OLDER NEWS

The remaining 1-11 fleet has had another very eventful year. There have been many highs and lows with one of the highlights being the "return from the graveyard" of series 510ED 1-11 c/n 141 which managed to escape from Nigeria after it was bought by Trast Aero. This was formerly G-AVMM with European Aviation before being sold to Chanchangi of Nigeria and being re-registered as 5N-BCG. It has now been re-registered as EX-215. Sadly its flight from Kaduna to Bishkek in March turned out to be a one off ferry flight. It is now being used for spares but is apparently going to be turned into a restaurant! The high point and major event of the year was the 1-11's 45th anniversary celebration which took place at Hurn in August and included the visit of QinetiQ 1-11 ZE432. The low, without a doubt, was the very sad demise of former European Aviation 1-11 G-AZMF! The aircraft's plight has received much coverage on my news page over the past twelve months. Despite waging a very high profile campaign, virtually single handedly, over the past twelve months, nobody who could have made a difference, took my "rather forceful" hint that it was worth saving! As a result of it's demise, I am desperately trying to raise awareness of the need to "properly" preserve one of the last in service 1-11s when the time comes for the type's final retirement in the not too distant future. In view of this I would like to appeal to all of you that read this news page to spread the word around regarding my attempt to raise the aircraft's profile "enough" so that the last QinetiQ aircraft may be retired for preservation at the national museum at RAF Cosford. I really can't do any more than I am doing now, but if my voice can be multiplied by as many other supporters as possible then who knows - we might just pull it off! We really do need to get the ball rolling now if we are to stand any chance of pulling this off to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the aircraft in August 2013. The alternative is plain to see if you look down this news page and read the sad story of XX105! What is becoming increasingly apparent is the dire situation regarding the overall lack of preservation of classic British Airliners unless of course it happens to be called CONCORDE!!! The need to preserve other aircraft "under cover" such as the 1-11, Trident, VC-10, Vanguard, Viscount, to name but a few is fast becoming absolutely critical!!! Those that are presently in preservation in the open are in serious danger of being lost to the elements! Something must be done soon!

As for the in service fleet, 18 airframes remain current, but time really does appear to be running out as I have received numerous reports from operators that they are considering retiring their fleets within the next couple of years. Most recently it has been suggested that Northrop Grumman are actively looking at 1-11 replacements, Romavia have stated that they will be offering their remaining two 1-11s for lease during 2009, thereby effectively ending their own 1-11 operations. Whether there will be any takers remains to be seen. The MIA Airlines 1-11 hasn't spent much time in service over the past twelve months and as a consequence hasn't been photographed at all in 2008. In 2007 it was probably the most photographed 1-11 in the whole worldwide fleet and visited many European airports. Not much is known about the operations of TZ-BSA / BSB except that they have been returning to Bucharest Baneasa for regular maintenance and have been occasionally seen operating to and from European airports, probably on behalf of the Mali Government. The Royal Air Force of Oman have already retired 551 while the other two airframes will almost certainly have followed by early 2010. The US executive fleet is down to just one airframe with Business jet Access having had a very busy 2008. I've had no feedback whatsoever from Select Leasing Inc who've been keeping three aircraft serviceable at their Waukesha Crites Field facility pending a sale which has been ongoing for some considerable time. I think it is fair to say that the future of these immaculately kept aircraft is virtually over. Despite this rather gloomy outlook, I have just received an update that N200EE flew again on the 28th and 29th December for an FAA test flight at Pittsburgh. This was its first flight since April! In the UK QinetiQ continue to operate three 1-11s but once again, time is not on their side and there is talk of possible groundings if work dries up for these aircraft. We can only hope that one of them makes it to the 50th anniversary in 2013. If someone put me on the spot to suggest which airframe it might be then I would have to say ZE432 which is operated by the Empire Test Pilot School. The other remaining 1-11s in service are becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of due to their "extreme" locations. It has been confirmed that 9Q-CDY has been retired by Compagnie Africaine D'Aviation. In Kyrgyzstan Trast Aero still have two aircraft in service although how much flying is carried out is unknown. It is also very likely that the company will be the only possible destination for the Romavia 1-11s next year if they do offer them for lease. It's become a total nightmare keeping track of the two Mexican 1-11s. I was advised earlier this year that XA-CMG was in service while XB-KCE had been retired. I need confirmation of this to be sure as it was thought that it was the other way round! Finally the GST Aero / East Wing 1-11 has not been reported in service for a while now, but I haven't received any confirmation that it has been grounded yet. It was photographed at Almaty in June in very good condition so my guess is that it is still flying, but for how much longer, who knows!

There haven't been many changes to the stored fleet over the past year. Numbers are slowly falling as more airframes succumb to the scrapman. Other than G-AZMF's demise the other major story was the recent loss of former Rotec 1-11 N111RZ. As has been said before, very few if any will ever re-enter service. Looking at the stored fleet list I am virtually one hundred percent certain that there are no more candidates for re-activation other than the Select Leasing examples but even this is looking less likely as time goes by!

I would finally like to pay tribute to European Aviation who sadly ceased all their flying operations at the end of November. They have provided us with so many great 1-11 moments over the years and especially so from their Bournemouth base. Who would have thought at the beginning of the 1990s that we would have seen so many ex British Airways 1-11s remaining in service for up to ten more years and in so many different liveries. It's especially poignant when you consider that these aircraft were being rolled out in so many various liveries from the same hangars that they would have done so some thirty years earlier! Other than their 1-11s who will ever forget the sight of as many as "six Jumbos" lined up on the taxiways at Hurn back in May 2002 not to mention all those lovely classic 737s! They brought us many magic moments over the years and have left the Bournemouth aviation community with many happy memories!

I'd like to wish all those who have visited my website and supported me a very Happy New Year.

Alarm bells are starting to ring with respect to the overall situation regarding the preservation of Britain's unique but dwindling collection of classic airliners! The majority of these rare historic aircraft are in external preservation which means that they are deteriorating fast in the extreme climatic conditions that the UK weather throws at them! Many of these airliners are showing signs of serious decay which quite simply means that they won't last much longer unless something is dramatically done to preserve them undercover as soon as possible. To give you some idea of this dire situation let's look at some facts. The following list gives details of numbers and percentages of each aircraft type in preservation and how many are actually under cover.

Vickers VC10 54 built - 2 preserved in UK - 4% of total fleet - 0 under cover (CRITICAL)

HS Trident - 117 built - 3 preserved in UK - 2.5% of total fleet - 1 under cover (EXTREMELY CRITICAL)

BAC 1-11 - 244 built - 3 preserved in UK - 1.2% of total fleet - 0 under cover (EXTREMELY CRITICAL)

Concorde - 20 built - 7 preserved in UK - 35% of total fleet - 3 under cover (2 more to follow shortly) (NO COMMENT) Not to mention the other 11 (55%) abroad!

Vickers Viscount - 444 built - 4 preserved in UK - 1% of total fleet - 1 under cover (EXTREMELY CRITICAL)

Vickers Vanguard - 44 built - 1 preserved in UK - 2% of total fleet - 0 under cover (EXTREMELY CRITICAL)

HP Herald - 50 built - 4 preserved in UK - 8% of total fleet - 0 under cover (EXTREMELY CRITICAL)

HS/BAe 748 - 381 built - 0 preserved in UK (VERY SAD INDEED) I wish I could explain this!!!

Bristol Britannia - 85 built - 4 preserved in UK - 5% of total fleet - 0 under cover (EXTREMELY CRITICAL)

This list should really give you cause for concern and some idea of just how bad the situation is! Other than Concorde and the Comet the overall preservation status of all the other classic British Airliners is becoming extremely critical to say the very least. I mention Concorde because, although we love this very special and unique aircraft, some of our other types such as the 1-11 deserve to be treated with the same enthusiasm. The 1-11 will almost certainly reach 50 years in service having served in virtually every possible role! It's been a very successful airliner and executive Jet, a freighter, a test bed and has seen long service with the military. If provision isn't given to cover these aircraft very soon then it will be too late! Can we really afford to witness another Cosford disaster for example??? In some cases, some of these aircraft have been in the open for 25 years or more! Take the two VC10s for example! The only saving grace in their case is that a dozen or so further examples might be donated from the RAF at Brize Norton. There won't be any more Tridents, Viscounts, Vanguards etc coming along though! Action NEEDS to be taken NOW so start making some VERY LOUD NOISES!

Having reported on the demise of three 1-11s in recent weeks, It's reminded me just how important it is to ensure that just one single example of the aircraft is preserved undercover in a museum somewhere in the UK! I've been saying that time is running out for a number of years, but this latest carnage has really re-enforced the whole issue of how critical it is to get the ball rolling with a plan to save one of our last in service 1-11s! To be realistic, there are only three serious candidates for future preservation and these are the three aircraft currently serving with QinetiQ at Boscombe Down. (See Current fleet page for details) I am therefore going to attempt to save one of these three remaining aircraft. It has been suggested that one will hopefully remain in service until 2013 which just happens to be the year of the 50th anniversary of the BAC 1-11. Therefore, with this in mind I am going to put together a plan to not only celebrate the 50th in style as we have done with the 40th and 45th, but at the same time to fly an aircraft into the "NATIONAL" RAF Museum at RAF Cosford where it can hopefully be displayed in the hangar alongside the Comet. Some would say that this is a long shot, but if I start the ball rolling now in an attempt to raise the aircraft's profile then who knows! 244 1-11s were built as airliners, executive jets, military jets, testbeds and freighters. This was our most successful "classic" jetliner ever produced during the 1960s and 70s. ONE example deserves to be saved and displayed in all its glory at Cosford, and not outside, open to all the elements, where it will eventually rust away! I welcome any thoughts on the subject!

This is an image of the "truly horrific sight" of 1-11 N111RZ today! This 1-11 was being preserved in all its glory by David Lindberg and his team at Rockford. It was a "complete" aircraft in every sense. The engines were still attached, the APU was still serviceable, the seats were still in place and virtually everything on board the aircraft still functioned, yet it was still considered a piece of scrap metal by the airport authorities who decided that it had to go. The situation that David has been faced with is therefore even worse than that of G-AZMF in my view. I thought it was bad enough seeing images of the partial destruction of "Mike Foxtrot" but to see this "perfect" airframe biting the dust like this is absolutely tragic for anyone who feels that these historic airframes should be preserved!!!

More bad news I'm afraid as news has just reached me that the immaculately preserved former Rotec 1-11 N111RZ based at Rockford USA is in the process of being scrapped! It had been looked after by a small team led by David Lindberg and appeared regularly in the static display at their annual airshow for the past few years. See news item dated 28 Sep 2006 for more details about this aircraft.

David states:- "I unfortunately have more bad news to share. N111RZ, the aircraft owned by ROTEC Corp, that has been stored at the Chicago Rockford International Airport (KRFD) for the last six years is being disassembled for scrap. The fluids were drained last week and the flightdeck stripped. Tonight it is sitting minus wings and the tail. The remainder of the scrapping is scheduled to be completed by the end of the week. As an OPS Supervisor at RFD, keeping track of N111RZ and getting it cleaned up every year for a static display at our airshow has been unofficially part of my job. It's very hard for me to see it now knowing it will be gone by the end of the week".

G-AZMF - "The after life"! In her new role and comfortably tucked up in her new hangar at Newcastle Airport. This image makes you wonder "If only"!

See also the following link for some more images of the remains of "Mike Foxtrot" taken shortly after arriving at her new home:- G-AZMF at Newcastle

She's been cut up and taken away!!! Dismantling commenced on Wednesday 26th November when the wings and engines were removed from this unique piece of Bournemouth Airport's history. The Fin came off on the 27th and the fuselage was cut in two before the forward section (similar in size to the former European Aviation 1-11 cabin trainer G-AVMJ) was loaded onto a low loader and transported up to Newcastle on the 28th. The new owner is the Newcastle College Aviation Academy. They are based at Newcastle Airport. I have just received the following quote from the new owner:- "The 65ft forward fuselage section will be used as an engineering training aid, cabin crew trainer and as a classroom and will be permanently under cover for the forseeable future".

What a real tragedy that "NOBODY" at Bournemouth was able to save this very special aircraft!!! 146 Varsities, 279 Viscounts, 222 BAC 1-11s were built at Hurn and we couldn't save one aircraft as a tribute to the many thousands of people who worked at the former Vickers / British Aircraft Corporation / British Aerospace site! How very sad indeed! Personally I feel gutted that no organisation, connected with the 1-11 and the airport, came forward to help in preserving G-AZMF for posterity!

And finally some "breaking" news this evening is that European Aviation have just gone bust, so truly the end of an era for the 1-11 and what a sad irony that the very last European 1-11 should leave their site only last Friday!

All channels have been exhausted trying to save the 1-11. Therefore I am finally and very relunctantly conceeding defeat with my year long battle to try and salvage something with "Mike Foxtrot"! It is due to be broken up within the next couple of weeks before the remaining fuselage section is taken away.

I have just been advised that the "powers that be" at Boscombe Down have decided that XX105 should be sold for scrap metal! I have just received the following appeal from the Museum's Engineering Director:-

Dear All,

You will be sad to hear that QinetiQ are proposing to cancel the loan of XX105 to Boscombe Down Aviation Collection and sell it for scrap. We have written to the site management urging a reconsideration of this step but are not expecting a favourable outcome.
XX105(G-ASJD) a BAC 1-11 201AC has been on loan to the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection from QinetiQ since mid 2005. The aircraft is essentially complete except for the engines which have been sold and the rudder which was removed to support one of the flying 1-11s. This however has been returned but not refitted. QinetiQ have now decided that it makes the site look untidy and have decided that the airframe should be sold for scrap.
This is a unique aircraft and also one of the very first 1-11s off the production line for British United in 1964. It crashed on Salisbury plain during flight trials, was dismantled, repaired and went on to serve as a passenger aircraft with both BUA and BCAL, before being purchased by the RAE, then based at Bedford, where it was converted, including the fitting of a semi-glass cockpit and used for trials flying including precision navigation in all three axis and data link experiments. The Bedford fleet moved to Farnbourgh and then to Boscombe Down and the "owners" name changed from RAE to DRA to DERA and then eventually privatised to become QinetiQ.
Should this airframe be scrapped to "clean up the site" and to help line the QinetiQ shareholders pockets with a few pounds more? I therefore appeal to anyone out there who might be able to help to save this very special airframe! Please spread the word and ideally get people to write to QinetiQ, the press or if they are really daring Sir John Chisholm (Chairman) and we might succeed, they don't like bad publicity.

Best Regards

Ron Fulton
Boscombe Down Aviation Collection's Engineering Director

It has been confirmed that Royal Air Force of Oman 1-11 551 has been retired. Below is an image of the aircraft arriving at RAF Fairford earlier this year. It will be used for spares to keep the other two 1-11s flying until the arrival of the replacement Airbuses, due by the end of next year.

Recently sighted at Boeing Field is N999BW c/n 120 looking absolutely "factory fresh"! This is the smartest looking 1-11 in the entire current fleet. It is presently "on tour" around the US and Canada. A big thank you to Liem Bahneman for taking this superb shot.

Today we celebrated the 45th anniversary of the BAC 1-11 in style with the visit of QinetiQ 1-11 ZE432 to Bournemouth Hurn. Operated by the Empire Test Pilot School, this 1-11 was originally delivered to Air Pacific as DQ-FBV in August 1973 and has been flying in its current role since March 1984. It carried out a superb flypast before landing and parking outside the Bournemouth flying Club where a number of former 1-11 pilots, engineers and cabin crew had gathered for this unique event. It was a very fitting tribute to man and machine! Many thanks must be given to the Captain of the 1-11, Squadron Leader Colin Froude and his crew for flying the aircraft into Hurn from its base at Boscombe Down. Colin stated that he was "looking forward to the 50th"!!! Also present on the airfield was Royal Air force of Oman 1-11 551 on what was its last ever visit to Hurn before being withdrawn from service on its return to Muscat Seeb.

Some amazing photos have just materialized of unfinished ROMBAC 1-11 cn 410. It is located in a field in the suburb of Chitila to the west of Bucharest. How it got there is unknown. Thanks must go to George Bodrug for posting these excellent images which he took yesterday!

