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Update- BAe Jetstream 31
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If any company has the right to claim a ‘plane for all seasons in the second and third-level airliner market then it is certainly British Aerospace. BAe now fields at the top end of the short/medium haul market their model 146, followed by the established 748 turboprops and rounded out with the ‘new’ Jetstream 31.
The Jetstream 31 project certainly is a graphic example of how new technology can rejuvenate a seemingly old design. The original Handley Page Jetstream first took to wing in 1967 with that company delivering 43 of the type before going to the wall. A period of several years followed in which numerous attempts were made to get the Jetstream back into production. Indeed the aircraft had met with good press and when Handley Page ceased production the international order and option book stood at more than 170 aircraft, most of these orders being cancelled following the demise of Hanley Page. In 1972 Scottish Aviation received an order from the UK Ministry of Defence for 26 modified Jetstreams, ten for the RAF as navigation trainers and liaison aircraft and sixteen for the Royal Navy, these latter being largely assembled from . surplus Handley Page components.
As the seventies closed, British Aerospace not only saw the vast market potential for pressurised up-market turboprop commuter and corporate aircraft but also recognised a need to place work in their depressed Scottish division, at Prestwick, formerly Scottish Aviation but merged as a division of BAe in 1977. Hence in December 1978 British Aerospace announced the launch of their rejuvenated Jetstream 31. The programme at the time drew life expectancy comparison with that of the original H S146 as the new Jetstream soon found its launch order firmly on ice as the anticipated Ministry of Defence order was placed on back burner owing to ever-present budget cuts. BAe trod water for a short period then decided to go for broke and proceed with the project as originally planned in 1978. The first 31 prototype, a modified Scottish Aviation airframe, flew in March 1980 and the first production 31 took to the air early this year. FAA and CAA Certification was gained in July with first customer deliveries made one month later.
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