| I | | | | forward-retracting nose wheel and two |
| Aircraft manufacturers | | | | outboard-displaced main units which retracted inwards |
| had, for some four decades, attempted to design | | | | into blister-type fairings on the fuselage’s sides. |
| the elusive DC-3 replacement with different | | | | All featured Dunlop wheels, while the main gear’s |
| powerplant types, including the piston-engined Convair | | | | multi-disc carbon brakes had only been previously |
| 240/340/440 and Martin 2-0-2/4-0-4 series and the | | | | employed by Concorde. |
| turboprop Vickers Viscount, Fokker F.27 Friendship, | | | | Two 3,000-psi hydraulic |
| and Hawker Siddeley HS.748. The latest attempt | | | | systems powered the trailing edge flaps, the petal air |
| had been made by the British aircraft industry when | | | | brakes, the undercarriage, and the wheel brakes. A |
| both de Havilland and Hawker Siddeley had conducted | | | | Garrett AiResearch GTCP 36-100M auxiliary power |
| market research and formulated designs for a | | | | unit had provided cabin conditioning and engine |
| small-capacity, short-range airliner powered by | | | | starting power and had been operable up to 20,000 |
| pure-jet engines during 1959 and 1960. | | | | feet. |
| Of the two, de Havilland, | | | | With an 84,000-pound |
| with its previous Rapide, Dove, and Heron | | | | maximum take off weight, the BAe-146-100 had an |
| pistonliners, had had considerable regional aircraft | | | | 880-nautical mile range with its maximum payload and |
| experience and had designed the world’s first | | | | a 1,620-nautical mile range with its maximum fuel. |
| pure-jet airliner in the form of the quad-engined | | | | First flying on September 3, |
| DH.106 Comet. An initial study for such a DC-3 | | | | 1981, on a one-hour, 35-minute fight at a |
| replacement, designated the DH.123, had featured a | | | | 64,000-pound take off weight, the BAe-146-100 had |
| 60.6-foot overall length, an 81.3-foot wingspan, two | | | | been pronounced as “remarkably stable, very |
| 1,150 shp Gnone turboprops attached to a high wing, | | | | responsive, and delightfully quiet” by its test pilot |
| and a 22,100-pound maximum take off weight. So | | | | and had been awarded its Civil Aviation Authority |
| configured, it would have accommodated between | | | | (CAA) type certificate on February 4, 1983. FAA |
| 32 and 40 passengers, or slightly more than the | | | | certification followed three months later, on May 20. |
| DC-3’s standard 21 to 28. | | | | Dan-Air Services, Ltd., the |
| De Havilland, subsequently | | | | type’s launch customer, had placed two firm and |
| taken over by Hawker Siddeley and redesignated the | | | | two optioned orders the previous September, and |
| “de Havilland Division,” had forcibly | | | | inaugurated it into scheduled service on March 1, |
| discontinued design work on the DH.123 because it | | | | 1983, with an intermittently-provided aircraft from |
| would have competed too closely with Hawker | | | | British Aerospace, on the London/Gatwick-Berne, |
| Siddeley’s own Rolls Royce Dart-powered Avro | | | | Switzerland route, before it deployed its own aircraft |
| 748 which had seated 44. Nevertheless, existing | | | | on the route as of May 27. The BAe-146 had been |
| turboprop competition, coupled with de | | | | the only pure-jet airliner which had been capable of |
| Havilland’s belief that pure-jet technology would | | | | operating from Berne’s short runway. |
| attract considerable passenger appeal, resulted in the | | | | The larger, BAe-146-200, |
| mid-1960 DH.126 design proposal, which featured the | | | | with a five-frame stretch, featured a new, 93.10-foot |
| later-standard configuration of most low-capacity, | | | | overall length and could accommodate 100 |
| short-range twin-jets, such as the SE.210 Caravelle, | | | | passengers in a six-abreast configuration at a 33-inch |
| the BAC-111, and the DC-9, with a swept wing, | | | | seat pitch or a maximum of 112 at a 29-inch pitch, |