Having seen the recent sad demise of the Channel Express Herald G-BEYF at the museum, a report about the 1-11's plight in Aviation News and the BBC South Today report showing a very sorry looking cockpit section of a scrapped 1-11 at Farnborough, I thought that it was time to ask you all to share your thoughts regarding the future of the former European Aviation 1-11 G-AZMF. It's been eight months since I attempted to secure it's future by putting together a plan for it to be relocated to the Manchester Aviation Viewing Park. As many of you know, this came to nothing. The aircraft was therefore towed back to EALs ramp at the end of April for short term storage pending the outcome of the future plans for an Aviation Heritage Centre. I must point out that, to my knowledge, there are no plans to relocate the 1-11 to the Adventure Wonderland park with the smaller museum exhibits, which is presently subject to planning approval. I've spent the last 4 years trying to help preserve the 1-11 at Bournemouth but time is rapidly running out now! It's been in the open for 6 years since it's last flight and has had no serious TLC other than a scrub down since then. It appears that there is no solution in sight for its long term future at present.
Having been instrumental in doing "what I can" over the past four years, I feel that the time has now come for a decision to be made regarding its future. I would therefore welcome any thoughts / ideas that any of you have which might help to make a difference in the "final battle" to save this unique piece of Bournemouth Airport's history.
Either we help to save "Mike Fox" or you can prepare to see it like the 1-11 at Farnborough, or even worse, like the Herald in bits!!!

I look forward to hearing from any of you who feel that something can still be done to save her!

Peter
www.bac1-11jet.co.uk

I've just received some amazing news about former Chanchangi 1-11 5N-BCG. It appears to have escaped from its Nigerian "graveyard" and has reportedly entered service with Trast Aero! It flew in to Bishkek on the 4th March 2008, presumeably from Kaduna where it was stored since May 2002! Seeing will be believing so I await the first image of this former British Airways airframe. this is a very interesting development indeed!

Other interesting news is that MIA Airlines have sold two of their 1-11s, TZ-BSB and YR-MIA to Tombouctou Aviation. YR-MIA has been re-registered as TZ-BSA. They are both believed to be based in Bamako, Mali.

A new image has just been received of 1-11 PK-PJF series 401AK cn 065. It was taken during 1996 and shows it in a new livery not seen before. Very little was heard of this aircraft up until the year 2000 when it was reportedly retired from service. From 2000 until the present day, it's fate has been a complete mystery. Therefore, if anyone has any further information about this aircraft after 2000 it would be much appreciated. Thanks to Felix Toggenburger for this image.

Trast Aero 1-11 EX-086 has had its lease to Djibouti Airlines terminated. It has therefore returned to Trast.

Dear All,

As some of you may already be aware, I had a "moment of inspiration" earlier this year when I realised that there would be a very unique opportunity to put together a special one off re-union for all those who have been connected with the BAC 1-11 over the years.

On Friday 29th August, the possibly one off, four day Bournemouth Sea Front Air show will be in full swing. Aircraft scheduled to appear include the Eurofighter, Red Arrows, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Sally B, and maybe even the Vulcan etc. Most of these will be based with FR Aviation over the weekend. FR Aviation are holding their own families day on the Friday, so I thought it would be a fantastic idea to hire out the Bournemouth Flying Club for a 1-11 re-union on the same day, especially as it's only a few days from the actual 45th anniversary date itself. As I speak, QinetiQ have agreed to fly one of their 1-11s into our event from Boscombe Down.

The timetable will run as follows:-

2.30pm – Arrive at the Flying Club.
3.00pm - QinetiQ's 1-11 arrives with a flypast followed by a landing and parking opposite the clubhouse
3.15pm – Hopefully we can go on board the 1-11 in small groups, subject to security etc
5.00pm – The 1-11 departs back to Boscombe Down (making as much noise as possible!!! Not to be outdone by the Reds / Eurofighter or the Vulcan if it attends!!!)
5.15pm – Until bar closing! Time to reminisce and catch up with old pals etc!!!

It will be a very low key event! In other words nothing quite on the grand scale of the 40th anniversary, but more of a chance of just letting your hair down and feasting yourselves on the aviation treat that hopefully awaits! (No top and tails required in other words!) You might be asking yourselves are wives and girlfriends allowed???
Well all I can say is that there is a limit of 100 places for the event due to the size of the flying club, so the more ex engineers, test pilots, etc that can come the better. So I think that answers that one!

Now the important bit!

Firstly, and most importantly, you must have genuine link to the BAC 1-11

It will be an "Advance payment" only affair at a cost of £10 per person. I "MUST" have the payment in advance as the Flying Club will need the money upfront to be able to put together a superb Hog Roast etc . Therefore, I would please ask you to send me a cheque, made payable to Mr P Clark, in the post to my home address. It will be
a "ticketless event" with names on a master list being ticked off as you arrive. If you're not on that list then "YOU WON'T GET IN"!

If you have any other ex 1-11 pals that you think should be attending as well then please let me know as soon as possible as places will be reserved on a strictly first come first serve basis.

I do hope that many of you will be able to attend. Let me know if you have any other questions etc. Before you do commit, I would be very grateful if you would contact me first.

Fingers crossed for some great weather.

Best Regards

Peter Clark
16 Barwick Close
Rustington
West Sussex
BN16 3TT

Tele 01903 779585
email:- mrshu_a300@hotmail.com
BAC 1-11 Forum at Yahoo Groups

At last it appears that there might be some good news regarding the future of G-AZMF. The Bournemouth Aviation Museum have just released a new statement regarding their future which gives renewed hope that G-AZMF will find a new home at Bournemouth albeit off the airfield but in a location that would ensure that it is preserved for the forseeable future!

It has just come to light that the two Trast Aero 1-11s that were leased to SCAT Air Company were returned to Trast during February. Since then EX-086 has been leased to Djibouti Airlines and appears to have been given an interesting new livery. The other airframe is flying for Trast Aero in the UAE.

The 1-11 was towed back to European Aviation's ramp today. At present its future is still uncertain.

I have just received provisional dates for the pending retirement of the RAFO 1-11s. 551 is due to be retired at the end of 2008 when the first A320 arrives in Oman. 552 will follow in 2009 while 553 will be the last to go when the second A320 arrives in 2010. The first two will be cannibalised for spares to keep the last one flying. Therefore, if the continued preservation of G-AZMF at Hurn fails, as seems likely at the moment, then I will almost certainly start a campaign to bring 553 back to Hurn!!! These Omani 1-11s have had such a unique relationship with Hurn over the years that it seems very appropriate to try and get one permanently preserved at Hurn in a "serviceable condition". I just hope and pray that by 2010 a new aviation heritage centre has risen from the ashes of the now defunct Bournemouth Aviation Museum!

The AGM was held at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum last night. It was brief but to the point.

Basically, the existing Trustees resigned and five new ones will replace them. Please read the updates on the Bournemouth Aviation Museum website for the very latest news.http://www.aviation-museum.co.uk/frameset.htm

Beyond that, the action group / new trustees are working flat out to try and salvage something from the ashes of this whole sorry saga. It now appears that the other organisations who currently occupy the hangars might still be in place this time next year!!! So perhaps the museum didn’t have to close so hastily!!! Who knows? I certainly have my own thoughts regarding that issue!

As for the 1-11, it could be six months, six years, or never that another museum / heritage centre eventually opens its doors again at another suitable location on the airfield. I can say one thing for certain which is it doesn’t look like it will be any time soon!

In view of this, I have reluctantly decided to “give up my campaign”, as far as my involvement is concerned with the 1-11 G-AZMF. I have asked Ken Bradley, one of the new trustees, to deal with all matters relating to its future from now on, bearing in mind the lack of any further plans for the aircraft’s preservation at Bournemouth. The airport don’t want the aircraft, European don’t really want it back, especially for an undetermined timescale, in fact nobody really wants it, despite the fact that it is still the most important aircraft in Bournemouth’s history!!! There just doesn’t appear to be any way forward at the moment. So one way or another it appears that the “vultures” are gathering overhead.

As it presently stands there are four options regarding the future of the aircraft which are as follows, in order of the most likely outcome:-

The aircraft is bought by the Celtic Manor Hotel Group for £70,000, dismantled, transported, and re-assembled at their resort in Newport, South Wales.

The aircraft is placed in a suitable location on the airfield to serve as a “gate guard”.

The aircraft is preserved at a “new museum / heritage centre” located elsewhere on the airfield.

We were informed last night that because the airport management are rather embarrassed by the whole situation, (if that is truly possible) that the remaining businesses trading on the site can do so rent free until the alternative location is ready for them sometime next year!!! Doesn’t this just smack you in the face like a huge “stitch up” as far as the museum are concerned!!! Yes they could and should still be trading as well!!! The current deadline for them to vacate the premises is the end of April, but why the rush is beyond me!

So that is the very sad update as far as my involvement is concerned with the 1-11. All I can add is thanks for your support over the past three years or so with it. Please keep on supporting my BAC 1-11 website and keep me informed of any 1-11 news etc that you may come across.

Regarding news item 6 Jul 2004, I stated that Sky King Inc 1-11 N101PC cn 073 had been broken up. Well it hasn't!!! It turns out that it is stored at Castle Airport, Atwater USA which is approximately 200 miles away from its previously known location at Sacremento. It was photographed in October minus its engines and appears in a Google Earth image!

Big 1-11 news today is that a Northrop Grumman Corporation 1-11 N164W c/n 090 (ex G-AXCK) flew into Bournemouth for maintenance with FR Aviation. It arrived at 5.00pm and was immediately hangared. It is due to stay for approximately three or four weeks. the last time this 1-11 was seen in the UK was 25 years ago when it was G-AXCK with Dan Air, so it is great to see it back! This 1-11 is very similar to another 1-11 that frequents Bournemouth, QinetiQ's ZE433. It has a similar nose arrangement as it too is used for radar trials.

The plan to move G-AZMF to the Aviation Viewing Park at Manchester Airport is off. A suitable quotation within the limited budget available could not be reached. It is therefore hoped that the aircraft will remain at Bournemouth! Further updates will appear as and when I receive them.

05 Jan 2008

The former European Aviation Ltd cabin trainer G-AVMJ was transferred by road today from Cook Transport's yard at Horton, Dorset to the West Herts College in Watford.

The "current" 1-11 fleet has generally had another successful year with approximately 22 aircraft still remaining in service. A couple more airframes have being retired, and one example has re-entered service.

Once again, let's start with the operators where there has been no change during the past year:-

Northrop Grumman, Select Leasing Aviation, QinetiQ and The Royal Air Force of Oman continue to operate three aircraft each.

Although I'm not aware of any pending retirements with either the Northrop Grumman or QinetiQ fleets, it seems that the Select Leasing fleet are definitely operating on "borrowed time"! A visit was made to their facilities in October where it was observed that the three 1-11s were looking absolutely immaculate. Sadly they fly very rarely these days and have been on the market for well over a year now with no buyers on the horizon to my knowledge. The Air Force of Oman fleet soldiers on and still visit Bournemouth regularly, but it was announced earlier this year that they were going to be replaced at the end of 2009. Therefore please remember to "snap them" while you can as it will almost certainly be the last year that they will be seen at Bournemouth in all their glory! They will have been in service for 35 years with their original operator!

Romania remains the last major stronghold of the 1-11 with six aircraft remaining active. During a visit in October, all the MIA Airlines fleet of four aircraft were present at Bucharest Baneasa including TZ-BSB which is on lease to the Mali Government. Another two active aircraft were observed at Bucharest Otopeni with Romavia. The big news from Romavia is that YR-BRE was flying with a stage three hushkit fitted on the engines as trials are taking place to try and get them certified for permanent use on the Rombac 1-11! If only that had happened ten years ago when European Aviation attempted the same! Another 1-11 in their fleet YR-BRI, was in the process of being returned to service during the visit after a couple of years in storage. The great news is that Romavia hope to keep their two 1-11s in service for another three or four years. The stored fleet in Bucharest is down to four aircraft. At Otopeni YR-BRH is being used as a spares source while 5N-SEO and AP-BFC are still parked where they were a year ago and don't look likely to fly again. At Baneasa P4-CBH is in the process of being broken up for spares.

In Mexico two 1-11s remain airworthy. XB-JZX has been re-registered as XB-KCE and was photographed parked alongside XA-CMG at Toluca in September. Very little is known about these two aircraft, so how much they actually fly remains open to speculation! I've got serious doubts about the status of XA-CMG. It's been for sale since been ferried to Toluca from Orlando Sanford in 2006. Other than a possible test flight I don't believe it has flown since.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, two 1-11s were still active during last year's review but it now appears that 9Q-CSJ has since been grounded. 9Q-CDY was last reported in service on lease to Compagnie Africaine d'aviation (CAA) but was grounded at Kinshasa in March, although It has just been confirmed that it was flying again on the 28th December! 9Q-CSJ is parked in Lubumbashi. An interesting development came to my attention a couple of weeks ago when I received a picture on the internet which appears to show the former Shabair 1-11 9Q-CEH located at Lubumbashi in a derelict condition. This aircraft hadn't been heard of for over ten years!

In Nigeria it appears that there has been no escape for any more stored 1-11s as expected. The two airframes reported as being serviceable last year, 5N-BCG and 5N-BDV have not been heard of again. The former Chrome Air 1-11 in storage at Lagos 5N-UJC appears to have been broken up. This still leaves as many as thirty to forty airframes scattered around the country in a derelict state! The remaining Okada Air fleet of nineteen 1-11s still remain intact at Benin City but are extremely derelict! A 1-11 grave yard would some it up nicely!!! Benin City 1-11 photos January 2008!!!

The two aircraft located in Libya 5A-DDQ and 5A-DKO are believed to have been withdrawn from service. 5A-DDQ hasn't been sighted in service for several years while 5A-DKO was photographed at Mitiga in October and appeared to be in storage. One report suggests that it hasn't flown since it was delivered from Bucharest Otopeni in October 2006.

Finally, in Kazakhstan three 1-11s are believed to still be in service. UN-B1110 is still flying with East Wing while EX-086 and EX-103 have been confirmed as active with SCAT Air Company.

If anyone has any further news / updates / photos / corrections etc then please don't hesitate to contact me at:- mrshu_a300@hotmail.com

I can only keep these updates going if I keep receiving the images and the news etc!!!

Today is a very sad day for the Bournemouth Aviation Museum as all the exhibits will need new homes! For one aircraft this is a particularly sad day. The aircraft in question is BAC 1-11 G-AZMF. The 1-11 is without doubt the most important aircraft in Bournemouth Airport’s history. First flown from the British Aircraft Corporation site on the 20th August 1963, it has graced the skies over “Hurn” ever since and will celebrate its 45th anniversary next year. G-AZMF was the last 1-11 to fly commercially in the UK on the 31st March 2002 and in recognition of its historic status was loaned to the museum on the 17th November 2004.

A bid was therefore launched earlier this month to find a new home for the aircraft. In an ideal world it should remain on public display at Hurn, but having looked at all the viable options, it has become apparent that a suitable location regrettably doesn’t exist and that the best that could have been hoped for is that the airframe became a “gate guard” with no public access whatsoever! However, I am very pleased to confirm that an offer has been received from the team at the Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park (AVP). They would like to display the aircraft with their growing collection of famous British Airliners which include the former British Airways Concorde G-BOAC and Trident 3 G-AWZK, as well as the last British Airliner Built in the UK, Avro RJX G-IRJX. As you read this, negotiations are ongoing to secure the long term future of this historic airframe. Subject to final approval by the Manchester Airport Board of Directors, it is hoped that a fund raising appeal can be launched at the earliest opportunity. The estimated cost of the move is currently still under discussion as the airframe will need to be dismantled, transported and re-assembled at Manchester. A fundraising website will go live today. You’ll be able to make contributions as soon as final approval is received that the project can go ahead. Please be prepared to “dig deep” and support the move of “OUR 1-11” to ensure that it goes to an excellent home where it will be displayed in all its glory for many more years to come. Please visit www.mikefoxtrot.org.uk for further information.

European Aviation have announced that they have agreed to handover ownership of BAC 1-11 G-AZMF to the Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park. The project has been approved in principal at Manchester but it has to go before the Manchester Airport Board of Directors before the final go ahead can be given the nod. The move will require the aircraft to be dismantled at Bournemouth and re-assembled at Manchester. Negotiations are presently ongoing with regards to this job.

As I’m sure most of you are probably aware by now, the Former European Aviation BAC 1-11 G-AZMF will be “homeless” after Sunday 16th December when the Bournemouth Aviation Museum is forced to close it doors for the last time thanks to the totally “ruthless” approach by the airport management to demolish the hangars and turn the site into a car park!!!

