British Aerospace BAe-146 / Avro RJ

32 Sqn HS.146 ZE700 high over Stonehenge (bit of a dull day)




kevin

The two 32 squadron VIP CC Mk2 are about to be delivered to Aviation museums, one to Duxford and the other to South Wales


www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/ex-raf-airc...oin-aviation-museum/

I have probably posted this on here somewhere but this was my last project at BAE, Hatfield, ending one year after the site closed. It was supposed to be ground tests in prep for a one-off experimental double mamba-engined 146. We had flight approved engines in the hangar waiting installation on an aircraft but the project came to nothing. This pic shows the last ground run for the benefit of the Berkshire Aviation Museum who took the flight ready engines. The lasers below the prop had already been removed. These were used to indicate to us in the control room, when the props were synchronised so that we could take noise and vibration measurements using an array in the fuselage. The instrumented array could be moved at known plotting positions. The idea being that we wanted to know the value made by the interior fittings in dampening out the noise and vibration so the first run was carried out with the fuselage devoid of all fittings. After the first series of runs, the configuration in the fueslage was changed to include for example the carpets, then the internal wall cladding, then luggage racks, then seats etc. There was no health and safety, we had rotating counter rotating props, ancient engines, a wind tunnel blowing over the rig to mitigate against stresses due propeller tips being close to the concrete and to simulated forward flight. I was the engine technician. We carried out leak checks with the props rotating, and at lunchtime we were drinking high octane cider - there were three of us, one of whom died a few years ago - and I miss him greatly. BUT these were great times.

TerryClark wrote:

And the two Mk3s are being sold off; so what does 32 Sqdn fly nowadays?

That will leave the A109 SP

www.raf.mod.uk/aircraft/a109sp/

Until they decide what to do next

It seems to be a feature of current process of procuring replacing aircraft that we get rid of the old before buying new, eg E-3D
Aggressor Hawks nimrod mr and these 146s

As a footnote, the engines and props seen on the rig were removed and ended up at Duxford where they were dumped on the old parade ground never to be reused and I assume scrapped - everything was in pristine condition. It was heart breaking for me to see them like that having cared for them for about two years. There was also an ATP fuselage that, if the project had carried on we would have used also a spare 146. The engines came from the RNAY at Manadon, Plymouth.