92-578: Avro International Aerospace was a British aircraft manufacturer formed in 1993 by British Aerospace to consolidate production of the British Aerospace 146 at Woodford Aerodrome near Manchester. The company produced new variants of the 146 with updated engines and avionics as the Avro RJ70, Avro RJ85 and Avro RJ100 regional jets. British Aerospace decided to split out some of its commercial aircraft activities into separate businesses and as
184-491: A Philippine One-Eleven while on the ground, but was eventually overpowered by the cockpit crew following hours of negotiation. No passengers or crew were injured. Philippine Airlines replaced the type with the Boeing 737 from 1989 onwards. Romania was a major customer for British-produced One-Elevens, with several large orders in the 1970s. These aircraft were often fitted with equipment such as engine ' hush kits '. In May 1977,
276-523: A contract for One-Eleven licence production in Romania. This was to involve the delivery of three complete One-Elevens (two 500-series aircraft and one 475 series) plus the construction of at least 22 in Bucharest, with the reduction of British (and thus increase of Romanian) content. It also involved Romanian production of Rolls-Royce Spey engines and certification of the aircraft to British standards by
368-541: A foreign aircraft type for its fleet. Braniff International Airways, another major US air carrier, also ordered the One-Eleven. Aloha Airlines selected the One-Eleven as its first jet type for interisland service in the Hawaiian Islands . Several British operators, including Dan Air and British Caledonian , made extensive use of the type. Dan Air increased the number of One-Elevens it had in service in
460-886: A major cooperation agreement between British Aerospace and the Romanian government was signed, and this led to a gradual One-Eleven technology transfer to Romania. Full contracts for licence production under the Rombac name followed two years later. Complete airframes and components were provided to assist in the venture. All Rombac One-Elevens manufactured by Romaero were delivered to TAROM and Romavia , which leased them to airlines across both Eastern and Western Europe. Rombac-produced One-Elevens would be adopted by many emerging operators globally, including Lauda Air in Austria, and Aero Asia International in Pakistan. Two planes served as
552-631: A merger had been reportedly agreed between British Aerospace Chairman Richard Evans and DASA CEO Jürgen Schrempp in December 1998. However, when the British General Electric Company (GEC) put its defence electronics business Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) up for sale on 22 December 1998, BAe's management opted to abandon the DASA merger in favour of purchasing its British rival. During 2004, Evans stated that his fear
644-599: A modified cockpit which incorporated instrumentation and avionics from or similar to that of the Hawker Siddeley Trident , for better commonality with the type. Their additional equipment included a more sophisticated autopilot , which allowed autoland in CAT II and included an autothrottle. The modifications went as far as reversing the "on" position of most switches to match that of the Trident; indeed,
736-526: A move described by The Independent as "one of the most spectacular and brutal boardroom coups witnessed in many years." Evans described the troubles as a confluence of events: "our property company [Arlington Securities] was hit with a lousy market. Sales of the Rover Group sank by about a fifth and losses mounted. The government's defence spending volumes underwent a major review. Losses in our commercial aerospace division increased dramatically with
828-403: A much slower pace than foreseen in the contract. Nine aircraft were delivered, with the 10th and 11th aircraft on the production line being abandoned when they were 85% and 70% complete. The first aircraft was delivered to TAROM on 29 December 1982. The Romanian carrier took delivery of all but two of the aircraft produced, the remaining two going to Romavia , the last of which (YR-BRI cn 409)
920-679: A new engine would have resolved noise and fuel economy issues. Following the fall of the Ceaușescu regime , plans were made to restart production using the Rolls-Royce Tay . British aircraft leasing company Associated Aerospace agreed a $ 1 billion deal to purchase 50 Tay-powered One-Elevens fitted with a new electronic glass cockpit for onward leasing to Western customers. The liquidation of Associated Aerospace in April 1991 stopped this deal. Despite this setback, Rombac continued to try to sell
1012-489: A paper calling for a "second generation" jet airliner to operate beside their existing turboprop designs. This led to a variety of designs from the British aerospace industry. Hunting Aircraft started design studies on a jet-powered replacement for the successful Vickers Viscount , developing the 30-seat Hunting 107 . Around the same time, Vickers started a similar development of a 140-seat derivative of its VC10 project,
