Yesteryear

• Qantas 707 VH-EAH ‘City of Perth’ departed from Sydney on 3 March on a charter flight to Lima, Peru via Nadi, Papeete and Montevideo.

• Lufthansa introduced Douglas DC-10s onto its Australian services on 1 April, replacing the Boeing 707s. The inaugural flight was flown by D-ADAO.

• Federal cabinet has declined a Defence The department recommendation that two Qantas Boeing 707 aircraft should be attached to No 34 Squadron for VIP use and the aircraft will now be sold.

• McDonnell Douglas deliveries during 1973 were: 57 DC-10s, 29 DC-9s, 127 F-4s, 76 A-4s and eight F-15s. As at 9 February 1974, 206 DC-10s were on firm order with options on a further 46. DC-9 firm orders stood at 776 with 16 on option.

• Northrop announced on 26 April that 108 F-5E Tiger bills would be delivered during the remainder of the year, bringing total to 1974 deliveries to 158 aircraft.

• Problems encountered with the Philco-Ford GAU-7A Gatling-type cannon and its caseless type ammunition originally designed for the F-15A Eagle has caused the USAF to abandon development. Some of the difficulties found were excessive variations of muzzle velocity, short component life, ammunition storage problems and excessive weight.

• The first full production standard Airbus A300-B2, aircraft No 5, had its first flight at Toulouse on 15 April and will be delivered to Air France. Airbus Industrie now has 47 orders and options from eight airlines.

• During recent action against Muslim dissidents in the islands of Sulu and Mindanao, the Philippine Air Force lost at least two F-86F Sabres to ground fire.

• The Singaporean Government has begun preliminary evaluation of a type to replace its Hawker Hunters. The Northrop F-5E Tiger II and the McDonnell Douglas F-4E are believed to be under consideration.

20 Years Ago

• The de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo STOL transport (originally known as the Caribou II) first flew on 9 April 1964.

• The rollout of the first North American XB-70A Valkyrie is set for 11 May and the first flight is expected to take place during July or August at Palmdale.

• An announcement by President Johnson on 11 April revealed that the Lockheed A-11 now designated the YF-12A had repeatedly broken the world air speed record by flying in excess of Mach 3 or 2000 mph.

• McDonnell’s RF-4C Phantom II flew for the first time on 18 May. The RF-4C is 2’9″ longer than the standard Phantom II and is equipped with multiple sensors for its primary mission of high-low, all-weather, day-night selective reconnaissance.

• The DHC-6 Twin Otter is scheduled to fly early in 1965. Designed for bush operations, this aircraft will retain many features of the single-engined Otter. Power will be by two 578 ESHP Pratt & Whitney PT6A-6 turboprop engines.

• Some detailed annual utilisation figures have been published by the British Ministry of Aviation for the period April 1962 to March 1963. The top five aircraft were: BOAC Comet 4s 3574 hours per year each, BOAC’s Boeing 707s 3135 hours, British United Airways Britannia 3020 hours, British Eagle’s DC-6s 2881 hours and BUA’s Viscount 800s 2468 hours.

• A Lockheed P-3A Orion, USN Serial BuAer 150507 arrived in Sydney on 22 April. Operated by USN Squadron VX-1 and carrying the markings ‘Operational Test and Evaluation Force’, the aircraft flew from Perth where it previously arrived two days earlier after a non-stop flight of 5450 miles taking 12 hours 55 minutes flight time from Cape Town.

• Approval was given to Ansett-ANA and TAA to each purchase a third Boeing 727 to be introduced. into service later in the year.

• The formation of a new aircraft company, Transavia Corporation Pty Ltd has taken place at Seven Hills, NSW. The company’s first aircraft designed by Mr LuigiPellerini is hoped to fly by the end of the year.

• The Swedish Government announced on 7 April the major item for the Air Force during the 1964/5 fiscal year would be the acquisition of the SAAB-37 Viggen which is intended to replace the SAAB-32 Lansen and SAAB-35 Draken during the late 1960s and 1970s. The Viggen programme will involve the delivery of just over 800 aircraft.

30 Years Ago

• Two new airliner projects are underway in the United States. One is the Douglas DC-8 with a 114 ft wing span and an all-up weight of 158,000 lb with a cruising speed of 570 mph at 32,000 ft. The domestic version would seat 60 to 100 passengers and have a range of 1000 miles. The fuselage is similar to the DC-7 but it would have swept wings and tail. Power would be either four Pratt & Whitney J-57 or four Wright J-67 (Olympus development) of 12,000 lb thrust each. Douglas also has a larger long-range version on the drawing boards. The other design is the Lockheed L-193 with four J-67s side by side under the fuselage. Span will be 155 ft, length 168 ft, all upweight 260,000 lb, cruising speed 560 mph at 35,000 ft and range approximately 3500 miles. Neither of the designs has yet reached the prototype stage.

• The Boeing factory at Wichita was the venue for the rollout of the first production B-52A bomber. The top speed of the eight-engined B-52powered byJ-57sis estimated at 650mph and the all-up weight is 300,000 lb.

• The first production of Avro Vulcan is almost complete and is expected to fly shortly.

• The performance of the Vickers Valiant 2 bomber has been most pleasing and very high Mach numbers have been reached. At the present time, there are no Western fighters in operation who are capable of intercepting it.

• The first flight of the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer, particularly designed to operate from small landing grounds, is expected later in the year.

• Twelve overseas squadrons of the Royal Canadian Force are to be re-equipped with Orenda-powered Sabre Mk 5s, replacing the J-47 powered Sabres which will be transferred to other NATO countries.

• The Royal Air Force’s last operational Spitfire squadron, which is engaged in photoreconnaissance duties in the Far East, has been re-equipped with Gloster Meteor P. R. 10 aircraft. This means the only remaining Spitfires, which number less than 50, are those in service with the Civil Anti-Aircraft Units and a few other duties both in Britain and abroad. The former are engaged in the daily meteorological climb from RAF Woodvale, Lanes.

• Number 890 Squadron based at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, Somerset was the first Royal Navy Squadron to be equipped with the de Havilland Sea Venom all-weather jet fighter.

• One hundred de Havilland Venoms will be built-in Switzerland under licence at a total approximate cost of 9,500,000 pounds.