Yesteryear

•The Panavia MRCA will be recommended for full production and the name Tornado has been officially adopted for the aircraft. These decisions arose from a Chiefs of Air Staff meeting of the three participating countries at Munich on 10 March.

•The Rockwell B-1 had made 26 flights by 3 March. A total of 126 hr 26 min have been flown of which 4 hr 38 min was supersonic. The longest single flight was 8 hr 19 min and the highest speed reached was Mach 1. 6 at 34,000 1.

• First deliveries of the Boeing 747SP took place during March. The first aircraft was delivered to Pan American on 5 March with others being handed over to Iran Air on 12 March and to South African Airways on 23 March. The SAA aircraft flew 10,290 miles from Seattle to Cape Town non-stop creating a world record for a commercial aircraft. It took off with a gross weight of 713,000 lb which was 50,300 lb above the normal operating weight. • An ex-RAF Argosy has been purchased by Management Jets International to be converted to a water bomber at Lincoln, Nebraska.

•The designation 7N7 is being used by Boeing for a series of design studies for new versions of the Boeing 707, 727 and 737. The 727-300 project is now in abeyance with the emphasis of effort now being placed on the 7N7. One of the studies is the 7N7-100, a stretched version of the 737 capable of carrying 155 passengers powered by the CFM56 or JT-10D2. The 7N7- 200 project is a 707 with an approx 10ft fusel- age stretch with four CFM56 engines while the 7N7-500 is a 707 with a fuselage lengthened by about 23 ft powered by uprated CFM56 or JT- 10D engines.

• The training role of the Vickers Varsity has now been taken over by the H. S. 125 Dominie T Mk 1 navigational trainer. The Varsity ended 25 years of RAF service when an aircraft of No. 6FTS landed at RAF Finningley after a training flight.

• Following a $6M reflit, HMAS “Melbourne” is expected to have an operational life until at least 1985.

• McDonnell Douglas has now sold 230 DC- 10s with a further 34 on conditional sale or option.

20 Years Ago

• The first flight of the DC-8 Super 61 took place at Long Beach on 17 March. The Super 61 is 37 ft longer than the standard DC-8 and can accommodate up to 251 passengers. The first delivery is scheduled before the end of the year and to date 28 are on order.

• Mr R Askin, the NSW Premier announced on 29 March that one Beech Queen Air would be acquired for the NSW Ambulance Transport Service Board and the aircraft would be based in Sydney.

•BOAC has cancelled an order for 10 Super VC10s which had been suspended in 1964. Of the original order for 30, three have been transferred to the RAF leaving 17 on order for BOAC. Of these, eight have been delivered and the remainder will be received over the next three years. A cancellation fee of £SM will be paid by BOAC to Vickers in connection with the 10 aircraft.

•The production rate of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois is now some 60 per month and is expected to increase to 160 per month by the end of the year. Orders have been received by Bell from the US services for 440 UH-1Bs, 1,091 UH- 1Ds, 100 EH-1Es and 146 UH-1Fs.

•Air New Zealand inaugurated its twice-weekly Auckland/Sydney/Darwin/Hong Kong service with DC-8 ZK-NZA on 3 March.

•The Minister for Air, Mr P. Howson said on 24 April that Mirages would replace Sabres at Darwin. The Mirage detachment would be from No. 75 Squadron Williamtown and would take over from eight No. 76 Squadron Sabres which had been stationed at Darwin since December 1964 and would return to Williamtown.

• The Date for submission of final SST design proposals by Boeing. Lockheed, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric has been brought forward by the FAA from 15 October to 1 September. Evaluation of the designs will be completed by the FAA by 31 December so that contracts for the prototype construction can be placed. The first flight would be scheduled for 1970 and certification of the production model in 1974.

• The USS “Hornet” (CVS-21) visited Sydney from 1-7 March. It was the flagship of a USN task force that visited Sydney after service off Vietnam. The 44,000-ton anti-submarine warfare carrier was launched in 1943 and during WWII operations, its aircraft claimed 742 aircraft destroyed on the ground and 600 in the air while over one million tons of enemy shipping were sunk. On board during the current visit were 24 Grumman S-2D Trackers, 12 Sikorsky SH-3A Sea Kings, 4 Grumman E-1B Tracers and one Grumman C-1A Trader.

• A new Sydney/Perth non-stop light aircraft record was established by J. Swain in Cessna 210 VH-CBQ on 19 March. An additional fuel tank was fitted in the cabin and the 2,260 miles were covered in 12 hr 32 min.

30 Years Ago

• The last piston aero engine, a Griffon for a South African Air Force Shackleton, has been built and delivered from Rolls-Royce’s Derby works. Since the first production aero engine manufactured by Rolls-Royce was delivered from this factory in December 1915, a total of 51,169 piston aero engines have been built.

• One of the four delta-winged research aircraft built by Avro prior to the construction of the Vulcan bomber is being lent to Australia by the British Ministry of Supply. The aircraft, an Avro 707A will come to Australia on board HMAS “Melbourne” and will be based with the Aircraft Research and Development Unit at Laverton. It will participate in a series of test flights in connection with a boundary layer research programme to be carried out by the Aeronautical Research laboratories.

•Fairey are developing an Airborne Early Warning version of the Gannet to replace the Royal Navy’s Skyraiders.

•The name “Mirage” has been given to the Dassault MD. 550 delta jet fighter.

• Convair are keen to remain in the medium-range airliner field when Convair 440 production ceases. Under present consideration is a large medium haul jet powered by four General Electric J79 turbojets.

•A fleet of more than 20 RAF and RAAF aircraft will be involved with the British atomic tests to be held at the Monte Bello Islands in May. The aircraft will include Canberra bombers, Shackleton and Neptune reconnaissance aircraft, Varsity communication aircraft and Westland/Sikorsky Whirlwind helicopters.

• Reports from America indicate that Bristols are developing a Mach 2. 2 research aircraft designated the Bristol 22.

•The first prototype Fairey Delta 2 WG774 flown by Lt. Commander Peter Twiss established a new FAI world record speed of 1,132 mph over a nine-mile course between Chichester and Ford, Sussex on 10 March. Two runs were made at 38,000 ft, the first east-to-west was at 1,117 mph and the second west-to-east was at 1,147 mph. The previous record of 824 mph had been held by Col. Horace A. Hanes in an F-100A Super Sabre flown on 20 August 1955.

• A tender of 35,000 pounds has been offered for 35 surplus RAF Chipmunks by the Aero Club Federation of Australia acting for the associated clubs. It is believed that over 100 Chipmunks will be offered by the RAF but that the first batch will consist of 40 aircraft. Consequently, not all the required aircraft may come from the first batch should the tender be successful.

•TAA has placed an initial order for six Fokker F27 Friendship turboprop airliners with the first delivery not expected until 1959. It is probable that TAA will need 12 Friendships to fully re-place the 21 DC-3s it has currently in service.