| aft-mounted engines, and a t-tail. Powered by two | | | | but otherwise retained the BAe-146-100’s |
| 3,860 thrust-pound de Havilland PS92 jet engines, it | | | | wingspan. The aircraft, with a 93,000-pound |
| had featured a 60.3-foot length for accommodation | | | | maximum take off weight, had a 1,130-nautical mile |
| of 30 passengers and a 62-foot wingspan. | | | | range with a full payload or a 1,570-nautical mile range |
| Several iterations had | | | | with full fuel. |
| introduced progressive, although moderate wingspan, | | | | First flying on August 1, |
| thrust, and gross weight increases by 1964, but | | | | 1982 and registered G-WISC, the type had been |
| further development had been hampered by four | | | | inaugurated into service the following year, on June |
| fundamental obstacles: | | | | 27, by Air Wisconsin, which had placed an order for |
| 1. Suitable pure-jet engine availability. | | | | four firm and four optioned aircraft, configured for |
| 2. Discontinuation of promising engine development | | | | 100, on May 20, 1981, the same day that the |
| because of several mid-1960s British engine | | | | shorter-fuselage variant had first rolled out. Joining a |
| manufacturer mergers. | | | | fleet of Fairchild Swearingen Metro IIs and de |
| 3. Higher seat-mile costs over DC-3-like sectors for | | | | Havilland of Canada DHC-7 turboprops, the |
| which the new design had been intended. | | | | BAe-146-200 had been deployed on average, 127-mile |
| 4. The inability to exploit a pure-jet airliner’s | | | | route sectors, rarely climbing higher than 17,000 feet, |
| speed over relatively short sectors. | | | | and by the spring of 1984, it had served 16 |
| Hawker Siddeley, believing | | | | mid-western cities, operating 14 daily sectors per |
| that the turboprop engine had only been interim-step | | | | day. It ultimately replaced the turboprops. |
| technology, had equally embarked on a pure-jet | | | | The largest single order, for |
| airliner design program of its own long before the de | | | | 20 firm and 25 options, had been placed by another |
| Havilland merger, although its low-wing, aft-engined, | | | | US regional carrier, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), |
| t-tailed configurations had strongly resembled its | | | | while other US operators had included Air-Pac of the |
| former competitor’s. | | | | Aleutian Islands in Alaska, Aspen Airways, Air-Cal, |
| Attempting to minimize | | | | American Airlines, Discovery Airways of Hawaii, |
| development costs by utilizing the cockpit, forward | | | | Presidential Airways, Royal West, USAir, and WestAir |
| fuselage, systems, and passenger cabin of its own | | | | Commuter. |
| Avro 748, it had proposed the HS.131 in 1964, which | | | | The BAe-146 had been the |
| had featured similar 62.8-foot overall lengths and | | | | first pure-jet to have been certified to operate from |
| 67-foot wingspans as de Havilland’s comparable | | | | London City STOLport, located in the docklands |
| DH.126, but its projected 5,000 thrust-pound Rolls | | | | region, because of its steep approach capability, |
| Royce RB.172 engines had enabled it to offer a | | | | short-runway performance, and low noise emission. |
| higher, 30,000-pound gross weight and a | | | | In order to further expand |
| 32-passenger capacity. | | | | its product line, offer increased passenger capacity, |
| Faced, like de Havilland, with | | | | and more adequately compete with Fokker’s |
| engine unsuitability and unavailability, Hawker Siddeley | | | | own advanced, stretched F.100, British Aerospace |
| devised iterations round projected powerplants. A | | | | offered a second stretch over its original |
| radical configuration change, introduced by the HS.136 | | | | BAe-146-100, which had entailed 8.1-foot forward and |
| of 1967, for instance, had resulted in a low-wing | | | | 7.8-foot aft fuselage plugs in comparison to the |
