146 becoming a classic

[TobyV]

Many of you who "known" me (in person or just via this forum/email/facebook/etc) will know that my favourite British civil aircraft is the BAe146/Avro RJ. I always felt on here that I wasn't sure whether it really counted as a "classic". This Sunday, I will fly on the last ever flight operated by Swiss using an Avro RJ100, so now if ever there was uncertainty, the 146 design is now disappearing from mainline airlines in first world to developing countries, to new roles such as firefighting, and in some cases, simply to the scrapheap.

The final Swiss commercial flights were operated two days ago and yesterday and there was a special "media" flight from Geneva, around the Matterhorn and past the Aletsch Glacier, via Grindelwald and Interlaken to Zurich.

The FR24 plot can be seen here:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airc ... z/#e7c152c

and there's a nice video of it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMmpm5WhI28

[Aharon]

my favourite British civil aircraft is the BAe146/Avro RJ. I always felt on here that I wasn't sure whether it really counted as a "classic".

If it is offered by Historic Jet Group, it is considered or counted as a classic or a historic plane.

This Sunday, I will fly on the last ever flight operated by Swiss using an Avro RJ100,

Have a great flight and take lots of photos! Have fun!!!

Regards,

Aharon

[TobyV]

Hi Aharon,

Thanks. I joined this forum in 2004. At that point, the RJ had only been out of production for just over a year, so a lot has changed in that time. It's something I grew up with in the 1980s, being the first jet and the first British aircraft I flew in, and even 8 years after its maiden flight, was still touted as cutting edge technology, particularly for its quiet engines.

In the time since I joined this forum, we've seen previously large fleets operated by Flybe, British Airways and Lufthansa disappear, those in SN Brussels Airlines get much smaller and now Swiss, who used to operate 20 will dispose of their final aircraft after its last flight on Sunday. In Europe, now only CityJet, BRA a still have reasonable fleets along with a few smaller operators such as the aforementioned Brussels airlines, Jota and Cello Aviation with a handful of aircraft.

Toby

[JohnD]

I was able to talk my way into Hatfield to see the official roll out of the prototype in 1981. I also saw the first flight of the converted prototype to the 300 SRS.

I have been fortunate to be able to fly in it 6 times, once landing into London City from Stockholm.

Sad it's numbers are dwindling.

John

[Aharon]

TobyV,

Although real world airlines are phasing the 146s out, good thing you can keep recreating 146 routes via flight simming

Unless I am mistaken, I think some South American airlines are still using BAE 146 jets.

Regards,

Aharon

[TobyV]

Yes, several of the Swiss ones have gone to Chile.

[Archer]

Enjoy your flight Toby! I was at the NELSAM in Sunderland just a few days ago and there was a RJ flightdeck there that was being converted into a summer home.... photos to follow. It was an ex-Swiss airframe, and one of the first things I thought of was to take a photo for you!

See here: https://www.stu-artaviationfurniture.co ... se-project

[Chris Trott]

Also, several 146's and RJs will continue flying for many years as Aerial Firefighting platforms. They've been extremely well received by the ground crews from what I've read, so it looks like they will be the replacement for the L.188 and P-3 if not the CV-580 as well in Canada and probably of both the P2V and DC-7 in the US.

[Archer]

DSC_7753 by Jelle Hieminga, on Flickr

An interesting summerhome...


DSC_7754_crop by Jelle Hieminga, on Flickr

[Vancouver]

I was amazed recently to see a 146 flying overhead my house a bit of Googling revealed http://fireaviation.com/2017/03/30/18-b ... this-year/
I live under one approach to CYXX where CONAIR are based.