The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017 45The lasT BriTish airliner – The Bae 146
took to the air it was promoted in a 100
seat, 32 inch-pitch, five-abreast layout
with a 20 inch aisle.
Stretching G-SSSH to make it
the 146-300 prototype
Having flown 1,239 hours, G-SSSH made
its last flight as a 146-100 on 7 August
1986 and work started almost
immediately to convert it into the
aerodynamic prototype of the 300 series.
The aircraft was cut into three and two
fuselage plugs inserted to lengthen the
aircraft. Repainted and re-registered as
G-LUXE it made its first flight on 1 May
1987.
Pilots found there was virtually no
difference in the handling of the 100, 200
or 300 series and certification of the
146-300 was announced on 6 September
1988 at the Farnborough Air Show. If
British Aerospace had had any doubts
about the wisdom to stretch the aircraft,
the announcement of the sale of 19 BAe
146s with the greater majority for the new
stretched 300, confounded any criticism.
The 146 in service with
major operators
At initial certification in February 1983 the
order book had been only 14, with
options on 16. Air Wisconsin had taken
the lead with the 200 series in the United
States while the first British operator was
Dan-Air with the 100 series which began
services on 27 May 1982. Other UK
operators included Air UK which by the
1990s was the only UK airline employing
all three versions of the 146 and another
was British European which by the
mid-1990s which had a 15 strong 146
fleet.
Air Wisconsin operated the 146-200
and 146-300 until bankruptcy in April
- On the West Coast of the USA, the
aircraft also attracted large orders from
Pacific Southwest Airlines and Air Cal but
when these airlines were taken over by
larger carriers, their 146s were all
withdrawn from service.
In 1984 Ansett Group ordered BAe
146-200s and 300s for use by its
subsidiaries, Airlines of Western Australia
and East-West Airlines. The combined
Ansett/TNT group became the largestcustomer for the BAe 146 series. Ansett
New Zealand flowed suit ordering
146-200s and later eight 300s. Another
Antipodean 146 operator, Australian
Airlink bought by Qantas in 1992 and was
rebranded as Quantaslink. It continued to
operate ten 146s but in 2005-6 all of them
were replaced.
Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang visited
Hatfield in June 1985 and an order for ten BAe made substantial efforts to sell a military 146. It developed the Sideloading Tactical Airlifter demonstrator G-BSTA, but none was sold. In April 1990, it flew
into Langenlebarn Air Base in Eastern Austria for a demonstration to the Austrian Defence Ministry. (BAE Systems)
In addition to the
initial 23 QTs (Quiet
Traders) built, there
were also five QCs
(Quiet Convertibles)
constructed. These
could be converted
to passenger
carrying in less than
30 minutes.
(BAE Systems)