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#17327759774171104-568: A result Avro International was created, using the name of a predecessor company Avro . The company was to be set up as a 50/50 joint venture with the Taiwan Aerospace Corporation, which was to inject £120 million into the new company. It was the intention to set up a second production line in Taiwan but the finance was not available and the deal collapsed. British Aerospace decided to continue without outside investment due to
1196-546: A result of an order for five aircraft by the Romanian airline Tarom . British production continued until 1984, with a total of 235 aircraft built in Britain. There were two reasons why the production line was kept open for just 35 aircraft delivered over 11 years: first, BAC hoped that Rolls-Royce would develop a quieter and more powerful version of the Spey engine, making possible further One-Eleven developments; second, throughout
1288-455: A result, BAC One-Eleven aircraft registered in any EU Member State are no longer eligible for a normal certificate of airworthiness. In December 2012, the last operational One-Eleven in the UK, which had continued to fly as a military aircraft, was retired. Eventually, on 7 May 2019, the last flyable One-Eleven was retired by Northrop Grumman after serving as an F-35 testbed. The BAC One-Eleven
1380-470: A small airline, LAR, its sole destination being Tel Aviv. One-Elevens remained in widespread use with European operators into the 1990s. Once retired from major operators, they were often sold to smaller airlines, often in the Far East and Africa. Nigeria was a major operator until the type was grounded after a crash in 2002. A major factor for the withdrawal from European service of remaining One-Elevens
1472-547: A stainless steel leading edge, giving it different flex characteristics from the AV-8B. In December 1989, the first RAF squadron to be equipped with the Harrier II was declared operational. In 1979, BAe officially joined the multinational aircraft manufacturer Airbus and acquired a 20% share in the venture, the move effectively reversed a decision made ten years prior in which the UK government had withdrawn its support for
1564-590: A temporary collaboration to produce a single design as per its original mission statement; it had become a long-term brand for the development of further aircraft. By the late 1980s, work had begun on a pair of new wide-body airliners, the biggest to be produced at this point under the Airbus name; these would be launched in the 1990s as the Airbus A330 and the Airbus A340 . During the 1983 Paris Air Show ,
1656-519: The BAe 146 , a short-haul regional airliner that had been previously worked on by Hawker Siddeley. The company marketed it as a quiet and economic turbofan -powered compact airliner that could replace the previous generation of turboprop -powered feeder aircraft. In 1982, the first completed aircraft made its first flight. Upon its launch into service the following year, it was hailed as being "the world's quietest jetliner". In 1993, an upgraded model of
1748-638: The Civil Aviation Authority . A market for up to 80 Romanian-built aircraft was projected at the time, largely in China and other developing economies, and possibly Eastern Europe . The aircraft was redesignated Rombac 1-11 . The Spey 512-14 DW engines were produced under license by Turbomecanica Bucharest. The first Rombac One-Eleven, (YR-BRA cn 401) a series 561RC, was rolled out at Romaero Băneasa factory on 27 August 1982 and first flew on 18 September 1982. Production continued until 1989 at
1840-603: The Lockheed Martin X-35 Joint Strike Fighter team. The following year, BAe acquired the UK operations of Siemens Plessey Systems (SPS) from Siemens , while DASA purchased SPS' German assets. In the 1990s, BAe was the largest exporter based in the United Kingdom; a Competition Commission report released in 2005 calculated a ten-year aggregate figure of £45 billion, with defence sales accounting for approximately 80%. In
1932-558: The Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) consortium. UKAMS would become a wholly owned subsidiary of BAe Dynamics in 1998. In 1995, Saab Military Aircraft and BAe signed an agreement for the joint development and marketing of the export version of the JAS 39 Gripen . In 1996, BAe and Matra Defense agreed to merge their missile businesses into a joint venture called Matra BAe Dynamics . In 1997, BAe joined
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#17327759774172024-576: The Sema Group . BAe acquired Sema's 50% share in 1998. That year also saw BAe begin to experience major difficulties. BAe saw its share price fall below 100p for the first time. On 9 September 1991, the company issued a profits warning and later that week "bungled" the launch of a £432 million rights issue . On 25 September 1991 BAe directors led by CEO Richard Evans ousted the Chairman Professor Sir Roland Smith in
2116-664: The Trident jet airliner for a short time. Similarly, low-rate production of the BAC One-Eleven jet airliner, the Strikemaster two-seat military jet trainer/attack aircraft, and the iconic Concorde supersonic airliner also continued. On 29 July 1976, less than a year prior to BAe's formation, the contract for production of the first batch of the Panavia Tornado , an advanced nuclear-capable fighter bomber,
