BAe 146 - more engines! 

I remember the launch in 1986/87. I was in hospital & meant to die. I wrote to BAE & they sent a huge amount of info. I stuck a photo to my locker & focused on becoming a pilot. Got my PPL in 1991 & trained with BA 1994. Unfortunately I didn’t make it past the student stage, but the aircraft has a special place in my life story. P.S: I survived. Just so you know.😉

I worked at HSA/BAe Hatfield from 1976 to 1988. From the first production drawings, through first flight, certification and into service. It was an honour to be closely involved with the last British airliner, treasured memories. I think I even caught a glimpse of myself at one point. Thanks for a lovely video.

I flew on this beautiful aircraft with Air Wisconsin, when it was contracted to United. What makes this plane so additionally remarkable is it was one of the few post-WWII British airliners that British Airways wasn't able to sabotage, as it did the classic VC-10. You only had to fly on this plane once to fall in love with every aspect. I've been flying since the 50;s all over the world, and it is without a doubt, the closest aviation will ever come to the "perfect" airliner.

Thank you for the memories. As a retired flight attendant from Air BC. ( now Jazz Express....Air Canada) I loved working on the 146, Always tried to bid as many working flights on this aircraft in our fleet. I still have the first advertising brochure the company put out.

I really like the 146. On a windy approach it feels more reassuring than almost any other plane.

I first flew on a National Jet Bae146 on the first of Jan 2000. Everyone was expecting it to crash because of the Millennium bug. It didn't and I flew from Perth WA. to Learmonth where we refuelled, and then on to Christmas Island, and then to Cocos (Keeling) islands. It was a fabulous Aircraft. I flew on it several times since then. Have you ever stood on the perimeter of an airport waving goodbye to the crew of an aircraft ready to depart, when the pilot stops his pre flight checks, climbs down from the cockpit; runs over to the wire and hands over some miniature bottles of alcohol and mixers, and some bags of peanuts, and thanks you for your hospitality the night before? That's happened to me! Memories!

Like the 737-200 the 146 /RJ will also have a second long career as an Artic aircraft. Perfect for use on bad runways. the STOL capacity and stability for a jet airliner makes it very unique. On some routes there is still no good alternative for it.

Living close to the flight path into runway 03 at Perth Airport, I get to see and barely hear the BAe146/RJ85/RJ100 quite a lot. It says something about the design that even though now quite old, it is still probably the quietest aircraft operating out of Perth.

I used to see these all the time. They're unique design etched a place in my heart for the 146 and I miss seeing them.

I've flown on an RJ85. Still one of the best flights ive been on, I flew to Paris from Newcastle with city jet.

Probably the aircraft I have traveled the most in. I used to commute between Gothenburg and Stockholm and this was the aircraft if choice by Malmö Aviation at the time.

Notice at 16:27 there's an aerial firefighting BAe 146 operated by Neptune Aviation Services. They're based out of Missoula, MT, USA. I live in Missoula, so I get to see the BAe 146s fly pretty frequently! Although they're not the biggest or newest planes to fly out of Missoula, I love the high wing and T-tail design. They remind me of a mini C-17 😁

3:42 the advantage of bad airfields is that it means humans can outrun an An-12.

I played rugby for De Havilland's from 1973 until 1987. Our pitch was located near the end of the runway. We rarely heard the 146 take off or land during some its trials, never interfering with our games. Super quiet and beautiful to look at. A real success story.

I flew on this plane several times in the early 80's from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor (Unalaska), frequently a white knuckle flight due to strong crosswinds and a short runway. The 146 made it a comfortable flight with it's short runway capabilities.

As a kid in the 80s I loved flying on these. On a night flight from the right seat you could see the glow from the engines.

These were such great planes to fly on. We had an airline here in California called: “PSA”. Pacific Southwest Airlines bought a few BAE146 near the last few years they were in business. I used to commute from Los Angeles to San Francisco back then. It was just a short 55 minute trip back then. When PSA went away so did the BAE. We were sad to see them go.