| aircraft powered by two 9,730 thrust-pound Rolls | | | | BAe-146-200. The resultant version, the |
| Royce Trent engines with a conventional tail | | | | BAe-146-300, featured a strengthened center section |
| accommodating 57 passengers in a five-abreast cabin | | | | fuselage and a new 100-foot, 8 ¼-inch overall |
| and offering a 54,000-pound maximum take off | | | | length, but otherwise employed the same wingspan |
| weight. Although the arrangement would have | | | | and ALF-502R-5 turbofans. Single-class, five-abreast |
| eliminated the aft-mounted, t-tail’s propensity | | | | capacity, at a 31-inch seat pitch, had been 103, |
| toward deep-stall and flame-out conditions, and its | | | | although 128 high-density passengers, at a 29-inch |
| close ground proximity would have facilitated | | | | seat pitch, could be accommodated with the addition |
| passenger, aircraft servicing, and maintenance access, | | | | of type III emergency exits installed in the center |
| the potential for foreign object debris (FOD) engine | | | | fuselage. The 97,500-pound variant, with a |
| ingestion had yielded to the proposed HS.144 two | | | | 1,040-nautical mile range with a full payload and a |
| years later, which had once again reverted to the | | | | 1,520-nautical mile range with full fuel, had first flown |
| now standard aft-engine configuration. | | | | on May 1, 1987, after the BAe-146-100 prototype |
| Progressive design | | | | (G-SSSH) had been converted to this standard and |
| evolutions and dimensional and thrust increases had | | | | reregistered G-LUXE. |
| intermittently resulted in an airplane whose passenger | | | | Air Wisconsin, again launch |
| capacity had been double that of the DC-3’s, | | | | customer for the version, had taken delivery of its |
| and with the Rolls Royce bankruptcy-sparked | | | | first longer-fuselage BAe-146-300 on December 10, |
| discontinuation of Trent development in 1970, the | | | | 1988, one of five which had comprised its previous |
| DC-3 replacement, now powerless, had become ever | | | | order for -200s. |
| more elusive. | | | | A freighter version, the |
| This low-capacity, | | | | BAe-146-QT Quiet Trader, had been available in all |
| short-range jetliner had, like never before, hinged | | | | three passenger versions. Incorporating an |
| upon a powerplant for its existence, and the only | | | | upward-opening, hydraulically-operated, 10.11-by-6.4 |
| potential lay with a small turbofan being developed by | | | | foot door on its aft, left side; a strengthened floor; |
| Avco Lycoming in the US. Based upon the 7,000 | | | | and a loading system; the aircraft, devoid of |
| thrust-pound F102 which had powered the Northrop | | | | passenger windows and facilities, could accommodate |
| A-9A, the engine, a derated civil derivative | | | | nine LD-3 containers or six 108-by-88 inch pallets of |
| designated ALF-502, had been launched in 1969 for | | | | up to 6,000 pounds each and a single 53-by-88 inch |
| the Canadair CL-601 Challenger business jet and had | | | | half pallet. The prototype, a BAe-146-200 |
| first run two years later. In order to offer | | | | converted by Hayes International Corporation, had |
| commercial application, it had been of modular | | | | first flown on March 20, 1986 and had been |
| construction. | | | | inaugurated into service by TNT International Aviation |
| Because the type’s | | | | Services the following year on May 5. The operator |
| 6,500 thrust-pound rating had been inadequate for | | | | had subsequently acquired a considerable number of |
| the latest aircraft design, the HS.146 of 1971, and | | | | them. |
| because no other suitable powerplant had been in the | | | | II |
| development stage, the ultimate DC-3 replacement | | | | A representative |
| had been forcibly designed round four, not two, | | | | BAe-146-200 flight, operated by Air Zimbabwe from |
| engines and it featured neither the standard, aft | | | | Hwange to Kariba, had been taken in September of |
| engine-mounted, t-tailed nor alternative wing-mounted | | | | 1994. |