2208-693: The VC11 . Many other aviation firms also produced designs. In 1960 Hunting, under British government pressure, merged with Vickers-Armstrongs , Bristol , and English Electric to form British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). The new BAC decided that the Hunting project had merit, but that there would be little market for a 30-seat jet airliner. The design was reworked into the BAC 107, a 59-seat airliner powered by two 7,000 pounds-force (31 kN) Bristol Siddeley BS75 turbofan engines. BAC also continued development of
2300-429: The 1970s, eventually replacing its aging de Havilland Comets with the One-Eleven entirely in the 1980s. The type became the airline's main revenue generator. Dan Air would often lease One-Elevens, including Rombac-produced aircraft, to meet short-term demands. During periods of low demand Dan Air would lease its own One-Elevens to other operators. British Caledonian and Dan Air One-Elevens would often be exchanged between
2392-458: The 400 fuselage with the higher power and larger wing of the 500 and was intended for hot and high as well as rough airfield operations; however only ten One-Eleven Mk 475s were sold with one airline being Faucett Peru which operated its series 475 aircraft on scheduled domestic services into several airports with unpaved gravel runways in Peru. In 1977, the One-Eleven 670, a quiet and updated 475,
2484-538: The 400-series, making the airline the largest customer of One-Elevens. The prototype ( G-ASHG ) rolled out of Hurn assembly hall on 28 July 1963, at which point BAC had received orders for the type from a number of operators. On 20 August 1963, the prototype conducted its first flight, painted in BUA livery. The first flight had taken place almost a year before the Douglas DC-9, a rival American jetliner; BAC considered
2576-567: The 500th aircraft to be completed was delivered to West Germany on 19 December 1987. Production of the Tornado ended in 1998, the final batch being delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force , that had ordered a total of 96 IDS Tornados. Aviation author Jon Lake noted that "The Trinational Panavia Consortium produced just short of 1,000 Tornados, making it one of the most successful postwar bomber programs". In 1978, BAe relaunched
2668-539: The 510ED was so different from other One-Elevens and 500 series aircraft that a different type rating was required to fly it. Having faced competition from US aircraft by 1966, by 1970 the One-Eleven also faced competition from newer, smaller aircraft such as the Fokker F28 Fellowship . The F28 was lighter, less complex, and cheaper. The One-Eleven 475 of 1970 was launched to compete with the F28. It combined
2760-507: The Airbus consortium. Airbus' first aircraft, the A300 , had been received with little initial demand, but orders for the airliner had picked up in the late 1970s. By 1979, the consortium had 256 orders for A300, and Airbus had launched its second airliner, the A310 , less than 12 months prior to BAe formally joining the consortium. As time went on, it was becoming clear that Airbus was no longer
2852-570: The BAe 146, referred to as the Avro RJ series, superseded the original; changes included the replacement of the original Lycoming ALF 502 turbofan engines by higher-thrust LF 507 turbofan engines, which were housed in redesigned nacelles . The Avro RJ series also featured a modernised cockpit with EFIS replacing the analogue ADI, HSI, and engine instrumentation. Production of the Avro RJ ended with
Avro International Aerospace - Misplaced Pages Continue
2944-702: The Boeing 727. These factors led to Trans Australia Airlines choosing to purchase the DC-9 instead. In the US, the Civil Aeronautics Board was sceptical of smaller operators' need for jet aircraft and withheld financing, leading to several US customers cancelling their One-Eleven orders. Mohawk Airlines became both the first American operator of the type and the first airline in the US to operate jet aircraft on short haul routes. On 25 June 1965, Mohawk introduced its first One-Eleven into passenger service; by
3036-474: The Japanese market, with the same stretched fuselage and engines as the 700 and a new high-lift wing for operation into regional airports with short runways. The 700 was approximately the same size as the latest DC-9s and 737s and would have been available in time to prevent large-scale defections by One-Eleven clients to McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing. Rolls-Royce was still recovering from bankruptcy, however, and
3128-577: The One-Eleven 300 and 400. The new versions used the Mk. 511 version of the Spey with increased power, allowing more fuel upload and hence longer range. The difference between the 300 and 400 lay in the equipment and avionics , the 400 intended for sales in the United States and thus equipped with US instruments. On 17 July 1963, American Airlines ordered 15 aircraft, bringing the total to 60, plus options for 15. American Airlines eventually bought 30 of