There were several minor issues with engine fumes and cabin ventilation inside the BAe 146, usually fairly mild, but there one or two more pronounced incidents, as I recall, attributed to design issues. I flew one once - a BA service to Rotterdam from London Gatwick in 1986 and noticed this myself. One nice memory about that flight is that we kept to a fairly low altitude all the way, and it being good weather, the views of the Kent coast, and the coastlines of France, Belgium and the Netherlands were stunning.

I got to fly on it several times back in 2010 & 2011 with Blue1. My most memorable moment was in 2011 when I was flying from Vaasa to Helsinki: We had taxied to the end of the runway and the pilots were lining up for takeoff, then they noticed that one of the fuel caps hadnt been properly locked, so we had to taxi all the way back to the gate to close it. xD

I used to fly a converted BAE 146-200 water bomber and it's a little beast. We did things with it that thing no jet should live through.

such a shame to retire such a beautiful machine :(

I used to fly the BAe 146, for an american airline, in the 1990’s. I loved the way it handled. It was very difficult to make a hard landing in the 146. We used to call it ‘the only plane in the world with five APU’s’ or ‘the awesome possum’.

PSA in California had some of these. My favorite airplane! Smoothest Landing aircraft of all time.

I lived under flight path of BAE Hatfield where the BEA 146 Was doing flight tests back in the 80’s and it is amazing aircraft.

Out of all the planes I flew on over the years, this was my favorite! I flew on PSA a lot and always got to fly on the BAe. Very quiet, smooth, plenty of leg room. It was a great plane

Thank you for this great history of my favourite aircraft. I started my Apprenticeship at Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hatfield in 1970 and took part in the lobbying of the British government to get the last all British aircraft design into production. I worked through the development, flight trials, route proving and production of this amazing aircraft until the factory closed and moved to Manchester. A few things that may be of interest ; The 3 pre-production aircraft were leased/sold to Dan Air, and two joined the ranks at RAF Brize Norton for evaluation and used in the RAF royal squadron, Queens flight to replace the ageing Andover. The original HS/BAe 146 design did not include a freighter design and was added later during development in the Quick Change convertible variants of the 146-200QT and -300QT in 1988. The wings were supplied by Avco Aerostructures in the USA, and the tailplane from Saab in Sweden. The addition of fuel pannier tanks were added to increase the aircraft range. The Lycoming ALF 502 turbofan engine was originaly derived from the T55 core engine used on Sikorsky helicopters. The renaming to RJ70, RJ85 and RJ100 reflected the seating capacities.

Sky is endlessly delightful to listen to. So articulate! Happy subscriber here! 💛😊 I flew in a 146 once, night flight. The engines were interesting to view, because being slug so high you could see into their tailpipes. Red-hot metal in there!

I remember flying from Luton to Munich return a dozen or so times with Debonair, it was a trip I looked forward to, being very informal. More like getting on a country bus service, I recall stopping at Monchen Gladbach on one occasion when 2 people got off and a family with a pushchair got on and we were off again. There always seemed to be a bit of fun going on between the aircrew and the ladies looking after us. The view out was good and so quiet and comfy seats as well. Roy

One of my favourites. Very lucky to have flown on one in the past.

The BAe 146 an excellent plane. Can land on short airstrips, quiet and if the interior is planned correctly, comfortable. I love flying on them. Great for small airlines.

Flew on them a number of times in the 2000"s and its was quiet and comfortable jet compared to the B737-300 operating at the time. The A220 is it replacement.

My favourite aircraft........used to watch them test land & take off at Bae Hatfield in the 1980's

I always liked this quirky little plane.

As a Boeing loving American I have to say that I've always really liked the Avro design...

This is the only channel where I hit "like" first, and then start watching the video.

