Author: Close the curtains
Last month (February 2022) the RAF announced the retirement of the last four BAe 146 aircraft, which were "VIP aircraft". Instead, it has purchased two French-made Falcon 900 Business Jets (Falcon 900LX). This means that britain, which once had a strong aircraft manufacturing capability, will "no longer be domestically produced" by its Royal Air Force.
Figure: BAe 146 (note the tail bumper) Network picture
The Royal Air Force has been tight in recent years, and like the introduction of the BAe 146 in that year, the two Falcon 900s are also "second-hand" - some flying friends commented that this is really not "face (face)". But its spirit of thrift and thrift is indeed worth learning.
Two of the four decommissioned BAe 146s, the Type 100, will be sent to the museum, and these two aircraft are older than the 146s abandoned by the mainland in Lanzhou, and it is incredible that they have been dragging British "dignitaries" around for decades. Two other slightly newer Models, the 200, will be sold to The Australian company Pionair, but they are also more than 30 years old and do not know how much silver they can get back.
Photo: BAe146 abandoned in Lanzhou Photo: LaCurtain
The BAe 146 is the pride of the British aviation industry and the only "modern airliner" in the UK. It was born in the early 1980s and discontinued in 2001, producing 387 of them. The aircraft was originally called the "British Aerospace BAe 146", and after the merger with Marconi, it was called "BAE Systems 146", and there were three models: the -100, -200 and -300. In 1992, after the performance improvement, avro was set up to be responsible for production, so it was called "BAE Systems Avro 146" in the later period, and there were three models of RJ70, RJ85 and RJ100.
The BAe 146 can carry 70-100 people and fly up to 2900 km at a speed of 800 km, suitable for regional operations. It has many users in Europe, such as Air France, SwissAir, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, etc. It is characterized by a small size but has 4 turbofan engines (Lycoming AFL502, etc.), so the take-off and landing distance is short, and because the engine fan diameter is not large, the noise is very small.
Photo: Photonair, Australia, web image
There are still nearly 100 BAe 146s flying worldwide, from passenger aircraft to cargo aircraft to business jets. Mainly because of its high safety factor, many governments and militaries are still reluctant to retire. For example, the Government of Morocco, the Government of Indonesia and the Bahrain Air Force.
BAe's passenger traffic is now mainly in Iran, Australia, Canada and the Philippines. For example, the Australian Pionair company just mentioned, which is a small company that operates both passenger and cargo, is popular because some models of BAe 146 can "quickly convert passengers and goods". In Sweden and Libya, the BAe 146 also flies.
Photo: BAe146 over Manila Photo: LaCurtain
Some small companies in the Philippines are still using it to run passenger transport, and La zong has seen it at the Manila airport. In addition, because of its good short-range performance and relatively wide belly, some companies in the United States and Canada use it to "extinguish fires", adding up to more than a dozen. Some "institutions" also buy it, such as the Royal Test Pilots School with two, and the famous Formula One management company, which also has a BAe 146 Business Jet.
Because it has been discontinued for more than 20 years, some BAe 146s have been "abandoned" without finding spare parts. But together with the abandoned ones, there are more than 80 BAe 146s worldwide that have the potential to fly. In the United States, in Chile, in Australia, in South Africa, this phenomenon is widespread. In fact, in the mainland, China Eastern Airlines also has 7 BAe 146s in "saved" state, including two -100s and five -300s.
Photo: Gathered in Lanzhou in 2005 Photo: LaCurtain
Unfortunately, the preservation management of the mainland is very bad, and it is almost impossible to fly. So why not sell them for some money, as the ROYALF did?