FLALEFTY From United States, joined Jan 2006, 290 posts, RR: 3 Posted (3 years 5 months 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 2408 times:
Not too many years ago (okay, 15 or 20), the Southern skies were abuzz with Embraer Bandierantes in commuter service. Comair, ASA and PBA once used them extensively.
I've been on these several times and found them to be fun to fly in. The tight seating, lack of pressurization and noise were a real throw-back experience.
Where did all these go? Are they rusting away in the desert? Are they hauling cargo? Are they carrying contraband?
FATFlyer From United States, joined May 2001, 4976 posts, RR: 39 Reply 1, posted (3 years 5 months 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 2407 times:
Quoting FLALEFTY (Thread starter): Not too many years ago (okay, 15 or 20), the Southern skies were abuzz with Embraer Bandierantes in commuter service. Comair, ASA and PBA once used them extensively.
California was alive with Bandits also. They were a major part of the old UAX/WestAir fleet.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." - Mark Twain
KELPkid From United States, joined Nov 2005, 4191 posts, RR: 8 Reply 2, posted (3 years 5 months 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 2350 times:
Quoting FLALEFTY (Thread starter): The tight seating, lack of pressurization and noise were a real throw-back experience.
And would contribute to their lack of use in the year 2006
The lack of pressurization was the aircraft's biggest hinderance: It could not legally operate IFR in the mountainous regions of the US, where the MEA's on many Victor airways are higher than an unpressurized aircraft can legally operate.
Turbine engines gain effeciency as the altitude goes up, so I'd imagine that the lack of pressurization meant that the aircraft was always operating at a less than optimal altitude for it's engines.
Gotta wonder why they didn't just give all the pax supplemental Oxygen instead
Celebrating the birth of KELPkidJR on August 5, 2009 :-)
DFORCE1 From Canada, joined Jul 2005, 434 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (3 years 5 months 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 2303 times:
But you can find them in the Pacific Northwest in Vancouver, BC. Pacific Coastal operates them out of YVR's South Terminal. But hurry and fly on them while you can as I hear they are looking to get rid of them. www.pacific-coastal.com
MtnWest1979 From United States, joined Nov 2005, 1385 posts, RR: 2 Reply 4, posted (3 years 5 months 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 2278 times:
I remember seeing them here in BOI with both Cascade Airways and Mountain West Airlines.
MtnWest even offered a beverage service on their BOI-RNO flights. They were competing with Gem State and their Metro IIs at the time, so I guess a Coke or pressurization was the choice.
I enjoyed those planes.
Unfortunately, I have yet to ever fly on a Bandit and would love to at some point. I assume it would be similar to a Beech 1900, one seat on each side and you have step over the wing spar to get to the rear seats? My biggest thrill of flying on Beech 1900's is that the crews rarely ever close the cockpit curtain, so if your lucky enough to be sitting in row 1, you get to see all the good stuff, airspeed, altitude, and the runway straight ahead. Only downside is that being at row 1, if the engine shears a blade and it comes inside the cabin, if you are not dead, you lose everything below the thigh.
Bandits used to fly for Comair from my hometown JAX-MCO daily in the 1990's. In 1984, a PBA EMB-110 crashed shortly after taking off, killing everyone aboard.
I do believe that most Bandits are relegated to cargo flying these days. I remember a trip to SAV one time where I saw both a Bandit and Brasilia sitting at the FBO ramp, and the Bandit said "AirNet" on the side. Looked like a check-flying or small package company of sorts.
FATFlyer From United States, joined May 2001, 4976 posts, RR: 39 Reply 7, posted (3 years 5 months 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 2126 times:
Quoting MtnWest1979 (Reply 4): They were competing with Gem State and their Metro IIs at the time,
Before Justin Colin bought Gem State, moved it to MRY and renamed it Golden Gate in the late 70's? I didn't know there were Bandits operating up that early. The Bandit didn't even start production until 1973.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." - Mark Twain
MtnWest1979 From United States, joined Nov 2005, 1385 posts, RR: 2 Reply 8, posted (3 years 5 months 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 2049 times:
MtnWest began Feb 26,1979 with service BOI-PIH-IDA-BOI,-RNO,-SLC,SLC-PIH-IDA-BOI. Later expanding and shifting routes until their demise in Feb 1981. They had a mix of EMB and Navajo Chieftains.
Gem State operated Dec 1978 to Dec 1979 when they relocated to MRY and merged with IK (Air Pacific) and became Golden Gate.
I see that AeroMech had the first US service sometime in 1979, so they must have been one of the first in the US. This according to "Passenger Airliners of the United States 1926-1995" book I am looking thru. I thought I read somewhere that Wyoming Air Service(?) was.
Here are some pics of former Mountain West Airlines (FX) Bandits.
