Climbing Out of the Clouds

First into the world with commercial jets (the Comets) and turboprops (the Viscounts), Britain's planemakers have been trailing their wings through a combination of ill luck, much-publicized crashes and the lack of resources to compete with U.S. giants. As a survival measure, the British government pressured the British aviation industry into consolidating into two major groups in 1960. The groups: 1) British Aircraft Corp., composed of Vickers, English Electric and Bristol, and 2) Hawker Siddeley, which took de Havilland under its wing.

To bring about the consolidation, the government held out the lure of fat missile and military jet contracts, which have proved to be illusive. Finding U.S. missiles to be both cheaper and further advanced, the government canceled the bulk of its British programs. And, strapped for cash, it has delayed on re-equipping the RAF and Royal Navy with modern fighters. British military planemakers fell so far behind that they recently lost a big sale of supersonic fighters to India, which prefers Russian MIG-21s.

Now, in hopes of staying aloft, the two British planemaking giants are again banking sharply into the passenger-jet market. There, where U.S. planemakers dominate so much of the skies, the going is rough, but the Britons are beginning to make progress with a wide variety of new rear-engine jets, ranging from small city-hoppers to lengthy ocean-spanners. Four, in particular, stand out:

The Corporate D.H. 125: At a field just north of London last week, Hawker Siddeley's high-tailed D.H. 125 made its first flight. Designed to operate on short runways and cruise with six passengers at 480 m.p.h., it is Britain's entry in the market for corporate jets. Price: $550,000.

The Short-Range BAG One-Eleven: Even more promising than the D.H. 125 is British Aircraft Corp.'s 63-passenger BAG One-Eleven, which is powered by two Rolls-Royce fan jet engines, one placed on either side of the rear fuselage. The world's only short-range commercial jetliner now in production, the BAG One-Eleven aspires to be the workhorse DC-3 of the jet age when it goes into commercial service in 1964. British Aircraft Corp. has 33 orders, including four from the U.S.'s Mohawk Airlines and six from Braniff. Price: about $2.5 million each.

The Medium-Range D.H. 121 Trident: Three jet engines are placed in the rear of Hawker Siddeley's radical Trident, now being flight-tested. It is designed to carry 79 passengers, cruise at 606 m.p.h. and range to 1,000 miles, ideal for travel within Europe and the Middle East. Price: $3.6 million. British European Airways has ordered 24 Tridents, and expects to put them in service in 1963; but Hawker Siddeley must sell at least 76 more to break even. This will take some doing, because the Trident is in nose-to-nose competition with the new medium-range Boeing 727, which is due to enter service next year.

The Long-Range VC10: Like the Trident, the British Aircraft Corp. VC10 is a market gamble that is being taken at the urging of the state-owned British airlines (BOAC, BEA), which for reasons of national prestige would rather fly British aircraft. Now in flight tests, the VC10 cruises at about 600 m.p.h. on four rear engines and can carry 151 passengers. Price: $6.2 million. British Aircraft Corp. has 30 orders for the VC10 and another 30 for a larger version, the Super VC10, mostly all from British Overseas Airways Corp.; but it needs at least 40 more orders to break even. Trouble is, BOAC threatens not to go ahead with planned future orders for the Super VC10 unless the plane's range--now 4,700 miles--is increased to match the 6,000 miles of the Boeing 707 Inter-continentals. British Aircraft hopes to sell VC100s and Super los to foreign airlines before supersonic transports reach the market by 1970. But if many sales are to be made, the airline business will have to improve. The world's major intercontinental airlines are in no spending mood at a time when most of them are losing money.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.