Jack It’s pretty rough landing at Aspen. Way back in the day BAe, Inc. leased 2 X 146-100 aircraft to Aspen Airways, based in Denver. Their main destination was Aspen, and the BAe-146 was the only large pax jet that could land there because of (a) great short field performance, and (b) a landing system we had certified for 146 use that set the glide scope much like an aircraft carrier system (see your video). This was a long time ago and I’m far detached from the details. I was the BAe Inc account manager for Aspen for several years; the new FAA Administrator was then on the finance staff at Aspen as they struggled to meet both customer demands for more storage space (skis!) and for some way to make money in the summer when travel to Aspen was less robust. We re-negotiated rents and payment plans nonstop. A constant battle.
Aspen was a very early flier of the BAe-146 and helped prove the aircraft type, which was way ahead of its time. It was quiet, powered as it was by four Avro Lycoming (later Texteon Lycoming) geared turbofan engines that were way ahead of their time but also very unreliable. The 146 was acquired by niche operators (Aspen for landing at Aspen, Air Cal and PSA to meet noise restrictions at John Wayne, etc.). As I said it was beset by problems and there were a few incidents, especially one with a Mexican regional, but the type had a renaissance in the ‘90s when Northwest connectors acquired a large number of them for regional ops - it had good passenger acceptance with a large fuselage providing great headroom. They were also operated by Business Express (a Delta feeder in the Northeast) and Presidential (who consumed millions of hours of my time, but what great experience it was). The Queen’s Flight patriotically employed a 146 (perhaps more than one; I’m not sure). In support of a 146 sales campaign in Brazil I had the tough duty of helping to clear the Queen’s Flight through customs at IAD - it was on its way to Brazil with royals aboard. I have a cherished photo of the aircraft on the tarmac in front of the incredibly beautiful Dulles main terminal. The Air Cal 146s wound up at American after they acquired Air Cal, and the PSA ones were integrated into US Air’s fleet after that acquisition. Many will remember the awful hijacking of a PSA/USAir 146 that the hijacker drove into the ground somewhere between LA and San Francisco with the loss of all aboard. Bob Crandall hated the 146 type so much that it had no chance of winning the AMR procurement process to acquire a small jet to fill some expanded slots at ORD; they went with the Fokker 100. I lost a lot of sleep with all those machinations, but it now seems so far away. Apologies. Memories. Scott  > > keady asks if this is a real Aspen landing/ If so, I might take a bus > > > https://www.facebook.com/reel/748034634774622 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Revised: 20250507 > > You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. > > The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't > exactly cost-free. If you'd care to make a small contribution to the effort, > please know that it would be greatly appreciated: > https://wardell.us/url/mifbit > > All posts sent to the list should abide by these policies: > > 1) List members acknowledge that participation in Mifnet is a privilege--not > a right. > 2) Posts are always off the record, absent specific permission from the > author. > 3) The tone of discussions is collegial. > 4) Posts are expected to be in reasonably good taste. > 5) We discuss ideas and not personalities, and we don't speak ill of other > Mifnet members. > > * The Mifnet WEB SITE is: > https://www.mifnet.com/ > > * To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list at any time please visit: > https://lists.mifnet.com/ > OR: SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: > mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=leave > > * Send Mifnet mailing list POSTS/SUBMISSIONS to: > mifnet@lists.mifnet.com > > * You may reach the person managing The Mifnet at: > mifnet-ow...@lists.mifnet.com > > * Please consider the DIGEST version of The Mifnet, which consolidates all > list traffic into 1-3 > messages daily. See instructions at: > https://lists.mifnet.com/ > > * Manage your personal Mifnet SUBSCRIPTION at: > https://lists.mifnet.com/ > > * For a list of all available Mifnet commands, SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: > mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=help > > * View The Mifnet LIST POLICIES and PRIVACY POLICY at: > https://mifnet.com/index.php/policies > > * View instructions for Mifnet DELIVERY PROBLEMS at: > https://mifnet.com/index.php/delivery-problems > > * View The Mifnet LIST ARCHIVE at: > https://lists.mifnet.com/hyperkitty/list/mifnet@lists.mifnet.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revised: 20250507 You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't exactly cost-free. If you'd care to make a small contribution to the effort, please know that it would be greatly appreciated: https://wardell.us/url/mifbit All posts sent to the list should abide by these policies: 1) List members acknowledge that participation in Mifnet is a privilege--not a right. 2) Posts are always off the record, absent specific permission from the author. 3) The tone of discussions is collegial. 4) Posts are expected to be in reasonably good taste. 5) We discuss ideas and not personalities, and we don't speak ill of other Mifnet members. * The Mifnet WEB SITE is: https://www.mifnet.com/ * To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list at any time please visit: https://lists.mifnet.com/ OR: SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=leave * Send Mifnet mailing list POSTS/SUBMISSIONS to: mifnet@lists.mifnet.com * You may reach the person managing The Mifnet at: mifnet-ow...@lists.mifnet.com * Please consider the DIGEST version of The Mifnet, which consolidates all list traffic into 1-3 messages daily. See instructions at: https://lists.mifnet.com/ * Manage your personal Mifnet SUBSCRIPTION at: https://lists.mifnet.com/ * For a list of all available Mifnet commands, SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=help * View The Mifnet LIST POLICIES and PRIVACY POLICY at: https://mifnet.com/index.php/policies * View instructions for Mifnet DELIVERY PROBLEMS at: https://mifnet.com/index.php/delivery-problems * View The Mifnet LIST ARCHIVE at: https://lists.mifnet.com/hyperkitty/list/mifnet@lists.mifnet.com/