| configuration. Instead, it would sport two high, | | | | Founded in 1967 as Air |
| modestly swept wings to which the four turbofans | | | | Rhodesia to operate the Rhodesian routes of Central |
| would be pylon-mounted. Accommodating 88 | | | | African Airways, the carrier, continually changing as a |
| passengers, or three times as many as the DC-3, the | | | | result of increased black majority rule, had been |
| airliner, with an 86.2-foot length and 84.10-foot | | | | redesignated Air Rhodesia-Zimbabwe in 1979 and, |
| wingspan, had a 70,000-pound gross weight and | | | | simply, Air Zimbabwe the following year after the |
| 700-nautical mile range. | | | | country had attained independence. The transition |
| Nevertheless, the HS.146 | | | | period, fraught with political instability, had sparked |
| offered several advantages over the earlier, | | | | constant route structure realignment, which had only |
| standard-arrangement de Havilland and Hawker | | | | encompassed South Africa. |
| Siddeley design studies. Short-field performance, | | | | When the internal situation |
| fully the equivalent of the turboprops it had intended | | | | had ultimately been restabilized, the route system |
| to replace, had been attained by its thrust-to-weight | | | | had been gradually reestablished, once again offering |
| ratio and wing, which, with 78-percent coverage of | | | | connections between Zimbabwe and many regional |
| its trailing edge with Fowler flaps, had obviated the | | | | African nations, as well as those in Europe. In 1982, |
| need for leading edge devices, and simplification and | | | | Air Zimbabwe had operated eight Viscounts, three |
| weight reduction had been further achieved with the | | | | 720Bs, and three 707-320Bs, although additional 707s |
| elimination of thrust reversers. The t-tail, remaining | | | | had later replaced the 720s. |
| from the earlier designs, had been retained in order | | | | Due to |
| to avoid engine and wing turbulence interference. | | | | deregulation-spawned competition, the small carrier |
| The four engine pods, which | | | | had increased its efforts to remain competitive with |
| had been interchangeable with each other, housed | | | | improved passenger service and a more modern, |
| modular construction cores built up of the basic fan, | | | | three-type fleet which had included one BAe-146-200, |
| the accessory gearbox, the gas producer | | | | three 737-200s, and two 767-200ERs, serving the |
| compressor, and the combustion turbine sections. | | | | five Zimbabwean domestic destinations of Bulawayo, |
| An 11.8-foot fuselage | | | | Harare, Hwange, Kariba, and Victoria Falls; the 11 |
| diameter had permitted an internal, six-abreast coach | | | | African international destinations of Dar-es-Salaam, |
| seating arrangement, which had been double that of | | | | Durban, Gabarone, Johannesburg, Lilongwe, Lusaka, |
| the DC-3’s. | | | | Manzini, Maputo, Mauritius, Nairobi, and Windhoek; and |
| In order to cater to | | | | the three European intercontinental destinations of |
| different route demands, Hawker Siddeley offered an | | | | Frankfurt, Larnaca, and London. |
| initial, 88-passenger HS-146-100 and a stretched, | | | | In June of 1983, it had |
| 102-passenger HS.146-200 version, both at maximum, | | | | embarked on a “Customer Care Program” to |
| six-abreast densities, although capacity could be | | | | improve service and introduce a new Executive |
| reduced with varying class, seat pitch, and abreast | | | | Business Class on its two widebody aircraft in order |
| arrangements. | | | | to more effectively compete with the larger, |
| Fully intended as a pure-jet | | | | international carriers which had operated between |
| counterpart to the turboprop Viscount, HS.748, and | | | | Europe and Africa. |
| F.27, the HS.146 had been optimized for multiple daily, | | | | It had toted three slogans: |
| high frequency, short-range sectors from short and | | | | “A Tradition of Caring,” in 1989; “Above |