3220-563: The One-Eleven 500 was longer by 8 ft 4in (2.54 m) ahead of the wing and 5 ft 2in (1.57 m) behind it. The wing span was increased by 5 ft (1.5 m), and the latest Mk. 512 version of the Spey was used. The new version sold reasonably well across the world, particularly to European charter airlines. In 1971 it received an incremental upgrade to reduce drag and reduce runway requirements. BEA/British Airways 500 series aircraft (denoted One-Eleven 510ED) varied significantly from other One-Elevens, at BEA's request. The One-Eleven 510ED had
3312-545: The One-Eleven being gradually phased out for the more modern A320 and Boeing 737 jetliners. The last aircraft was removed from regular service with BA in October 1992. A number of ex-BA aircraft saw service with Maersk Air before, in turn, being replaced by the Bombardier CRJ200 in the late 1990s. In Ireland Aer Lingus flew One-Elevens for three decades, in both the scheduled and charter markets. The aircraft
3404-635: The One-Eleven to hold a technological edge. The One-Eleven's lead was of significant importance commercially, since, as shown by the Bonanza Air Lines case, US authorities could refuse to approve sales of foreign aircraft to domestic airlines where an American alternative existed (Bonanza ended up ordering and operating the DC-9). Test flying was conducted by Squadron Leader Dave Glaser . The One-Eleven prototype, flown by test pilot Mike Lithgow , crashed on 22 October 1963 during stall testing, with
3496-406: The One-Eleven with the Boeing 737 in the mid-1990s. In April 1966, Philippine Airlines began operating One Elevens in revenue service. They eventually operated 12 of the later 500-Series. One of these aircraft suffered two separate in-flight bomb explosions, but was repaired each time and continued in service until 1992. In another high-profile incident on 21 May 1982, John Clearno tried to hijack
3588-575: The One-Eleven's control system. It also redesigned the wing's leading edge to smooth airflow into the engines and over the tailplane. The specially modified aircraft used for testing this problem is now preserved at Brooklands Museum . Despite the crash, testing continued and customer confidence remained high. American Airlines and Braniff took up their optional orders and placed more in February 1964. Further orders came from Mohawk, Philippine Airlines and German businessman Helmut Horten , who ordered
3680-556: The One-Eleven, with US operator Kiwi International Air Lines placing a firm order for 11 Tay-engined aircraft with options for an additional five, but these plans never happened. Once in service, the One Eleven found itself in competition with the Douglas DC-9, and was joined by another competitor, the Boeing 737, only a year after its introduction. Advantages over the DC-9 included a lower unit cost. The DC-9 offered more seating, and its engines were interchangeable with those on
3772-625: The airframe's work-share in terms of man-hours. Production took place at McDonnell Douglas' facilities in suburban St Louis , Missouri , and manufacturing by BAe at its Kingston and Dunsfold facilities in Surrey , England. The variant procured for the RAF, which was known as the BAe Harrier II , featured many differences, including avionics fit, armaments and equipment; the wing of the GR5 featured
Avro International Aerospace - Misplaced Pages Continue
3864-477: The airline received some of the last British-made One-Elevens. British Caledonian had begun replacing its One-Elevens with the new Airbus A320, when it was merged with British Airways in 1987 due to financial problems. In both Caledonian and British Airways service, the One-Elevens were a dominant type for the operator's European routes. BA proceeded to rationalise its fleets, retiring many overlapping types,
3956-633: The basis for the multinational Eurofighter Typhoon . In 1986, in conjunction Alenia Aeronautica , CASA and DASA , BAe formed Eurofighter GmbH for the development and production of the Eurofighter. The multinational organisation's head office was established in Hallbergmoos , Bavaria, Germany. The maiden flight of the Eurofighter prototype took place in Bavaria on 27 March 1994, flown by DASA chief test pilot Peter Weger. On 30 January 1998,
4048-696: The board or company. British Aerospace inherited a number of live development programmes from its predecessors. Scottish Aviation was working on a project for a 19-seat turboprop airliner, an upgraded version of the Handley Page Jetstream . BAe placed the Jetstream 31 into production after the first flight of the prototype in March 1980. At the same time, production of Hawker Siddeley's HS 125 business jet, Harrier VTOL jet fighter and HS 748 turboprop airliner continued under BAe, as did that of
4140-720: The choice of developing the X-Eleven or joining European efforts to design an-all new aircraft. In the end, BAe became a full member of Airbus, and the X-Eleven was abandoned, with the European alternative becoming the Airbus A320. The BAC Two-Eleven and Three-Eleven were British airliner studies proposed by the British Aircraft Corporation in the late 1960s which never made it to production. On 9 June 1979, Romanian president Nicolae Ceaușescu signed
4232-481: The committee concludes that the sale to BAe may well have been the best solution for the government." In 1991, BAe acquired a 30% interest in Hutchison Telecommunications through a stock swap deal, where Hutchison was given a controlling stake of 65% in BAe's wholly owned subsidiary Microtel Communications Ltd . In August 1991, BAe formed a naval systems joint venture, BAeSEMA , with
