BAC 1-11 Srs.530 G-AZMF
Wing span : 28.5 m / 93 ft 6 in
Length : 32.6 m / 107 ft
Max weight : 45,200 kg / 99,650 lbs
Service ceiling : m / 31,000 ft
Max speed : 870 kph / 541 mph
Engines: Two 12,550 lb Rolls Royce Spey 512It is only fitting that the Bournemouth Aviation Museum should have a One-Eleven on display as Bournemouth Airport was the home of the British Aircraft Corporation factory which designed and built the airliner during the 1960 and 70’s.
The origin of the One-Eleven goes back to the Hunting Aircraft H.107 design of the late 1950’s. Of similar shape to the eventual One-Eleven, it was planned to carry 48-56 passengers, being powered by two 7,000 lb thrust Bristol Orpheus jets. In 1960 Hunting Aircraft became part of the British Aircraft Corporation, the proposed airliner became the BAC.107, being enlarged to emerge as the BAC.111. Now a 79 seat, short range ‘bus stop’ airliner with two 10,400 lb thrust Rolls Royce Speys, it was to be the successor to the Vickers Viscount of the 1950’s. Production was undertaken at Bournemouth, where the prototype flew on 20th August 1963, followed by Series 200 aircraft for British United, Aer Lingus, Braniff and British Eagle, and the more powerful Series 400 for American Airlines. Sales to the United States were to be large dollar earners, and for many years the One-Eleven was the largest ever export earning airliner for Great Britain. At home the One-Eleven was frequently used for IT holiday flights to the Mediterranean, and by the late 1960’s had helped changed British holiday ideas - no longer an inconvenient flight in an old propellor aircraft, but the latest jet carrying you to the sun. Export sales saw the One-Eleven operating around the four corners of the world.
A stretched 99 seat Series 500 was developed for BEA who ordered eighteen in January 1967, followed by others for British United, Caledonian and Court Line. As with the earlier versions, many were used for holiday flights - those of Court Line being particularly well known for their bright colour schemes. Total One-Eleven production amounted to 235 aircraft, including a few produced in Romania.
By the late 1980’s many of the initial airliners had sold their aircraft to other operators or for use as VIP transports. In this country, Dan-Air and European became well known operators, and the USA and Saudi Arabia were to be the home of many VIP versions. By 2000 European Aviation was to be the only major operator in Europe, with its fleet based at Bournemouth in the same hangars in which they had been built 35 years earlier. However the One-Eleven had to be taken out of airline service in the spring of 2002 as it was unable to meet new noise regulations. Some are still in VIP and military service, occasionally flying into Bournemouth.
G-AZMF was one of British Caledonian’s fleet, being built at Bournemouth early in 1972 (c/n 142), being delivered to the airline in March of that year. British Caledonian merged with British Airways on 1st April 1988, with G-AZMF remaining in service until December 1992 when the entire fleet was sold to Bournemouth based European Aviation. Here it was used as a VIP aircraft during the late 1990’s for the Tyrrell and Jordan Formula One racing teams, later returning to normal airline seating. G-AZMF operated European’s, and Europe’s, final passenger One-Eleven services from Bournemouth on 31st March 2002, the day before the engine noise regulations came into force. Stored for a period, G-AZMF was loaned to the Museum in November 2004 as a reminder of it’s place in the One-Eleven, and Bournemouth Airport's history.
