36 The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017
S
cottish Aviation was producing
Bulldog primary trainers (which
it had taken on after Beagle’s
bankruptcy), C-130 fuselage
sections, overhauling piston engines for
Rolls-Royce and was finishing off a
contract to build Jetstreams for the RAF.
The Jetstream was a Handley Page
design and this work had come to
Prestwick owing to its original involve-
ment with it, manufacturing the wings.
Once it became part of British
Aerospace in April 1977 Prestwick did
benefit from comparatively small
packages of work but what Scottish
Aviation most wanted to secure was to
launch and develop a new version of the
Jetstream.
The Handley Page Jetstream
The Handley Page Aircraft Company,
originally formed in 1909, was a
manufacturer of large military and civil
aircraft. By the late 1950s Government
policy was to force aircraft firms to merge
into larger units. Having failed to join
either Hawker Siddeley or BAC, the future
was poor for Handley Page as the firm
had no prospect of winning Government
contracts.
Jetstream reborn
Thanks to legacy programmes such as
the superb Victor ‘V’ bomber the company
had time to examine projects that would
not stretch its financial resources. Handley
Page went ahead and designed a
pressurised, low wing civil aircraft powered
by twin turboprops capable of transporting
18 passengers in a three-abreast layout.
This was launched in January 1966 as the
HP137 Jetstream, tailored to fill a gap in the
feeder-liner market aimed primarily at the
United States.
As there was no suitable British engine
in the required power range, the French
Turboméca Astazou 14 of 840hp was
chosen for the Jetstream production
aircraft. The prototype, G-ATXH, flew from
Handley Page’s Hertfordshire factory at
Radlett for the first time in August 1967.
Besides engine problems, the aircraft was
overweight, and drag was higher than
calculated. These problems all led to a
delay in certification and an increase in
costs far greater than the original estimate
Roll out of the
first Jetstream
prototype G-ATXH
at Handley Page’s
factory at Radlett in
August 1967.
(Author’s collection)
Two Jetstreams built or substantially built at Radlett. Scottish Aviation assembled part Handley Page-built
RAF Jetstream T1 XX488 and Handley Page-built Royal Navy Jetstream T2 ZA110. (BAE SYSTEMS)
