British Aerospace 125

The British Aerospace 125 (Originally the de Havilland DH125 Jet Dragon) is a twin-engine mid-size corporate jet, with newer variants now marketed as the Hawker 800. It was known as the Hawker Siddeley HS.125 until 1977. It was also used by the Royal Air Force as a navigation trainer (as the Hawker Siddeley Dominie T1) until January 2011, and was used by the United States Air Force as a calibration aircraft (as the C-29).

Development
In 1961, de Havilland began working on a revolutionary small business jet, the DH.125 Jet Dragon, intended to replace the piston engined de Havilland Dove business aircraft and light transport. The DH.125 design was for a low-winged monoplane with a pressurised fuselage accommodating two pilots and six passengers. It was powered by two Bristol Siddeley Viper turbojets mounted on the rear fuselage. The slightly swept wing employed large slotted flaps and airbrakes to allow operation from small airfields. The first of two prototypes flew on 13 August 1962, with the second following on 12 December that year. The first production aircraft, longer and with a greater wingspan than the two prototypes, flew on 12 February 1963, with the first delivery to a customer on 10 September 1964.

The aircraft went through many designation changes during its service life. Hawker Siddeley had bought de Havilland the year before project start, but the old legacy brand and the "DH" designation was used throughout development. After the jet achieved full production, the name was finally changed to "HS.125". When Hawker Siddeley Aircraft merged with the British Aircraft Corporation to form British Aerospace in 1977, the name changed to BAe 125. Then, when British Aerospace sold its Business Jets Division to Raytheon in 1993, the jet acquired the name Raytheon Hawker. The fuselage, wings and tail-fin are to this day fully assembled and partially equipped (primary and secondary flight controls) in Airbus UK's Broughton plant, on the outskirts of Chester, sub-assemblies are produced in Airbus UK's Buckley site. All these assembled components are then shipped to Wichita, Kansas in the United States, to where final assembly was transferred in 1996.

Over 1,000 aircraft have been built.

Variants

 * DH.125 Series 1 - first version, powered by 3000 lbf Viper 20 or 520 engines. Nine built, including two prototypes (43 ft 6 in (13.26 m) long, 44 ft (13.41 m) span) and seven production aircraft (47 ft 5 in (14.56 m) long, 47 ft (14.33 m) long.
 * DH.125 Series 1A/1B - upgraded Bristol Siddeley Viper 521 or 522 engines with 3100 lbf of thrust each, and five cabin windows instead of six. Series 1A for US FAA certification (62 built), Series 1B for sale elsewhere (13 built).
 * HS.125 Series 2 - navigation trainer for Royal Air Force (20 built), with service designation Dominie T.1 - (Rolls-Royce Viper 301)
 * HS.125 Series 3 - upgraded engines
 * HS.125 Series 400 - upgraded engines
 * HS.125 CC1 - Series 400 liaison aircraft for Royal Air Force
 * HS.125 Series 600 - 3 ft 1 in (0.94 m) fuselage stretch to increase capacity to 14 passengers
 * HS.125 CC2 - Series 600 liaison aircraft for Royal Air Force
 * HS.125 Series 700 - Honeywell TFE731-3RH turbofan engines with 3720 lbf of thrust each, first flight 19 June 1976
 * BAe 125 CC3 - Series 700 liaison aircraft for Royal Air Force
 * HS.125 Protector - Series 700-based maritime patrol aircraft with a search radar and cameras
 * BAe 125 Series 800 - increased wingspan, streamlined nose, tail fin extension, increased fuel capacity, first corporate jet to feature an EFIS cockpit, upgraded engines, first flight 26 May 1983
 * Hawker 800 - BAe 125-800 after 1993
 * Hawker 800XP - TFE731-5BR1H turbofan engines with 4660 lbf of thrust each
 * Hawker 800SP and 800XP2 - New designation for 800A/B and 800XP aircraft when upgraded with aftermarket winglets
 * Hawker 850XP - 800XP with factory installed winglets and interior updates
 * Hawker 900XP - 850XP with Honeywell TFE731-50R turbofan engines for increased hot/high performance and longer range
 * Hawker 750 - 800XP with a light-weight interior and heated baggage compartment in place of the ventral fuel tank
 * C-29A - Series 800 for US military designed to replace the Lockheed C-140A, used by the Air Force to accomplish the combat flight inspection and navigation mission (C-FIN) at US airbases around the world, participated in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm during the First Persian Gulf War.
 * U-125 - Series 800-based flight inspection aircraft for Japan (similar to C-29A)
 * U-125A - Series 800-based search and rescue aircraft for Japan, equipped with the APS-134LW radar system.
 * BAe 125 Series 1000 - intercontinental version of the Series 800, 2 ft 9 in (0.84 m) fuselage stretch to increase capacity to 15, increased fuel capacity, Pratt & Whitney Canada PW-305 turbofans with 5200 lbf thrust each, first flight 16 June 1990, 52 built
 * Hawker 1000 - BAe 125-1000 after 1993
 * Handley Page HP.130 - A 1965 proposal with boundary layer control wings (not built). It was to be powered by two Bristol Siddeley Viper 520s of 3000 lbf thrust with a projected Maximum speed of Mach 0.8. This conversion was for laminar-flow research purposes.

