Hello All,
After a few months of inactivity to let the bank balance recover (!) I am now pushing on with the project to restore G-UIST.
A quick update for those who don’t know..
The aircraft type is a Jetstream 31, built by British Aerospace plc in 1987 at its factory in Prestwick, Ayrshire. First flew 8 April 1987.
The aircraft was first delivered Colgan Airways in the USA and used as ‘hub hopper’ to link passengers to large hub airports from smaller airports. It continued to be used in the USA by several airlines in this role before being retired to a desert parking area in 2002.
Purchased by Highland Airways, Inverness in March 2002 and registered G-UIST.
The aircraft was used as the primary aircraft on the Stornoway to Benbecula Island hopper route, as well as the newspaper delivery aircraft for the islands. It also spent time flying on charter work around Scotland and Scandinavia carrying oil industry personnel amongst others.
It spent the last year of its flying career serving Welsh passengers on a route linking Cardiff and Anglesey, and also for Bae Systems as a staff shuttle bus between military airports.
The aircraft was withdrawn from service when Highland Airways ceased trading in March 2010.
The aircraft was dismantled during the spring of 2011 and transported to Pinewood studios for film use.
The film concerned was ‘Batman: The Dark Knight Rises’
G-UIST was used for internal cockpit shots during spectacular stunt sequences, and is the only partially surviving Jetstream left from the six taken for film use. The other aircraft were ex-military and were dropped from the air and destroyed.
After approximately 18 months of discussions the flightdeck of G-UIST was bought by me,a former Highland Airways training captain, and returned to the Inverness area.
The aircraft was fondly regarded by pilots and engineers at Highland Airways, as well as numerous passengers particularly in the Western Isles. The registration G-UIST reflecting its regular use serving their communities. It would have been a pity to see it scrapped.
I had been making enquiries as to the future plans for the aircraft at the time that company had ceased trading. The receivers responded and allowed me to make an offer, but this was rejected due to a better offer being made from an aircraft dealer who bought three ex-Highland aircraft.
I followed the fate of the airframe and traced it to a film company who entered into discussions about its resale upon completion of filming. In April 2012 contact was made and a sale was agreed leading to the G-UIST’s flightdeck being returned to the Highlands.
A rather turbulent 600 mile journey North followed, with various trucks and vehicles used, but the flightdeck arrived here on 9th May 2012.
There are various ideas about future use, but the plan as it currently stands is to restore the flightdeck to the condition it was at the end of its Highland Airways service. It will then be trailer mounted and used as an educational tool for visits to schools and youth groups to give young people a chance to sit in a real aeroplane, and one that has had a glamorous past as well as serving their local communities.
The opportunity for youngsters to sit in a flightdeck these days is rare. Current security restrictions prevent this from happening in the air, and time on the ground is so short between flights that this limits it too. Many current pilots have been motivated by their childhood cockpit visits and it is hoped that this roving exhibit will continue that, as well as educate about aviation matters generally. I also plan to acquire ex-Highland Airways memorabilia to use as a tribute to the former local airline.
A decision is to be made on the paint scheme to be applied. At the moment UIST wears the paint job applied by the studio for the Batman movie, a dark grey. However I want to return it to the Highland Airways livery. There could be good reason to keep both and have one side in its original colours and the other side reflecting its Pinewood glamour career!
More to follow below…
By: l.garey - 4th December 2012 at 12:45
I certainly enjoyed flying in Jetstreams as a passenger. My experience was on Sydney-Canberra commutes in the late 1980s-early 1990s, and the feeders around LAX in the mid 1990s, and also a couple on the LGW to Maastricht run.
I know nothing about their economics, but I would gladly reschedule a flight to get on a Jetstream.
By: Fouga23 - 4th December 2012 at 12:44
Very nice!
By: TonyT - 4th December 2012 at 12:16
That is really impressive, well done
By: ozplane - 4th December 2012 at 10:41
Paul, thanks in turn for your response. Your views on the handling chime in with those of my chum, who taught me to fly and then went on to amass 20,000 hours in various long haul airlines. On “retirement” he was snapped up by Eastern and spent a further 4 years flying the J31 and J41. He really enjoyed the hand flying after the long legs on autopilot on the jets culminating in a low, “well you don’t get to do this often” flyby at Leeds with a suspected u/c problem so the chaps in the Tower could have a look. He thought crosswind landings in to Southampton could be a bit sporty but as he’d learnt that art taking Northeast Tridents in to Jersey it wasn’t a major problem.
By: GNIPR - 4th December 2012 at 10:29
Oz,
Thank you.
The answer to your question is not entirely starightforward and subject to personal opinion. My opinion is that it shouldn’t have been. The reason is that HWY had several PSO (Public service obligation) routes, as well as a good contract with BAe. These contracts mitigated any low load factor risks. However the JS31 reliability was not the best, and frequently these contracts had stiff penalty costs for not flying, or delaying. Therefore the company would move heaven and earth to keep them airborne, including frequently flying spares from Inverness to wherever they were needed to get them up again. I personally flew from INV to Cardiff more than once carrying nothing but an avionics box and an engineer! Dead leg flying at its worst.
Other folk will have other opinions, but for what it’s worth, that’s mine.
The JS31 was, however a nice pilots aircraft I reckon. I enjoyed flying it, and it was typically British and overengineered. I felt happy in rough weather, can’t say that for all that I have flown!
Cheers,
Paul.
By: ozplane - 4th December 2012 at 10:18
That’s a really good effort and I wish you success in completing the project. I always liked the Jetstream as a passenger on the Netherlines flight from Luton to Amsterdam. However an airline consultant pal of mine showed me some fairly convincing figures that showed it was almost impossible to make a profit with the J31 unless you could run at a very high load factor with business class fares. Is the lack of that sort of business what “did for” Highland Airways?
By: GNIPR - 4th December 2012 at 09:46
Since I got the Jetstream home I have spent time cleaning it up internally and externally, and also preparing a list of parts required to complete.
I am fortunate in that most of the cockpit is complete, although a few of the instruments are mock ups fitted by the film company. They are surprisingly good though and fooled me until the panel was removed! Some will be replaced for real instruments, others will be left as they are.
I have spoken to several Jetstream parts suppliers and have strong leads in the USA. Some companies will not sell to individuals for end-user reasons, or because they say they exist to support Jetstream operators, apparently some parts are dwindling. Because it is still a current aircraft parts prices can be high, and I have been trying to source U/S bits to keep the price down. It doesn’t matter if an HSI is U/S to me, as long as it is cosmetically good. There is no plan to ever apply power to the panel, other than perhaps lighting.
So far I have had two covers made to protect against the harsh winters up here, and have ordered an HSI and 2 RMI’s. I also managed to get a ‘Jetstream 31’ yoke badge from ebay in new condition – amazing.
Please see the attached pics for more detail….
The first three pictures show UIST in service with Highland Airways, including a shot of me with her in a snowy Aberdeen!
Picture four shows her being low loaded off to Pinewood for the filming project, I thought this would be the last I saw of her.
Picture five shows the preparation for taking her from Dunsfold back to Inverness, did it all overnight and was exhausted whe I got home.
Picture six shows her current resting place on my drive.
Picture seven shows the cockpit in service, and eight shows how it was a few months ago.
Finally, pictures nine and ten shows the covers that I had made, reflecting her two lives as regional airliner, and minor film star!
Some changes have happened recently, I will update pictures soon.
Paul.
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December 4, 2012 at 9:42 am