I flew the 146 for many years. The trailing gear undercarriage was very forgiving and always made for a smooth landing. Sometimes on a wet runway the landing was so smooth that you weren't sure exactly when you had touched down. It was extremely easy to bust altitudes as it didn't have a VNAV but relied on a toggle switch that pitched the aircraft up or down. For instance you would pitch down for a vertical speed you wanted and then select the vertical speed mode (VS) and the aircraft would more or less hold it. This was fine but if you hit the toggle switch when the aircraft was in the ALT CAPTURE mode the Alt selection would drop out and you'd go sailing through your assigned altitude. It sounds like it was something that wouldn't happen often but in a high workload situation it was extremely easy to do. The aircraft was very underpowered and the only way to get a full aircraft up to its cruising altitude was very carefully inch up the throttles using exhaust gas temperatures (EGT). You'd have to be very mindful that the engines tended to burn out quite easily. We always kept a 30C cushion between what we used and what the manufacturers recommended. All in all, a pretty aircraft that was great fun to fly.

Flew these into Bhutan, one of the hairiest landings in a jet ever. Later I loaded them on the flightline for a NW feeder. It's like a miniature military transport plane, the only jet I would call cute.

As a Licenced Engineer on the BAe 146 in Australia I loved them, They had their problems with cabin smells usually engine or APU seals leaking. Those are a thing of the past now. Built like a "BRICK SHITHOUSE" they are indestructible. It's a shame the RJX twin was never built it would have extended their life even longer. The butt of jokes like " they were the only aircraft that had bird strikes on their turbine blades" because they flew so slow. Still passengers loved them, mechanics not so much.

There used to be a joke: Why did the BAe146 have four engines? Because they couldn’t fit six!

I love the dash146's. Cutest 4-fan EVER!!

I flew in this aircraft from MIA to IAD once back in the early '90s, great ride and easily, by far, the smoothest landing I've experienced 30 years of flying.

Certain speeds after take off, as climbing out and then throttling back over my city, I would hear a nice howl from the engines. It meant that Night or Day I always knew when a Jumbolino was flying above my house, now the fleet has gone. I flew countless safe comfortable flights in this jet with several airlines across Europe and later in the Far East .

Great little plane. I remember getting pushed back into my seat on an already steep climb out of Aspen and then landing on time after being delayed. I have admired them ever since.

Very cool looking. Saw a lot of them coming and going out of Detroit Metro Airport. Always liked that type of design. Looks like a sturdy aircraft and a smooth flyer.

I have flown on one of these aircraft, great to be able to look out and see the view, quiet and comfortable.

I flew in a 146 thru a 3hr storm in 1987.Very entertaining.

The clarity and professionalism of the narrator of this video is outstanding. I thoroughly enjoyed this video, and it reminded me how much i have enjoyed flying as passenger in versions of this aircraft operated by Swiss (‘jumbolino’), and also by SA Airlink.

Many years ago I used to regularly fly out of BUR (usually on MD-80s) and would see these on the tarmac. I think they were being used to fly to small ski resort towns like Aspen. Such an interesting plane, pity I never got to fly on one.

I flew on these in California in the '80s when PSA was operating them and had the smiles painted on the front. The take-offs were always fun, like a rollercoaster! I loved these little planes!

Superb commentary. I learned a lot by watching this, thankyou.

@Skyships Eng I LOVE the level of detail and analytics you give in every video!! Would you ever consider doing segments on general aviation aircraft? Maybe start with something like the Cirrus SR20? I'm sure all of us would also love to see a GA segment as well as commercial like you have now. Thank you for everything!

What a fantastic airplane, and you told it's history very well, so clair and detailed. Thank you and I'll be waiting for the next video! Bye!

Air Wisconsin (ZW) was an early adopter of the 146. Their first one toured worldwide as a display model. They really helped ZW grow their market.

BA used them domestically in the UK, much like the 727 I’m glad I got to fly on one.

I remember this operated by Aegean airlines and I loved it as a kid watching it when it landed , I had a full view of the airport and this was one of my favorites

I flew on them quite a few times. I liked it. They operated in Greece until very recently by low cost carrier Astra (12:46) until the company suddenly shut down.

