Hawker Siddeley HS 748 HS 748 Series 2

The Series 2 left the airframe alone and changed what moved it. Dart Mk 531 engines replaced the Mk 514 and allowed a higher maximum take-off weight without altering the external dimensions. The programme's second prototype was rebuilt as the first Series 2 aircraft and flew in that form on 6 November 1961, only months after first-series deliveries had begun.

During the early 1960s Avro's separate commercial identity dissolved inside the Hawker Siddeley group and the aircraft was marketed as the HS 748. The renaming coincided with the type's strongest selling years: it found its place in the short-haul market against its direct rival, the Fokker F27, on the strength of ruggedness and the ability to work off unprepared surfaces.

The Series 2 kept four-abreast seating. A large share of operators flew it as a quick-change combi, with a movable bulkhead splitting passengers from freight, and a full passenger-to-cargo conversion could be done in a quarter of an hour by half a dozen people. That flexibility, rather than speed or range, explains its commercial career.

From 1967 the Series 2A brought stronger engines and another weight increase, and many operators upgraded their Series 2 aircraft to the new standard simply by changing the powerplant. The practice is why per-series production totals differ so widely between sources, and why a clean line between the two versions is hard to draw today.