4324-493: The company, during which the public sale was 3.5 times subscribed and at the end of the first day's trading, share prices were 14% above the original offer price. The second phase occurred in May 1985, in which 48.4% shares were sold; this sale was 5.4 times subscribed and the first day closing price was 11% above the initial offer price. The British Government maintained a £1 golden share , which allowed it to veto foreign control of
4416-567: The construction of MI5 's Thames House and MI6 's Vauxhall Cross headquarters has been released, but the Al Yamamah report is still deemed too sensitive. The 2007 documentary film Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines contained evidence that vital data was withheld from a 1999–2000 Australian Senate Inquiry into the health and flight safety issues relating to oil fumes on the British Aerospace 146 . The film also contains an Australian Senator's speech about money being paid by BAe for silence on
4508-584: The cost savings realised with the closure of the BAe 146 production line at Hatfield Aerodrome and the consolidation of production at Woodford. In 1995 an agreement was signed to create a multi-national consortium named Aero International (Regional) (AI(R)) with the Franco-Italian Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) in 1996, to be based at Toulouse. As well as Avro it would also include the other British Aerospace regional aircraft division "Jetstream Aircraft" of Prestwick; Avro continued to build
4600-624: The defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company , in 1999 to form BAE Systems . The company has its origins in the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 , which called for the nationalisation and merger of the British Aircraft Corporation , Hawker Siddeley Aviation , Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation . On 29 April 1977, the new entity
4692-403: The earlier Sud Aviation Caravelle and later Douglas DC-9 . It competed with early Boeing 737 variants and was used by multiple British, European and US airlines, including Romanian operators. It was replaced by the newer Airbus A320 and later 737 variants, as well as by the Bombardier CRJ200 regional jet. Noise restrictions accelerated its transition to African carriers in the 1990s, and
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#17327759774174784-407: The early part of the period Romania was negotiating to buy the entire One-Eleven programme and transfer production of the type to Bucharest . By 1974, BAC invested significant effort into launching the One-Eleven 700. This had a longer fuselage with a 134-seat interior and the projected 16,900 lbf (75 kN) Spey 606 engine producing greater power and less noise. The 700J was planned for
4876-458: The end of 1965 airlines had received 34 aircraft. Demand remained buoyant, with a second production line set up at Weybridge - producing 13 1-11s between 1966 and 1970. In 1967 a larger 119-seat version was introduced as the One-Eleven 500 (also known as Super One-Eleven). This "stretched" version was delayed for at least a year while its launch customer BEA assessed its requirements. This gave competing US aircraft (the Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 737)
4968-438: The end of the decade, the airline operated a fleet of 20 BAC One-Elevens. Buying the jets pushed Mohawk into debt and this, along with an economic downturn and strike action , led to its forced merger with Allegheny Airlines which in turn continued to operate the One-Eleven. In July 1963, American Airlines had placed an order for 15 400-series One-Elevens for £14 million; this was the first time American Airlines had purchased
5060-556: The final four aircraft being delivered in late 2003; a total of 173 Avro RJ aircraft was delivered between 1993 and 2003. BAe developed several advanced models of the Harrier family. In 1978, the Royal Navy received the first BAe Sea Harrier of an initial order for 24. The Sea Harrier was declared operational three years later, being initially embarked on both the first Invincible class aircraft carrier HMS Invincible , and
5152-460: The first executive modification of the aircraft. By the end of 1964, 13 aircraft had rolled off the production line. The One-Eleven was certified and the first handover, of G-ASJI to BUA, was on 22 January 1965. After several weeks of route-proving flights, the first revenue service flew on 9 April from Gatwick to Genoa . Braniff took delivery of its first aircraft on 11 March, while Mohawk received its first on 15 May. Deliveries continued, and by
5244-563: The first production contract for the Eurofighter was signed between Eurofighter GmbH, engine manufacturer Eurojet and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency , the organisation set up to manage the procurement of the aircraft. On 26 September 1985, the UK and Saudi Arabian governments signed the Al-Yamamah arms deal with BAe as prime contractor. The contracts, extended in the 1990s and never fully detailed, involved