| unprepared, gravel runways, yet achieve 15-percent | | | | All, We Care,” in 1992; and “Experience our |
| lower direct-operating-costs than these aircraft. | | | | Commitment to Excellence,” in 1994. |
| Slow, controlled approach speeds, of just over 100 | | | | Its self-stated goal had been |
| knots, had been attainable by its aft fuselage, petal | | | | “to be the airline that best meets the needs of |
| airbrakes and 40 degrees of trailing edge flap, | | | | the customer, to operate profitably, and to |
| permitting operation from 5,000-foot runways. | | | | contribute to the development of Zimbabwe using |
| Hawker Siddeley had | | | | the skills and talents of a committed workforce.” |
| estimated a market of 1,500 aircraft of its type by | | | | The BAe-146-200 operating |
| 1982. | | | | the day’s flight, registered Z-WPD and named |
| HS.146 program launch, | | | | “Jungwe,” had been configured with 91 |
| based upon a 40 million British pound government | | | | single-class, six-abreast seats and had been fitted |
| backing and the manufacturer’s own investment, | | | | with a passenger audio system. Routed from |
| had occurred on August 29, 1973, and the first flight, | | | | Victoria Falls to Hwange, Kariba, and Harare under |
| of the short-fuselage HS.146-100, had been targeted | | | | flight number “UM 229,” it operated three |
| for December of that year with certification following | | | | sectors spanning 30 minutes, one hour, and 45 |
| in February of 1977, while the stretched HS.146-200, | | | | minutes in duration. |
| coinciding with the seventh airframe, had been | | | | After boarding from the |
| targeted for certification in August of 1978. A | | | | single terminal by means of its forward, left airstair, |
| full-scale wooden mock-up had been intermittently | | | | the high-wing, quad-engined British regional jet, |
| built at Hatfield. | | | | sporting its colorful black, red, yellow, and green |
| Like so many British | | | | striped livery, executed a lengthy taxi roll on the |
| commercial projects, its momentum had been | | | | concrete runway flanked on either side by Hwange |
| abruptly arrested a little more than a year after it | | | | National Park’s dry, brown grass and scrub |
| had been initiated. Escalating fuel prices resulting | | | | expanses, periodically interspersed by feeding herds |
| from the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War, changing | | | | of impalas. |
| economic conditions, and a general recession, coupled | | | | Completing its “Before |
| with the pending nationalization of the UK aircraft | | | | Take Off” checklist, and extending its trailing |
| industry, had rendered the HS.146 program | | | | edge Fowler flaps to their 24-degree position, the |
| economically unfeasible by October of 1974. As a | | | | aircraft throttled into its acceleration roll, its four |
| result, it had been halted, although small-scale | | | | ALF-502R-5 turbofans propelling its 35,500-kilo mass |
| engineering had continued and the aircraft’s | | | | with their 6,970 pounds of thrust into life-generating |
| drawings, tools, and jigs had been retained. | | | | speed. Leveraging itself into rotation at 112 knots |
| Three years later, on March | | | | with its horizontal tail-hinged elevator, the BAe-146 |
| 15, 1977, British Aerospace had been formed with the | | | | surrendered itself to the hot African atmosphere at a |
| merger of Hawker Siddeley and the British Aircraft | | | | 118-knot V2 velocity, retracting its tricycle |
| Corporation, and the design, redesignated BAe-146, | | | | undercarriage and accelerating through a 171-knot |
| had been relaunched. It had been the first to have | | | | VFTO speed toward the gray, obscuring ceiling. |
| been undertaken by the new conglomerate the | | | | Leaning into a right bank |
| following year, on July 10, 1978. | | | | over the brown and tan African expanse at 4,200 |