As the museum have been given such short notice of the eviction it gives them very little time indeed to find new homes for the exhibits. As I have tried very hard to look after the 1-11 since it arrived in November 2004 I am keener than most to see that it finds a suitable new home at the earliest opportunity as I fear for its continued existence otherwise! Forget any “heart felt sentiments”, as the airport management have been totally unsympathetic to the whole situation, which is why I fear the worst for the aircraft.

The best we can hope for “REALISTICALLY” is that it is towed back to European and they find a space for it to become a gate guard, possibly at the Chapel Gate entrance on the North West Sector of the airport. Is this what we really want??? More importantly is this likely to happen? NO is the simple answer!!! I, for one, would dearly love to see the 1-11 stay on site at Hurn as this is where it belongs but I’ve got to realistically say “it ain’t gonna happen”!!!

For those that don’t know, he looks after Trident Three G-AWZK and all the other aircraft at the Manchester Aviation Park at Manchester Airport. Neil has been in touch with the current Manchester Airport Management with a view to the 1-11 being located at the viewing park. The initial feedback looks very promising compared to any plans any of us might have for its future at Hurn. Space is available for it on the existing site and there is a distinct possibility that it would be re-painted back into its original British Caledonian livery!!! Neil is an “expert” with regards to dismantling and re-assembling these aircraft and has an excellent relationship with the company that transported the Trident from Heathrow to Manchester. The only spanner in the works at this stage would be the cost of transporting the airframe up to Manchester. An initial estimate is that it could be done for £15,000. It has therefore been suggested that a website be set up in an attempt to raise the required funds to enable this move to take place.

My overall thoughts are that this is by far the best opportunity that exists to ensure the long term preservation of this historic airframe. If it can’t be located at Hurn then Manchester is an ideal choice as it was a 1-11 hub for many years.

I would therefore welcome as much feedback on this unique opportunity so that it can be decided as soon as possible whether or not it is a viable plan.

Please spread the word round to “everyone”, especially those that might be able to influence the outcome and be able to dig deep into their pockets!!!

If we all pull together on this we might just “save our 1-11”!!! And to see it in its BCAL livery??? Only we can make it happen!!!

G-AZMF needs a new home!!! I have received the very sad confirmation that the Bournemouth Aviation Museum is to close its doors for the very last time on Sunday 16th December! All the exhibits will need new homes from that date including the BAC 1-11 G-AZMF. I am hoping that European Aviation might come up with a plan but this is a very big "IF"!!! Otherwise the only option wil be yet another 1-11 scrapping!!! Any ideas are very welcome indeed!

Wednesday 28th November could well be the very last G-AZMF 1-11 working day at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum! The museum has been given notice to vacate their current premises within the next couple of months or so due to the airport's continued expansion. The hangar will be knocked down and turned into an extension of the existing terminal car park! All very sad stuff bearing in mind it has taken the museum the best part of ten years to get where it is today. It is hoped that an alternative site on the north side of the airport can be found. Therefore, without any further news updates at present, I am holding the next 1-11 meeting with a view to it being the last one, certainly at the present location. Let's hope that changes in due course, but don't hold your breath! The day will follow the usual format. Meet up at the museum at approximately 10.00am, have a light lunch and finish at about 4.00pm. I have then arranged "an evening out" at the Bournemouth Flying Club with a "Beer and a curry / Chilli con carne for a fiver". Call it a bit of a "pre-Christmas" get together! This will commence from about 5.00pm onwards and continue until closing time. I do hope to see some of you there.

I have just returned from a very interesting trip to Romania and can give you a very comprehensive update regarding the remaining 1-11s at Bucharest Otopeni and Baneasa. The Romanian 1-11 story is far from dead! I arrived at Baneasa as 1-11 YR-HRS landed. As I was driven out onto the airfield we drove past a very sorry looking P4-CBH which was permanently withdrawn from service last July and has been robbed of all useful parts. A scrapping is now imminent! In the hangar YR-MIA was on overhaul and to complete a "full house" TZ-BSB (previously YR-CJL) landed in the evening. This 1-11 is now leased to the Mali Government but is still based at Baneasa. Next morning I went to Otopeni and was greeted by three long term stored 1-11s. These being the former Aero Asia Rombac AP-BFC, The Ex Chrome Air freighter 5N-SEO (previously Tarom's YR-BCR) and a very sorry looking ex Romavia aircraft YR-BRH. On the plus side YR-BRE was on the ramp and departed at lunchtime for a stage three hushkit test flight!!! This is very significant indeed as the 1-11 500 series has not managed to get the neccessary certification to date to enable it to fly with stage three hushkits fitted before now. Romavia appear to be very close indeed to achieving it so watch this space for the final outcome! Finally, after YR-BRE had departed YR-BRI was towed out of the hangar and parked on the flightline after a major refit and upgrade to return it to service. The word is that Romavia intend to continue operating their 1-11s until 2011. I should end by saying "bingo" as I saw every 1-11 that I'd come to see in Romania! All nine aircraft were present! A very productive trip except for the fact that I wasn't allowed to take any photos! Some things haven't changed in Romania, so don't forget that if you see any of these 1-11s keep snapping away!

The eagerly awaited "part two" of the BAC One-Eleven story has been released by Avion Video. Once again, much of this amazing footage has never been seen before and includes many historic moments from the late 1960s to the present day. Avion Video have very kindly offered a £5 discount to members of the BAC 1-11 Forum up until midnight on the 1st November.

This DVD continues the story of the BAC 1-11, following the first four years of sales success that were covered in Classic Wings - BAC One-Eleven Part 1.

Using digital video and restored colour film from the BAE Archives, the introduction of the Series 500 and the development of two high performance 1-11s, the Series 475 and 670, are shown in detail. As the 1-11’s service life lengthened, so did the number of operators. Over 40 of them are seen on this DVD; from BEA to Savannah Airlines.

Highlights include:

Early years in the UK with Autair, Court Line, Dan Air, BIA and BCal.

LACSA 1-11s in service at Miami.

Merpati Nusantara, Air Pacific, Air Malawi and Oman Air Force.

BEA at Heathrow and Tempelhof. BA at Munich and Dusseldorf.

Tarom, Germanair, Phoenix, Cyprus and Cambrian.

Nigerian operators and South Africa’s Nationwide Airlines.

A flightdeck ride on a European Series 530.

Final years of UK operations with AB Airlines, British World and EAL.

and lots more!

It has just come to light that Vigo Jet 1-11 XB-KCE has recently been involved in an incident at Cancun. It apparently declared an emergency, landed at the airport and was seen to offload some cargo to some waiting pick up trucks at the end of the runway! This was spotted and the police went to investigate. Although the trucks had gone, the pilots were arrested and traces of drugs were found on the aircraft!!! The aircraft was, until recently, registered as XB-JZX. It looks like the change took place in February 2007.

I thought that it was about time that I gave everyone a BAC 1-11 Website update! The website has been running now for over five years and has been a great success. I've put many hours into this project which includes the BAC 1-11 Forum at Yahoo Groups and also the occasional trip down to Bournemouth Hurn to look after former European 1-11 G-AZMF. I've slowly improved the site as time has permitted by by adding further "special features" and of course the "aircraft changes" page which is still ongoing. I couldn't have done it without the support of some of you who have helped out along the way. Richard Church has to receive a special mention for his ongoing commitment to 1-11 research!

1-11 news hasn't stopped!!! There just hasn't been much to report on lately! Unfortunately, as is always the case, I don't receive many reports of 1-11s flying. The main source of information comes from photographers who post their images to websites such as airliners.net etc. What I can confirm is that the "regular" aircraft are still flying. By this I mean those operated by the likes of the Royal Air Force of Oman, QinetiQ, Northrop Grumman, MIA Airlines, etc. These are "regularly" photographed at every opportunity. Half the remaining in service fleet are operated by these companies (11 aircraft). As for the other operators, it is extremely hit and miss as to what is going on. I think I can safely say that aircraft operated by Scat Air Company, Business Jet Access, Vigo Jet, and the Mali Government, are still in service as I have received recent reports and/or images. This covers another 5 aircaft. As for the remaining fleet which consist of a further 8 aircraft it is extremely unlikely that they all remain in service. Therefore. please keep the sightings and images coming so that I can try and confirm what is and what isn't still flying.

For anyone who would like to get together and talk about anything to do with BAC 1-11s, I will be holding another G-AZMF working day at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum on Saturday 28th July. The day should kick off at about 10.00am with lunch at the Bournemouth Flying Club at about 1.30pm. The day will wind up at about 5.00pm. A beer and a curry is optional afterwards!!! Please let me know if you are coming.

Former Tarom 1-11 EX-086 (Ex YR-BCJ) cn 253 is now flying for SCAT Air Company. It was photographed in the company's livery at Moscow Domodedovo on the 6th June. It therefore looks like it has joined EX-103 (Ex YR-BRC) cn 403 with SCAT. They are both wet leased from Trast Aero / Aquiline International.

A 1-11 visited Gatwick this afternoon!!! I never thought that another 1-11 would ever fly into this London Airport, but at approximately 4.00pm this afternoon MIA Airlines 1-11 YR-MIA touched down for a stay of one hour. This is, I believe, the first 1-11 to visit for over five years. I can't remember when the last exec 1-11 was on the ground! Any ideas? A big thank you must go out to MIA Airlines, firstly for operating these classic jetliners, but more importantly for bringing them back to the UK just when it looked almost certain that we wouldn't be seeing any more civilian registered aircraft!

Fantastic news! Another 1-11 visited the UK today! MIA Airlines 1-11 YR-MIA flew into Manchester this evening. I believe that this is the first 1-11 to visit Manchester since March 2002 when European Aviation flew G-AZMF in for the last time.

Luton saw a very rare visit of a 1-11 yesterday evening. Mali Government's TZ-BSB arrived only a couple of weeks after it was delivered from Bucharest Baneasa. This was a very pleasant surprise indeed! Fortunately it was photographed. It departed this morning after an overnight stop.

For anyone who would like to get together and talk about anything to do with BAC 1-11s, I will be holding another G-AZMF working day at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum on Saturday 12th May. The day should kick off at about 10.00am with lunch at the Bournemouth Flying Club at about 1.30pm. The day should wind up at about 5.00pm. A beer and a curry is optional afterwards!!!

Latest news from Bucharest Baneasa is that VP-CCG cn 081 has been scrapped. It was, in fact, broken up last October for spares. Another 1-11 P4-CBH cn 088 carried out its last flight on the 3rd July 2006. It is currently being parted out for spares and is due to be scrapped by the end of the year..

A newly registered 1-11 flew from Bucharest Baneasa today. TZ-BSB, the first 1-11 to be registered in Mali, carried out a test flight this afternoon. The aircraft in question is the former YR-CJL cn 086. It will be operated by the Mali Government on lease from MIA Airlines. It will be "outstationed" at the Mali capital Bamako but will still be based at Bucharest Baneasa. The good news is that it is fitted with a stage three hushkit so it may venture into Europe from time to time!

The oldest surviving 1-11 N200JX cn 015, operated by Select Leasing, has flown again. It carried out a test flight from Waukesha Crites Field on the 6th April. This is the first time that this series 203AE aircraft ,originally delivered to Braniff back in 1965 as N1541, has flown in 16 months. It looks like a major overhaul has been carried out at its base, so let's hope that this very historic airframe has a few more flying hours left in it yet. It's other claim to fame is that it was the very first BAC 1-11 to ever fly into London Heathrow on the 4th July 1964 as G-ASUF. 43 years old and still going strong!!!

The Former European Aviation cabin trainer G-AVMJ has been moved from Farnborough to Horton in Dorset. It is now owned by Cook Transport who are based at Horton, Dorset.

I have just been advised that this unique DVD is about to be released by Avion Video. Much of this amazing footage has never been seen before and includes many historic moments from the 1-11's early days during the mid 1960s. Avion Video have very kindly offered a £5 discount to members of the BAC 1-11 Forum up until midnight on the 15th April. For this superb product / special offer please click on the link below.

Using expertly restored colour cine film from BAE Systems’ archives, and with authentic sound throughout, this DVD tells the story of the BAC 1-11’s early sales success.

Construction, flight testing, route proving, first flights, sales tours -they’re all in this fascinating programme covering that exciting period from 1963 to 1967; when, as the world’s first short-haul jetliner, the BAC 1-11 broke into the all-important US market.

Main features:-

Construction, rollout and first flight of the prototype

American, Braniff and Mohawk 1-11s at work in the USA

British United’s route proving and inaugural 1-11 service

British Eagle 1-11s in service and at the Farnborough Air Show

TACA 1-11s at work in Central America

Flight testing Philippines Airlines and LANICA 1-11s

Aer Lingus 1-11s on delivery and in service

Testing and delivery of Channel Airways first 1-11

Air to air with a Laker 1-11

Also included are some of the other airliners seen on the 1-11's world tour. Examples are in the photo gallery

Part 2 of the One-Eleven story will be released on DVD towards the end of 2007

It has been widely reported in the press and on television that QinetiQ 1-11 ZH763 has been carrying out trials as an unmanned air Vehicle (UAV). The press were flown onboard the former British Airways aircraft from Boscombe down. The pilots relinquished control of the aircraft which was then taken over by the pilot of an accompanying Tornado which was filmed by the press off the wing tip. The remote control was achieved via a military UHF radio to a box that was linked to the 1-11s autopilot. This was the very first public demonstration of a new system called "Autonomy", developed by QinetiQ for controlling UAVs. I can only hope that they don't remove commercial pilots from the flightdeck in the immediate future!

Trast Aero / Aquiline International 1-11 EX-103 cn 403 is currently being operated by SCAT Air Company based in Kazakhstan. Click on the link below for a very interesting timetable! SCAT Timetable

For any BAC 1-11 Flight Simulator fans out there, you might like to try the latest offerings from David Maltby's Flight Sim collection. There are some excellent 1-11 models, along with panels and sound. There is also a brilliant video showing his 1-11 models in flight! To view all of these and much more click on the following link. http://www.dmflightsim.co.uk/ Download the High Res version of the video

MIA Airlines 1-11 YR-HRS finally departed from Geneva back to its home base at Bucharest Baneasa this morning after being on the ground for eight months having an interior refit. Unfortunately it departed before daybreak, at 6.00am, so no photos were taken! Shame!!!

Further news has just come to light regarding 1-11 XA-JSC (previously XA-ADC) c/n 183. It has now been re-registered as XB-JZX. It is based at Puerto Vallarta with Vigo Jet. http://fsmex.com/ver_imagen.php?id_foto=2249

At long last the Kazakhstan registered 1-11 UN-B1111 has been photographed! It was caught in action flying into Dubai today. The image sheds some light on its new identity. It is now registered as UN-B1110 and appears to be flying for a company called East Wing. Whether or not this has any link with GST Aero remains to be seen. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1162167/L/

Subject to the weather I will be at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum on Saturday 20th January to carry out some more work on G-AZMF. It will need its usual scrub down amongst other tasks! I hope to open up a few more panels and inspect the areas behind them. It might also be possible to plug the DC power back in if I can get the battery and a 1-11 electical "expert" on site!

I look forward to seeing some of you there. Please let me know if you can make it:- mrshu_a300@hotmail.com

Further to the visit of MIA 1-11 YR-MIA to Geneva on the 2nd January, YR-HRS did not depart back to Bucharest Baneasa as expected!!! The very latest news regarding YR-HRS is that no departure time has yet been confirmed STILL!!! The airframe was already "immaculate" when it left Bournemouth last January. What exactly JetEx are doing with it is anyones guess!!!

Select Leasing's 1-11s were all present at Waukesha Crites Field at the end of December. N200EE was being prepared for a charter while N111JX was parked on the ramp. N200JX was being worked on inside the hangar. It's been exactly a year since this historic airframe last flew so fingers crossed that it is about to do so once again! Elsewhere MIA Airlines 1-11 YR-MIA was photographed at Salzburg and Geneva on the 2nd January so its reported engine fire a few days earlier on the ground at Baneasa doesn't appear to have been as bad as it might have been! In fact it is now coming to light that it doesn't appear to have been YR-MIA that was involved at all. Further evidence suggests that it might have been YR-CJL! It has also been reported that GST Aero 1-11 UN-B1111 was flying on the 28th December. It flew Baku-Aqaba-Baku.

Former British Airways 1-11 G-AVMO has now been completely rebuilt at the Museum of Flight, East Fortune. It is being prepared for opening to the public in the spring. Bearing in mind the rebuild only commenced on the 27th October, all those involved have done a great job!

