The British Aerospace BAE - 146

Iundercarriage had been comprised of a steerable,
Aircraft manufacturers had, for some four decades,telescope strut-attached, forward-retracting nose
attempted to design the elusive DC-3 replacementwheel and two outboard-displaced main units which
with different powerplant types, including theretracted inwards into blister-type fairings on the
piston-engined Convair 240/340/440 and Martin 2-0-2fuselage's sides. All featured Dunlop wheels, while the
4-0-4 series and the turboprop Vickers Viscount,main gear's multi-disc carbon brakes had only been
Fokker F.27 Friendship, and Hawker Siddeley HS.748.previously employed by Concorde.
The latest attempt had been made by the BritishTwo 3,000-psi hydraulic systems powered the trailing
aircraft industry when both de Havilland and Hawkeredge flaps, the petal air brakes, the undercarriage, and
Siddeley had conducted market research andthe wheel brakes. A Garrett AiResearch GTCP
formulated designs for a small-capacity, short-range36-100M auxiliary power unit had provided cabin
airliner powered by pure-jet engines during 1959 andconditioning and engine starting power and had been
1960.operable up to 20,000 feet.
Of the two, de Havilland, with its previous Rapide,With an 84,000-pound maximum take off weight, the
Dove, and Heron pistonliners, had had considerableBAe-146-100 had an 880-nautical mile range with its
regional aircraft experience and had designed themaximum payload and a 1,620-nautical mile range with
world's first pure-jet airliner in the form of theits maximum fuel.
quad-engined DH.106 Comet. An initial study for such aFirst flying on September 3, 1981, on a one-hour,
DC-3 replacement, designated the DH.123, had35-minute fight at a 64,000-pound take off weight, the
featured a 60.6-foot overall length, an 81.3-footBAe-146-100 had been pronounced as "remarkably
wingspan, two 1,150 shp Gnone turboprops attached tostable, very responsive, and delightfully quiet" by its test
a high wing, and a 22,100-pound maximum take offpilot and had been awarded its Civil Aviation Authority
weight. So configured, it would have accommodated(CAA) type certificate on February 4, 1983. FAA
between 32 and 40 passengers, or slightly more thancertification followed three months later, on May 20.
the DC-3's standard 21 to 28.Dan-Air Services, Ltd., the type's launch customer, had
De Havilland, subsequently taken over by Hawkerplaced two firm and two optioned orders the previous
Siddeley and redesignated the "de Havilland Division,"September, and inaugurated it into scheduled service
had forcibly discontinued design work on the DH.123on March 1, 1983, with an intermittently-provided aircraft
because it would have competed too closely withfrom British Aerospace, on the London/Gatwick-Berne,
Hawker Siddeley's own Rolls Royce Dart-poweredSwitzerland route, before it deployed its own aircraft
Avro 748 which had seated 44. Nevertheless, existingon the route as of May 27. The BAe-146 had been
turboprop competition, coupled with de Havilland's beliefthe only pure-jet airliner which had been capable of
that pure-jet technology would attract considerableoperating from Berne's short runway.
passenger appeal, resulted in the mid-1960 DH.126The larger, BAe-146-200, with a five-frame stretch,
design proposal, which featured the later-standardfeatured a new, 93.10-foot overall length and could
configuration of most low-capacity, short-rangeaccommodate 100 passengers in a six-abreast
twin-jets, such as the SE.210 Caravelle, the BAC-111,configuration at a 33-inch seat pitch or a maximum of
and the DC-9, with a swept wing, aft-mounted engines,112 at a 29-inch pitch, but otherwise retained the
and a t-tail. Powered by two 3,860 thrust-pound deBAe-146-100's wingspan. The aircraft, with a
Havilland PS92 jet engines, it had featured a 60.3-foot93,000-pound maximum take off weight, had a
length for accommodation of 30 passengers and a1,130-nautical mile range with a full payload or a
62-foot wingspan.1,570-nautical mile range with full fuel.
