JS 31 and 41 progresses
After a long hiatus due to real life issues our immensely talented Model Director Paul Baines has informed us he is back and champing at the bit to complete his JetStream 41 and 31 projects which we all look forward to.
The first production model Jetstream 1 flew on 6 December 1968, and over the next year 36 would be delivered. However by this point Handley Page had given up on the original engine, and the Jetstream 2 was launched with the larger 965 hp Astazou XVI, starting deliveries in late 1969. By this point the late delivery and engine problems had driven development costs to over £13 million, far more than the original (and somewhat ridiculous) £3 million projections. Only three Jetstream 2's would be completed before Handley Page went bankrupt, and the production line eventually shut down in 1970.
There was enough interest in the design that it was first picked up by a collaboration of investors, Jetstream Aircraft, and Scottish Aviation. A further ten Jetstream 1's were produced by this team. Scottish Aviation continued production of the Jetstream 2 as well, although they referred to it as the Jetstream 200. In February 1972, twenty-six Jetstream 201s were ordered by the Royal Air Force, who used them as multi-engine trainers under the name Jetstream T.1. Fourteen of these were modified as observer trainers for the Royal Navy, designated Jetstream T.2.
It also featured in the 1979 James Bond Film [Moonraker] when the instruments are shot at and Bond is pushed out without a parachute.
BAe ATP on finals
Blu-Sky Mine Productions advises all its fans that the BAe ATP is near final completion, project leader Dan Mitchell has completed the PAX version of the model. The ATP FDE is in its final stages of development and is looking like another success for its relatively new creator Tim Bryant. The VC is looking to be another quality addition to this much anticipated release and resident Artisan Karl Berlage is putting the finishing touches on her.
The BAe ATP was an airliner designed as an evolution of the Avro 748. The fuel crisis and increasing worries about aircraft noise led business planners at British Aerospace to believe that there was a market for a short-range, low-noise, fuel-efficient turboprop aircraft.
The airframe of the Avro 748 was redesigned with a lengthened 26.01 m body and a 30.62 m wing span. Minor modifications were made to the nose and tail shapes, as well as smaller windows on a shorter pitch. The twin Rolls-Royce Dart engines were replaced with Pratt & Whitney Canada PW126 fuel efficient engines. A custom designed, slow-turning, six-blade propeller was developed by Hamilton Standard.
The aircraft first flew in August 1986 and entered service with British Midland in 1988.
In total 64 aircraft were assembled at BAe's Woodford and Prestwick facilities with the manufacture of the airframe and wings undertaken at Chadderton. Production ended at Prestwick in 1996. The plane can accommodate between 64 and 72 passengers depending on the seat configuration. The biggest operators of the aircraft are British Airways CitiExpress and West Air Sweden.
In 2001 the ATP Freighter project allowed six ATPs to be converted in to cargo aircraft for West Air Sweden. Using a modification of the Avro 748 freight door, the ATPF can carry 30% more cargo than its predecessor with a 10% increase in running costs. The ATPF made it first flight from West Air Sweden's facility in Lidköping on 10 July 2002.
In August 2006 a total of 33 ATP aircraft remain in airline service with West Air Sweden (11), Asian Spirit (1), First Flight Couriers , Atlantic Airlines , Emerald Airways , Enimex , Magicbird Airlines , SATA Air Acores and West Air Luxembourg.
Fairchild Metro III progressing
Modelers Karl Berlage and Dan Mitchell continue to work on this magnificent machine, our painters and Beta testers will soon be fully involved in this project.
The Metroliner was produced as development of the Swearingen Merlin turboprop-powered business aircraft. Ed Swearingen started the developments that led to the Metro through gradual modifications to the Beechcraft Queen Air business aircraft, aircraft he dubbed Excalibur.
Then a new fuselage and vertical fin were developed, married to salvaged and rebuilt (wet) Beechcraft wings, horizontal tail, and landing gear and this became the Merlin, powered by PT 6 turboprop engines. These were marketed as business aircraft seating 8 to 10 passengers. Through successive models (Merlin I, II,) the engines were changed to Garret fixed shaft.
An all new aircraft was built and called the Merlin III with new wings, landing gear, cruciform horizontal tail and inverted inlet Garret engines. Ultimately what was designed was a stretch of the Merlin III, sized to seat 22 passengers and called the Metro. Because FAA regulations limited an airliner to no more than 19 seats if no flight attendant was to be carried, the aircraft was optimized for that number of passengers. A corporate version with adjusted fuselage length, called the Merlin IV was also marketed.
The last Metro (a Metro 23 model) was produced in 2001. Over 600 Metros were built.
In August 2006 a total of 377 Fairchild Metro/Merlin aircraft (all variants) remain in airline service. Major operators include: Jetcraft Aviation (10), Macair Airlines (9),Peninsula Airways (6), Pel-Air Aviation (10), Air Cerberus (7), Ameriflight (44), Bearskin Airlines (8), Berry Aviation (10), Big Sky Airlines (7), IBC Airways (10), Key Lime Air (16), Merlin Airways (12), Perimeter Aviation (21) and Superior Aviation (8). Some 92 other airlines also operate smaller numbers of the type.
SAAB 2000
BAe ATP
Metro/Merlin