| Rolled out for the first time | | | | feet, the BAe-146 retracted its flaps from the 24- to |
| three years later on May 20, 1981 at Hatfield, the | | | | the 0-degree position, completing its “After Take |
| aircraft, registered G-SSSH, became the first new | | | | Off” checklist. Ascending through 7,600 feet, at |
| British design since the BAC-111 had flown 18 years | | | | which time a 291-knot ground speed had been |
| earlier. | | | | registered, it maintained a 1,800-fpm climb rate. Its |
| The aircraft, in its original | | | | NAV indicated a 135.4-mile distance to Kariba. |
| BAe-146-100 form, featured a pressurized, | | | | Plunging through the dirty |
| semi-monocoque, aluminum alloy/copper fuselage | | | | opaque obscurity at 15,780 feet, Fight 229 triumphed |
| whose inner fuselage frames bore the aircraft’s | | | | over white, mountainous-appearing cumulous, now |
| bending loads and whose outer, notched rings carried | | | | unrestrictedly bulleting through the illustriously-blue |
| the sheer loads, a construction technique which | | | | mid-afternoon purity at 18,640 feet. |
| eliminated some 5,000 stringer/frame cleats. Its | | | | Inching the throttle back a |
| 11.8-foot diameter, permitting five- or six-abreast | | | | moment later, the British regional liner settled into its |
| coach seating, had ensured that passengers would | | | | 21,000-foot level off plateau at a 354-knot ground |
| enjoy the same comfort on the type’s typical | | | | speed with 97.7 miles remaining to its destination. |
| feeder routes as that offered by wide body aircraft | | | | Cabin service on the |
| operating long-range sectors to which they often | | | | one-hour domestic sector had included a selection of |
| transferred. | | | | sodas, mineral water, orange juice, and lemonade and |
| Single-class capacity varied | | | | a snack try of potato chips and peanuts. |
| from 71 in a five-abreast, 33-inch configuration to 82 | | | | The ground speed had |
| at a six-abreast, 33-inch arrangement and an ultimate | | | | pinnacled at 411 knots. |
| 93 at a six-abreast, 29-inch density. Total capacity | | | | Descent, initiated with 54 |
| decreased with a forward, 12-seat, first class cabin in | | | | miles remaining on its flight plan, had been attained by |
| a four-abreast configuration. | | | | dialing in 5,500 feet in the cockpit’s “ALT |
| The aircraft had an 85-foot, | | | | SEL” autopilot, resulting in a 2,000-fpm descent |
| 11½-inch overall length. | | | | rate. |
| The wings, with an 86-foot | | | | Surrendering once again to |
| span and 832-square-foot area, had featured a | | | | the dense, reference-losing obscurity of the cloud |
| 15-degree sweepback and three degrees of anhedral | | | | deck, the aircraft plunged through 10,000 feet at a |
| at their leading edges. Due to the aircraft’s | | | | 260-knot speed with 21 miles remaining to Kariba, |
| short, 150-nautical mile sectors, cruise speeds higher | | | | extending its petal air brakes at 7,000 feet, which |
| than its optimized Mach 0.7 had not been necessary | | | | produced a very controlled, but drag-induced profile. |
| and had therefore obviated the need for greater | | | | An altitude of 4,500 feet had been intermittently |
| sweepback. Low-speed, short-field performance | | | | dialed into the “ALT SEL” window. |
| had been attained by means of its single-section, | | | | Emerging from the ceiling |
| tabbed, trailing edge Fowler flaps which, with a | | | | mist over the baby blue of Lake Kariba, which had |
| 210-square-foot area, had covered 78 percent of the | | | | been outlined by its dry, tan and brown scrub |
| span and had been hydraulically operated by Dowty | | | | shoreline, the captain consulted his landing flap chart |
| Rotol actuators. Roll control had been provided by | | | | corresponding to a 34,500-kilo weight. |
| manually-operated, trim- and servo tab-equipped | | | | Extending its Fowler flaps to |
| ailerons, which operated in conjunction with each | | | | the 18-degree position at 3,600 feet, at which time |
