AVRO 748/HS.748 "THE BUDGIE"

Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (other designation: British Aerospace 748 or BAe 748) was a British turbo-prop airliner from the post-war period. The prototype flight took place in June 1960. Serial production was carried out in the years 1961-1986, and in its course about 380 aircraft of this type were created. In the Super 748 version, the plane was 20.42 meters long with a wingspan of 31.23 meters. The drive was provided by two Rolls-Royce RD.a7 Dart engines with a capacity of 2280 HP each. The flight range with the maximum payload slightly exceeded 1700 kilometers. The presented plane was designed to replace the World War II DC-3 machine on the civil aviation market, as well as to establish a competitive fight with the Fokker F.27. It is also worth adding that the plane was initially developed at Avro (under the designation Avro 748). In 1963, the Avro and Hawker Siddeley companies merged, which also led to a change in the designation of the presented aircraft. Overall, the HS 748 has proven to be a highly successful and technically reliable machine. Several versions were created in the course of production, including: HS 748 Series 2 (version with Rolls-Royce Dart 531 engines), HS 748 Series 2A (the most popular version of the aircraft with Dart 534 engines) or HAL748 (version licensed in India) .