Several iterations had introduced progressive, althoughFirst flying on August 1, 1982 and registered G-WISC,
moderate wingspan, thrust, and gross weight increasesthe type had been inaugurated into service the
by 1964, but further development had been hamperedfollowing year, on June 27, by Air Wisconsin, which had
by four fundamental obstacles:placed an order for four firm and four optioned aircraft,
1. Suitable pure-jet engine availability.configured for 100, on May 20, 1981, the same day that
2. Discontinuation of promising engine developmentthe shorter-fuselage variant had first rolled out. Joining
because of several mid-1960s British enginea fleet of Fairchild Swearingen Metro IIs and de
manufacturer mergers.Havilland of Canada DHC-7 turboprops, the
3. Higher seat-mile costs over DC-3-like sectors forBAe-146-200 had been deployed on average, 127-mile
which the new design had been intended.route sectors, rarely climbing higher than 17,000 feet,
4. The inability to exploit a pure-jet airliner's speed overand by the spring of 1984, it had served 16
relatively short sectors.mid-western cities, operating 14 daily sectors per day. It
Hawker Siddeley, believing that the turboprop engineultimately replaced the turboprops.
had only been interim-step technology, had equallyThe largest single order, for 20 firm and 25 options,
embarked on a pure-jet airliner design program of itshad been placed by another US regional carrier, Pacific
own long before the de Havilland merger, although itsSouthwest Airlines (PSA), while other US operators
low-wing, aft-engined, t-tailed configurations hadhad included Air-Pac of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska,
strongly resembled its former competitor's.Aspen Airways, Air-Cal, American Airlines, Discovery
Attempting to minimize development costs by utilizingAirways of Hawaii, Presidential Airways, Royal West,
the cockpit, forward fuselage, systems, and passengerUSAir, and WestAir Commuter.
cabin of its own Avro 748, it had proposed the HS.131The BAe-146 had been the first pure-jet to have been
in 1964, which had featured similar 62.8-foot overallcertified to operate from London City STOLport,
lengths and 67-foot wingspans as de Havilland'slocated in the docklands region, because of its steep
comparable DH.126, but its projected 5,000approach capability, short-runway performance, and
thrust-pound Rolls Royce RB.172 engines had enabledlow noise emission.
it to offer a higher, 30,000-pound gross weight and aIn order to further expand its product line, offer
32-passenger capacity.increased passenger capacity, and more adequately
Faced, like de Havilland, with engine unsuitability andcompete with Fokker's own advanced, stretched F.100,
unavailability, Hawker Siddeley devised iterations roundBritish Aerospace offered a second stretch over its
projected powerplants. A radical configuration change,original BAe-146-100, which had entailed 8.1-foot
introduced by the HS.136 of 1967, for instance, hadforward and 7.8-foot aft fuselage plugs in comparison
resulted in a low-wing aircraft powered by two 9,730to the BAe-146-200. The resultant version, the
thrust-pound Rolls Royce Trent engines with aBAe-146-300, featured a strengthened center section
conventional tail accommodating 57 passengers in afuselage and a new 100-foot, 8 ¼-inch overall
five-abreast cabin and offering a 54,000-poundlength, but otherwise employed the same wingspan
maximum take off weight. Although the arrangementand ALF-502R-5 turbofans. Single-class, five-abreast
would have eliminated the aft-mounted, t-tail'scapacity, at a 31-inch seat pitch, had been 103, although
propensity toward deep-stall and flame-out conditions,128 high-density passengers, at a 29-inch seat pitch,
and its close ground proximity would have facilitatedcould be accommodated with the addition of type III
passenger, aircraft servicing, and maintenance access,emergency exits installed in the center fuselage. The
the potential for foreign object debris (FOD) engine97,500-pound variant, with a 1,040-nautical mile range
ingestion had yielded to the proposed HS.144 twowith a full payload and a 1,520-nautical mile range with
years later, which had once again reverted to the nowfull fuel, had first flown on May 1, 1987, after the
standard aft-engine configuration.BAe-146-100 prototype (G-SSSH) had been converted
Progressive design evolutions and dimensional andto this standard and reregistered G-LUXE.
thrust increases had intermittently resulted in anAir Wisconsin, again launch customer for the version,
airplane whose passenger capacity had been doublehad taken delivery of its first longer-fuselage
that of the DC-3's, and with the Rolls RoyceBAe-146-300 on December 10, 1988, one of five which
bankruptcy-sparked discontinuation of Trenthad comprised its previous order for -200s.
development in 1970, the DC-3 replacement, nowA freighter version, the BAe-146-QT Quiet Trader, had
powerless, had become ever more elusive.been available in all three passenger versions.
This low-capacity, short-range jetliner had, like neverIncorporating an upward-opening, hydraulically-operated,
before, hinged upon a powerplant for its existence, and10.11-by-6.4 foot door on its aft, left side; a strengthened
the only potential lay with a small turbofan beingfloor; and a loading system; the aircraft, devoid of
developed by Avco Lycoming in the US. Based uponpassenger windows and facilities, could accommodate
the 7,000 thrust-pound F102 which had powered thenine LD-3 containers or six 108-by-88 inch pallets of up
Northrop A-9A, the engine, a derated civil derivativeto 6,000 pounds each and a single 53-by-88 inch half
designated ALF-502, had been launched in 1969 forpallet. The prototype, a BAe-146-200 converted by
the Canadair CL-601 Challenger business jet and hadHayes International Corporation, had first flown on
first run two years later. In order to offer commercialMarch 20, 1986 and had been inaugurated into service
application, it had been of modular construction.by TNT International Aviation Services the following
Because the type's 6,500 thrust-pound rating had beenyear on May 5. The operator had subsequently
inadequate for the latest aircraft design, the HS.146 ofacquired a considerable number of them.