Once again it's time for the "1-11 review of the year for 2006". The "current" 1-11 fleet has remained steady at around 24 aircraft. Despite several airframes being retired, other examples have re-entered service. Most of the surviving fleet only fly occasionally, which means that they fly several sectors a month rather than a day! Let's start with the operators where there has been no change during the past year:-

Northrop Grumman, QinetiQ and The Royal Air Force of Oman continue to operate 3 aircraft each and no change is anticipated in the immediate future.

In Romania there has been much activity. At Bucharest Otopeni the Romavia Fleet has reduced to just one aircraft, YR-BRE, which is still being used by the government despite the fact that a BAe146 is now in service. The last 1-11 to be built, YR-BRI, had its engines removed which possibly means it won't fly again. YR-BRH hasn't flown for a couple of years! A year ago 7 other aircraft were also parked at Otopeni. VP-CLM has since been scrapped. UN-B1111 was re-delivered to Almaty, Kazakhstan where it is now flying with GST Aero. 2 former Tarom aircraft YR-BCJ and YR-BRC were given comprehensive overhauls before being delivered to Trast Aero / Aquiline International. VP-BBA was re-registered as 5A-DKO and eventually delivered to Libavia in October. The last 2 aircraft, AP-BFC and 5N-SEO still remain stored. At Bucharest Baneasa 3 1-11s were scrapped. YR-JBA and YR-JBB, both former Jaro aircraft and JetEx's 3C-QRF. 2 1-11s, G-MAAH and VP-CCG, were delivered to MIA Airlines from Bournemouth early in the year. G-MAAH was then fitted with a stage three hushkit and re-registered as YR-HRS. It went to Geneva in June for an extensive cabin refit and is due to arrive back in Baneasa by the end of December. VP-CCG is to be used for spares only. Out of interest, G-MAAH was the very last UK civil registered BAC 1-11. The other two 1-11s in the MIA fleet. YR-CJL and YR-MIA continue to be seen fairly regularly around Europe.

In the USA several changes have taken place. Business Jet Services 1-11 N999BW finally made it back into service after an 18 month refit that included the installation of a glass cockpit and a respray. N17MK was used as a spares source for the refit. Meanwhile Select Leasing Inc have been trying, without success, to sell N200EE and N200JX. They even resorted to Ebay!!! N200EE still flies occasionally but N200JX hasn't flown for a year. N111JX was kept busy during the summer as US group Pearl Jam used the aircraft throughout their US tour. Kori Air's 1-11 N789CF hasn't been reported active for well over a year so I have now transferred it to the stored fleet list. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know!

In Mexico 2 1-11s XA-ADC and XA-CMG are still flying. XA-ADC is now flying for Vigo Jet and has moved to its new base at Puerto Vallarta while XA-CMG finally flew out of Orlando Sanford and was due to re-enter service with Grupo Adelac at Toluca. I've not heard much of these two aircraft in recent months, so how much they actually fly remains open to speculation!

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2 1-11s remain active, 9Q-CDY and 9Q-CSJ. How active is once again open to question. My guess is that they might both be grounded by now due to a lack of spares / maintenance!

In Nigeria it appears that there is an attempt to sell two aircraft!!! Would you buy one from Nigeria? Former EAL / Chanchangi 1-11 5N-BCG has been kept in very good condition at Kaduna and reportedly carries out regular engine runs while ex Savannah 1-11 5N-BDV is in a similar condition at Maiduguri. These two airframes were only handed over to the Nigerians just before the 1-11 ban came into force in May 2002.

Of the other 1-11s in the stored fleet, it is highly unlikely that any of them will ever return to service. There maybe a couple of exceptions, but even those that have only recently been retired are unlikely to become active again! Aircraft such as N200JX, N789CF, PK-TRU, YR-BRI are, perhaps the only candidates. Several stored aircraft were scrapped during the year. Meanwhile former British Airways 1-11 G-AVMO was dismantled for its move from Cosford to East Fortune. It is reportedly being re-assembled and returned to its former glory!

Overall, it hasn't been a bad year for the remaining 1-11 fleet. The biggest ongoing problem is lack of spares. This hasn't been helped by the closure of BAe Systems 1-11 support at Filton. As for 2007, I think that the active fleet will probably reduce to fewer than 20 airframes for the first time. You can only use an "educated" guess as to which ones might not be seen in the air again. Several possible candidates come to mind.

If anyone has any further news / updates / photos / corrections etc then please don't hesitate to contact me at:- mrshu_a300@hotmail.com

I hope that all you 1-11 fans have had a great Christmas and have a very happy New Year.

And last but not least, I have just received a fine image of 5A-DKO taken by Stephen Kinder at Tripoli Mitiga on the 7th December 2006.

MIA Airlines update:- YR-CJL should be in Innsbruck as this latest update goes out. Photos taken of 1-11s at this location always look absolutely stunning with the mountain backdrop! Meanwhile a "provisional" departure date has finally been announced for YR-HRS (G-MAAH) c/n 259 from Geneva back to Bucharest Baneasa. It is the 28th December.

During a visit to Geneva yesterday, I noted that MIA Airlines 1-11 YR-HRS is still parked on the ramp. It arrived on the 12th June for a two month interior refit!!! It was originally delivered to MIA from Bournemouth on the 31st Jan. After being fitted with stage three hushkits at Baneasa it was seen at Geneva on the 9th May, possibly in conjunction with the refit. It therefore doesn't look like it has entered "revenue" service at all since its delivery ten months ago! Let's hope that there is a good reason for the long delay otherwise a question mark must hang over the immediate future of this airframe. It's only saving grace is the fact that it is so low on hours and has had the stage three hushkit fitted already.

It has come to light that two 1-11s still remain "serviceable" in Nigeria and are being maintained pending a possible sale!!! Former Chanchangi 1-11 5N-BCG, in storage at Kaduna, and Savannah Airlines 1-11 5N-BDV which is stored at Maiduguri are both regularly carrying out engine runs and sometimes taxi. They both look in remarkably good condition, so there is obviously some truth in the suggestion that they might fly again! Of the forty or so 1-11s thought to still exist in Nigeria these two are most definitely the only ones that might possibly fly again but this would be a miracle! Sadly I don't think that anything will come of this though! I would love to be proved wrong though in this case!

Romavia 1-11 YR-BRE has been flying the Roumanian President around Europe. It has been photogaphed in both Warsaw and Budapest over the past few days. Meanwhile YR-BRI has had its engines removed and looks like it is permanently withdrawn from use. This aircraft was the last 1-11 to be built in 1989. At 17 years old It is therefore still a relatively young airframe. I don't expect it will fly again though.

Select Leasing Inc 1-11 N200EE flew again on Monday 6th November. As far as I am aware all three airframes are still up for sale.

It has been confirmed that MIA Airlines 1-11 P4-CBH has been withdrawn from service at Bucharest Baneasa and probably won't fly again.

With the arrival of Omani Air Force 1-11 551 into Bournemouth Hurn yesterday, it reminded me that very soon, the Omani's will become the longest operator of the 1-11. The first one was delivered from Hurn on the 18 December 1974. 32 years later, next month, and the fleet is still going strong although it is earmarked for replacement by 2008 due to ever increasing maintenance costs. Amazingly, the Omani's have been sending their 1-11s back to Hurn for servicing every year since 1974, which is before many of us can remember! The previous company to have operated the 1-11 the longest was Tarom. Their fleet also saw 32 years of service.

It has been reported that Libavia 1-11 5A-DKO was delivered from Bucharest Otopeni to Tripoli Mitiga on the 12 October 2006. Whether or not we will ever see an image of this aircraft remains to be seen!

I've just received some fantastic news regarding Business Jet Services 1-11 N999BW. It returned to its home base at Dallas Love Field last Thursday 5th October looking pristine in its brand new livery. It has also been fitted with a "glass cockpit"! There is no doubt that this aircraft is the most stunning 1-11 still flying! Hopefully its "extensive" refit, which has taken about 18 months to complete, will see the aircraft remain in service for several more years at least. Stage three hushkits were fitted to the engines a few years ago as well. Hopefully some photos will follow shortly.

Former Rotec Industries 1-11 N111RZ cn 056 was towed out for static display at the Rockford Airfest 2006 last weekend. It looked to be in very good condition inside and out despite the fact that it has been in open storage for the past three years. This airframe was originally delivered to American Airlines on the 21 January 1966 which makes it yet another 1-11 to reach an amazing 40 years old albeit not quite still in service! The airframe is now reportedly used for police training at Rockford, but how much longer it will survive intact for is anyones guess.

Former Tarom ROMBAC 1-11 YR-BRC c/n 403 was delivered to Trast Aero / Aquiline International Corporation on the 7th September 2006, after base maintenance performed by ROMAVIA. It was re-registered as EX-103 before being ferried to Bishkek International Airport, Kyrgyzstan by Trast Aero crew. I can now also confirm that the other 1-11 EX-086 was delivered on the 28th April 2006.

As the future of the three "historic" Select Leasing 1-11s remains in doubt, I thought it only appropriate to bring you the latest image of the most historic airframe of them all N200JX. Many thanks to Brandon Lukas for taking this fine shot on the 7th September at Waukesha Crites Field.

G-AVMO was delivered from Dunsfold to the Museum of Flight at East Fortune over the weekend. It remains to be seen how long it will take to reassemble it! Thank you to National Museums Scotland for allowing me to publish this image.

5A-DKO has been seen at Bucharest Otopeni on the 22nd July. It has therefore still not been delivered. Another aircraft was spotted resting in a field next to a municipal rubbish dump at Chiajna/Rudeni. It was in primer only so I would imagine that it is cn 410 which was the tenth ROMBAC. It was never completed by Romaero. I believe that it was destined for the military as a series 475. (see my gallery page for an image)

The latest news from Bucharest Otopeni is that former Tarom 1-11 YR-BCJ c/n 253 has been delivered to Trast Aero / Aquiline International Corporation and registered as EX-086. It is believed to have been delivered sometime during May. A second former Tarom ROMBAC 1-11 YR-BRC c/n 403 is due to be delivered shortly and will be registered as EX-103. http://www.aquiline-aero.com/fleet/fleet0503.shtml

Select Leasing Inc (Select Aviation) 1-11 N200EE has taken to the air once again. It flew from Waukesha to Will Rogers World (Oklahoma City) where it appears to have carried out a demonstration flight pending a possible sale. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N200EE

The Ebay auction of Select leasing 1-11s N200EE and N200JX has ended without a bid. The future of these two historic airframes must therefore hang in the balance! The third aircraft in the fleet N111JX has just completed its US tour with rock band Pearl Jam! Listed below is a full list of tour destinations.

Date	Type	Origin	Destination	Departure	Arrival	Duration
22-Jul-06	BA11/G	Grant Co Int'l ( KMWH)	Waukesha Co ( KUES)	02:11PM PDT	07:29PM CDT	3:18
22-Jul-06	BA11/G	Portland Int'l ( KPDX)	Grant Co Int'l ( KMWH)	12:48PM PDT	01:25PM PDT	0:37
20-Jul-06	BA11/G	San Francisco Int'l ( KSFO)	Portland Int'l ( KPDX)	12:26PM PDT	01:43PM PDT	1:17
15-Jul-06	BA11/G	Santa Barbara Municipal ( KSBA)	San Francisco Int'l ( KSFO)	02:23PM PDT	03:13PM PDT	0:50
14-Jul-06	BA11/G	Brown Field Municipal ( KSDM)	Santa Barbara Municipal ( KSBA)	10:00AM PDT	10:36AM PDT	0:36
07-Jul-06	BA11/G	Mc Carran Int'l ( KLAS)	Brown Field Municipal ( KSDM)	12:25AM PDT	01:12AM PDT	0:47
06-Jul-06	BA11/G	Brown Field Municipal ( KSDM)	Mc Carran Int'l ( KLAS)	03:48PM PDT	04:39PM PDT	0:51
04-Jul-06	BA11/G	Jeffco ( KBJC)	Brown Field Municipal ( KSDM)	12:28AM MDT	01:20AM PDT	1:52
01-Jul-06	BA11/G	General Mitchell Int'l ( KMKE)	Jeffco ( KBJC)	12:55AM CDT	01:54AM MDT	1:59
29-Jun-06	BA11/G	Minneapolis St Paul Int'l ( KMSP)	General Mitchell Int'l ( KMKE)	02:56PM CDT	03:43PM CDT	0:47
26-Jun-06	BA11/G	Cincinnati Kentucky ( KCVG)	Minneapolis St Paul Int'l ( KMSP)	02:38PM EDT	03:06PM CDT	1:28
24-Jun-06	BA11/G	Pittsburgh Int'l ( KPIT)	Cincinnati Kentucky ( KCVG)	02:45PM EDT	03:31PM EDT	0:46
22-Jun-06	BA11/G	Des Moines Int'l ( KDSM)	Pittsburgh Int'l ( KPIT)	06:19PM CDT	08:51PM EDT	1:32
22-Jun-06	BA11/G	Boeing Field King Co Int ( KBFI)	Des Moines Int'l ( KDSM)	12:47PM PDT	05:38PM CDT	2:51
04-Jun-06	BA11/G	Missoula Int'l ( KMSO)	Boeing Field King Co Int ( KBFI)	06:35PM MDT	06:34PM PDT	0:59
04-Jun-06	BA11/G	Rapid City Regional ( KRAP)	Missoula Int'l ( KMSO)	04:42PM MDT	06:05PM MDT	1:23
04-Jun-06	BA11/G	Teterboro ( KTEB)	Rapid City Regional ( KRAP)	03:00PM EDT	04:00PM MDT	3:00
31-May-06	BA11/G	Washington Dulles Int'l ( KIAD)	Teterboro ( KTEB)	12:15AM EDT	12:49AM EDT	0:34
30-May-06	BA11/G	Philadelphia Int'l ( KPHL)	Washington Dulles Int'l ( KIAD)	02:31PM EDT	02:55PM EDT	0:24
27-May-06	BA11/G	Boston Logan Int'l ( KBOS)	Philadelphia Int'l ( KPHL)	02:22PM EDT	03:23PM EDT	1:01
23-May-06	BA11/G	Oakland Co Int'l ( KPTK)	Boston Logan Int'l ( KBOS)	12:14AM EDT	01:40AM EDT	1:26
22-May-06	BA11/G	Burke Lakefront ( KBKL)	Oakland Co Int'l ( KPTK)	02:36PM EDT	02:58PM EDT	0:22
20-May-06	BA11/G	Gerald R Ford Int'l ( KGRR)	Burke Lakefront ( KBKL)	12:24AM EDT	result unknown	n/a
19-May-06	BA11/G	Chicago Midway Int'l ( KMDW)	Gerald R Ford Int'l ( KGRR)	03:06PM CDT	04:35PM EDT	0:29
18-May-06	BA11/G	Waukesha Co ( KUES)	Chicago Midway Int'l ( KMDW)	01:45PM CDT	02:04PM CDT	0:19
13-May-06	BA11/G	Bradley Int'l ( KBDL)	Chicago Midway Int'l ( KMDW)	11:37PM EDT	result unknown	n/a
13-May-06	BA11/G	Albany Int'l ( KALB)	Bradley Int'l ( KBDL)	02:52PM EDT	03:10PM EDT	0:18
12-May-06	BA11/G	Lester B Pearson Int'l ( CYYZ)	Albany Int'l ( KALB)	02:53PM EDT	03:47PM EDT	0:54
07-May-06	BA11/G	Teterboro ( KTEB)	Lester B Pearson Int'l ( CYYZ)	03:05PM EDT	04:13PM EDT	1:08
03-May-06	BA11/G	Des Moines Int'l ( KDSM)	Teterboro ( KTEB)	05:50PM CDT	09:05PM EDT	2:15
03-May-06	BA11/G	Boeing Field King Co Int ( KBFI)	Des Moines Int'l ( KDSM)	12:22PM PDT	05:13PM CDT	2:51
02-May-06	BA11/G	Missoula Int'l ( KMSO)	Boeing Field King Co Int ( KBFI)	03:23PM MDT	03:31PM PDT	1:08
02-May-06	BA11/G	Waukesha Co ( KUES)	Missoula Int'l ( KMSO)	12:22PM CDT	02:35PM MDT	3:13

The dismantling of former British Airways 1-11 G-AVMO has begun this week at Cosford. Let's hope that ASI are very careful with it!!!
I understand that the wings and tail will be cut off, with great care, before all the bits are transferred by road to the Museum of Flight at East Fortune. The journey north is due to take place in September. I believe that the airframe will then be stored while a final location on the site at East Fortune is found for the aircraft. It will be very interesting therefore to see how this story develops!

