A10 Hawker Siddeley HS748
Originally designed by Avro (the A V Roe & Co Ltd of Manchester), then continued by the newly-amalgamated Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd, the HS748 was Britain's answer to replacing the Dakota.
The first prototype, registered G-APZV, flew on 24 June 1960 and a later aircraft with more powerful engines, G-ARAY, became the prototype Series 2 aircraft in 1961. The Australian Government's Defence Review of November 1964 announced that eight navigation trainers were to be acquired and the following year the HS748 Series 2 was specified. Also the order was increased by a further two aircraft for VIP duties.
In addition to internal differences, the navigation trainer version, designated HS748 Series 228, had the more powerful Rolls-Royce Dart 550-2 turboprop engines, and together with the VIP version, Series 229, were the first to include the Collins FD108 flight director system.
The first RAAF HS748, A10-595, flew on 13 January 1967 and was accepted on 17 March. It left the UK on 1 April, arriving at No 34 Squadron at RAAF Fairbairn on 12 April. The other VIP aircraft, A10-596, followed the next month.
The VIP HS748s, which could accommodate 18 passengers, were required for their short and rough field capability, and operated at No 34 Squadron with BAC-111s and Dassault Mystere/Falcon 20s. The navigation trainers were serialled A10-601 to A10-608. The first flew on 21 February 1968 with the UK civil registration G-AVZD. It became A10-601 on 9 August and was handed over to the RAAF at Woodford, near Manchester, on 30 August 1968. A10-601 arrived at RAAF East Sale on 20 September 1968 after the delivery flight via Athens, New Delhi, Bangkok, Singapore, Denpasar, Darwin and Alice Springs. The last aircraft, A10-608, arrived at Sale in August 1969. These eight aircraft were operated by the School of Air Navigation (SAN) for the training of navigators and air electronics officers, and for observers for the Royal Australian Navy.
On 1 July 1989 No 32 Squadron was formed at East Sale from the Flying Flight of the School of Air Navigation, and received the eight navigation trainer HS748s. With the re-equipment of No 34 Squadron at Fairbairn, the two VIP HS748s were then added to No 32 Squadron, with A10-596 arriving on 13 November 1989 and A10-595 on 16 January 1990. 1990 also saw the milestone of 100,000 accident-free flying hours of the HS748 at East Sale.
Two further military HS748s were operated in Australia. These were the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Series 268 aircraft delivered in 1973, serialled N15-709 and N15-710, which were flown by No 851 Squadron at Nowra. These later served as as electronic warfare (EW) trainers with No 723 Squadron , providing realistic EW environments for both aircraft and surface vessels. With the demise of the rest of the RAN Fleet Air Arm fixed-wing fleet in 1984, these HS748s were to have been transferred to the RAAF, but continued in service with the RAN until retired in 2000.
TECHNICAL DATA: Hawker Siddeley HS748
DESCRIPTION:
Light transport and navigation trainer.
POWER PLANT:
Two 2250 shp Rolls-Royce Dart 550-2 turboprops.
DIMENSIONS:
Wingspan 30.02 m (98 ft 6 in); length 20.42 m (67 ft); height 7.57 m (24 ft 10 in).
WEIGHTS:
Basic 13 545 kg (29 800lb); max takeoff 20 225kg (44 495lb).
PERFORMANCE:
Max speed 482 km/h (260 kts); cruising speed 425 km/h (230 kts) at 15,000 ft (4575 m); service ceiling 25,000 ft (7625 m); range 2600 km (1400 nm); initial rate of climb 400 m (1320 ft)/min.
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