Civil operators
Private operators, air taxi, shared ownership and corporate charter operators worldwide. Between 1965 and 1972 Qantas used two Series 3s for crew training.

Military operators

 * Brazilian Air Force
 * Japan Air Self-Defense Force
 * Military of Malawi
 * 🇳🇬 Nigeria
 * Nigerian Air Force
 * Royal Saudi Air Force
 * Turkmenistan Airlines on behalf of the government
 * Royal Air Force
 * No. 32 Squadron RAF
 * Uruguayan Air Force
 * Turkmenistan Airlines on behalf of the government
 * Royal Air Force
 * No. 32 Squadron RAF
 * Uruguayan Air Force
 * No. 32 Squadron RAF
 * Uruguayan Air Force
 * Uruguayan Air Force

Former operators

 * Argentine Naval Aviation operated one VIP. See also Escuadrón Fénix
 * Biafra
 * Biafran Air Force operated one aircraft
 * Botswana Defence Force Air Wing
 * 🇬🇭 Ghana
 * Ghana Air Force - Former operator.
 * Irish Air Corps
 * Royal Malaysian Air Force
 * 🇳🇮 Nicaragua
 * Nicaraguan Air Force
 * National Guard (Nicaragua)
 * 🇿🇦 South Africa
 * South African Air Force
 * No. 21 Squadron SAAF
 * Royal Air Force
 * No. 55(R) Squadron RAF (Dominie T1)
 * No. 6 Flying Training School RAF
 * Royal Air Force College Cranwell
 * United States Air Force
 * Royal Air Force
 * No. 55(R) Squadron RAF (Dominie T1)
 * No. 6 Flying Training School RAF
 * Royal Air Force College Cranwell
 * United States Air Force
 * United States Air Force

Accidents and incidents

 * On 22 November 1966, de Havilland DH.125 N235KC of Florida Commuter Airlines crashed into the sea 7.3 km off Grand Bahama International Airport, Freeport, Bahamas during an illegal flight from Miami, Florida.
 * In July 1967, Air Hanson HS.125 (G-ASNU) carrying former Congolese president Moise Tshombe was hijacked and taken to Algeria.
 * On 23 December 1967 a Hawker Siddeley HS.125 (registration: G-AVGW) of Court Line crashed shortly after taking off from Luton Airport, killing both pilots. The aircraft had been on a training flight. The crash occurred when the crew simulated an engine failure on takeoff. The HS 125 lost height rapidly and hit the roof of the nearby Vauxhall Motors factory. This resulted in a post-crash fire.
 * On 26 May 1971, three Mercurius HS.125 aircraft belonging to the South African Air Force flew into Devil's Peak, Cape Town, while practising for a flypast for the 10th anniversary of the republic.
 * On 20 November 1975, a British Aerospace BAe 125 overran the runway at Dunsfold Aerodrome after a bird strike on take off. The aircraft hit a car that was travelling along the A281 at the time and stopped in a nearby field, killing six people in the car and injuring one crew member out of nine passengers and crew.
 * On 8 September 1987: a Brazilian Air Force Hawker Siddeley HS.125 registration FAB-2129 crashed upon take-off from Carajás. All nine occupants died.
 * On 7 August 1988, a BAe-125 owned by the Botswana Government was carrying the President of Botswana, Quett Masire, and his staff to a meeting in Luanda. An Angolan MiG-23 pilot fired two R-60 (AA-8) missiles at the plane. One missile hit the no. 2 engine, causing it to fall off the aircraft. The second missile then hit the falling engine. The crew was able to make a successful emergency landing on a bush strip at Cutio Bie.
 * On 16 March 1991, a Hawker Siddeley charter aircraft carrying band members for Reba McEntire crashed into the side of Otay Mountain. The accident occurred shortly after take off from a municipal airport outside of San Diego, California. All eight band members aboard plus two pilots were killed in the crash believed to have been caused by poor visibility.
 * On 18 January 1996, a government-owned BAe-125 crashed near Kano in Nigeria, killing all 14 people on board.
 * On 3 January 2006, Russian aircraft (AVCOM - Moscow) crashed in Kharkiv, Ukraine into the Komsomolsk lake, 3 people died (crew).
 * On 31 July 2008, East Coast Jets Flight 81 crashed on approach to an airport in Owatonna, Minnesota killing all 8 passengers and crew.
 * On 26 October 2009, S-Air Flight 9607, operated by BAe 125 RA-02807 crashed on approach to Minsk International Airport. All three crew and both passengers were killed.