Yesteryear

• The Lockheed Hudson VH-AGX which was damaged at Horn Island three years ago will be restored to flying condition by the Point Cook Air Museum. The aircraft was shipped to its new owner on board the ‘Townsville Trader’.

• A record for the company and one which equalled the industry record for annual business jet deliveries has been set by Gates Learjet following the delivery of 85 Learjets during 1976. Total Learjet deliveries now exceed 650.

• The Armee de l’Air will take delivery of three ex-civil Caravelle 11R aircraft to replace DC-68 currently in service in the Pacific area.

• A bizarre incident occurred at Alice Springs on 5 January when a former employee of Connair, Colin Foreman flew a Beech Baron VH-ENA into the Connair Administration building on a suicide mission. Killed in the tragedy were a total of five people including Roger Connellan, son of the company’s founder Eddie Connellan.

• The. RNZAF will reduce its inventory of de Havilland Devons from 16 to 9, as it now has sufficient Airtrainers on hand. It will also soon retire its remaining North American Harvards.

• Recent details announced regarding the Dassault-Breguet Mirage 2000 indicate that it will reach Mach 2. 0 at about 49,000ft within four minutes of brake release, the maximum speed will be over Mach 2. 2 and the design radius with four missiles and two external tanks will be approximately 435 miles.

• It was reported during January that the IPEC group of companies was hopeful it would be able to import two Armstrong Whitworth Argosy aircraft from Canada.

•The Tornado programme continues to make good progress. The ninth aircraft which was the final prototype flew at Caselle Turin on 5 February and the first pre-production Tomado flew at Manching near Munich on the same day.

• Recent orders of DC-9s and DC-10s have taken the order book for DC-9s as at the end of 1976 to 875 sales plus 27 others on conditional sale or option of which 849 had been delivered and for the DC-10 246 firm orders plus 12 conditional orders and options of which 231 had been delivered.

20 Years Ago

Boeing has been selected by the US Federal Aviation Agency as the airframe manufacturer and General Electric as the powerplant manufacturer for the projected US supersonic transport. Recent changes to the Boeing 2707 design have resulted in the 315-passenger aircraft having a length of 306ft, a wider fuselage and increased elevator area. The maximum takeoff weight will be 675,000lb and maximum payload 75,000lb. Normal cruising speed would be Mach 2. 7 over a 4,000 mile range.

• Mr Pat Burgess of BAC Filton who is in charge of Concorde sales had made various predictions about Concorde sales at a press conference in London on 13 January. He said that Concorde sales should reach 200 by 1975 and 400 by 1980. If the most pessimistic basis was adopted, sales by 1980 should still be 220 Concordes of which 200 would be for export. (Where is Pat now? Ed)

•The first flight of the Fokker F28 Fellowship has been scheduled for 15 May, in time for it to make an appearance at the Paris Air Show.

• Missile testing facilities have been established at Jervis Bay by the RAN. They will be used in part for the testing of Tartar missiles which are used on the Charles F. Adams Class destroyers. Jindivik target aircraft with associated technicians and equipment will be used to facilitate the testing.

• The Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Swartz announced in January that various improvements are to be made at Canberra Airport. Strengthening of 3300ft of the 5439ft east-west runway will permit regular Viscount operations to take place. Viscount operations up to now have been restricted to the north-south runway and cross wind conditions at times have caused diversion of services. Taxiway improvements are also provided for and planning of the new terminal is under way.

• Victa Ltd closed its aircraft division on January 20 and has sold the Airtourer design together with all jigs, tools etc to New Zealand interests. Following the Government rejection of a proposal from the company for bounty-type subsidization, Victa said that this was the only course open to them. Victa still retains the Aircruiser design with associated tools and jigs and DCA type certification is expected soon.

•Another Australian aircraft manufacturer has ceased production with the closing down of production by Cropmaster Aircraft. After selling 23 aircraft over several years, Cropmaster has sold the design with tools and jigs to the Los Angeles company. Plasidyne Manufacturing Corporation.

•Cessna manufactured a record 8148 aircraft in 1966 which was the greatest number in any year in the company’s 39 year history. This figure was made up by 7909 civil aircraft and 239 T-41 primary trainers and T-37 jet trainers. The top seller was the Model 150 with 3187 units.

30 Years Ago

•The last 10 of the RAAF’s DH-82 Tiger Moths have been retired from service and were flown from Point Cook on 9 January to Tocumwal awaiting disposal. The RAAF took delivery of a total of 861 Tiger Moths during the war and of these 730 were from de Havilland’s Australian production line.

• Several orders have now been received for the DHC-4 Caribou twin-engine STOL utility transport which is now in the mock up stage. It is possible that the present Pratt & Whitney piston engines will be eventually replaced with turboprops.

An order was placed by Trans-Canada Airlines on 3 January for 20 Vickers Vanguard turboprop airliners valued at $67m and an option has been made on four more worth $11. 5m. Coming after TCA’s earlier order for 38 Viscounts costing $38. 5m, it now makes the airline the British industry’s biggest dollar customer. The delivery of the TCA Vanguards will commence about September/October 1960.

•BEA’s Vickers Viscount 800 airliners were introduced into service between London and Paris on 18 February. Apart from Paris the Viscount will also operate to many other European destinations and an air freighter ver- sion with a six-ton capacity will also be joining the fleet.

• Operation Grapple which involves the dropping of Britain’s first hydrogen bomb near Christmas Island is presently in preparation at Edinburgh Airfield in South Australia. A regular weekly transport flight to Christmas Island by Hastings aircraft has begun and helicopters normally stationed at Maralinga have been shipped by sea to the Island. A force of 10 Canberras is practising techniques that they will employ in the tracking of the nuclear cloud from the explosions. Detonation of the device will possibly begin about mid-April and it is believed that four weapons will be dropped from Valiants flying at 40,000ft and will be set to explode at approximately 10,000ft.

• Details have been announced of the Armstrong Whitworth A. W. 650 (Argosy) four-engine transport aircraft powered by four Rolls Royce Darts. The medium-haul freighter and coach aircraft will have a span of 122′ length 87′ and height 23′ and the prototype is expected to fly late next year.

• Mr H Beale the Minister for Defence Production and Supply has confirmed the sale of 10 Jindivik pilotless jet target aircraft to Sweden in an order including guidance equipment valued at about £500,000.

•Ansett Airlines which celebrated its 21st birthday on 7 February is currently expanding its fleet. Five Convair 440s will be delivered to the airline with the initial aircraft to be received in June and the final aircraft due during February/ March 1958. The existing Convair 340s will be sold overseas and the possible purchase of Viscounts is being considered.