I've just received some good news from Mexico thanks to a couple of images that have recently been uploaded to airliners.net Many thanks must go to Luis Tena Orozco for taking the photos!!!

XA-CMG cn079 which had been stored at Orlando Sanford for several years has finally been flown out and arrived in Toluca, Mexico 22 Jun 2006. It is currently being prepared for a return to service and is being repainted. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1076873/L/

Meanwhile XA-ADC cn183 (previously VP-CMI) has been re-registered as XB-JSC and is being prepared for its new owner, Vigo Jet SA.DE.CV This company is based in Puerto Vallarta. It has been suggested that it will return to an XA- registration. More details will follow as I receive any further updates on this story. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1076872/L/

Former British World 1-11 G-OBWD was finally "put out of her misery" as scrapping commenced at Southend today. It is due to be completely reduced to junk metal within the next couple of days! I understand that 5N-HHH (G-FIRE) may follow shortly! This could signal the end of the 1-11 at Southend unless of course Jet Ex / MIA send any of their 1-11s in again for a refit. So after many years of 1-11 movements, including many deliveries to Africa, 5N-HHH looks increasingly likely to make history as the last 1-11 at the historic site!

Regarding the Select Leasing auction news, The aircraft appear to be back on auction until the 20th July. In short, "two very geriatric jets" which should now be retired gracefully and placed in a museum,especially the historic N200JX!!!

The two Select Leasing 1-11s for sale on Ebay, N200EE and N200JX, have been bid for right at the last minute! The sale price was as advertised at $2,250,000. Watch this space for any further updates!

The two ex Jaro 1-11s, YR-JBA and YR-JBB that are in storage at Bucharest Baneasa have reportedly been scrapped along with another airframe parked at Otopeni, VP-CLM.

Some interesting news just in is that the two Select Leasing Inc series 200 1-11s N200EE c/n 083 and N200JX c/n 015 are being advertised for sale on Ebay!!! If you've got $2,250,000 then they are yours! More importantly, from an historical point of view, N200JX was the very first BAC 1-11 to ever visit Heathrow on the 6th July 1964 when it arrived in it's Braniff livery registered as G-ASUF. It has certainly been on a very long journey since then!!! I await any further developments. The last flights of these aircraft was back in January as far as I know.

Air Katanga / ITAB 9Q-CSJ, 9Q-CDY
The latest update on these two rare aircraft is that 9Q-CSJ is presently not at Lubumbashi. Either it is flying or stored elsewhere. 9Q-CDY has flown a dozen or so times since this time last year according to latest reports.

Business Jet Services N999BW Stage 3 Hushkitted
The aircraft has just come to the end of a very comprehensive refurbishment. Its flightdeck has been upgraded with the installation of a glass cockpit and it is currently being resprayed. It will shortly return to service after nearly a year!

Grupo Adelac XA-ADC
The aircraft is being kept busy flying out of its base at Toluca, Mexico. I have been told that it flies up to three times a week.

GST Aero UN-B1111
It was reported that this airframe returned to service at the beginning of this year after a period of storage and an overhaul at Bucharest Otopeni. It is based at Alamaty. No sightings have yet been recorded.

Kori Air N789CF
I've been told that this aircraft does fly occasionally in the USA but no reported sightings or images of it have been given to me so far. In fact I've only ever seen one image of this aircraft!

Libavia 5A-DKO
Another airframe that was supposedly returned to service earlier this year from Bucharest Otopeni after a period of storage and overhaul. Once again no one has confirmed this to me yet and it has not been seen. I've just received an update which suggests that it will be delivered from Otopeni very shortly.

Libyan Arab Airlines 5A-DDQ
It was photographed parked in Tripoli late last year but is rarely seen other than when it goes into Malta for its maintenance. Sources have suggested that it hasn't flown for as long as two years!

MIA Airlines YR-CJL, YR-HRS, YR-MIA, P4-CBH
The largest remaining 1-11 operator with six aircraft in the fleet although only four are in service. The three Romanian registered aircraft are stage three hushkitted, These are the last three civil registered 1-11s still allowed to fly in Europe! The fourth aircraft P4-CBH is normally based in Africa. 3C-QRF, which had been in storage, has reportedly been scrapped.

Northrop Grumman N161NG, N162W, N164W
These airframes are all used as testbeds for various radar installations. Testing is currently been carried out with the JSF radar system.

QinetiQ ZE432, ZE433, ZH763
All of these aircraft are active from their Boscombe Down base.
ZE432 still flies with the ETPS while ZE433 is involved with Eurofighter radar trials. ZH763 carries out all sorts of electronic missions.

Romavia YR-BRE, YR-BRI
Both these aircraft were kept busy until recently. YR-BRE has been on "government duty" for the past few years, but it seems to have been replaced by a BAe146. YR-BRI was carrying out regular trooping flights. Neither aircraft have been sighted or photographed away from their Otopeni base for sometime now.

Royal Air Force of Oman 551, 552, 553
Still in service with their original customer after 32 years! A record! They are due to be withdrawn from service by 2008.

Select Leasing Inc N111JX, N200EE, N200JX
This company operates the world oldest 1-11 still in service N200JX a series 203AE c/n 015! This airframe was originally first flown in 1964 and delivered to Braniff. Sadly it looks increasingly likely that the two series 200 aircraft have been withdrawn from service. They haven't been reported as active for 6 months now and were up for sale. The series 400 N111JX, fitted with a stage three hushkit, is currently touring the USA.

That completes a comprehensive list of current operators. It looks, very much, like many of these airframes may have already been withdrawn from service. In particular those flown by Kori Air and Select Leasing.
Without any further confirmation, I would suggest that only about 16 or 17 of the above airframes actually remain in service!

As for those aircraft that might still be in service to celebrate the "magic" 50th anniversary or the type in 2013, I would imagine that those operated by Northrop Grumman and QinetiQ might just make it along with one or two of the stage three hushkitted airframes such as N999BW or YR-HRS. Time will tell!

Fantastic news!!! G-MAAH has now become YR-HRS with the MIA Airlines fleet and has had stage three hushkits fitted to its Rolls Royce Spey engines by Jetline Technics at Bucharest Baneasa! It was photographed for the first time at Geneva on the 9th May. http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5726813

A further development took place yesterday at Southend as the Fresh titles were removed from G-OBWD and replaced by British Heart Foundation titles and TZ Aviation on the Port side! This was to do with a guy from TZ Aviation who ran the London Marathon for his charity the BHF hence the fake registration G-OBHF!!! http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1038319/L/ At least this 1-11 is going out in style!

It was reported that the former British World Airlines 1-11 G-OBWD (9L-LDK) "Fresh Titles" carried out static engine runs on the 21st April at Southend prior to parting out. It has been in storage for nearly five years so it finally looks like the end is near!

The former British Airways 1-11 G-AVMO which is resident at the Cosford RAF Museum as part of the BA collection will be saved! A press release was given by British Airways yesterday to confirm that the complete airframe will be dismantled and transported to the Museum of Flight at East Fortune. It is due to arrive in September. http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bapress/public/en_gb http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0995175/L/

G-MAAH had its UK registration cancelled today. This is the last BAC 1-11 to be registered in the UK.

ZE433 finally departed Hurn at 1215 today and flew into its new base at Boscombe Down. I've been advised that it should return to FR Aviation at Hurn periodically

QinetiQ 1-11 ZE433 carried out a scond test flight from Hurn today. I still don't know when it will finally depart to its new base at Boscombe Down.

VP-CCG departed from Bournemouth this morning for its new base at Bucharest Baneasa where it joins G-MAAH with the MIA Airlines fleet. I have been told that it will probably for spares use only as its engines are time expired.

Some news from the USA is that N17MK cn 054 has been permanently withdrawn from service by Business Jet Services. In fact it has been stored since March 2002. It was decided in 2005 to use it as a spares source for N999BW. This aircraft is another historic airframe as it was the second series 400 aircraft off the Hurn production line and was originally registered as G-ASYE.

Tikal Jets 1-11 TG-TJK was scrapped at La Aurora late in February. Meanwhile N17MK of Business Jet Services has been photographed at Tulsa minus its stage three hush kitted engines. It is therefore now listed as stored. I am waiting to find out any news regarding the company's other 1-11, N999BW. This aircraft was also fitted with a stage three hush kit. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1020880/L/

BAC 1-11 5N-BBQ, which had been stored at Malta since September 2002 was moved from the NCA / Medavia hangar today. The aircraft was first towed over to "Park 9" at Malta Airport before being hoisted by crane over the airport perimeter fence It then travelled by road to Hal-Far disused airfield where I understand it will be used for fire training purposes. Hopefully some photos of its move will be forthcoming. This was the last stored 1-11 to be removed from the Medavia facility. The fate of the others is as follows:- 5N-BBP- Broken up earlier this month, although its nose section was delivered to the local museum (Albarka Air livery), 9L-LDL-Broken up earlier this month (BWA livery), 9L-LDJ- Moved to the Malta Airport fire service training area (all white) http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5672070 http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5673553

An interesting development has just been reported to me regarding the former Aravco 1-11 VP-CCG. Despite receiving earlier reports suggesting the demise of this very elderly 1-11, it appears that it might just be preparing to leave Bournemouth. It was carrying out engine runs today and one report even suggested that it flew yesterday! If it does fly out, then my money is on it joining G-MAAH at MIA Airlines. We will have to wait and see. In the meantime another 1-11 flew into Bournemouth last week. RAFO 1-11 553 arrived for further maintenance by FR Aviation. It has also been suggested that the QinetiQ radar testbed ZE433, also with FR Aviation, will be flying out to its new base at Boscombe Down towards the end of the month.

At 1700 hours GMT and shortly after a lovely sunset the very last 1-11 to be delivered from Hurn to a "NEW" customer departed off runway 08. Appropriately it used its British registration as its callsign "Golf Mike Alpha Alpha Hotel!" Its destination was Bucharest Baneasa. The pilot sounded like he was from MIA Airlines! In fact I can confirm that it will be joining the MIA Airlines Fleet. My guess is that it will be fitted with a stage three hush kit and be re-registered in Romania before continuing to fly within Europe.

Great news today!!! G-MAAH finally carried out a test flight from Hurn nearly two years since it's last took to the air! It flew for just over one hour before returning to FR Aviation. I understand that at least one more test flight will take place before the aircraft departs Hurn for the very last time sometime next week. It is due to fly to Bucharest Baneasa where I believe it will be joining the MIA Airlines fleet. No doubt it will be re-registered shortly after it arrives. Once again, this will almost certainly be the last ever Hurn 1-11 delivery to a new customer unless of course VP-CCG gets a reprieve! http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5668971

It has been announced that the British Airways collection of airliners based at RAF Cosford is going to be disposed of. This is extremely sad news as all the aircraft in the collection are important "classic" airliners. These include the Boeing 707, VC-10, Trident, Comet and Viscount. More importantly from a 1-11 point of view G-AVMO is also in the collection! Its future is therefore very uncertain at this stage. I await any further developments. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/510220/L/

Good news has just been received from Bucharest Otopeni. As many as four stored 1-11s may soon be returning to service. UN-B1111 flew back to Almaty on 29th December and is now flying for its new operator GST AERO. Meanwhile 5A-DKO, previously VP-BBA, is being prepared for delivery to Libavia who are based in Tripoli. It is due to depart within the next few weeks. Both aircraft were prepared by Romavia. In an interesting development, it appears that two former Tarom series 500 aircraft that have been in long term storage, YR-BCJ and YR-BRC are going to return to service! It has been reported that they will be operated by SKY WAY International / Trast Aero and will be based at Bishkek, Gyrgyzstan. WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

Further to seeing the photo of XA-ADC cn 183 taken at San Antonio, I can confirm that the other XA-ADC cn 084 is still stored at San Antonio minus its engines. This airframe is white with a red cheatline. Out of interest, XA-CMG should have departed from Orlando Sanford by now and be based alongside XA-ADC at Toluca. Latest information still suggests that it might only be used as a spares source.

I am very pleased indeed to announce that 2005 has ended on a "high" with a superb image of the oldest BAC 1-11 still flying, N200JX! It was uploaded to airliners.net this morning and shows just how "pristine" this aircraft still looks after 42 years in service! http://www.airliners.net/open.file/985202/L/

The 2 Albarka Air 1-11s and former British World Airlines 1-11s have been moved at Malta in readiness for scrapping! The BWA 1-11 9L-LDL has been moved into the Medavia hangar for what I guess will be final decomissioning. The two Albarka aircraft will no doubt follow. The "all white" ex BWA 1-11 9L-LDJ has been moved across to the grass area in front of the fire station for fire training.

This annual review comes to you a little earlier than normal this year due to the fact that I am in danger of recording the worst monthly "message" figures on the BAC 1-11 Forum since I took it over in November 2001! Funnily enough the same happened last December, but with only 2 messages so far this month, anyone would think that there were no 1-11s left flying out there! I am therefore going to try and "provoke" a response!!!

Firstly, it has to be said that thanks to the power of the internet, I have got contacts in most places around the world where 1-11s still operate. However getting these contacts "to talk" is another matter altogether. I would sum the whole situation up by saying that it's a constant battle trying to get anyone connected with the serviceable fleet to actually communicate with me, either via the forum or directly by email. Trying to draw "blood from a stone" comes to mind!

It is pleasing to say that there is still a very varied mix of execs, military aircraft and of course testbeds out there despite the fact that 99% of the passenger fleet is no more! These include a wide selection of "old timers and newer" 1-11s from aircraft such as Select Leasing's N200JX, c/n 015, a series 203AE which first flew with Braniff as N1541 on the 24th May 1964, to more recent ones such as Romavia's YR-BRI c/n 409, a series 561RC ROMBAC aircraft built in Romania and first flown in April 1989. This of course was the last 1-11 ever built!

I think the highlight of the year has once again got to be the use of the aircraft by MIA Airlines. This company has been very active indeed with their two stage three hushkitted fleet YR-CJL and YR-MIA. These two have been seen all over Europe and been well photographed fortunately. A third aircraft, P4-CBH was resprayed in April and is believed to be operating outside Europe as it only has a stage 2 hushkit fitted. A fourth aircraft 3C-QRF is, I understand, stored at Baneasa.

Romania remains a 1-11 stronghold with ten examples in service or stored at Otopeni and another five or so at Baneasa.

In Africa it's business as usual! In other words who knows what is going on!!! The last I heard was that 9Q-CDY was still in service on lease to Wimbi Dira Airlines but nothing has been heard of it recently. Elsewhere, I think everything is now either stored or derelict. Certainly one of this years highlights has been that photograph of the 17 Okada Air 1-11s taken at Benin city in April. It has now taken over 50,000 hits at Airliners.net!!!

In the USA, nothing has really changed except for the fact that a few more images have been taken recently of the Select Leasing aircraft which is very welcome indeed! Sadly, the 1-11 just isn't loved in the US in the same way that it is in Europe! Therefore it is extremely difficult getting any serious information / updates from there! Saying that, I have had some useful feedback regarding the Northrop Grumman testbeds.

In the UK the last 1-11 stronghold continues to be Boscombe Down where QinetiQ use ZH763 and the Empire Test Pilot School use ZE432. These two will be joined by the testbed ZE433 in the new year.
At Bournemouth/Hurn time is rapidly running out for the two Aravco aircraft! G-MAAH Has been resprayed and sold. It is due to leave shortly. Although no confirmation has been received, I believe that it will be going to JetEx/MIA Airlines. Rumour has it that VP-CCG will be scrapped. ZE433 will be going to its new base at Boscombe Down which will leave no aircraft based at the airport for the first time in many years! Although we are unlikely to see any further 1-11s based at Hurn it is hoped that the Omani Fleet will still visit for maintenance for several more years! This leaves VR-BEB on the fire dump and G-AZMF at the museum.

On the subject of preserved aircraft, it is a great shame to report that none are actually under cover at present, therefore they are all slowly "rotting away" despite the best efforts to prevent their decay, especially by the Brooklands Museum G-ASYD Team! These airframes have got to be under cover to stand any chance of "long term" preservation! What would it take to start a campaign to get G-AZMF moved into the Bournemouth Aviation Museum hangar where it could be displayed properly and have the "history of BAC/Vickers at Hurn" on view in the cabin! After all, up until the 1990s there had been more British Airliners built at Hurn than at any other location in the UK, including 279 Viscounts and 222 1-11s. At present the entire history of Hurn production is sadly located on one small "corner" of wall space at the museum yet much more is given over to less worthy items! (Holmsley airfield gets a whole room!) It should, without doubt be the centre piece of the museum! Please share your views on this subject! This aircraft must be displayed inside otherwise it will rapidly turn to rust, hardly a fitting end to Hurn's "finest"! (take one look at the Herald!!!)

