The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017 43passengers while the larger 146-200
could seat either 82-102 respectively. Its
high wing layout with four Avco
Lycoming (later Textron Lycoming)
ALF502s provided good airfield
performance, which meant that costly
features such as leading edge slats and
thrust reversers could be omitted on the
grounds of weight and complexity. The
engines were very quiet and in the years
to come this was to be one of the
aircraft’s major selling points.
Design, final assembly, nose
manufacture and flight test of the 146
was centred at the Hatfield plant.
Woodford was responsible for the rear
fuselage and tail, Filton for the centre
fuselage, and wing surfaces, tail and rear
fuselage while Textron built the wing in
the USA.
Market potential
British Aerospace’s analysis of this market
was that the 146-100 carrying
approximately 85 passengers with its
excellent airfield performance could
replace the twin turboprop aircraft flying
from basic airfields and offer much
greater capacity at higher speeds than
the existing airliners. These airfields might
be situated in remote areas at high
altitudes, have challenging obstacle
clearance, very short and possibly
unprepared runways or, conversely, they
might be in city centres where noise
would be a critical issue. The larger
146-200 with 100 passengers could
replace the larger types where airfield
performance was less critical but still
important.
The company predicted that the
146-200 would drive older twin jets, such
as the Boeing 737 or BAC One-Eleven
from the skies or require them to have
expensive alterations, which would also
incur a weight penalty. This analysis
proved wrong as airlines fitted ‘hush kits’
to their aircraft to enable them to meet
noise criteria. Later versions of the
American types had improved, noise
compliant engines.
The total market for the 146 was
estimated as more than 1,500 aircraft
seating 70-120 passengers and BAe’s
expectation was that it would sell 400 of
the type with breakeven at 250 if the
American regional airline market were
penetrated - which did happen. The
overall sales prediction proved unrealistic,
for although almost 400 146/RJs were
produced a large proportion of these
were leased to airlines, rather than
outright sales, and therefore the aircraft
continued to be owned by the
manufacturer.The lasT BriTish airliner – The Bae 146
The manufacturer rightly expected
the average fleet size to be small, from
only two aircraft initially, developing to
between six and ten. This small fleet
size would make selling the 146
challenging and BAe foresaw only a
few operators with more than 15
aircraft.Roll out and first
146-200 order
On 20 May 1981, the day of the 146’s
roll out, a breakthrough was achieved
with a launch order from US regional
Air Wisconsin for four 146-200s with
options on four more. This order was a
benchmark, emphasising the
significance of the stretched 200 series,
which was to prove the best-selling
version of the type. This order
stimulated other American carriers;
such as Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA)
to follow suit. The largest
version of the 146
design was the
146-300. The first
146 G-SSSH was cut
into three and
received two
fuselage plugs to
make it the 146-300
prototype.
Re-registered as
G-LUXE it is seen
here taxiing to a
halt after its first
flight on the 1 May
1987.
(Derek Ferguson) Air Wisconsin’s
146-200 N2191UE in
United Express
livery. Air Wisconsin
was franchised by
United Express to
operate regional
services.
(BAE SYSTEMS)