duties, while a substantial number of those operated
that-be had been persuaded, was the Sea Harrier,
as trainers have been re-lifed with new fuselage sections, and others
and the FRSI prototype was first flown in August
have gone to the Royal Navy.The aircraft has proved one of the British
I 978. lt did not take long ro earn its spurs, and the
industry's most prominent export successes, including its selection by the
participation of the fledgling Sea Harrier force in
US Navy as theT-45 Goshawk.
1982's Falklands campaign is legendary. Later, RN
'Shars'operated in the 1990s Balkans campaigns.
The improvements contained in the FRS2, later
FA2, variant, such as the BlueVixen radar, made
this a very capable fighter indeed one of
the new-build FA2s became the last - all-British
fighter aircraft to roll off a production line, at the
beginning of l999.The Sea Harrier fell victim to
defence cuts at the beginning of 2006, and the
Royal Navy will probably never operare its own
front-line fixed-wing aircraft again, now being
committed to Joint Force operations with the
Harrier, then the F-35. lt was, therefore, the last of
an illustrious line.

www. a irt r afirn agcz;ne. co- uk


BAE Systems

Brilish Aerospoce 146


Airbus A3t 0
Hawl<er Siddeley's original design for the HS 146 was way ahead of its time when
conccived in 1973, but that was precisely the wrong time to be developing a brand took to the air
By the time the first ,A3 I 0
new airlincr, even a fuel-efficient one, due to the oil crisis. BAe resumed work on the on 3 April the UK was a full member
1982,
type in I 978, and three years later in September I 98 I the BAe I 46- I 00 PrototyPe of the Airbus consortium once again. lt
got airborne for the first time. lt was in part an unusual design for a regional airliner, had rejoined in 1979 through BAe,which
having four cngines (LycomingALF502s), but its quietness and STOL capabilities won bought in with a 20 per cent share, and
over many airlines, beginning with Dan-Air. Successive fuselage stretches produced was instrumental in the re-design of the
the 146-200 (of which G-WISC here was the first) and -300. ln total,22l examples A300's wing for this new shorter-fuselage
wcre produced before the aircraft became known as the Avro RJ in I 993' but but longer-range variant. Lufthansa and
l46s continue in active service around the Swissair were joint launch customers, and
world in 255 A3 l0s were built over the course
Passenger of a Z4-year production run, though
and freighter only one UK airline, British Caledonian,
configuration, has ever flown the type.The'difficult
there being second airliner' for Airbus cemented the
a healthy consortium's rePutation as a market force,
market for used paving the way towards the great family of
airframes. aircraft that has followed.

BAI: Systerr:
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