At Duxford the new Hangar is taking shape but there are no plans to place G-AVMU inside!

In Mexico, XA-CMG is due to join XA-ADC at Toluca but it has been suggested that it might only be a spares source for XA-ADC.

Looking at the stored fleet, a couple of aircraft may shortly return to service. The former VP-BBA and UN-B1111, currently stored at Otopeni, are two candidates. I await confirmation. Otherwise it is a case of continued storage leading to further scrappings or derelict airframes as is the case in Africa.

That's about it for now. Phew I hear you say, if you got this far!!! Please keep the news stories and pics coming in via the Forum.

Grupo Adelac 1-11 XA-CMG c/n 079 is due to leave Orlando Sanford within the next few days and re-enter service after a long period of storage. It is due to fly to Toluca, Mexico where I understand it will join sister ship XA-ADC c/n 183.

The Former European 1-11 G-AWYV fuselage has been cut in half at Air Salvage International's Yard at Alton and its forward fuselage placed next to the Diner 2000 cafe at the Yard's entrance! Whether or not you can eat your Sausage egg and chips in "first Class" remains to be seen! I suggest therefore, that you check it out next time you are passing through Alton!!! http://www.airliners.net/open.file/957186/L/

Good news and bad news from Bucharest Otopeni! Firstly it appears that UN-B1111 will shortly return to service in the UAE. Whether or not it returns to Almaty, its former base, is unclear. Another aircraft, VP-BBA c/n 126 is reportedly due to fly out very soon to Libya where it will join the Libavia fleet. It is apparently registered as EX-111 at present. I await confirmation of this! The bad news is that the former Aravco aircraft VP-CLM is due to be scrapped in the near future. A great shame as it was immaculately kept by FR Aviation prior to leaving Bournemouth in August 2003!

G-MAAH was rolled out today. It was towed back across the airfield and parked next to VP-CCG at FR Aviation. Apart from the registration, G-MAAH is still taped on, it's a case of spot the difference between the two aircraft! Sadly the weather was wet and windy all day so not good for photos!

G-MAAH respray is now complete. It has been sprayed into the same livery as VP-CCG! It is due to leave the hangar imminently. My guess is that it will be rolled out tomorrow morning. This will be a very historic moment as I believe that this will be the last ever 1-11 to be rolled out, albeit after a respray, on the site of the former BAC 1-11 production line at Hurn. It is 42 years and 3 months since the very first 1-11 G-ASHG was rolled out on the 28th July 1963! This is an absolutely unique event for a British Jet Airliner after such a long time! The 1-11 might not have had the same appeal as Concorde or the Comet but it has definitely stood the test of time!

It has been confirmed that 1-11s G-MAAH and VP-CCG have been sold and will therefore fly out of Bournemouth very soon! G-MAAH is due out of the European spray shop either this weekend or sometime next week. I still have no further news regarding the new operator or registrations.

It has sadly just been announced that the four 1-11s in Malta will shorty be scrapped. The aircraft have been parked at the Medavia facility for several years pending a possible sale which has unfortunately come to nothing. The aircraft are 5N-BBP c/n 202, 5N-BBQ c/n 230 Ex Albarka Air and 9L-LDJ c/n 242 , 9L-LDL c/n 232 Ex British World. I think we can safely say that none of the stored 1-11 series 500 aircraft are likely to fly again as the market has completely evaporated for these elderly airframes. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/391326/L/

Aravco's 1-11 G-MAAH has been moved from the FR Aviation parking area to the European Aviation spray shop / hangar at Bournemouth. I am hoping to get some more details as soon as possible about this "BIG" news story! The aircraft has spent most of the past five years parked up despite being maintained as a serviceable airframe by FR Aviation. Fingers crossed that it is good news and we will see it fly out of Bournemouth soon.

No reports have been received for a long time now regarding the status of the three remaining in service 1-11s operating in Africa. The three airframes are 5N-UJC of Chrome Air, 9Q-CSJ of Air Katanga and 9Q-CDY of ITAB. It looks increasingly likely that the airframes are therefore now in storage. The Chrome Air aircraft, in particular, hasn't been reported as in service for about three years. The ITAB 1-11 was carrying out a limited service from Lubumbashi to Johannesburg earlier this year but I believe that this service may now have stopped. 9Q-CSJ was been used as an executive transport but appears to be in only very limited use, if at all.

Mia Airlines 1-11 YR-MIA has paid a return visit to Southend. It flew in just after 1.00pm this afternoon. It left in March this year as P4-JLB having had a new cabin interior fitted. . It has since been fitted with a stage three hushkit. It is reported that another 1-11 from the Mia Fleet will also fly in for a refit in the near future

It appears that the future of the former AB Airlines / Bournemouth Aviation museum 1-11 G-AVMN has been secured. Having departed from Bournemouth in February on a low loader, it was loaded on a ship and transferred to Slagelse, Denmark where it is now a restaurant! It is intended that the wings, tail and engines will be re-attached before the end of the year. From the images that I have received, it is clear that the electrics have been made live once again with most flightdeck lights working! A great job! Now to get to work on G-AZMF!!!

It is rumoured that the two Bournemouth based Aravco 1-11s VP-CCG and G-MAAH may be scrapped in the near future!!! VP-CCG was flying until recently but appears to have been placed into storage and hasn't been reported as having flown for a some time now. It is a former American Airlines aircraft c/n 081 a series 401AK and first flew in 1966! Its future looked secure as it had been fitted with a stage three hushkit but it appears that a buyer for the aircraft cannot be found. G-MAAH c/n 259 a series 488GH built in 1978, had been earmarked for a stage three hushkit conversion. This has not materialised and it remains stored at Bournemouth. This airframe is the lowest houred 1-11 in the entire fleet and is immaculate inside and out. Personally, I cannot believe that a buyer cannot be found, but unless it gets its hushkit fitted then its future looks increasingly bleak! http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=385497 http://www.airliners.net/open.file/448097/L/

In a further twist, the JetEx Flight Support / Mia airlines 1-11 c/n 260 has been re-registered yet again! Having begun the year as P4-JLB, when it emerged from its interior refit at Southend, it was re-registered as HR-ATS in June and had its stage three hushkit fitted. It has been photographed today at Vienna as YR-MIA! http://www.airliners.net/open.file/903499/L/

I can now confirm that the Nationwide Airlines 1-11 fleet have been broken up at Lanseria. The only surviving airframe, ZS-OAG, has been transferred to the airport fire service. The other surviving airframe on the airfield is the former Rwanda Airlines aircraft 9XR-RA c/n 011 a series 201AC. It appears also that ZS-NUG is also still intact. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/513137/L/ http://www.airliners.net/open.file/458769/L/

The former European Aviation Cabin Trainer G-AVMJ left Bournemouth last night on a low loader. It arrived at the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) Museum at Farnborough Airport. It will be restored to its former glory and displayed to the public when complete. It's great news that another 1-11 has been saved from the scrapman albeit the fuselage only in this case! http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=372804

I have just received news that Berkut Air's 1-11 UN-B1111 is at Bucharest Otopeni for maintenance with Romavia. This possibly means that it will once again become part of the current 1-11 fleet since it appears to have been stored at Almaty for over a year. VP-BBA, once part of the Jetline fleet, is also with Romavia at Otopeni. |It is destined for a company called Libavia and will shortly be re-registered.

Jetline International have re-registered two of their aircraft. VP-CJL becomes YR-CJL while P4-JLB is now HR-ATS and more importantly has been given stage three hushkits on its two Spey engines! This is the first series 475 to have been given the kit. I believe that it was carried out at Baneasa. The company appears to have changed its name to JetEx Flight Support / Mia Airlines. http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=354743

Confirmation has been received that ITAB 1-11 9Q-CDY is back in service. It is operating a twice weekly service between its base at Lubumbashi DRC and Johannesburg. It is operating on behalf of Wimbi Dira Airways. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/834695/L/

Jetline 1-11 P4-CBH has been resprayed into a similar livery as P4-JLB and VP-CJL. Fingers crossed that we might see it over here in the UK soon, despite it only been a stage two aircraft.

Due to my website "crashing" last week the data on the site needs updating. In particular the news page is a major issue as I last backed it up on the 2nd October 2004! All the 1-11 news can be viewed at the BAC 1-11 forum at Yahoo Groups for the time being including news items going back to last October. Please bear with me while I try and get to grips with everything! Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

No less than 17 Okada Air 1-11s were photographed at Benin City earlier this month. It's an amazing shot of these once proud aircraft. They haven't flown for many years. To view the images click on this link:- http://www.airliners.net/open.file/815697/L/

The former Ashmawi Aviation 1-11 VP-CMI c/n 183 has now arrived at its new base in Toluca Mexico. It is operated by Grupo Adelac and has been re-registered as XA-ADC. It is the second 1-11 to wear this registration. The other one is c/n 084. It is believed that this one is still in long term storage at San Antonio. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/818680/L/

The year finished off on a high note as Jetline's 1-11 VP-CJL flew into a snowy Innsbruck yesterday. It looked absolutely fabulous with the Alps in the background. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/746969/L/

The last ever European BAC 1-11 movement took place today as G-AZMF was towed from the former BAC site to its final resting place at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum. http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=360083

European 1-11 G-AVMN (AB Airlines livery) was towed from the Bournemouth Aviation Museum back to the European Ramp today. It will be replaced next week by G-AZMF. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/747403/L/

The three Omani 1-11s were photographed on the Muscat Seeb ramp today! Thanks must go to Bruce Marks for the image. This is a unique shot and probably the last time that three in service 1-11s will be photographed together!

Jetline 1-11 P4-JLB arrived at Southend today for an interior refurbishment. It looked stunning with its new paint job and Rolls Royce titles on the engines. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/694626/L/

I have just been advised that Aerotax Monse 1-11 XA-CMG is in storage at Orlando Sanford. Its engines have been removed so it looks likely to become a long term resident before another undignified scrapping! This would perhaps explain why another 1-11 VP-CMI has been ferried to San Antonio for a Mexican operator. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/850620/L/

I have received news that G-AZMF has been saved from the scrapman and will be going to the Bournemouth Aviation Museum to replace G-AVMN. Details are sketchy at the moment so I'll update you when I know more. The forward fuselage of G-AWYV was taken away by lorry yesterday morning to the ASI Yard at Alton. The rear fuselage and tail remain on the North side of the European ramp along with the fuselage of G-AVMT.

The tails were finally removed from G-AVMT and G-AWYV yesterday at Hurn. MT is now ready to be moved to its new location while the forward section of YV still needs to be detached from the rear fuselage.

VP-CJL departed Biggin Hill at 4.45pm yesterday and flew into Luton. It then departed to Zurich at 8.50pm. This morning it departed Zurich for Geneva at 11.00am.

I can confirm that the scrapping of European 1-11 G-AVMT commenced yesterday at Hurn. MT and YV have both been moved back from the engine test bay onto the European ramp again! MT was fenced off and the wings removed by ASI.

Jetline 1-11 VP-CJL c/n 086 is currently in the UK. It arrived at Inverness on the 17th Sept and flew into Biggin Hill last night. It is currently parked on the tower apron as of 8.30am. This airframe has not been seen in the UK for a number of years to my knowledge, except for a very brief visit to Stansted last December, having spent much of its time over in the US in recent years. It has been seen more frequently in Europe since its sale to Jetline last year. It is of course one of the very few 1-11s that are allowed to fly in the EU as it is fitted with a stage three hushkit, the same as the one fitted on VP-CCG at Bournemouth.

The "end" has finally arrived for two of the three remaining European Aviation 1-11s. Last week G-AVMT and G-AWYV were moved off the European ramp and towed to what might turn out to be their final resting place adjacent to the engine test bay. This location is the scene of many 1-11 engine runs over the past 40 years and site of many historic photographs! It is over two years since these airframes last graced the skies over Bournemouth and despite many attempts to sell them, time has now run out! The scrapman is due to move in next week (famous last words!!!). I understand that they will be "slowly" dismantled and that the forward section of G-AWYV will be roaded up to Air Salvage International's yard at Alton while the entire fuselage of G-AVMT is expected to be roaded out to Wales to be used as a Sky Marshall cabin trainer. Better news might await the third 1-11 G-AZMF. It is to remain on the European ramp for the time being while "delicate" negotiations take place with regards to it's future. This is, of course, a very historic airframe as it carried out the last scheduled passenger flight of a BAC 1-11 airliner in the UK and the final enthusiast flights from Hurn on the 31st March 2002. At the same time it marked the end of European Aviation's 1-11 operations at Bournemouth. Once I have some further news I will of course let you know.

After a short period of storage in Malta VP-CMI (cn183) has been sold to Flightsource International Inc. It departed from Malta on Friday 3rd September and routed Dublin, Keflavik, Goose Bay to San Antonio for pre-delivery maintenance. It's final destination is understood to be Mexico where it might join or replace XA-CMG (cn079) with Grupo Adelac. Further details regarding it's re-registration etc will be announced as soon as I hear anything. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/778737/L/

The engines on European Aviation 1-11 G-AVMT were finally removed and the aircraft decommissioned prior to scrapping earlier this month. All three remaining airframes G-AVMT, AWYV, AZMF have all been moved to the north end of the European apron and along with two B737s OO-SDK and XA-TLJ are now ready for the chop. It has been suggested that scrapping may begin within the next month or so. It has been rumoured that the fuselage of G-AVMT may be saved but no further information is currently available. Ferranti 1-11 ZE433 has been carrying out several test flights with FR Aviation at Hurn over the past few days.

Ex US Air 1-11 N1131J has reportedly been scrapped after many years in open storage / use by the fire department at Orlando International Airport. It took place sometime during May. Another ex US Air 1-11 N1134J is derelict at San Antonio Airport in the USA. It is used for special forces training and is riddled with bullet holes etc!!!

Further news has been received regarding Ports Of Call Travel Club 1-11 N101PC. Its owner, Sky King Inc, have said that it has been scrapped at Sacremento California. Hopefully I will receive more information shortly.

Several US based 1-11s have become rather elusive in the last couple of years. The odd report has been received but no concrete evidence has emerged as to the exact status of the following 3 aircraft. These are c/n 056 N111RZ, c/n 073 N101PC, c/n 119 N789CF. I have therefore reached my own conclusion and updated the information I have as follows. N111RZ Rotec Industries stored at Rockford Illinois. N101PC Ports of Call Travel Club in service based at Denver-Jeffco. N789CF Southwest Jets now operating for Kori Air based at Reno Nevada. Please inform me if I need to make any corrections to these details.

More details have emerged regarding the sale of Nationwide Airlines 1-11 ZS-NUJ. It carried out its last revenue flight and possibly the last ever scheduled flight by a 1-11 on the 18th January 2004. It flew from Johannesburg to Durban and back. It was sold to Air Katanga and delivered to Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the 28th February. It has been re-registered as 9Q-CDY. Any further details will be announced as I receive them along with some images.

It is reported that both Indonesia Air Transport 1-11s are now "unserviceable". I await any further news. No more information has been forthcoming regarding the sale of Nationwide Airlines 1-11 ZS-NUJ to Air Katanga. I am currently uncertain of the status of several 1-11s listed in the "current fleet". Aircraft include N101PC, N111RZ, N789CF. Any updates on these would be appreciated. As for any other changes there is not much to report. The stored fleet remains steady at various locations including Bournemouth, Bucharest Otopeni and Baneasa, Karachi, Lanseria, Malta and several airfields in Nigeria. Reports of any scrappings would be most welcome.

Ex Kabo Air 1-11 5N-HHH, which has been at Southend for several years, has now gained some new titles. "G-FIRE" is it's new registration (not real of course) and "Airport Fire Service" has been placed along the fuselage. I think it is safe to assume that this aircraft will definitely never fly again!!!

I have received a report that Saudi 1-11 HZ-ABM2 is now WFU at Jeddah. This is the last of a long line of Saudi registered 1-11s going back nearly 30 years! I would also like to confirm that Chrome Air of Nigeria are still operating their 500 series aircraft 5N-UJC. Their other aircraft 5N-SEO (ex YR-BCR) is still, to my knowledge, at Bucharest Otopeni.