Flew into London City in one of these. Great aircraft.

The whisper jet, I've flown on this plane all my life and I love it!

Great video. Great job! 👍🏻 As you show in your video, the BAe 146 was popular in Switzerland and widely appreciated by crews and passengers. Therefore this plane was attributed and mostly known with its nickname of JUMBOLINO. This could be translated to English as "little jumbo jet", since the ending "-lino" is a diminutive form in Italian.

I loved the looks of the BAE 146 with it's unorthodox 4 engine design. There is just something about it style. Thank you for the video !

The VC-10 was one of the best looking and also one of the fastest passenger aircraft ever.

For years my favourite aircraft way above all the others in Flight Sim was the A320. Then one day I had a live flight in an RJ 100 - what a great experience. I decided to buy an available software package that had both the 146 and RJ series, and I loved it. When I changed to P3D v4 recently, I was able to get the newest software package, and it was worth every penny! I now have a fleet of 10 RJ's - the 70, 85 and 100 versions - and 20 crews, so my old A320's have been consigned to a dark hangar! What the narrator neglected to say in the video, is that the plane can land at a speed to make a Cessna Caravan blush, all on account of the RJ's superb STOL capabilities - making it ideal for almost every runway in the UK - well, I did say almost! The last Swissair RJ took off from London City (EGLC) about two years ago, and as befitting a great aircraft, was given a farewell hosing-down by the airport fire brigade. A sad day methinks, for all concerned. I understood they were being discontinued due to the high cost of maintenace and fuel, My fleet is mostly cargo, but I still have two for passengers - and they've never made any complaint!!!!

Keep seeing them in LCY! I love Avros!

Thanks Sky, I asked a while back for you to do the 146 /Avro RJ . You have done an awesome job.

My favourite plane as a passenger for short-haul. I flew Birmingham to Glasgow regularly on a 146 for a number of years.

The United Kindom has always built wonderfully interesting machines.

I flew FIFO on National Jet to Ravensthorpe in WA. Years later, I flew on Cobham to Barrow Island over a hundred times. These were the same planes, NJ having sold to Cobham. I love these sturdy planes.

I used to work with these in SA in the 90's. Beautiful planes

My favorite passenger jet. Quiet and a joy to ride in.

I flew on the Avros a few times in West Africa before the carrier that operated them went under. Super cool jets!

I remember seeing a breakdown of this plane in a book when I was a kid.

In 1982, I was in Bride Norton and one Thursday night I woke up because this aircraft was doing night trials. It wasn't because of the noise, which I normally slept through, it was because it was so quiet..beautiful.

Flew on an RJ with Sabena every weekend in the late 90's with the occasional BAe146 badged plane used. Loved its comfort.

Thank You! My favorite aircraft ever :)

I was part of the flight test team when the project moved from Hatfield to Woodford. Spend many hours on test flights of the 146-300, RJ70, RJ85 and RJ100. Great aircraft. Happy days.

I always thought it looked like a tiny C-17

I was a passenger on this aircraft on two flights between the islands of New Zealand. While over the water the use of four engines inspired confidence. The in-flight meals with fresh fruit were memorably good.

I also used to fly the BAe146 and the AVRO RJ in various companies like Malmö Aviation, SABENA, Air France (City Jet). I flew Boings and other types, but the BAe146 will always be closest to my heart, a lovely aircraft in all aspects, most of all safety.

I’m in this film 👍🏻. Worked for BAe building the 146. Was an apprentice at Hatfield. Queen of the sky

I flew on them several times and it was a nice plane

Great video , very interesting and well researched . Flew on this plane with “ Logan Air “ back in the 80s from the UK to Spain . Wonderful .