1971, and because no other suitable powerplant hadII
been in the development stage, the ultimate DC-3A representative BAe-146-200 flight, operated by Air
replacement had been forcibly designed round four, notZimbabwe from Hwange to Kariba, had been taken in
two, engines and it featured neither the standard, aftSeptember of 1994.
engine-mounted, t-tailed nor alternative wing-mountedFounded in 1967 as Air Rhodesia to operate the
configuration. Instead, it would sport two high, modestlyRhodesian routes of Central African Airways, the
swept wings to which the four turbofans would becarrier, continually changing as a result of increased
pylon-mounted. Accommodating 88 passengers, orblack majority rule, had been redesignated Air
three times as many as the DC-3, the airliner, with anRhodesia-Zimbabwe in 1979 and, simply, Air Zimbabwe
86.2-foot length and 84.10-foot wingspan, had athe following year after the country had attained
70,000-pound gross weight and 700-nautical mile range.independence. The transition period, fraught with
Nevertheless, the HS.146 offered several advantagespolitical instability, had sparked constant route structure
over the earlier, standard-arrangement de Havillandrealignment, which had only encompassed South
and Hawker Siddeley design studies. Short-fieldAfrica.
performance, fully the equivalent of the turboprops itWhen the internal situation had ultimately been
had intended to replace, had been attained by itsrestabilized, the route system had been gradually
thrust-to-weight ratio and wing, which, with 78-percentreestablished, once again offering connections
coverage of its trailing edge with Fowler flaps, hadbetween Zimbabwe and many regional African
obviated the need for leading edge devices, andnations, as well as those in Europe. In 1982, Air
simplification and weight reduction had been furtherZimbabwe had operated eight Viscounts, three 720Bs,
achieved with the elimination of thrust reversers. Theand three 707-320Bs, although additional 707s had
t-tail, remaining from the earlier designs, had beenlater replaced the 720s.
retained in order to avoid engine and wing turbulenceDue to deregulation-spawned competition, the small
interference.carrier had increased its efforts to remain competitive
The four engine pods, which had been interchangeablewith improved passenger service and a more modern,
with each other, housed modular construction coresthree-type fleet which had included one BAe-146-200,
built up of the basic fan, the accessory gearbox, thethree 737-200s, and two 767-200ERs, serving the five
gas producer/compressor, and the combustion turbineZimbabwean domestic destinations of Bulawayo,
sections.Harare, Hwange, Kariba, and Victoria Falls; the 11
An 11.8-foot fuselage diameter had permitted anAfrican international destinations of Dar-es-Salaam,
internal, six-abreast coach seating arrangement, whichDurban, Gabarone, Johannesburg, Lilongwe, Lusaka,
had been double that of the DC-3's.Manzini, Maputo, Mauritius, Nairobi, and Windhoek; and
In order to cater to different route demands, Hawkerthe three European intercontinental destinations of
Siddeley offered an initial, 88-passenger HS-146-100Frankfurt, Larnaca, and London.
and a stretched, 102-passenger HS.146-200 version,In June of 1983, it had embarked on a "Customer Care
both at maximum, six-abreast densities, althoughProgram" to improve service and introduce a new
capacity could be reduced with varying class, seatExecutive Business Class on its two widebody aircraft
pitch, and abreast arrangements.in order to more effectively compete with the larger,
Fully intended as a pure-jet counterpart to theinternational carriers which had operated between
turboprop Viscount, HS.748, and F.27, the HS.146 hadEurope and Africa.
been optimized for multiple daily, high frequency,It had toted three slogans: "A Tradition of Caring," in
short-range sectors from short and unprepared, gravel1989; "Above All, We Care," in 1992; and "Experience
runways, yet achieve 15-percent lowerour Commitment to Excellence," in 1994.
direct-operating-costs than these aircraft. Slow,Its self-stated goal had been "to be the airline that best
controlled approach speeds, of just over 100 knots,meets the needs of the customer, to operate
had been attainable by its aft fuselage, petal airbrakesprofitably, and to contribute to the development of
and 40 degrees of trailing edge flap, permittingZimbabwe using the skills and talents of a committed
operation from 5,000-foot runways.workforce."