5336-416: The former Prime Minister's son Mark Thatcher may have been involved; he has strongly denied receiving payments or exploiting his mother's connections in his business dealings. The National Audit Office investigated the contracts and has so far never released its conclusions – the only NAO report ever to be withheld. The BBC's Newsnight observed that it is ironic that the once classified report analysing
5428-436: The fumes issue. BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111 / BAC 1-11 ) is an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-seat airliner with a British United Airways (BUA) order on 9 May 1961. The prototype conducted its maiden flight on 20 August 1963, and it
5520-560: The larger, 140-seat VC-11 development of the Vickers VC10 which it had inherited. Other competing internal projects, such as the Bristol Type 200 , were quickly abandoned following absorption of Hunting into BAC. Market research showed the 59-seat BAC 107 was too small, and the design was reworked in 1961, with passenger capacity growing to 80 seats, and BS75s being discarded in favour of Rolls-Royce Speys . The revised design
5612-399: The last BAC One-Eleven was retired in 2019. In the 1950s, although the pioneering de Havilland Comet had suffered disasters in service, strong passenger demand had been demonstrated for jet propulsion. Several manufacturers raced to release passenger jets, including those aimed at the short-haul market, such as the Sud Aviation Caravelle . In July 1956, British European Airways published
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#17327759774175704-442: The late 1990s, European defence consolidation became a prevailing practice; European governments wished to see the merger of their defence manufacturers into a single entity, a European Aerospace and Defence Company. This ambition led to numerous reports linking various European defence groups – mainly with each other but also with American defence contractors. In July 1998, merger discussions began between BAe and DASA. Terms for such
5796-415: The launch of the Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP) to develop and fly an advanced fighter technology demonstrator was announced; at this point, the effort was intended to be a partnership between Britain and several of its European neighbours, including West Germany and Italy. The resulting aircraft, the British Aerospace EAP , ended up being primarily developed by BAe as a private venture; it formed
5888-450: The loss of all on board. The investigation led to the discovery of what became known as deep stall or superstall, a phenomenon caused by reduced airflow to the tailplane caused by the combined blanking effects of the wing and the aft-mounted engine nacelles at high angles of attack , which prevents recovery of normal (nose-down) flight. To prevent such stalls, BAC designed and added devices known as stick shakers and stick pushers to
5980-405: The lucrative defence market of the United States. The newly combined company, which was initially referred to as "New British Aerospace", was officially formed on 30 November 1999; it is named BAE Systems . There have been allegations that the Al Yamamah contracts were a result of bribes ("douceurs") to members of the Saudi royal family and government officials. Some allegations suggested that
6072-421: The older HMS Hermes . Following their decisive role in the 1982 Falklands War , several of the lessons learnt from the conflict shaped a new upgrade programme for the fleet authorised in 1984, resulting in the Sea Harrier FRS.2 (later known as FA2 ). The first flight of the prototype took place in September 1988 and a contract was signed for 29 upgraded aircraft in December of that year. The Sea Harrier FA2
6164-547: The opportunity to compensate for the One-Eleven's early penetration of the US domestic market. The British aircraft's initial one-year advantage now turned into a one-year delay, and the stretched series 500 failed to sell in the US. The type saw service with Cayman Airways and Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) in the Caribbean with Cayman Airways operating the series 500 on scheduled services to Houston, Texas (IAH) and Miami, Florida (MIA), and LIAT flying its series 500s into San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU). Bahamasair also operated
6256-401: The performance of the One-Eleven more than adequate and sought to expand operations with the type, including further acquisitions, in the early 1970s in part to replace Vickers Viscounts . BA's 400-Series One-Elevens were all named after areas and locations in the English Midlands , reflecting the type's new base at Birmingham Airport . BA ordered more Series-500 aircraft in the late 1970s and
6348-401: The private jets of Romanian communist leaders Nicolae Ceaușescu and Ion Iliescu during 1986 to 1989. Due to the planes are "extreme rarity and significance for the technical history of Romania," they were added to the “treasure” category of Romania’s mobile cultural heritage in 2021, not allowed to leave the country. Under the BAC licence, 9 planes were made in Romania. Some of them served in