Yak97 From United Kingdom, joined Sep 2005, 118 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (3 years 5 months 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 1891 times:
Quoting OttoPylit (Reply 6): Unfortunately, I have yet to ever fly on a Bandit and would love to at some point. I assume it would be similar to a Beech 1900, one seat on each side and you have step over the wing spar to get to the rear seats?
If I remember correctly the EMB110 was 2+1 seating with 6 rows of 3. There was a bulkhead & entrance area at the front of the cabin which meant you couldn't easily see into the flight deck.
FLALEFTY From United States, joined Jan 2006, 290 posts, RR: 3 Reply 11, posted (3 years 5 months 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 1816 times:
Quoting FlyMatt2Bermud (Reply 10): I always preferred the Bandierantes to Metroliners, at least from a passenger perspective, although the Metro's were significantly faster.
Ah yes! You bring up the old Metroliner. I still remember having to crouch-walk to my seats in the "San Antonio Sewer Pipe". But another fun plane - a "real" flying experience.
FATFlyer From United States, joined May 2001, 4976 posts, RR: 39 Reply 12, posted (3 years 5 months 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 1764 times:
Quoting Yak97 (Reply 9): If I remember correctly the EMB110 was 2+1 seating with 6 rows of 3.
Correct. Westair flew them for UAX. I remember the 2 seat side was really just a bench like you would find in a school bus. 2 seat belts but no are rest so if you were on that side you got to know your seatmate well.
This is a cabin shot of one in South Africa showing the configuration. I don't remember the seats having that much padding back in the 80s.
Caboclo From United States, joined Nov 2004, 190 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (3 years 5 months 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 1751 times:
Ottopylit, that would be Airnow, not Airnet. They are the only ones currently flying them that I know of. Like everyone else, I'm a little surprised that we don't see more of them in the cargo industry, but the Metro's speed seems to be a significant factor in this niche. www.airnow.com
KELPkid From United States, joined Nov 2005, 4191 posts, RR: 8 Reply 14, posted (3 years 5 months 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 1735 times:
Quoting FLALEFTY (Reply 11): Ah yes! You bring up the old Metroliner. I still remember having to crouch-walk to my seats in the "San Antonio Sewer Pipe". But another fun plane - a "real" flying experience.
They have sort of disappeared too!
I've always thought, when examininig pictures in the database, that there's a ton of wasted space in the fuselage on these birds (examine the proportion of windows to fuselage length!). Part of it was probably reserved for baggage...
I will not miss re-fueling the Metroliner's kissing cousin, the Merlin. The wings were pretty high off the ground, and there was no single-point fueling port on these birds...I had to bring the fuel truck in pretty close to the prop and stand on the truck itself to successfully fuel the Merlin. God help you if the truck's parking brake didn't hold and the truck jumped the chocks!
Celebrating the birth of KELPkidJR on August 5, 2009 :-)
OttoPylit From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (3 years 5 months 1 day ago) and read 1663 times:
Quoting Yak97 (Reply 9): There was a bulkhead & entrance area at the front of the cabin which meant you couldn't easily see into the flight deck.
If its anything like the picture below of the one in Africa, thats not too bad, although not as open as the 1900. At first, when you said bulkhead, I was beginning to think you were referring to something like the ATR-72, where you have the baggage bin in between the cabin and the cockpit. LOL
Quoting FlyMatt2Bermud (Reply 10): I always preferred the Bandierantes to Metroliners, at least from a passenger perspective, although the Metro's were significantly faster.
Still a few Metro's around though. I always see one at CVG and EYW over by the FBO's. I believe it was a Metroliner(or was it a Merlin?) that Winston Cup winner Alan Kulwicki was killed in 1993 after a Hooter's PR event, due to the aircraft's de-icing boots failing to activate.
Quoting Caboclo (Reply 13): Ottopylit, that would be Airnow, not Airnet. They are the only ones currently flying them that I know of.
Ah, I stand corrected. AirNow it is. They don't seem like a bad outfit, Caravans, Bandits, and Shorts in their fleets, with first year pay at 28K? Not bad for someone who just finished flying years of instructing and banner-towing, while living on the edge of foodstamps.
Flaps From United States, joined Feb 2000, 755 posts, RR: 3 Reply 16, posted (3 years 5 months 1 day ago) and read 1656 times:
I remember the Aeromech (later Wright) birds well. Used to see them at PIT all the time. I also flew on them a few times betweem DAB and MCO on Comair. The last seat on the left was the best seat in the Florida summertime and the worst seat in the Pennsylvania winter. When the cargo door was open this seat was partly exposed the elements. It was the only cabin ventilation available on the ground but it really sucked in the rain and snow.
AirCop From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 17, posted (3 years 5 months 1 day ago) and read 1626 times:
Count me as one that disliked the Bandits. Westair flew them into my home airport of Crescent City as part of a CEC-ACV-SMF-SFO routing. I always smelled like fuel when I got off. Was happy when they replaced it with the Jetstream 31.
