on board or an executive aircraft with an
even smaller number but in greater
luxury.In service
The first J31 delivered new to the USA
was the fifth aircraft, registered N331JS. It
staged on its 4,600ml flight via Reykjavik,
Narssarssuag, Goose Bay, Montreal and
Windsor to Little Rock, Arkansas where it
was handed over to a completion
contractor. Over 16 weeks it was fitted out
with an executive 8/9 seat interior. In the
meantime, the first customer to put the
aircraft into operation was German-
owned Contactair. Early UK operators
included McAlpine Aviation and
Birmingham Executive. In 1983 the
Jetstream 31 received 44 orders
establishing itself throughout Europe and
in North America where it proved very
successful. Some J31s appeared in the
colours of BA as franchise partners, such
as Danish commuter airline, Sun-Air
which had nine J31s and two of the larger
J41s.
At the height of its popularity it wore
the liveries of Eastern, PanAm, United,
American, Northwest, TWA and USAir. To
maintain its market position the Jetstream
Super 31 (aka Jetstream 32) was
announced at the 1987 Paris Air show
with up-rated 1,020hp TPE-331s engines,
increased cruising speed, higher
operating weights, double the range and
with improved cabin comfort. It also has
emergency windows each side of the
fuselage. Production of the J31 and J32
took place in tandem from April to
October 1988 when all aircraft were
completed to J32 standard.
On 24 May 1989 WestAir placed an
order for 37 J31s with options on a further
15 taking total orders to over 300. But in
1992 orders began to dry up, production
slowed and stopped at Prestwick by the
end of 1993. Two uncompleted aircraft
remained at Prestwick, the final one of
these flying in May 1997.40 The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017
The lengthened Jetstream 41
Encouraged by the success of the
Jetstream 31 BAe had decided to develop
the design further and launched the
Jetstream 41 in 1989. The fuselage was
lengthened with an 8ft 3in plug forward
of the wing and a 7ft 9in aft increasing its
length to 63ft 2in to accommodate 29
passengers. In addition to providing the
space for ten more passengers, the
extension allowed the introduction of a
forward cabin door incorporating air stairs.
A large door at the rear gave access to an
enlarged luggage hold. Unlike the J31
where the wing-fuselage junction led to
the protrusion of the main spar into the
cabin aisle the J41’s wing was attached
beneath the fuselage.The Jetstream 41 was a major
alteration of the original design with more
powerful AlliedSignal TPE331 1500hp
turboprops in new nacelles with
five-bladed propellers. The revised
nacelles were utilised in the stowage of
the twin-wheel main undercarriage units
which retracted into them unlike the
inwards into the wing as on the J31. The
J41 had EFIS glass displays, a reprofiled
cockpit window layout. With all these
modifications, the Jetstream 41 was
certified as a new aircraft.
Development of the aircraft was a
three-way risk share with BAe investing
£100m and Field Aircraft and Swiss
manufacturer, Pilatus contributing £30m.
Field’s was tasked with designing and This J41 A6-ESK
now flies with SAMA
Airlines in the
United Arab
Emirates.
(BAE SYSTEMS)G-MAJP flew with Eastern Airways from 2006 until 2011 and now flies with
EasyFly in Costa Rica. Both Eastern Airways and EasyFly are large operators
of the J41. This photo shows how the Jetstream 41’s fin was increased in size
after initial flight testing. (BAE SYSTEMS)