Yesteryear

•The last three RNZAF Bristol 170 Freighters stationed in Singapore were withdrawn during December and have been retired from service. They will be replaced by HS748 Andovers purchased from Britain which will be attached to No1 and 42 Squadrons.

•The first flight of the first production Dassault- Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet took place at Istres on 4 November. During the 1hr 45min flight, a height of 45,000ft was reached and the speed ranged from 95 to 520 knots during a series of tests which included stalls and spins.

•The Aerospatiale AS350B Ecureuil received its French Airworthiness Certification on 27 October. Orders for 177 AS350s are held with deliveries due to begin early next year.

•A regular cargo service between Britain and Australia operated by a Transmeridian Air Cargo DC-8 Series 54 commenced on 5 November. The service commences at Stans- ted and lands at Maastricht to collect European cargo on the run which terminates in Sydney. Part of the loads out of Sydney consist of chilled sheep carcasses destined for the Middle East Gulf States.

• Several records have been claimed by Pan American for a round the world flight which took place on 29-30 October operated by a Boeing 747SP. To commemorate the airline’s 50th anniversary, the flight was made over both Poles carrying 165 passengers on a route from San Francisco via London, Capetown and Auckland. The 26,382 miles were covered in an elapsed time of 54hr 7min 12sec and the longest sector was the 7,550 miles from Cape- town to Auckland flown via the South Pole.

• During a routine flight from RAF Lossiemouth to RAF Abingdon, a ŠEPECAT Jaguar GR MK1 established a new record for the Edinburgh/ London route covering the distance in 25min 2sec at an average 731mph. This cut almost 3 minutes from the previous record claimed by a Hawker Hunter in 1955. An earlier RAF record for the route was established by one of the first production Hawker Hurricanes in February 1938 at a then amazing 408mph.

• A $3. 1m contract has been placed by the USAF with Boeing, Wichita to fabricate, install and flight test NASA winglets on a KC-135 which may result in fuel savings. The winglets will be about 9. 4ft tall, taper from 6. 1ft at the base to 2ft at the tip and weigh 295lb each.

20 Years Ago

• Construction of the first European A300 Airbus will begin in the summer of 1968 with a first flight planned for 1971 with initial deliveries scheduled for the following year. To be powered by Rolls-Royce RB2078, the unit cost of the A300 is given as US$11m. Of the estimated 1000/1400 world market, Australia is estimated to need about 20 aircraft of the Airbus type.

•  New Zealand tourist operator Mount Cook Airlines has ordered a Hawker Siddeley 748 for September 1968 delivery at a cost of NZ$1m. Sales of the HS. 748 now stand at 172 of which 113 have been delivered.

A firm order has been placed by Qantas for four 350 passenger Boeing 747s for delivery in 1971 and it has taken options on two more. Cost of the four aircraft plus new maintenance hangars and other equipment will be $135m. Qantas has placed a further US$600,000 deposit for delivery positions for the Boeing 2707 supersonic transport. A decision is yet to be made by Qantas on the four BAC-Sud Aviation Concordes on which delivery position deposits were lodged in 1963.

• A Hawker Siddeley Trident 2E flown by Chief Test pilot John Cunningham arrived in Darwin on 18 November to begin a series of hot weather trials expected to last for two weeks. A team of 33 technicians and observers are involved in the programme.

•The first 202ft long fuselage of the Lockheed C-5A Galaxy has been moved from the bodymate jig to have its wings installed. The roll out is scheduled for February 1968 with the first flight set for June.

• The first flight of the Douglas DC-9 Series 40 took place at Long Beach on 28 November. This version has a 6ft longer fuselage than the Series 30 and can seat up to 125 passengers.

• An order for a fourth Super VC10 from East African Airways plus an option for a fifth has taken total orders for the VC10 to 53.

• A farewell flight was made at RAF Leeming. Yorks of four Vampire T. 11s of Flying Training Command on 29 November, to mark the types withdrawal from RAF service. Total production of all Vampire variants worldwide was over 4320 and it served with 25 air forces.

• Safe Air Limited is the new name for Straits Air Freight Express (SAFE), New Zealand’s second-biggest internal airline. Two of its Bristol 170 Freighter fleet are being fitted with windows in preparation for passenger flights to the Chatham Islands.

• Ansett-ANA and TAA will remain with the DC-9 despite two recent visits by Boeing representatives to entice them to purchase Boeing 7378. Believed to weigh against the Boeing proposals was the delay in availability of the 737. Both airlines have three DC-9s each in service with three more on order and are happy with the operational success of the type.

30 Years Ago

•The RAF has begun to take deliveries of the Handley Page Victor bomber with the first aircraft being delivered to an OCU at RAF Gaydon, Warwickshire.

• A civil version of the Canadair CL-28 Argus patrol bomber will be offered to the commercial market as the CL-44 Canadair Liner in passenger configuration and Canadair Freighter for cargo use.

• TAA made an operating profit of £308,829 during 1956/57 and carried a record 793,946 passengers for an Australian airline. The sale of two Convair 240s and two DC-38 also resulted in a £256,206 net gain although £127,720 of this was paid in income tax. A decision is expected soon on TAA’s choice for a jet airliner with the Caravelle being highly favoured and two 1960 delivery dates have been secured on the Sud production line.

• A specially equipped de Havilland Dove for use by the Northern Territory Medical Service was handed over by Mr LJ Brain, Managing Director of de Havilland Aircraft to the Minister for Health Dr D A Cameron at Fairbairn on 15 November. Fully equipped for IFR operations, the Dove has long-range tanks and can carry both stretcher cases and seated patients. Other equipment includes hot and cold running water, oxygen bottles and medical equipment.

• The USAF Air Research and Development Center is still supporting research on flying saucer aircraft at the A. V. Roe factory at Malton, Ontario.

• It has been reported that Douglas has been trying to promote a turboprop early warning version of the DC-7 airliner for sale to the USAF.

• The fourth Skylark high-altitude research rocket was fired at Woomera on 13 November. Launched at 9. 22pm it made a spectacular sight as it reached an altitude of 83 miles and speed of 3307mph before recovery 107 miles downrange.

•Deliveries are now being made of the Boeing B-52E to Strategic Air Command. The bomber has a maximum speed of 610mph, range of 7500 miles and can operate above 45,000ft.

• An announcement has been made by the Royal Queensland Aero Club that preliminary design work has commenced on the PL. 9 four-seatfully aerobatic aeroplane which is planned for construction by the RQAC in their Archerfield workshops next year. The designer is Mr Luigi Pellerini also designed the Fawcett 120 and Kingsford Smith Aviation PL. 7.

• A Percival Prince has been bought by the Royal New South Wales Aero Club from the British Ministry of Supply. The Prince is the largest aircraft ever operated by an Australian aero club and will be used for advanced twin engined training.