| outer wing’s hydraulically-actuated roll spoilers. | | | | 6.4 miles had remained on its flight plan, the airliner |
| Three additional inboard spoilers served as lift | | | | unleashed its undercarriage at a 162-knot ground |
| dumpers after touch down. | | | | speed and actuated its high-lift devices into the |
| Power had been provided | | | | 24-degree position while arcing into a left bank over |
| by four Textron Lycoming ALF-502R-5 turbofans, | | | | the parched expanse of desert. Black mountain |
| each rated at 6,970 pounds of thrust, and these had | | | | silhouettes rolled into view ahead of the cockpit |
| replaced the lower-thrust, 6,700-pound ALF-502Hs | | | | windows. |
| originally intended for the design. Avco Lycoming | | | | Descending through 2,600 |
| had since become “Textron Lycoming.” | | | | feet at a 161-knot ground speed, the BAe-146-200, |
| A total of 3,098 US gallons | | | | now sporting 33 degrees of trailing edge flap, |
| of fuel could be carried in two wing integral and one | | | | maintained a 270-degree heading, the runway, |
| center section tank, the latter located above the | | | | seemingly plowed between brown straw, visible |
| passenger cabin and equipped with a vented and | | | | through the windshield. |
| drained sealing diaphragm. The single-point pressure | | | | Extending its petal air brakes |
| fueling had been located on the right wing, outboard | | | | to the 60-degree position, the aircraft, at a negligible |
| of the number four engine. | | | | descent rate, passed over Runway 27’s |
| The fixed horizontal tailplane, | | | | threshold at 120 knots, retarding its throttle and |
| mounted atop the vertical fin, had not required the | | | | flaring into main undercarriage contact with the |
| standard variable-incidence geometry because the | | | | sizzilingly hot concrete. Decelerating with significant |
| absence of wing leading edge devices had eliminated | | | | brake applications, and with its spoiler handle already |
| the balance-out requirements ordinarily associated | | | | deployed to the “LIFT SPLR” position, the |
| with the latter’s pitch changes. Its location, | | | | thrust reverser-devoid quad-jet consumed the |
| avoiding wing downwash and engine thrust | | | | centerline with its nose wheel until it had reached its |
| interference, provided the greatest moment-arm, | | | | other threshold and could execute a 180-degree turn. |
| thus reducing required area and weight. Its | | | | Taxiing toward the single |
| elevators had been manually operated, while the | | | | terminal’s ramp amid the sweltering, 94-degree |
| vertical fin’s rudder had been hydraulically | | | | heat, the high-wing, t-tailed airliner, although ordinarily |
| actuated. | | | | minuscule next to an intercontinental wide body, |
| Key to the BAe-146 design | | | | dwarfed the United Air PA-23 Aztec and collection of |
| had been the 40-square-foot, hydraulically-actuated | | | | private pistons now parked around it. |
| petal air brakes forming an integral, aerodynamic part | | | | The BAe-146 had, as |
| of the tailcone at the extreme end of the fuselage | | | | evidenced by this sector, served as Zimbabwe’s |
| and deployable to a maximum 60-degree position. | | | | link between its often road-unconnected cities and |
| Augmenting slow, controlled, increased descent rates, | | | | communities. |
| they had enabled the aircraft to descend at 7,000 | | | | III |
| fpm above 10,000 feet and 4,000 fpm below it, | | | | Although the British |
| facilitating short-runway operation and eliminating the | | | | Aerospace BAe-146 had only sold 219 examples of all |
| need for thrust reversers. | | | | of its versions to 45 world airlines, it had nevertheless |
| The aircraft’s | | | | formed the basis of its later, more advanced, |
| hydraulically-operated, tricycle undercarriage had been | | | | Textron Lycoming LF507-powered Avro RJ70, RJ85, |
| comprised of a steerable, telescope strut-attached, | | | | and RJ100 derivatives. |