BAe Jetstream

When Scottish Aviation was nationalised into British Aerospace in 1978, the company inherited Handley Page's Jetstream design and decided it deserved another chance. The work was framed as a "Mark 3": Garrett TPE331 engines in place of the original Turbomeca Astazous, with more power at a flat rating of 1,020 shp against a thermodynamic limit of 1,100, and longer overhaul intervals. That allowed an 18-seat layout in six rows with an offset aisle and, with water-methanol injection, take-offs at maximum load from a wider range of airfields, which mattered in the continental United States and Australia.

The result, the Jetstream 31, flew on 28 March 1980 and was certificated in the United Kingdom on 29 June 1982. This time the market responded as Handley Page had hoped for the original, and several hundred aircraft were delivered through the decade. A further engine upgrade planned in 1985 flew in 1988 as the Jetstream Super 31, also sold as the Jetstream 32. In that same year of 1985 the Royal Navy ordered four Jetstream T.3 radar observer trainers, which were later used for VIP transport.

Production of the 31/32 series closed in 1993 after 386 aircraft; Wikipedia puts the family total at 492 built. In that year British Aerospace turned Jetstream into the brand for all of its twin turboprops: the stretched Jetstream 41 and the BAe ATP, renamed Jetstream 61 although the name never entered service. The proposed Jetstream 51 and 71 were never built. The 31s and 32s still earn a living on regional routes: in July 2019, 70 were in airline service, 49 of them in the Americas.