BAC One-Eleven 510ED (1969)

The prototype  BAC1-11 first flew on 20 August 1963 but crashed on 22 October during stall testing, with the loss of all on board. In spite of this, it entered service with British United Airways, on 9 April 1965. The 1-11 was a rare success in the United States – usually American airlines were not allowed to import aircraft if there was an American equivalent, but the 1-11 was a year ahead of the Douglas DC-9 and US airlines could buy it – American Airlines became the biggest single operator with 30 aircraft. In total 69 were sold in the US.

To cope with the demanding short-haul market, it had a very strong airframe –  witness a Philippine Airlines 1 -11 that twice had a bomb explode in a toilet in flight, blowing off part of the cabin roof each time, but survived to fly again.

The investigation into the crash of the prototype led to the development of ‘stick shakers’ and ‘stick pushers’ to prevent stalls that are now fitted to most large transport aircraft. The 1-11 control systems  also had fewer controls and indicators on the flight deck so that only two crew were required instead of the usual three. This is now standard for jet airliners.

The 1-11 Series 300 and 400 were later, longer range versions with more powerful engines, the latter with US instrumentation for the American market. The Series 475 was modified for ‘hot and high’ operations and used by operators like Air Malawi and Faucett (Peru).

The Series 500 was a ‘stretched’ version, the ‘Super One-Eleven’, with up to 119 seats. The 510ED was a special version with a flight deck modified for more commonality with BEA’s Hawker Siddeley Tridents. On BEA’s Berlin-Tempelhof service, 1-11s were flying up to 12 sectors a day with 20-minute turnarounds and unprecedented reliability. With BEA/BA the type flew more than a million hours without a single passenger fatality.

UK production ended in 1984, but in 1979, an agreement had been signed for the 1-11 to be built under licence in Romania. The first ‘Rombac 1-11’ flew on 18 September 1982, but by 1989 only nine aircraft had been delivered, and the project collapsed shortly afterwards.

Including the Romanian aircraft, 244 were built, making it the most successful British jet airliner of its day. It was also the last all-British (airframe and engines) airliner built. The last flyable 1-11 in the world was retired in the U.S. on 7 May 2019.

G-AVMU, a 1-11 510 ED, was delivered to BEA on 19 March 1969. BEA became part of the newly formed British Airways in April 1972, and when BA retired its 1-11s in the early 1990s it was stored at Hurn airport awaiting disposal. G-AVMU was donated to Duxford Aviation Society for preservation, making its final flight to Duxford on 4 March 1993 where it is displayed in British Airways ‘Landor’ livery.