Bohica From United States, joined Feb 2004, 1302 posts, RR: 1 Reply 19, posted (3 years 5 months 19 hours ago) and read 1536 times:
Quoting FATFlyer (Reply 12): Quoting Yak97 (Reply 9):
If I remember correctly the EMB110 was 2+1 seating with 6 rows of 3.
Correct. Westair flew them for UAX.
Westair actually flew a 15 seat and a 19 seat version of the bandit. The 15 seat version had 1+1 seating with three across in the last row. The 19 seater had 2+1 seating. IIRC the left side had 7 rows of 2 seats each and the right side had 5 rows of 1 seat each.
N1120A From United States, joined Dec 2003, 23588 posts, RR: 89 Reply 20, posted (3 years 5 months 19 hours ago) and read 1531 times:
Basically what happened to the Bandit and the Metro was the larger King Air, which became the B1900. It really is too bad though because both the Bandit and Metro were much more beautiful airplanes
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
3201 From United States, joined Oct 2004, 833 posts, RR: 1 Reply 22, posted (3 years 5 months 16 hours ago) and read 1485 times:
My first flight on a bandit was on a day when Dolphin had free flights as some kind of publicity event. They were from TPA, but from the FBO I think, and IIRC there was no security at all, imagine that now. Does anyone have any idea when that was? I guess they weren't around for too long. I knew a girl whose stepdad was a pilot for them, was a former Aeromech bandit driver.
Tsl1011 From Canada, joined Jan 2004, 70 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (3 years 5 months 16 hours ago) and read 1473 times:
Quoting DFORCE1 (Reply 3): But you can find them in the Pacific Northwest in Vancouver, BC. Pacific Coastal operates them out of YVR's South Terminal. But hurry and fly on them while you can as I hear they are looking to get rid of them.
I'm afraid it's too late - I believe the last Pacific Coastal Bandierante was retired and left on June 29, apparently headed for service in Venezuela.
TWAL1011727 From United States, joined Mar 2006, 547 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (3 years 5 months 3 hours ago) and read 1409 times:
Quoting Flaps (Reply 16): When the cargo door was open this seat was partly exposed the elements.
OOhhh what a pain in the ass that cargo door was...The hydraulic door pump bar was always missing from Comairs bandits. You either had to have 2 people or long arms to open the door and pump it up in the open position...
TVNWZ From United States, joined Feb 2006, 1587 posts, RR: 0 Reply 25, posted (3 years 5 months 3 hours ago) and read 1406 times:
Flew them a few times at UAX from SFO to MRY. Quick...and noisy...flight. But, I loved it!
26 Rongotai: Not much here on what happened to them, though. In New Zealand Eagle (AirNZLink) flew them.. At least two of these are now serving as hen houses on fa
27 LipeGIG: Some are still runing regional flights in Brazil. Rico Airlines for example (www.voerico.com.br) keeps 4 Emb-110 runing some routes to/from MAO over t
28 FlyMatt2Bermud: The aircraft was a SA227-TT (Merlin IIIC). Engine ice was the probable cause of the accident. Here is a copy of the NTSB report. http://www.ntsb.gov/
31 Bob7273757: I Have many a fine memory of the good o'l Bandit. I was a Pilot for the now Bankrupt Royale Airlines out of SHV!! I flew it out of MSY on the milk run
32 Skidmarks: We have one in the museum here on the IOM. It was stored for a year or two and then finally given to them. Not sure why it stopped being used, althoug
33 YOW: Air Creebec still flies EMB-110s. I see them at YOW regularly doing ad-hoc charters from YTS. I think you can fly them sked out of YUL...definitely ou
34 DC3CV3407AC727: Royal Air ,at KPTK, and Special Aviation services out of Leipsic,Oh. ,hard by Toledo Express ,KTOL,both still fly Bandits in Pt.135 freight dog operat
35 Yak97: The great shame with the EMB110 was that it was a political decision to stop production and move onto the EM120. I was at the factory when the last ai
36 NZ8800: A charter company called Air National in NZ still fly them; and other airlines charter it from them at times, when their own aircraft are under mainte
37 Charlienorth: The pic in post 8 of the Bandit in MSP brings back memories!I was "fuel guy" at gate 73,the commuter gate at MSP,American central ran a big operation
38 Vector: From a total of 499 Bandeirante built, around 240 stil in operation, including 105 still in service in Brazilian Air Force. Air Now (Business Air) hav
39 F14D4ever: By any chance do you know if those freighters are ones that flew commuter service in/out of KTOL in the 80's? One of my first commercial flights was
40 FLALEFTY: Thanks Vector! That is exactly the sort of information I was hoping for.
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