6440-440: The recession in the airline industry." In mid-1992, BAe wrote off £1 billion of assets, largely as part of redundancies and restructuring of its regional aircraft division. This was the largest asset write-off in UK corporate history. General Electric Company (GEC), later to sell its defence interests to BAe, came close to acquiring BAe at this time. BAe cut 47% of its workforce (60,000 out of 127,000), 40,000 of which were from
6532-482: The regional aircraft division. Evans decided to sell non-core business activities, which included the Rover Group, Arlington Securities, BAe Corporate Jets, BAe Communications and Ballast Nedam . Although the rationale of diversification was sound (to shield the company from cyclical aerospace and defence markets) the struggling company could not afford to continue the position: "We simply could not afford to carry two core businesses, cars and aerospace. At one point Rover
6624-619: The regional jet family at Woodford but they were marketed under the AIR branding. AI(R) was disbanded only two years later. British Aerospace British Aerospace plc ( BAe ) was a British aircraft , munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire . It purchased Marconi Electronic Systems ,
6716-415: The stretched 500 model with service between Nassau (NAS) and Miami among other routes while Guatemalan carrier Aviateca operated its series 500 aircraft into both Miami and New Orleans, Louisiana (MSY). Costa Rican airline LACSA operated the series 500 as well on its services to Miami. Another air carrier which operated the series 500 into Miami was Belize Airways Ltd. Compared with earlier versions,
6808-455: The supply of Panavia Tornado strike and air defence aircraft, BAe Hawk trainer jets, Rapier missile systems, infrastructure works and naval vessels. The Al Yamamah deals are valued at anything up to £20 billion and still continue to provide a large percentage of BAE Systems' profits. BAe acquired Royal Ordnance , the British armaments manufacturer, for £190 million on 22 April 1987. The German armaments specialist Heckler & Koch
6900-512: The two airlines on temporary and permanent arrangements. Passenger demand grew on several key One-Eleven routes, exceeding the Series 500's larger capacity during the 1980s, which began to force airlines to use other planes. Before the formation of British Airways (BA), some predecessor companies, British European Airways and Cambrian Airways , were operating the One-Eleven. Their fleets were inherited by BA. British Airways Regional Division found
6992-537: The uprated Spey failed to materialise. An altogether less ambitious 700 made a reappearance in 1978 as a 500 with specially "hush-kitted" Speys which would be replaced by the proposed RB432 in the mid-1980s. This was offered to British Airways in competition with Boeing 737-200s, but was ultimately rejected. In 1975, BAC launched the One-Eleven 800, a further stretched aircraft to be powered by two 22,000 lbf (98 kN) CFM International CFM56 high-bypass turbofans and seating 144 to 161 passengers, but this project
7084-724: The world, and BAC expected orders for as many as 400. On 9 May 1961 the One-Eleven was publicly launched when British United Airways placed the first order for ten One-Eleven 200s. On 20 October Braniff International Airways in the United States ordered six. Mohawk Airlines sent representatives to Europe seeking out a new aircraft to bring them into the jet era, and on 24 July 1962 concluded an agreement for four One-Elevens. Orders followed from Kuwait Airways for three, and Central African Airways for two. Braniff subsequently doubled their order to 12, while Ireland's Aer Lingus ordered four. Western Airlines ordered ten but later cancelled. Bonanza Air Lines also ordered three in 1962 but
7176-399: Was "day one" for the new company, which became the world's second-largest aerospace company after Boeing and the second-largest European arms manufacturer after BAE Systems. The GEC merger to create a solely British company, compared to the prospective Anglo-German company that would have resulted from merging with DASA, was promoted as having superior prospects for further penetration of
7268-403: Was abandoned in 1976 in favour of a new derivative of the One-Eleven with a wider fuselage capable of six-abreast seating. This new airliner was unveiled later that year as the X-Eleven, which would be powered by two CFM-56s or Pratt & Whitney JT10D engines and seat up 166 passengers. In 1977, BAC merged with Hawker Siddeley to form British Aerospace (BAe) and the new company was faced with
7360-634: Was delivered on 1 January 1993. There were three reasons why the Rombac initiative failed. Romania's economy and international position deteriorated to the point where supplies needed for One-Eleven manufacturing slowed to a trickle, with hard currency restrictions delaying the delivery of components sourced outside Romania; the market foreseen by the Romanians failed to show an interest, though some Rombac machines were leased to European operators. The One-Eleven's noise level and fuel economy failed to keep pace with US and West European competition. Adopting
