VH-IMK. Hawker Siddeley 748-2A-287. c/n 1737-213.

 

This aircraft was ordered new by British Airways - ?

Built by Hawker Siddeley Aviation at Woodford - 1974

Entered onto the British Aircraft Register as G-BCOF (CofR R.14568/1) - September 23, 1974

Registered to Hawker Siddeley Aviation Limited, Woodford

First flown as 'G-BCOF' - August 14, 1975

Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA) issued - September 01, 1975

Accepted by British Airways at Woodford - September 03, 1975

Registered to British Airways plc, London (CofR G-BCOF/R2) - September 04, 1975

Opertated first revenue service - September 04, 1975

The aircraft was named 'Gen Fiddich' on the starboard side and 'Gleann Fithich' on the port side

Departed the runway whilst landing at Sumburgh Airport, Shetland - November 29, 1983

Was operating the Aberdeen - Sumburgh service in bad weather

The possible acquaplaning incident stopped the aircraft from overrunning the runway and ending up in the sea

No injuries were sustained by the 3 crew members or the 17 passengers on board

Operated last service prior to undergoing a conversion upgrade - January 05, 1985

The conversion at Glasgow to a Series 2B-287 standard was completedd - April 01, 1985

Returned toi service in the revised livery - April 02, 1985

Operated final British Airways revenue service Shetland - Aberdeen as BA8991H - December 31, 1991

Ferried Aberdeen - Glasgow as BA8994E for storage - December 31, 1991

Sold to British Aerospace Limited - January 16, 1992

Registered to British Aerospace (Airlines Division) plc (CofR G-BCOF/R3) - January 28, 1992

Ferried Glasgow - Exeter for storage - February 03, 1994

Ferried Exeter - Luton - Preswick in prepartion for lease to Impulse Airlines - October 29, 1994

Departed Preswick on the ferry flight to Australia - ?

Arrived Sydney (Bankstown) on completion of the ferry flight - November 29, 1994

Cancelled from the British Aircraft Register - December 29, 1994

Leased to Impulse Airlines, Sydney - January 01, 1995

Entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register as VH-IMK - January 12, 1995

Leased to Impulse Airlines, Sydney as the registered operator

The aircraft was converted to an all-cargo configuration

Entered service with Impulse Airlines - March 1995

Reposessed by Jetstream Aircraft Ltd and ferried to Adelaide (West Beach) for storage - July 14, 1995

Registered to Jetstream Aircraft (Sydney) Ltd - August 08, 1995

Sold to International Air Parts and ferried Adelaide (West Beach) - Sydney (Bankstown) - August 13, 1996

Registered to Internation Air Parts Pty Ltd, Sydney - October 23, 1996

The Swedish registration 'SE-LIB' was reserved but was not taken up by West Air Sweden - January 10, 1997

Leased to Independent Air Freighters as the registered operator - September 1997

The aircraft was named 'The Beast'

Commenced operations on the Brisbane - Moro (Papua New Guinea) route - January 21, 1998

Registered to International Aviation Pty Ltd, Sydney - July 23, 1998

International Aviation changed its name to Horizon Airlines Pty Ltd - December 10, 1998

Acquired a large rear freight door from donor aircraft 9N-ABR c/n 1771 - 1999

The aircraft was then redesignated an HS-748-2B-287LFD

Returned to service with Horizon Airlines following this conversion - August 1, 1999

Leased to Australian air Express as the registered operator - September 17, 2001

Horizon Airlines was placed in Administration due to financial difficulties - October 14, 2003

Operated final Australian air Express service Brisbane - Sydney (Kingsford Smith) as XM7024 - October 24, 2003

Ferried Sydney (Kingsford Smith) - Sydney (Bankstown) for storage - October 24, 2003

The aircraft had flown 28,232 hours with 35,815 cycles to date

Observed at Sydney (Bankstown) in the British Airways 'Landor' livery - December 2005

Test flown Sydney (Bankstown) - Sydney (Bankstown) - March 11, 2006

Departed Sydney (Bankstown) on the ferry flight to South Africa - March 21, 2006

Arrived Kruger International on completion of the ferry flight - March 27, 2006

Ferry route: Sydney - Alice Springs - Port Headland - Cocos Island - Colombo - Male - Mahe - Antananarivo

Cancelled from the Australian Aircraft Register - April 07, 2006

The aircraft had been sold to Stars Away Aviation

Entered onto the South African Aircraft Register as ZS-DBL - April 11, 2006

Registered to Fulloutput 191 (Pty) Ltd

Test flown at Capetown - July 15, 2006

Ferried Capetown - Johannesburg - Lilongwe - Nairobi - November 10, 2010

The aircraft was leased to Timbis Air Services as the registered operator

The aircraft was observed in operation at Khartoum, Sudan - December 2010

Operated final Timbis Air Services flight and was then placed in storage at Nairobi - January 22, 2011

Cancelled from the South African Aircraft Register - October 20, 2011

Entered onto the Kenyan Aircraft Register as 5Y-BZR - October 26, 2011

Registered to Fulloutput 192 (Pty) Ltd

Leased to Timbis Air Services as the registered operator

This aircraft was written off in a landng accident at Doro, Southern Sudan - April 02, 2012

There were not fatalities

 

G-BCOF. British Airways - 'Glen Fiddich' in the standard livery at Birmingham Airport. December 1985.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 0748-025.)

VH-IMK. International - 'The Beast' in the basic British Airways livery at Brisbane Airport, January 1998.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 0748-083.)

VH-IMK. International - 'The Beast' in the basic British Airways livery at Brisbane Airport, April 1998.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 0748-013.)

VH-IMK. Horizon - 'The Beast' in the basic British Airways livery at Brisbane Airport, date unknown.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 0748-076.)

VH-IMK. Horizon - 'The Beast' in the basic British Airways livery at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, October 1999.

(R. N. Smith Copyright Image 0748-131.)