FSX-SE BAe 146 and Avro RJ differences - a virtual exercise...

[P_7878]

We all would (surely) recall well those few long-awaited (payware) SIM a/c acquisitions that were our so-called "day-one" purchases...assuming our transactions, for that eventful day, went without any hiccup and that the servers responsible for such transactions, didn't buckle under (on-demand) stress...🙂...Anyway, two of the (past) products I distinctly recall, as my "day-one" purchases were (i) QW 787 - The a/c bearing some resemblance to my username here...🙂... (ii) QW BAe 146 - It's important to note that the (QW) BAe 146 Family though named so, was actually a product set that included all the variants (BAe 146 -100/-200/-300 and also Avro RJ -70/-85/-100).

Here is an (atypical) aircraft that has always caught my fancy since the earliest days of my interest in this hobby...an iconic and most curious looking (T-tail) quadjet specimen, harking back to the days when 3-4 engines were the Norm and, in fact, preferred, for one or more reasons. Isn't it curious that the world's very first (commercial) jetliner, de Havilland Comet, was also a quadjet? Some of the driving reasons were (i) Powerplant redundancy and reliability concerns (ii) Short field and hot-and-high operations (iii) Lack of ETOPS, Noise Regulations, and Fuel-Efficiency issues etc. In my pictures below, in this part, the BAe 146-100 (the shortest of the 146 family at ~86 ft long), is, for comparison, of same length as the shortest of the CRJ (-100). If one has ever flown in a CRJ100, the experience is hard to forget, a most pronounced claustrophobic feeling in a fast-moving (short) pencil-liner..., with two tail-mounted jet engines. The BAe 146-100, though of same length, is quite different, been equipped with not two but four turbofan engines, mounted on pylons underneath the wings (see close-up shots below), and actually, mimicking a Jumbo 747...leading to the nickname "Jumbolino"...certainly an unmistakable sight in our aviation world... (real or virtual) ...

Now, subtle differences (and improvements) that plane-makers introduce via new variants of the same a/c model, driven by either market or customer needs, are fascinating (please see details in my Part 2). So, in my 2-part post, here, I wished to explore the differences between the BAe 146 family and Avro RJ family, from the virtual world. In this context, it's worth noting this (sequential) linkage of companies: [de Havilland and Avro] -> [Hawker Siddeley] -> [British Aerospace (BAe)] -> [Avro International Aerospace]. So, while the roots of BAe 146, go back to the de Havilland days of the 60s, the (advanced and upgraded) Avro RJ variants (see the pictures, in Part 2) were produced in the 90s by (BAe owned) Avro International.

The very first BAe146-100 flew on the 3rd of September 1981. Dan Air was the launch customer, operating the BAe146-100 on its very first revenue flight in May 1983. In January 1987, the BAe 146 was announced to be the first jet a/c to launch jet services from London City Airport. However, below, I have selected a little-known airline, on the far (my) side of the world, out of the Rocky regions of Colorado, that would be the first to prove the versatility (short takeoff and landing performance) of the BAe 146-100, 2 years before, in 1985, operating under equally (if not more) challenging environments. Aspen Airways was named after the aspen tree (see tail logo) and not the town of Aspen, Colorado, though it operated jet services between Aspen and Denver. It introduced the first commercial jet airliner service to Aspen, into the heart of Rockies. Aspen's slogan said, "Why spend long hours in driving over winding mountain roads when you can fly into Aspen after a spectacular view of the Rockies....in the comfort of Modern planes?" The 40-minute trip costed passengers $32, not including, I read, a nominal (extra) ~$2 charge for skis, boots and poles...etc... Oh well...sounds reasonable enough...

Hope you enjoy this collection of BAe 146-100 pictures of the (somewhat forgotten but pioneering) Aspen Airways, including a few (interjected) shots of the Aspen Airways BAe 146 flying over the Colorado/Aspen Rockies. The BAe 146s were the only jetliners Aspen ever operated, and surely considered and hyped them as the Pride of their fleet. Aspen Airways would eventually be merged with Air Wisconsin and lose its identity, but the (same) BAe 146s would continue on to fly for Air Wisconsin, for many more years... 

Thanks for your interest...!!

[Alaska738]

Great set of shots! 😉 

[paulb]

An interesting read 🙂.

[pmplayer]

Thats a fine set of shots, P_7878 !

Another good of a Airplane.. 

cheers 😉

[Jack_Sawyer]

Cool shots of what I used to call the "baby 747."  Interesting history as always too.

[P_7878]

Folks:

Appreciated the remarks...and glad you liked the pictures and found the read interesting.... (It is always fun exploring the "Baby 747", Jack...🙂...)...