Nationwide Airlines have sold their last "in service" 1-11 ZS-NUJ to Air Katanga! This almost certainly signals the end of regular passenger services by the 1-11 worldwide and is the end of an era! What air Katanga intend to do with the aircraft remains to be seen. VP-CCG and 551 were seen at Sharjah on the 17th February. It is likely that it had something to do with the fact that 551 was on its way to Bournemouth for servicing by FR Aviation. G-MAAH has had two test flights. One was on 25th March and the other on 2nd April. I still have no further information regarding its future! ETPS 1-11 ZE432 is flying again after its major service at Boscombe Down. It carried out an overshoot at Bournemouth on the 25th Feb. Meanwhile ZE433 departed Hurn for its temporary base at Boscombe Down at the beginning of March. On the 8th April it flew back into Bournemouth for its annual check with FR Aviation. XX105 has had its engines removed at Boscombe Down. At European the 3 remaining 1-11s still reside although G-AZMF has also had its engines removed. This leaves G-AVMT as the only one left in "one complete piece"! At Southend the remaining two 1-11s 5N-HHH and G-OBWD have no engines. I understand that 5N-HHH has been donated to the fire section. G-OBWD had "Fresh" titles on it during March for filming in a TV series. In Indonesia, Indonesia Air Transport 1-11 PK-TRU is currently grounded due to "lack of spares". Select Leasing 1-11s N200EE and N200JX have been used by John Kerry during the 2004 presidential compaign in the US. They were seen at Seattle Boeing Field on the 3rd February.

Photographic evidence appears to show Berkut Air 1-11 UN-B1111 in storage at Almaty. I understand that it has been there for several months at least.

European 1-11 G-AWYV was towed into the hangar at Hurn on the 24th January to have its engines removed prior to an almost certain scrapping.

1-11 movements during 2004 have so far included RAFO 553 which departed Hurn on Sunday 18th after its 4 month refit with FR Aviation. VP-CCG is still flying in and out of Hurn on regular executive flights via Luton to various European destinations. Romavia 1-11 YR-BRE visited Vienna on the 18th. I had the good fortune to see a Jetline machine P4-CBH in Bamako, Mali on the 12th. Other Jetline 1-11s, P4-JLB, VP-BBA and VP-CJL have all been active during the last couple of weeks.

The Nigerian Authorities have finally given notice to all the former 1-11 operators to dispose of their stored 1-11s! I would have thought that most of these aircraft would have fallen apart on their own by now, but any remaining airframes look like being scrapped very soon. A sad but very predictable end unfortunately! I understand that there are as many as 18 Okada Air 1-11s still in storage at Benin City alone! As many as 30 other airframes are stored elsewhere. Don't forget to visit the "linked" photographic websites for some fine images of many 1-11s.

Another interesting year for the 1-11 is about to close. It certainly has not been as dramatic a year as 2002! The main event was the 40th anniversary of the type which was celebrated at Hurn in August. Other major stories are listed below on this news page. Highlights have included the delivery of 1-11 5A-DDQ to Libyan Arab Airlines which attracted much attention. Nationwide Airlines 1-11 ZS-NUJ is the last to remain in regular passenger service. Scrapping will no doubt gather pace during 2004 but I think that the current worldwide fleet will remain steady at around 30 aircraft. If I have missed any news or any corrections need making please contact me. If you don't tell me then I can't put it right! Also, please let me know if you would like to see any changes to the website. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Business Jet Services 1-11 N325V has been re-registered as VP-CJL and delivered to Jetline. It visited Stansted today. Any images would be very welcome indeed! Romavia 1-11 YR-BRI visited Heathrow on the 9th December. Once again did anyone photograph it?

CAMPAIGN TO SAVE XX105!!! This aircraft is currently in storage at Boscombe Down having being retired from service in June. A campaign has been launched to save this very important piece of British Aviation History from the scrapman. A home has been offered to the aircraft at Bruntingthorpe Museum where it will be preserved and accessible to the public. At present it is due to remain at Boscombe Down as a spares source for the two remaining in service 1-11s. An approach has been made to owners QinetiQ in an attempt to persuade them to change their minds. I would therefore like to ask you all to add your support to this very worthwhile campaign by emailing Mr Gordon Ingle at QinetiQ. GINGLE@qinetiq.com

VP-CMI carried out a test flight at Malta on the 11th October. It is currently up for sale. It appears that Nationwide Airlines are going to keep 1-11 ZS-NUJ in service for the time being. Chrome Air 1-11 5N-SEO has been sighted at Bucharest Otopeni outside the Tarom hangar. This aircraft is believed to have remained in service after the grounding of the 1-11 in Nigeria as it is a freighter. Whether or not it is at Otopeni for maintenance or storage remains to be seen. Two other 1-11s have been sighted parked together at Otopeni. One is in full Tarom livery and the other has a white fuselage with a blue line and blue tail with a circle in it / red logo. I understand that these are YR-BRC and YR-BCJ respectively. Confirmation would be welcome. Any further reports from Bucharest Otopeni or Baneasa would be extremely helpful.

5A-DDQ (ex C5-LKI) departed from Malta today and flew into Tripoli. It will be operated by Libyan Arab Airlines as an executive jet.

I have been informed that VP-CLM has been sold to Jetline. This company reportedly operates 4 other 1-11s. Another report has been received recently that suggests that some of the Nigerian 1-11s have been broken up at Lagos as have the 3 Congo Airlines aircraft that had been in long term storage at Kinshasa. Meanwhile ex British World 1-11 9L-LDL (G-OBWA) was put on "public" display in the static park at the Malta Airshow last weekend! It is still in full British World livery. Sources suggest that some of the stored ex BWA 1-11s may be going to Libya to be operated by Libyan Arab Airlines! Seeing will be believing! C5-LKI is still in Malta but has been re-registered as 5A-DDQ! It is already in Libyan Arab livery.

Ibis Air Transport 1-11 C5-LKI moved from the Medavia maintenance facility in Malta for the first time in nearly a year yesterday when it taxied to the other side of the airport for fuel before returning to Medavia. A departure may well be imminent. In other news, Nationwide Airlines have announced that their last 1-11 ZS-NUJ will be retired from service next month. This will bring to an end worldwide scheduled passenger operations by the BAC 1-11 after nearly 40 years. The first commercial service was carried out by BUA 1-11 G-ASJJ from Gatwick to Genoa on the 9th April 1965.

Whilst all the attention was focused on the 40th anniversary celebrations, the departure of fuselage G-AVMZ took place at Hurn on 14 August. First reports state that it has gone to the ASI yard at Basingstoke. This is the company that carried out the recent scrappings. There is talk that it may end up at Manchester Airport where it will be added to the new collection of airliners in the airport viewing area.

The 40th anniversary celebrations / BAC staff reunion took place at Hurn today. The event was a great success especially for many of the ex BAC workers who hadn't seen each other for more than 25 years. Several aircraft were on view including G-MAAH, VP-CCG, G-AVMT, GAWYV, G-AZMF. It was a fitting tribute to "man and machine"! I would like to thank all those who helped Nik Read and myself to make this historic event such a memorable occasion.

At 1540 hours yesterday the 1st of 3 flypasts took place at Hurn. I would like to thank all the staff at Qinetiq who were involved with the flight.

20th August 1963 and 1-11 prototype G-ASHG gets airborne from runway 26 at Hurn. 40 years on and 1-11 ZH763 will carry out a flypast along runway 26 to salute that special event 40 years ago which kicked off one of this country's greatest aviation success story's.

VP-CLM finally departed from Hurn on Friday 15th August. It flew to Bucharest Otopeni and is now parked at the Romavia facility. It is understood to have been sold. I await further confirmation. Meanwhile VP-CCG departed Hurn late in July and flew into Cranfield for some "one off" maintenance work. It then flew on to Nice. I assume that it will return to Hurn at some stage. It is reportedly up for sale.

G-MAAH carried out a test flight at Hurn to become the first 1-11 to receive RVSM approval. It was almost certainly the last flight of a British civil registered 1-11 as it is soon to become VP-CDA. Latest news suggests that the stage three hushkit will be fitted at FR Aviation very shortly.

Aravco 1-11 G-MAAH should carry out a test flight from Hurn next Wednesday 6th August to enable the RVSM (reduced vertical separation minima) equipment on board to be certified. It will be a "rare" opportunity to photograph this aircraft as it has only been seen flying once in the UK during the past year when it arrived at Hurn from Opa Locka on the 9th March! It is also the very last British registered 1-11 in service. Once certification is complete it is due to fly back out to Opa Locka to have its stage three hushkit installed. It will be re-registered as VP-CDA very shortly. VP-CLM was carrying out engine runs on the engine test rig at Hurn on 31st July and is expected to depart for Bucharest in the very near future. Once again, if you get a chance to photograph this aircraft then make the most of the opportunity as it may well be the last time that it departs from the UK.

Romavia 1-11 YR-BRI has been seen back in service. It reportedly carrying out flights in and out of Basra in Iraq on the 17th and 23rd July. I would imagine this would be in conjunction with humanitarian aid. Any further news would be welcome.

I would just like to confirm that the BAC 1-11 40th anniversary celebration will be taking place at Hurn on Saturday 23rd August. If you have been "verbally" invited but still need to send your details or think that you should be included in the invite list then please contact Nik Read on 01372 459710 as soon as possible as letters need to be sent out this coming week. The criteria is that you have been connected with the aircraft at some time over the past 40 years. Ex BAC workers, Engineers, pilots etc.

European 1-11 G-AVMS has been scrapped. It had completely gone by last Friday at Hurn. That completes the latest batch of 1-11 scrappings at Hurn. The last three airframes G-AVMT, G-AWYV, G-AZMF are still been kept "serviceable" with APUs and engines run every now and then. How much longer they will survive is anyones guess but I think that they will join the others in the not too distant future. Bear in mind that it is now just over ten years since the 1-11 appeared in European's colours for the first time. The first aircraft was G-AVMK which was rolled out in May 1993. The last one to remain in the original livery is now G-AWYV.

Ibis Air transport 1-11 C5-LKI emerged from the Medavia spray shop at Malta in full Libyan Arab Airlines colours on 11 June. Ashmawi Aviation 1-11 VP-CMI was being worked on and looked like it was due to leave shortly. The other 4 ex BWA/Albarka aircraft remain in storage. Nationwide Airlines have replaced ZS-OAH with ZS-NUJ as their sole in service aircraft. The other 10 remain stored at Lanseria. I imagine it won't be long now before they start scrapping them!

Oldest surviving 1-11 XX105 carried out it's last flight today and did a final flypast at Hurn! At 1530 hours local time "Gauntlet 59", c/n 008 series 201AC ex G-ASJD, flew down the ILS for runway 26 at Hurn followed by a go-around before returning back to Boscombe Down and into retirement. The noise was "wonderful", especially as a hushkit had never been fitted to this aircraft! I still have no further news on it's fate.

The three ship 1-11 formation took place on Wednesday 28th May at Boscombe Down. Although I don't yet have the full details, the 3 1-11s carried out fly pasts at Boscombe Down and Yeovilton. A 4th aircraft, an Alpha jet, flew with them as a camera ship to record the event. I have been reliably informed that the VERY LAST FLIGHT of XX105 will take place on Thursday 5th June at Boscombe Down.

BIG NEWS OF THE MONTH is that according to my sources the oldest surviving flying 1-11 XX105 will be retired from service at Boscombe Down either next week or the week after. A three ship 1-11 formation is due to take to the air at the airfield next Wednesday afternoon 28th May, weather permitting, to celebrate nearly 40 years of service by XX105. The three aircraft will consist of XX105 and the other two based machines ZE432 and ZH763. If the weather is poor then a reserve date has been set for Tuesday 3rd June. This will, without a doubt, be a unique one off occasion! Don't miss it! To date I don't know what the fate of XX105 will be beyond June.

European 1-11 G-AVMZ was also "attacked" by the scrapman last week. The tail has been removed but whether or not it is going to be re-attached when the aircraft arrives in Manchester is unclear. G-AVMS awaits it's fate and is still intact for the time being.

European 1-11 G-AVMY "died" yesterday at Hurn 34 years after its first flight from the airport.. It was savagely cut into two halves by the scrapman! I understand that the forward fuselage is to be saved. Did you get those last photos? G-AVMS is next on the list whilst G-AVMZ looks like it might be going to Manchester Airport for display, hopefully in one piece!

P4-JLB departed from Southend at 1800 hours on Wednesday 27th March to Bucharest. I hope that several of you managed to get those "one off" photos before it left, probably for the last time! It's new owner is Jetline International who, I believe, have a base at Tripoli Mitiga Airport. That leaves just 5N-HHH and G-OBWD. Any further news on these two would be welcome. I don't think that they will ever leave Southend!

Aravco 1-11 G-MAAH arrived back in the UK on Sunday the 9th March. It landed at Bournemouth and went into the FR Aviation hangar. As far as I am aware, the stage 3 hushkit has not been installed, but it is still due to be done within the next few months. Whether this means that FR Aviation will carry out the work or it will go back to Opa Locka in Florida isn't clear yet. In another development European 1-11 G-AVMZ was towed to the scrapping area this week so get those last pics of it while you can!

VP-CHM that has been at Southend for some time emerged from the Inflite Hangar yesterday in a new colour scheme and registration P4-JLB. There were titles on the forward fuselage "Mijane VIP". I gather that this aircraft will soon be departing from Southend for what may well turn out to be its last ever departure from the UK.

I have just received a report from Lagos Nigeria! Only three 1-11s were sighted. Two EAS aircraft in storage and a Chrome Air aircraft 5N-UJC "IN SERVICE" operating cargo flights. It has been confirmed that Tikal Jets retired 1-11 TG-TJF on the 2nd January 2003. It will be cannibalized for spares to keep the other aircraft TG-TJK flying for the time being. Two ex Tarom aircraft YR-BCJ and YR-BRC have been advertised for sale.

It has been announced recently that another book about the BAC 1-11 will be published in the late spring. It will be titled "BAC One-Eleven" and is the eighth edition in the Airlines and Airliners series. The price will be £9-95. For further details visit www.wafnews.com/new_page_126.htm

Not surprisingly the first few weeks of 2003 have been extremely quite on the 1-11 front. With the small number still in service, tracking their movements is becoming very difficult indeed. It appears that XX105 is going to be retired in June. Hopefully the MOD will preserve it! Manchester Airport may soon have up to 3 airliners on display at the viewing area. An Avro RJX has arrived from Woodford with a 1-11 and HS748 due to follow. I believe that the 1-11 may be G-AVMT. ZS-NUJ and ZS-OAH are reportedly still in service with Nationwide Airlines. Of the 5 ex BWA aircraft, 1 is still at Southend along with 5N-HHH and the other 4 are in storage (2 ex Albarka aircraft) at the Medavia facility in Malta. No more news has been received about the future of the Nigerian 1-11 fleet. It therefore looks pretty grim for the many aircraft in Nigeria! Aravco's G-MAAH is still in Opa Locka Florida.

Welcome to 2003! This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the BAC 1-11. 40 years since the prototype G-ASHG took to the skies on the 20th August 1963 at 7.42PM. It is hoped to mark this event with a "final" gathering of aircraft in August at the 1-11s birthplace at Hurn. With several 1-11s still "active/serviceable" at Hurn and elsewhere in the UK, it is hoped that 4 or 5 aircraft will be available to celebrate this historic occasion. Watch this space!

So how will this year shape up for the 1-11? More groundings and scrappings for certain, but on the active side I would imagine that the "current" fleet will remain fairly steady at around 35 aircraft as most survivors are either execs or government owned and therefore utilized far less than the remaining passenger operated 1-11s. in fact some of the aircraft listed as "current" fly very infrequently. Take VP-CLM or VP-CHM for example. Looking at the other current aircraft, the Tikal jets 1-11s will probably be sold and/or grounded very shortly, Romavia's 1-11s YR-BRH and BRI are the youngest in the fleet but their future must be very uncertain, while YR-BRE operates for the Romanian government. Nationwide Airlines will possibly ground their last two 1-11s ZS-NUJ and OAH as new aircraft arrive. Keep the reports / sightings / photos coming please.

