In contrast, Tronos developed its own
conversion for aerial re ghting company
Neptune Aviation using the 146-200 with a
tank sited inside the fuselage. Neptune now
has nine 146 airtankers.
A third company, Air Spray, displayed its
newly converted 146-200 air tanker N907AS
at the Aerial Fire ghting Conference at
Sacramento McClellan Airport on March 12,- It still needs to pass tests to obtain the
approval of the Interagency Airtanker Board
before it can start work.
Work on the conversion of a second 146
is well under way at Air Spray, with three
more to follow. Contracts awarded for the
2018 re season show that BAe146/Avro
RJ will be the most numerous aircraft to be
deployed on these taxing missions.STILL IN DEMAND
A total of 394 BAe146/Avro RJs
were built, with 390 delivered before
production ceased in 2002. Besides
it conventional use as an airliner, newniches have been found that will keep
the aircraft in the skies: bombing forest
res, researching the weather, training
test pilots at Boscombe Down and as
a military transport. The latest news is
that in a research programme sponsored
by Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemens, a
BAe 146 is due to y in 2020 with one of
its engines replaced by a two-megawatt
electric motor. Almost four decades after
the rst prototype’s debut ight, the 146/RJ
is clearly still in demand.54 Aviation News incorporating Jets September 2018
PILOT’S VIEW
A pilot who ew the BAe 146 for many years with
Ansett New Zealand discussed the type’s main
attributes with the author. He said the 146’s four
engines give it a performance advantage in ying
out of challenging airports, such as London
City with its necessary steep ascent, or in New
Zealand, which is noted for its mountainous
terrain. It can more easily clear an obstacle
during a single-engine failure after take-off,
losing just 25% of its thrust compared with a
twin-engined machine that loses half. It is more
economical on three engines than on four, it is a
little slower, but can be own further.
He went on to say that a 146 behaves like a
turboprop and has heavy manual controls. It
makes it a good stepping stone from a propeller
airliner to a jet, such as a 737, as it has aps
only, no leading-edge devices or thrust reversers
and less sweep on the wing. It has an excellent
undercarriage and lands more like a turboprop
than a jet. The large rear air brake gives
immediate drag on approach and on the ground.
If there is the need to overshoot the pilot can
immediately close the rear air brake and y away.
On touchdown the drill is: deploy the lift dumpers,
get the wheels down on the runway and brake –
in that order.Above left: BA CityFlyer used a mixed
eet of ten RJ100s and two RJ85s from
March 2007 until April 2013. Illustrated is
an RJ100.
Left: A Neptune BAe 146 airtanker in action.
BAE Systems
Below: BAe 146-200, D-AWUE, of WDL taking
off from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris,
on February 10, 2018. The carrier has four
146s all of which are on lease to easyJet.
AirTeamImages.com/Matthieu Douhaire