Hawker Siddeley had estimated a market of 1,500The BAe-146-200 operating the day's flight, registered
aircraft of its type by 1982.Z-WPD and named "Jungwe," had been configured
HS.146 program launch, based upon a 40 million Britishwith 91 single-class, six-abreast seats and had been
pound government backing and the manufacturer'sfitted with a passenger audio system. Routed from
own investment, had occurred on August 29, 1973, andVictoria Falls to Hwange, Kariba, and Harare under
the first flight, of the short-fuselage HS.146-100, hadflight number "UM 229," it operated three sectors
been targeted for December of that year withspanning 30 minutes, one hour, and 45 minutes in
certification following in February of 1977, while theduration.
stretched HS.146-200, coinciding with the seventhAfter boarding from the single terminal by means of its
airframe, had been targeted for certification in Augustforward, left airstair, the high-wing, quad-engined British
of 1978. A full-scale wooden mock-up had beenregional jet, sporting its colorful black, red, yellow, and
intermittently built at Hatfield.green striped livery, executed a lengthy taxi roll on the
Like so many British commercial projects, itsconcrete runway flanked on either side by Hwange
momentum had been abruptly arrested a little moreNational Park's dry, brown grass and scrub expanses,
than a year after it had been initiated. Escalating fuelperiodically interspersed by feeding herds of impalas.
prices resulting from the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War,Completing its "Before Take Off" checklist, and
changing economic conditions, and a general recession,extending its trailing edge Fowler flaps to their
coupled with the pending nationalization of the UK24-degree position, the aircraft throttled into its
aircraft industry, had rendered the HS.146 programacceleration roll, its four ALF-502R-5 turbofans
economically unfeasible by October of 1974. As apropelling its 35,500-kilo mass with their 6,970 pounds
result, it had been halted, although small-scaleof thrust into life-generating speed. Leveraging itself
engineering had continued and the aircraft's drawings,into rotation at 112 knots with its horizontal tail-hinged
tools, and jigs had been retained.elevator, the BAe-146 surrendered itself to the hot
Three years later, on March 15, 1977, British AerospaceAfrican atmosphere at a 118-knot V2 velocity,
had been formed with the merger of Hawker Siddeleyretracting its tricycle undercarriage and accelerating
and the British Aircraft Corporation, and the design,through a 171-knot VFTO speed toward the gray,
redesignated BAe-146, had been relaunched. It hadobscuring ceiling.
been the first to have been undertaken by the newLeaning into a right bank over the brown and tan
conglomerate the following year, on July 10, 1978.African expanse at 4,200 feet, the BAe-146 retracted
Rolled out for the first time three years later on Mayits flaps from the 24- to the 0-degree position,
20, 1981 at Hatfield, the aircraft, registered G-SSSH,completing its "After Take Off" checklist. Ascending
became the first new British design since the BAC-111through 7,600 feet, at which time a 291-knot ground
had flown 18 years earlier.speed had been registered, it maintained a 1,800-fpm
The aircraft, in its original BAe-146-100 form, featured aclimb rate. Its NAV indicated a 135.4-mile distance to
pressurized, semi-monocoque, aluminum alloy/copperKariba.
fuselage whose inner fuselage frames bore thePlunging through the dirty opaque obscurity at 15,780
aircraft's bending loads and whose outer, notched ringsfeet, Fight 229 triumphed over white,
carried the sheer loads, a construction technique whichmountainous-appearing cumulous, now unrestrictedly
eliminated some 5,000 stringer/frame cleats. Itsbulleting through the illustriously-blue mid-afternoon
11.8-foot diameter, permitting five- or six-abreast coachpurity at 18,640 feet.
seating, had ensured that passengers would enjoy theInching the throttle back a moment later, the British
same comfort on the type's typical feeder routes asregional liner settled into its 21,000-foot level off plateau
that offered by wide body aircraft operatingat a 354-knot ground speed with 97.7 miles remaining
long-range sectors to which they often transferred.to its destination.
