For me, the Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is, without a doubt, the most memorable aircraft in Philippine Airlines’ fleet. Back in 1986, it was the first plane I ever flew in. We flew in this plane from Manila to Baguio, and it was on this flight that I fell even more in love with airplanes. So, let’s talk about the Hawker Siddeley HS 748, which flew PAL’s domestic and short-haul routes.
In 1967, PAL ordered the HS 748 series 2A to supplement the BAC 1-11s on domestic routes. The planes quickly became PAL’s standard turboprop planes for domestic flights, until they were replaced by Fokker 50s in 1989.
This aircraft was also used for airports in the country with short runways, where one of them is Baguio’s Loakan airport.
A noisy aircraft
I’ll never forget my first plane ride, which was on a PAL HS 748. First and foremost, the aircraft is pretty loud on the inside. As in, you had to make your voice really loud inside just to be heard. Second, it was quite large for a commercial turboprop aircraft. At first, I assumed it was a small propeller aircraft, such as a Piper or a Beechcraft King Air. When I first saw it, I thought it was unusually large for a turboprop. Hey, it was 1986, and I was a kid.
Obviously, it was not as large as the BAC 1-11 sitting beside at the the Manila Domestic Terminal (now known as Terminal 4). Our flight from Manila to Baguio just took 45 minutes on board the HS 748.
About the HS 748
The medium-sized turboprop airliner known as the Hawker Siddeley HS 748 was created and first manufactured by the British aircraft company Avro. It was Avro’s final built aircraft before being absorbed by Hawker Siddeley. The HS 748 was created in the late 1950s as part of a strategy to refocus the business on the civil and export markets.
It was created specifically as a cutting-edge feederliner to take the place of the deteriorating Douglas DC-3s then in widespread use. It is powered by the well-known Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engine. Market research revealed that a seating capacity of about 40 passengers would be ideal for the type, despite the fact that it was initially designed to accommodate fewer passengers.
To distinguish itself from competitors, the new airliner was designed to have a high level of performance, including short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities and overall ruggedness. The series 1 HS 748 first flew on June 24, 1960, and entered revenue service the following year. Once in service, the HS 748 found a niche in the short-distance market. Several regional airliner models would be developed, with typical improvements including the use of increasingly powerful Dart engines and a higher gross weight.
By 1988, when production of the type was halted, 380 aircraft had been produced by Hawker Siddeley (Avro’s parent company) and the Indian aviation company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The BAe ATP, a larger, stretched development of the HS 748, was developed during the 1990s and attempted to compete with market leaders such as the de Havilland Canada Dash 8 and ATR 42, but saw only limited sales before production was discontinued.
Have you ever flown on PAL’s HS 748 too? Share me your experience!
First love never dies. I fell in love with airplanes and aviation when I was a kid. My dream was to become a pilot, but destiny led me to another path: to be an aviation digital media content creator and a small business owner. My passion for aviation inspires me to bring you quality content through my website and social accounts. Aviation is indeed in my blood and blog!
HS 748 operated by Indian Airlines was also my first air travel. I flew the Madras-Madurai-Trivandrum sector on May 9, 1971. Yes it was quite noisy and quite bouncy, but I enjoyed the flight especially the view of the ground. I flew it one more time in 1984 between Bangalore and Hyderabad before it was phased out. Still feel nostalgic
I am a retired B747-400 pilot of PAL with 26,300 hours flying time. I am now 84 years old. I had more than 5000 hours flying time in the HS 748 and I was an instructor/check pilot and test pilot for PAL. The HS 748 is a reliable aircraft to fly and enjoyed flying it. I had flying experience in the DC-3, DC-4, BAC 1-11, DC-8, A-300 B4, DC-10, B747-200 and also B747-400. If you need information on these PAL aircraft, I can be of assistance. BTW, I have a son who is also a pilot.