7452-579: Was eating up about £2 billion of our banking capacity." BAe Corporate Jets and Arkansas Aerospace were sold to Raytheon in 1993. In 1994, the Rover Group was sold to BMW and British Aerospace Space Systems was sold to Matra Marconi Space . In 1998, BAe's shareholding of Orange plc was reduced to 5%. The Orange shareholding was a legacy of the 30% stake in Hutchison Telecommunications (UK) Ltd. In 1994, BAeSEMA, Siemens Plessey and GEC-Marconi formed UKAMS Limited as part of
7544-531: Was first delivered to BUA on 22 January 1965. The 119-seat, stretched 500 series was introduced in 1967. Total production amounted to 244 until 1982 in the United Kingdom and between 1982 and 1989 in Romania where nine Rombac One-Elevens were licence-built by Romaero . The short haul , narrowbody aircraft was powered by aft-mounted Rolls-Royce Spey low-bypass turbofans, a configuration similar to
7636-622: Was fitted with the Blue Vixen radar, which was described as one of the most advanced pulse doppler radar systems in the world. In August 1981, BAe and the American aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II . Under this agreement, BAe was effectively a subcontractor rather than a full partner, receiving 40 per cent of
7728-513: Was folded into this division after BAe acquired it four years later. In 1988, BAe purchased the Rover Group from the British government of Margaret Thatcher for £150 million. The sale was controversial due to opaque financial arrangements between the government and BAe; however the House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee was said to believe that "in spite of a catalogue of complaints,
7820-513: Was formed in the United Kingdom as a statutory corporation. Under the provisions of the British Aerospace Act 1980 (c. 26), on 1 January the statutory corporation was transferred to a limited company, which then re-registered as a public limited company (plc), under the name "British Aerospace Public Limited Company", on 2 January 1981. BAe was privatised in two main phases, the first in February 1981, involving 51.6% shares of
7912-419: Was offered to the Japanese domestic market, also failing to sell. Total deliveries for 1965 were 34 aircraft, while 200 aircraft had been built by the end of 1971. At this point orders slowed to a trickle, with production being suspended in 1975, although marketing and design continued, and it was always planned to restart production when sufficient orders had been received. BAC restarted production in 1977 as
8004-522: Was redesignated the BAC 111 (later known as the One-Eleven), with BAC abandoning the VC11 project to concentrate on the more promising One-Eleven. Unlike contemporary British airliners such as the Hawker Siddeley Trident , the One-Eleven was not designed specifically to meet the needs of the state-owned British European Airways or British Overseas Airways Corporation , but on the needs of airlines around
8096-456: Was signed. It was developed and produced via a multinational company, Panavia Aircraft GmbH , of which BAe was one of several companies to be heavily involved. On 10 July 1979, the maiden flight of a production Tornado occurred. On 5 and 6 June 1979, the first aircraft were delivered to the RAF and German Air Force respectively. On 25 September 1981, the first Italian Tornado was delivered. The Tornado would be produced in large numbers,
8188-563: Was stopped by the US Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), which claimed that subsidies would be needed to operate a jet on Bonanza's routes, an action claimed by some at the time to be protectionism . The CAB also stopped Frontier Airlines and Ozark Air Lines from ordering One-Elevens, although allowing Ozark to order the similar Douglas DC-9 and Frontier to order Boeing 727-100s . The CAB had also unsuccessfully tried to block Mohawk's orders. In May 1963, BAC announced
8280-602: Was that an American defence contractor would acquire MES and challenge both British Aerospace and DASA. Schrempp was angered by BAe's reversal, and opted to pursue other partner companies for DASA to merge with. On 11 June 1999, the Spanish aircraft company CASA a memorandum of understanding for such a merger. On 14 October 1999, DASA agreed to merge with Aérospatiale-Matra to create the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). 10 July 2000
8372-751: Was the Stage III noise abatement regulations , which came into effect from March 2003. Bringing the Rolls-Royce Spey engines into compliance with the noise regulations with hush kits was expensive, and many European operators chose to dispose of the type from their fleets. In 2010, the European Aviation Safety Agency accepted an Airbus request to revoke the Type Certificate for the BAC One-Eleven. As
8464-584: Was used on less-busy European routes into the 1990s. The One-Eleven was important in budget airline Ryanair 's early years: it had sought an aircraft for low-fare scheduled services from regional airports, and obtained One-Elevens. The first of these, a Rombac-produced 500-Series, entered service on the Dublin–Luton route on 1 December 1986. Ryanair's fleet expanded to six aircraft by 1988, with three leased from Romania. These leased aircraft were later replaced with former BA One-Elevens. Ultimately Ryanair replaced
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