That brings a very "newsworthy" year to a close. A year in which the vast majority of passenger operating 1-11s have been grounded. In Europe the new noise regulations finally brought passenger operations to an end on the 31st March. In the other remaining "stronghold" the crash of the EAS 1-11, the worst in the 1-11s history, has brought to a very premature end 1-11 operations in Nigeria. Nearly 80 aircraft have gone to Nigeria so there are many stored or derelict aircraft. If anyone gets a chance to visit this country please try and get some information on their status or even some photos if you are brave enough!!! Things could have been so different but this statement has been made time and again. The 1-11 series 600, 700, 800, the ROMBAC 1-11, The TAY 1-11 (with glass cockpit) The stage three 1-11 and so on! If only! So roll on 2003!

European Aviation has been sold to holiday group Bath Travel's owner family. Although this won't affect the stored 1-11 fleet it will be a huge boost to Bournemouth Airport. The current fleet consists of 5 Boeing 747 and 11 Boeing 737. 6 BAC 1-11s and 2 A300s are still in storage.

I would like to announce the arrival of the latest book dedicated to the BAC 1-11. It is titled the:- "BAC One-Eleven - The Whole Story" by Stephen Skinner. (208pp + 180 photos/illustrations). The publisher is Tempus Publishing and the ISBN is 0752427741. It is priced at £16.99.

VP-CMI has arrived in Malta from Tangiers. It joins the five other 1-11s that are parked at the Medavia engineering facility. Tikal Jets of Guatemala have placed their two 1-11s on the market. The sale will bring the end of 1-11 passenger operations ever closer with just a handful remaining in service worldwide. The Aerotrans Airlines 1-11s have been returned to Romavia.

I have updated my photo "WANTED LIST" on the gallery page. It is located at the bottom of the page. Please take some time to look through it and let me know if you have any of those that I still require.

Nationwide Airlines are refurbishing a 1-11 series 500 ZS-NUJ with a view to putting it back in service. It will join ZS-OAH. This will leave 10 airframes still in storage at Lanseria. Northrop Grumman 1-11 N161NG c/n 067 which was registered last July has now been reported in service at Baltimore Washington IAP. I still have no confirmation of any 1-11s back in service in Nigeria although there have been many sighted in storage. Once again any help on this subject would be appreciated. Aravco 1-11 G-MAAH is due to fly again sometime in the new year with its new stage three hushkit installed.

I have completely updated the website over the past week. The biggest change is that I have split the current fleet page into two, with a current fleet and a stored fleet section to take into account that most aircraft are now actually in storage. I have added many more websites of interest to the links page and placed them into separate categories for easier viewing. Please keep any further suggestions coming.

G-AVMT is the last serviceable series 510ED. I only hope that this one can be saved, perhaps to replace G-AVMN at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum. It still looks immaculate despite being in open storage. Time is rapidly running out. Perhaps someone out there can throw some weight behind saving this airframe or maybe G-AZMF as it carried out the last 1-11 passenger flight in the United Kingdom. Wouldn't one of these two aircraft look great in their original BEA or BCAL colour scheme!

I have still had no confirmation at all regarding the 1-11 situation in Nigeria. It is possible that several aircraft are being operated as freighters only! As far as I am aware, most 1-11s are either stored or derelict.

An historic event took place at Hurn today! G-AVMH, the first production series 500 has finally reached the end of its very long life as scrapping began on this very significant airframe. First flown from Hurn on 7th February 1968 it has served, without major incident, for nearly 35 years although the last few have seen it deteriorating slowly at European HQ at Hurn. First flown in BEA colours, it was initially used as a test aircraft by BAC before being delivered to BEA. It then served with British Airways until 1992. European Aviation bought the aircraft and it was their first 1-11 to enter service in February 1994. It appeared for a time in Air Belfast colours before reverting back to the standard EAL livery. It was finally retired on the 25 October 1998 and has remained in storage at Hurn ever since. I would like to add that it is a very great shame that this aircraft was not preserved in preference to the other three series 510ED aircraft at Cosford, Duxford or Hurn. G-AVMP was scrapped last Thursday 26th September.

Present at Southend are G-OBWD still awaiting delivery to Malta, VP-CHM and 5N-HHH which I imagine will eventually be scrapped on the airfield.

The second Albarka Air 1-11 5N-BBP (ex G-OBWB) finally arrived in Malta on the 10th of September.

Albarka Air 1-11 5N-BBQ (ex G-OBWC) arrived in Malta on the 31st August for resale. 5N-BBP (ex G-OBWB) is due to arrive today. The final ex BWA 1-11 G-OBWD is due in the next two weeks. The entire fleet of ex BWA 1-11s will then be present. C5-LKI was test flown from Malta recently.

All is quiet on the 1-11 news front at present. The last ex BWA 1-11 G-OBWD is, to my knowledge, still due out to Malta very soon. I believe it is been re-united with a pair of spey engines from the last aircraft that arrived in Malta. Tikal Jets two 1-11s are believed to be up for sale. I still don't have any confirmation regarding the latest Nigerian 1-11 situation. G-AVMH has not yet been scrapped at Hurn.

G-OBWA departed Southend and arrived in Malta on Monday 8 July. It left in full British World livery but with its new registration 9L-LDL applied. This leaves G-OBWD which is due to leave in the next month or so and will presumably become 9L-LDK?

Several reports have been received on the Yahoo Groups 1-11 Forum. VP-CHM arrived at Southend on 26 June. G-OBWA was carrying out engine tests at Southend on 28 June. VP-CCG arrived at Hurn on 3 July. Two more European 1-11s are due for scrapping shortly including G-AVMH (what a great shame!) G-MAAH is in Opa Locka USA for stage three hush kitting. Latest news on the crash of EAS 1-11 5N-ESF has indicated that the aircraft was five tons over its max take off weight! I await further updates on this.

The three ex BWA 1-11s may in fact be owned by a company called Fast Aerospace and not Air Leone. I await confirmation. The next aircraft is due to leave Southend during July. Any further info on this?

I need your help! Rather than just looking at this website and thinking "nice site" and going away again, why not take a greater interest. It is only as good as the reports, sightings and images that I get from all of you. Therefore if you can contribute in any way I would be most grateful if you would sign up to my Yahoo Groups 1-11 forum by clicking on the link above. I am particularly keen for you to join if you have a 1-11 based near you. As the number of in service aircraft is rapidly decreasing I need as many enthusiasts as possible to log any movements, scrappings etc.

Ex BWA 1-11 G-OBWE left Southend for Malta on Friday 14th June. It left with new registration 9L-LDJ. Its final destination will be Sierra Leone with new operator Air Leone. The other two ex BWA 1-11s are due follow the first one in due course.

I am still searching the "big wide world" for an image of Mohawk 1-11 N1116J serial number 098. Please help me to find this very elusive aircraft which unfortunately crashed in its first year of service. I think that my best bet is to either find someone connected with BAC at Hurn or with Mohawk during the 1960s.

JP Airline fleets 2002/03 has listed the new owner of the ex BWA 1-11s as Air Leone. The aircraft are still parked at Southend and I await further news. Also listed are two Romavia 1-11s that have been leased to new operator Aerotrans Airlines. YR-BRI was seen at Larnaca with Aerotrans Airlines titles. The other aircraft is YR-BRH. They are due to become 5B-DBQ (YR-BRI) and 5B-DBR (YR-BRH).

The three British World 1-11s currently in storage at Southend will shortly be leaving the UK for Sierra Leone. The registrations G-OBWA, WD, WE were cancelled on the 15th May. G-OBWE was noted at Southend on the 23rd May as 9L-LDJ. It goes without saying, but please take as many photos as possible of these last three ex Dan Air machines. Once they have left the country they probably won't be coming back!

VP-CCG arrived at Hurn today for maintenance with FR Aviation. Ex British World Airlines 1-11, G-OBWD was reported to be engine testing at Southend during the week with a departure apparently imminent

The Nigerian Government announced on Thursday 9th May that all the BAC 1-11s operating in the country would be grounded with immediate affect! This would be reviewed pending the outcome of the investigation into the crash of EAS 1-11 5N-ESF. For further details of this crash visit Aviation Safety Network via my links page.

EAS Airlines sadly lost one of their aircraft in Kano Nigeria today. It has also been confirmed that three other Nigerian registered aircraft may have been written off in Abuja during a freak storm in March. It is reported that one of the aircraft was a Savannah Airlines machine while the other two were from Albarka Air. The series 400 exec 5N-MBM was reported to be a write off!

I have added a selection of images of G-AZMF on the "Special features" page. These were taken during its last month of operations. More will follow as I receive them.

No news is normally good news but not in this case! Non of the European Aviation 1-11s are being prepared for new operators in Nigeria. It was suggested that G-AZMF would be sold to Savannah Airlines but this does not appear to be the case. It is now parked alongside G-AWYV in storage. The only aircraft that is possibly still "current" is G-AVMT but once again I cannot confirm its status. Any further information would be helpful. The other 5 series 510EDs are parked up together awaiting their fate. These are G-AVMH, MP, MS, MY, MZ.

IT'S OVER!!! As with everything in life this day had to arrive! At least some of us can say "we were there, we saw the last passenger flight of the 1-11 in the UK". Many "lasts" took place yesterday. The last passenger flight in the UK, the last series 500 1-11 flight in the UK other than possible deliveries to Nigeria and ZH763, the last European Aviation 1-11 flight? Maybe or maybe not? For those of us that were present yesterday, we were not disappointed despite the best attempts of the good old British Weather to ruin the proceedings! Three "last" flights took place or do I hear many of you say only two! At around 2.00PM the last Bath Travel "Palmair" flight departed. Two hours later and the last "commercial" flight, an Ian Allan Charter, took place and then for me the "special" one. The aircraft initially taxied away from the apron towards, what appeared, to be it's final resting place as a British registered airliner but as a lovely touch all the staff at European HQ went up for one last ride in their "favourite" aircraft. And so a "very last departure" took place at about 6.30pm. A circuit, fly by and final landing were carried out and at 7.00pm G-AZMF taxied back to its hangar and shut down it's Rolls Royce Speys for the last time as a UK registered 1-11. Nearly 40 years of history coming to a close. What a great Aircraft!

A special gallery will appear soon showing images of G-AZMFs last couple of weeks in service.

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all those who have helped me to make this tribute something a little bit special. Thank you also for taking the time to visit my photo archive exhibition at the B'm'th Aviation Museum. It has been a great two weeks!

The final day of 1-11 passenger operations is fast approaching. I would just like to confirm that there will be several flights taking place around the UK this weekend. Saturday 30th from Luton, Manchester, and Newcastle. Sunday 31st from Glasgow, Belfast, and two from Bournemouth Hurn during the afternoon. Bath Travel are operating their last ever BAC1-11 Palmair Charter flight which departs at 1400 hours. Ian Allan Tours then have the pleasure of chartering the very last 1-11 flight which I believe is scheduled to depart at 1600 hours. If you like 1-11s then don't miss this very special afternoon at Hurn and don't forget to take your cameras with you!!! Also,don't forget to visit the Bournemouth Aviation Museum where my 1-11 photo archive exhibition is still on display. Last entry to the museum is at 1530 hours. There are great views of the runway to catch that last 1-11 departure!

Chanchangi 1-11 5N-BCG arrived at Hurn last night for maintenance with European Aviation.

1-11 African update. I have posted an update to the African 1-11 fleet on the 1-11 Yahoo groups forum.In brief I have been informed that less than 20 aircraft remain in service. Nationwide Airlines have grounded all but 1 of their fleet. Several may be up for sale but, like at Hurn with the European Aviation fleet, I would imagine that most of them will be scrapped. In Nigeria it appears that only the most recent operators of the 1-11 have got aircraft still in service. Airlines such as Chanchangi, Chrome Air, EAS, Savannah etc. Any further information would be appreciated.

The BAC 1-11 Day was a fantastic success! Held at Bournemouth International Airport (Hurn) yesterday, it exceeded all expectations in every respect. The weather was great, you, the enthusiasts, turned out in force, the BBC were on site recording events and for once the airport actually felt like an airport with several flights arriving and departing during the proceedings, not to mention the "very well positioned Jumbo G-BDXJ"! The three flights all ran very smoothly thanks to the great organisation by Eric and his wife from Aeroprint tours. I must also say that I thought the flight crew were all brilliant. 2000ft round the coast to Portsmouth and back via Poole Harbour really made the flight and must have looked great from the ground! And last but not least I hope that you all enjoyed the photo archive exhibition at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum. It gave me a great deal of satisfaction presenting it to everyone, especially after the time it took putting it all together. I just hope that my wife tries to understand! I am pleased to announce that it will stay in the museum for viewing until the last flight takes place at the end of the month so if you haven't yet seen it get down to the museum and enjoy it. Thank you to everyone who supported the event.

All those 1-11s "hugging" the hangars at Hurn, G-AVMS, MY, MZ and the other parked at the North end of Europeans apron, MP, have been moved to the North Western taxiway and joined G-AVMH. This would suggest that they have joined "death row"! I viewed them yesterday before they moved and they all looked to be in a poor state. This confirms my view that only G-AWYV and G-AZMF will escape the axe. As for G-AVMT well who knows?

Re:- BAC 1-11 Day. I have finalised details with the museum regarding the photo archive exhibition. It will take place in the museum committee room. Access will be through the main museum entrance. For those that hold a 1-11 flight ticket half price entry to the museum and exhibition will apply. All others will be required to pay the normal entry charge unless of course you hold an annual membership with the museum. Entrance to the Exhibition alone will not be possible. Remember to tell all your friends and family to come along, especially if the sun is shinning! If you have any 1-11 memorabilia please bring it along.

Bournemouth saw much 1-11 activity during February. G-AVMT and G-AZMF both flew for European Aviation. It looks like G-AWYV has been placed into storage. By early February three more 1-11s had "gone to heaven" G-AVMI, MK, MW. G-AVMH is looking very sorry for itself and looks likely to be "crunched" very shortly or will it? The other remaining survivors are all "hugging" the hangars for dear life! These are G-AVMP, MS, MY, MZ. It remains to be seen if any of these will ever fly again but it is looking increasingly unlikely. Savannah Airlines may purchase G-AWYV and G-AZMF. FR Aviation was busy with 1-11 overhauls. Present during the month were ZE433, VP-CCG, VP-CLM, G-MAAH, 551. Keep the updates coming on the 1-11 Yahoo groups forum. One more month to go!!!

Update to BAC 1-11 Day. The flight times will be confirmed by Aeroprint Tours. The photographic display will now be held in the Bournemouth Aviation Museum due to lack of space in the terminal on the 16th. I am hoping to arrange free entry to the display for all those who hold a 1-11 flight ticket. For all other visitors I would anticipate a small charge of say 50 pence to visit the display or the usual museum charge if you want access to the entire museum. I will publish further updates as I receive final details.

"BAC 1-11 DAY" Although the 1-11 doesn't officially retire until the 31st March, the best opportunity to celebrate the 40 year history of the aircraft will be on the Saturday 16th March when there should be three enthusiast flights taking place at Hurn. Therefore I am making plans for a photographic display to be on view in the terminal building. If all goes to plan I am hopeful that a film crew will be on site for the day. Watch this space! If anyone would like to help out or has any archive material please let me know.

I would like to remind everyone that there are still some seats available on the 1-11 flights with Aeroprint Tours on Saturday 16th March. These flights will last approximately 1 hour and fly from Hurn to Jersey and back. Cost is £40 and should include a tour of European Aviations facilities at Hurn. Once all the seats are sold there are some more flights being operated by Ian Allan Aviation Tours on 30th and 31st March. The starting prices for these are £100.

European 1-11 G-AVMW is now in "bits" at Hurn. G-AVMK has been chopped in half and G-AVMI has been towed into the hangar to have its final salvageable parts removed before joining the other pair for the scrapmans axe!

A 1-11 has been photographed at Geneva with new registration 3C-QRF. I have no further details regarding its ownership or previous identity. Does anyone have any further information?

Ibis Air Transport 1-11 3C-LKI has been re-registered in Malta to C5-LKI as of 16/01/02.

Berkut Air is a new operator in Kazakhstan with UN-B1111 which was previously operated by Orient Eagle Aviation.

European Aviation are still hoping to sell some of their remaining series 510ED aircraft to Nigeria along with G-AWYV and G-AZMF. These two aircraft are currently being used at Hurn for the weekly ski flight to Turin which operates on Sundays.

Nationwide Airlines are looking to sell their 1-11 fleet to Central Africa. No doubt Nigeria will be high on the list of sales targets.

European Aviation 1-11 G-AWYV operated once again. It flew to Stansted and then to Hannover and back.

British World Airlines went into Receivership today leaving the future of their three remaining 1-11s, stored at Southend, very uncertain. The aircraft involved are G-OBWA, D, E.