Single-class capacity varied from 71 in a five-abreast,Cabin service on the one-hour domestic sector had
33-inch configuration to 82 at a six-abreast, 33-inchincluded a selection of sodas, mineral water, orange
arrangement and an ultimate 93 at a six-abreast,juice, and lemonade and a snack try of potato chips
29-inch density. Total capacity decreased with aand peanuts.
forward, 12-seat, first class cabin in a four-abreastThe ground speed had pinnacled at 411 knots.
configuration.Descent, initiated with 54 miles remaining on its flight
The aircraft had an 85-foot, 11½-inch overallplan, had been attained by dialing in 5,500 feet in the
length.cockpit's "ALT SEL" autopilot, resulting in a 2,000-fpm
The wings, with an 86-foot span and 832-square-footdescent rate.
area, had featured a 15-degree sweepback and threeSurrendering once again to the dense, reference-losing
degrees of anhedral at their leading edges. Due to theobscurity of the cloud deck, the aircraft plunged
aircraft's short, 150-nautical mile sectors, cruise speedsthrough 10,000 feet at a 260-knot speed with 21 miles
higher than its optimized Mach 0.7 had not beenremaining to Kariba, extending its petal air brakes at
necessary and had therefore obviated the need for7,000 feet, which produced a very controlled, but
greater sweepback. Low-speed, short-fielddrag-induced profile. An altitude of 4,500 feet had been
performance had been attained by means of itsintermittently dialed into the "ALT SEL" window.
single-section, tabbed, trailing edge Fowler flaps which,Emerging from the ceiling mist over the baby blue of
with a 210-square-foot area, had covered 78 percentLake Kariba, which had been outlined by its dry, tan
of the span and had been hydraulically operated byand brown scrub shoreline, the captain consulted his
Dowty Rotol actuators. Roll control had been providedlanding flap chart corresponding to a 34,500-kilo weight.
by manually-operated, trim- and servo tab-equippedExtending its Fowler flaps to the 18-degree position at
ailerons, which operated in conjunction with each outer3,600 feet, at which time 6.4 miles had remained on its
wing's hydraulically-actuated roll spoilers. Threeflight plan, the airliner unleashed its undercarriage at a
additional inboard spoilers served as lift dumpers after162-knot ground speed and actuated its high-lift
touch down.devices into the 24-degree position while arcing into a
Power had been provided by four Textron Lycomingleft bank over the parched expanse of desert. Black
ALF-502R-5 turbofans, each rated at 6,970 pounds ofmountain silhouettes rolled into view ahead of the
thrust, and these had replaced the lower-thrust,cockpit windows.
6,700-pound ALF-502Hs originally intended for theDescending through 2,600 feet at a 161-knot ground
design. Avco Lycoming had since become "Textronspeed, the BAe-146-200, now sporting 33 degrees of
Lycoming."trailing edge flap, maintained a 270-degree heading, the
A total of 3,098 US gallons of fuel could be carried inrunway, seemingly plowed between brown straw,
two wing integral and one center section tank, thevisible through the windshield.
latter located above the passenger cabin andExtending its petal air brakes to the 60-degree position,
equipped with a vented and drained sealing diaphragm.the aircraft, at a negligible descent rate, passed over
The single-point pressure fueling had been located onRunway 27's threshold at 120 knots, retarding its
the right wing, outboard of the number four engine.throttle and flaring into main undercarriage contact with
The fixed horizontal tailplane, mounted atop the verticalthe sizzilingly hot concrete. Decelerating with significant
fin, had not required the standard variable-incidencebrake applications, and with its spoiler handle already
geometry because the absence of wing leading edgedeployed to the "LIFT SPLR" position, the thrust
devices had eliminated the balance-out requirementsreverser-devoid quad-jet consumed the centerline with
ordinarily associated with the latter's pitch changes. Itsits nose wheel until it had reached its other threshold
location, avoiding wing downwash and engine thrustand could execute a 180-degree turn.
interference, provided the greatest moment-arm, thusTaxiing toward the single terminal's ramp amid the
reducing required area and weight. Its elevators hadsweltering, 94-degree heat, the high-wing, t-tailed airliner,
been manually operated, while the vertical fin's rudderalthough ordinarily minuscule next to an intercontinental
had been hydraulically actuated.wide body, dwarfed the United Air PA-23 Aztec and
Key to the BAe-146 design had been thecollection of private pistons now parked around it.
40-square-foot, hydraulically-actuated petal air brakesThe BAe-146 had, as evidenced by this sector, served
forming an integral, aerodynamic part of the tailcone atas Zimbabwe's link between its often
the extreme end of the fuselage and deployable to aroad-unconnected cities and communities.
maximum 60-degree position. Augmenting slow,III
controlled, increased descent rates, they had enabledAlthough the British Aerospace BAe-146 had only sold
the aircraft to descend at 7,000 fpm above 10,000219 examples of all of its versions to 45 world airlines,
feet and 4,000 fpm below it, facilitating short-runwayit had nevertheless formed the basis of its later, more
operation and eliminating the need for thrust reversers.advanced, Textron Lycoming LF507-powered Avro
The aircraft's hydraulically-operated, tricycleRJ70, RJ85, and RJ100 derivatives.