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Air transport for the Royal Family and Her Majesty's Government is provided, depending on circumstances and availability, by a variety of military and civilian operators. These currently include The Queen's Helicopter Flight (part of the Royal Household), No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF), chartered civil aircraft, but most often by scheduled commercial flights normally flying with British Airways. ==History== The first aircraft ordered specifically for transportation of the Royal Family, two Westland Wapitis, were delivered to No. 24 Squadron at RAF Northolt in April 1928. Between 1929 and 1935 the Prince of Wales purchased 13 aircraft. Although the RAF maintained at least one of these aircraft for a time the Prince of Wales eventually became solely responsible for the aircraft. When the Prince ascended to the throne in 1936 as Edward VIII, The King's Flight was formed as the world's first head of state aircraft unit.〔Air International René Francillon Nov. 1999 ''"Fit for a King: Wings for Sovereigns, Presidents and Prime Ministers"'' pp. 289-290〕 In contrast the first flight of a sitting U.S. president was in January 1943. This unit initially used the King's own de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide; however this was replaced in May 1937 by an Airspeed AS.6J Envoy III. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 led to the replacement of the Envoy III with an armed Lockheed Hudson. A de Havilland Flamingo was added to The King's Flight in September 1940. In 1942, The King's Flight was disbanded and its responsibilities transferred to No. 161 Squadron. No. 161 Squadron was an operational military squadron, involved in the dropping of supplies and agents over occupied Europe throughout the War.〔http://www.raf.mod.uk (History of No. 161 Squadron. )〕 The King's Flight was reformed on 1 May 1946 at RAF Benson with a single aircraft, a de Havilland Dominie. As The Queen's Flight from 1952, the unit operated a variety of aircraft for the transportation and pilot training of members of the Royal family, including Vickers Viking, Avro York, de Havilland Heron and Devon, Westland Whirlwind (helicopter), Douglas Dakota (for Royal Visit to Nepal 1960), de Havilland Canada Chipmunk, Beagle Basset and Hawker Siddeley Andover aircraft. On 2 November 1977, Queen Elizabeth II travelled for the first time aboard Concorde (aircraft G-BOAE). Her Majesty then flew from the Sir Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados, to London Heathrow, England. That occasion was also the first visit by a Concorde aircraft to Barbados. The 'Alpha Echo' aircraft in which The Queen had travelled, was the last Concorde to fly supersonic to Barbados on 17 November 2003; a delivery flight to the Barbados Concorde Experience museum where it remains on display.〔(Concorde History Timeline )〕〔(Barbados Concorde Experience ), museum〕 In 1983 the RAF leased two BAe 146 aircraft to assess their suitability as replacements for The Queen's Flight's Andovers. The trial was a success and three VIP-configured BAe 146-100s entered service with The Queen's Flight (as BAe 146 CC.2s) from 1986 as the flight's first jet aircraft. In 2002 one of these BAe 146s was sold as surplus. These jets, also known as the BAe 146 Statesman, have a specially designed Royal Suite cabin. Although the civilian BAe 146-100 has 70-94 seats, the two BAe 146 CC.2 are configured for 19 or 26 passengers in comfort.〔 These aircraft have a large passenger space compared to a mid-size business jet. The cabin space is over and is almost as large as the smallest Boeing Business Jet which has . Most mid-size business jets have less than of cabin space. The 6'6" ceiling allows people to comfortably stand, and because of the aircraft's size and defensive equipment, this is the aircraft that is the first choice for domestic or European trips.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Air transport of the Royal Family and government of the United Kingdom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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