It was removed yesterday lunchtime – with a hammer by the sounds of it!

Pictures – are you kidding? From off-site maybe – that’s the only way.

I do apologize! I worked at Hatfield in the Flight Development department at the time. Our office overlooked the whole airfield.

AP

Since Raytheon sold it off it’s become Hawker Beechcraft (late last year I think). I have heard rumours that there is now little commonality between the 125 and the 800/1000 airframes, though looking at them I don’t believe it. Still looks the same to me except thet as far as I can recall the 1000 has an extra windoe each side.

The Hawker 800XP airframes are the same as built by BAe since 1983. There are few detailed changes (uprated engines, avionics etc.) The 1000 has the PW305 engine as opposed to the TFE731 and is slightly longer. It has the same wing as the 800XP (slightly different to the BAe built 125-800). Not a great success the 1000, only 52 built. I don’t know about the Hawker 750XP or 900XP if they are still being built at Chester. Incidentally the 125-1000 was originally the 125-900 (they have 259xxx) cns.

The Comet was the world’s first Jet airliner and it is far mor likely that the B-47 and B-52 ideas came from the 707 rather than the other way around.

Indeed the Comet was the first jet airliner but the B-47 first flew in 1947, the B-52 in 1952 and the Dash80 prototype not until 1954 so many of ideas and concepts must have been designed into the bombers first.

Now, I had always thought the twin 146 was a twin engined high wing, but when I was shown some of the original scheme work at Woodford the last proposal was actually a rear twin engined, low wing, and very nice it looked too.

The 146 NRA was twin engined high-wing, as was the original RJX. The rear engine concept was looked at as was the twin under-wing engine design. I have artist impressions somewhere. Looked a lot like the EMB190. I’m not sure we ever got close to metal cutting. I was involved with design studies but I don’t know how far the project actually got as it never officially launched.

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I’ve was involved with the 146 and 125 at Hatfield and Woodford since I started with BAe over 20 years ago. I was involved with RJX until it’s demise in 2001.
Still a Hatfield man at heart though!

The company had a chance to develop a really decent twin engined 146 variant in the mid-90s; FBW, winglets, all that groovy stufff, but with that usual British lack of foresight decided it was too expensive or too risky or whatever and it never happened. Looked not unlike the Antonov An-148….

AP

Even as an ex-Hatfield person I must disagree with some of what you say Bruce

You’re right, the ATP was not a good seller but the Jetstream 31/32 sold nearly 400.

After they moved it to Manchester, and renamed it, it didnt really take off, and didnt earn many sales, and so was shelved.

Not strictly true. Around 200 146s were built at Hatfield and pretty much the same at Woodford. The biggest 146/RJ orders were for RJs built at Woodford from Lufthansa, Sabena, Mesaba. Lufthansa and Sabena/SN Brussels still operate large fleets.

I get the impression that the BAe always wanted out of the civil market but couldn’t find an excuse until 9/11 happened in the middle of the RJX programme.

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Like Wamwig I have seen pictures of a black Comet in a book. I can’t remember which one though. It will come to me – or my father may remember.

I’ll get back to you!

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It is still there.

AP