Cal-State Airlines Handley Page
HP.137 Jetstream 1
(c/n 216)
Cal-State began scheduled operations on
11 November 1968 between Long Beach/Los Angeles
and Santa Barbara, Bakersfield and
Fresno. It operated mainly Beech 99s although had at least
one
Beech D18S (well, actually an ex C-45). In 1969 it ordered
six Jetstreams from Handley Page.
This
aircraft had been designed from the outset to meet the requirements of
the United States regional
airline market.. Beset by
engine problems and with development costs by far exceeding estimates,
production was limited to 36 series 1 machines and, in fact, Handley
Page went bankrupt. (The
design
was later produced in small numbers by Scottish Aviation's Jetstream
Aircraft Co. This later
gave
rise to the development of the far more successful Jetstream 31).
Cal-State, meanwhile, like many small lines of its ilk, was suffering
high operating costs and low
revenue passenger miles, and, in
the event, although the six Jetstreams were delivered they were never
operated and were stored at Reno
Airport, Nevada . Cal-State itself folded shortly
afterward, the
last schedule
being flown in May of 1970. The six early Jetstreams were
later modified to Series IIIs
and eventually found markets. The image above, from the
William T. Larkins collection, was taken at
Reno in late 1969.
.