Now you started the British aviation aircraft again, so also do the BAC-111, Hawker Siddeley Trident, Vickers VC-10 and Soviet aircrafts like Tu-114, Il-62 and Il-76

I flew into Appleton Wisconsin on one of these planes on a two stop flight. I was impressed with the smooth and quiet flight and the very soft landing at the first stop. On our second last leg into Greenbay, the tower reported the runway had recently been cleared of snow. As we landed the breaking system grabbed strongly on the starboard side and the plane rotated sharply to the right .Quite an experience! After watching this video I understand that the lack of reverse thrust makes it unsuitable for landing in wet or icy conditions. The speed brake on the tail did little to slow the plane. After this incident, the pilot announced that we would be taking a bus to the Appleton Airport.

Cute little plane. Like it's wearing big boy clothes.

They use this a/c to fly in fly out from mine sites in Western Australia. I was a regular commuter on this aircraft and it was fast, quiet and very comfortable with short field capabilities operating on dirt airstrips, a great aircraft

I flew the 146 for about a thousand hours and loved everything about it except the speed... It was quiet, comfortable and had a large flight deck. Its only drawback was speed - it was about 30-40 knots slower than "regular" jets and we became used to ATC asking if we could pick up the speed, to which they knew the answer but had to ask.

9:53 I think you mean spoilers. I never saw those being referred as "interceptors".

This is probably the aircraft I travelled on most often, being from Switzerland, and Swiss Air Lines had a large fleet of these (inherited from Crossair). But not only with Swiss; I remember that Faroese Atlantic Airways had a fleet consisting solely of BAe 146 / Avro RJ's in the 1990s, as these were particularly suitable for the short runway of Vagar airport. On holiday there in 1998, I think, the approach to Vagar was very impressive (slightly unnerving) with the sea in front and steep rocks to the side....

I frequently flew PSA's 143's to Seattle, Victoria & Vancouver, Loved these planes. They seemed like a real step up from the older 727's and DC-9's.

Ha, it had the geared turbofans. What you say now, Pratt&Whitney?

Made a round trip on one from Chicago to Lansing, Mich. Was impressed on low noise in cabin except when landing gear was lowered. Looking out the window, the jet intakes made the engines look small, making it seem that they needed 4 of them. Later found out that the plane was engineered to be quiet- a new concept at the time. Alas, every good thing eventually goes away.

Ah yes, the Plane known by Australian pilots as the quadra puff used by some regional airlines even to this day a good little bird.

I Love this Video on The BAE 146 Regional Jet Plus I flew on them growing up there Awesome Sadly they'll be Phase out from the british markets making these regional jets but I'll hear more about them RIP BAE 146.

There's a documentary on youtube which is pretty interesting on the bae146. The Donier 328 is what is should of been

One of Northwest's regional carrier spinoffs (before Northwest was bought out by Delta) flew these from Grand Rapids Michigan to MSP. I remember having a window seat which had a great view of the nearest engine. I was amazed at how quiet it was (still a somewhat elevated noise level however), but I never got over the thought of that engine flying apart with a bird strike or some other unusual event, and shedding parts directly toward my seat. I also remember that the air currents on the approach to MSP coming in over the river valley, seemed to play havoc with it's flight characteristics. This passenger could very easily hear the engines scaling up and down, and feel the plane shift right, then left and up and down through the glidepath to the runway. I was glad to get off that plane.

I was a passenger on the RJ85 with NWA Airlink (Mesaba) several times. They gave an exceptionally quiet and smooth ride.

I used to see those in California with USAir. They would run the LAX-SFO route.

One important benefit with four engines not mentioned here is the short-field performance. A transport category airplane must be able to continue the take-off if an engine fails at the most critical moment. Four engines give a better performance benefit than two engines. I have seen this airplane operate on a 900 meters long runway in a tropical climate. No other jets can do that!

The type is still flying here in South Africa. It is by far my favourite regional airliner - comfortable, quiet, very roomy and (of course) British!

I like the role of this plane as fire fighter here in the Southwestern USA where it has definitely been getting a workout the last few years. Great airplane. Great review.