The Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Company YS-11s of Gambia Airways, seen at Southend in 1993-4. Very rarely seen in the UK, these aircraft were visiting for maintenance at BAF engineering. The British Air Ferries fleet of Viscount and Herald aircraft were fitted with Rolls - Royce Dart turboprop engines, and the YS-11 used the final development of these, with 50% more power than those of the Viscount. The YS-11 was designed for the conditions of the Japanese home market, although sales were not strong, and production ended in 1973 after 182 aircraft were completed.
Gambia Airways C5-CGA , c/n 2030, arrived at Southend on 11 June 1993, and was re-registered as C5-GAA. I had a few brief video shots of it taxiing during September 1993, which I used in the title sequence and final scenes of this video, to delight those viewers who enjoy looking for continuity errors! On 9 December 1993 C5-GAA was involved in a serious mid-air collision near Dakar, Senegal, and although the YS-11 landed safely, it never flew again.
C5-GAB c/n 2024 departed for West Africa on the evening of 28 February 1994.
6 окт 2024
