Pratt & Whitney Canada PW124 with 2,570
shp driving six-bladed 13ft 9in BAe /
Hamilton Standard propellers, a
combination which proved remarkably
quiet and fuel efficient. In addition to the
lengthened fuselage and for sake of
appearance, rather than aerodynamics,
the original 748 nose was sharpened and
the vertical tail was swept back. The new
aircraft had four doors with airstairs fitted
to the front passenger door.
While the structure was based on the
748 with modifications, there was a
wholly new electrical system, new
environmental control system, revised
hydraulics system and a new landing
gear. The initial intention was for the UK
Civil Aviation Authority to certify the ATP
as a modified 748 but the inclusion of all
these new systems and equipment such
as EFIS and FADEC (Fully Automated
Digital Engine Control) meant that the
aircraft’s systems were 85% new and so it
had to be certified as a new type, which
delayed the certification schedule.
BAe stated that development costs
totalled £120m, modest compared with
the other new turboprops. The ATP is 27%- The company claimed that had it
gone for a completely new aircraft it
would have cost around £350 million and
produced only a 4% improvement in
performance over that of the ATP.
Sales
Prior to its first flight In early 1986 the
ATP’s sales were poor. The ATP’s rivals had
been way ahead at the same point. The
Fokker 50 had had 38 orders and 12
options at its first flight, while the ATR42
had 37 orders and 22 options two months
before it flew. British Midland Airways had
three firm orders for the ATP with two
options, the first for delivery in August
1987, and Antigua-based LIAT had two on
order with two options for delivery from- By this time the Franco-Italian
ATR42 was selling well and in 1986 the
70-seater ATR72 was announced setting
this by now established new design
The ATP was
rebranded as the
Jetstream 61 and
production moved
to Prestwick. The
first J61 completed
at Prestwick was
G-JLXI. (i.e. J for
Jetstream and 61 in
Roman numerals.) It
made its maiden
flight in May 1994
but with the closure
of the ATP/J61
programme was
scrapped three
years later. (Avro
Heritage)28 The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017
head-to-head against a revamped design.First flight
The first ATP (G-MATP) painted in BAe
colours made its maiden flight at 10:00 on
6 August 1986 – a date set two years
earlier by Charles Masefield, former Test
pilot and the Managing Director of
Woodford. Masefield had rightly imposed
this date when he felt that the project
was beginning to run late. The weather
was very bad so the prototype started its
short take-off run in spray from the
rain-soaked Woodford runway. The
two-and-a-half-hour flight was concluded
by a smooth landing in the wet, with a
24kt crosswind (the design figure was
30kt in the dry). Chief test pilot ‘Robbie’
Robinson reported a trouble-free flight.
G-MATP appeared at the Farnborough Air
Show and impressed onlookers with its
low noise level, due primarily to its
six-blade, slow-speed propellers.
With the hardware in the air BAe was
confident that the aircraft would begin to
make an impact on the civil market, and
the company continued to study militaryapplications in maritime patrol and AEW.
There was also a continuing dialogue
with the USSR on sales of the ATP for
intercity use, which regrettably came to
naught.
The second aircraft G-BMYM painted
in British Midland’s livery did not fly until
six months after the prototype, in
February 1987. The third ATP, G-BMYK also
in British Midland livery, flew in June that
year. G-MATP was tasked with clearing
handling and cold trials in Finland and
Iceland, aircraft number two, systems and
hot and high trials in Spain and Arizona
while the third ATP (a furnished aircraft)
backed up these programmes and
conducted tests on the environmental
control system, cabin noise, evacuation
procedures and 200hr of route proving.
Certification of the ATP was granted in
March 1988 and included 1,290hr of flying
with three aircraft in Finland, Iceland,
Spain, and the USA as well as in the UK.Sales and service
The ATP started working for its living on 9
May 1988. The first operator of the type,
British Midland (BMA), flew its maiden
commercial sortie out of Birmingham for
Brussels at the beginning of a planned
eight-sector day, which included
schedules to the Channel Islands and
another rotation to Brussels.
Unfortunately, in the same month, Wings
West an American Eagle feeder carrier
cancelled its order for ten. However
American FAA certification followed in
late 1988 and the following year in what
seemed a breakthrough, Air Wisconsin
ordered 14 with deliveries from 1989 to
1991, but ceased operations with the
type in 2000.
In March 1988 just prior to the ATP’s
entry into service British Airways ordered
eight and eventually operated a fleet of
14 on regional services from January 1989
until early 1999. Another UK carrier, Manx
Airlines, a subsidiary of BMA took over
BMA’s ATPs and became a major operator
of the ATP with a fleet eventually totalling
17 which served from 1989 to 1995. Other
operators included the Azorean operator A close-up of the
Large Freight Door
fitted to the ATPF.
This installation has
made the ATPF into
an effective
freighter and eleven
remain in service.
(BAE SYSTEMS)