BAe 146 - еще больше двигателей!

Video from the channel SkyShips about BAe 146, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 20:15. Video type: Documentary.

A documentary about the BAe 146, British Aerospace's high-wing, four-engined regional jet, renamed Avro RJ in its second generation. It examines why that configuration was chosen and covers its design, its versions, its commercial career and its end. 387 aircraft of all versions were delivered.

In the 1970s the British industry, under pressure from American manufacturers and from Airbus, looked for the regional niche, then dominated by ageing turboprops such as Hawker Siddeley's own HS 748. After consulting more than 60 airlines, the company concluded that a roughly 70-seat jet was needed, with good short-field performance, easy to convert to a freighter and simple to maintain. The Government provided 50% of the funding, but the 1973 oil crisis froze the project, which continued at a slow pace within the company. In 1978 Hawker Siddeley was nationalised and merged into British Aerospace, which relaunched it as the BAe 146. The prototypes were assembled at Hatfield; the first flew in September 1981, and certification followed in early 1983, the year Dan-Air received the first example.

The high wing, spanning 26.3 m, allowed the engines to be carried in pylons under the wing, safe from ground debris and accessible for maintenance. For want of suitable engines with more thrust, four Lycoming ALF 502s of around 31 kN were fitted; they could turn more slowly, making the aircraft one of the quietest jets, and in 1987 it was cleared to operate at London City. It has no thrust reversers: it brakes using the spoilers, the wheel brakes and a large tail airbrake. It cruised at around 750 km/h.

The 146-100 carried 70 passengers and had a range of about 3,800 km; the 146-200, 2.4 m longer, took up to 100 seats and flew in 1982; the 146-300, unveiled at Farnborough in 1984, added a further 2.3 m, 112 seats and about 3,300 km of range. There were QT Quiet Trader freighter versions and government variants. In 1992 the second generation, with glass cockpits and improved engines, was renamed Avro RJ70, RJ85 and RJ100: 166 were built, in addition to 221 of the first generation. Competition from Brazilian and Canadian regional jets led to production ending in 2001; by 2019 about 90 were still flying. The video also recalls 14 accidents with 294 deaths, including the Pacific Southwest aircraft deliberately crashed by a dismissed employee in 1987.