Yesteryear

• The 500th Boeing 747, OY-KHB for SAS, was rolled out at Everett on 9 December at a ceremony attended by 8,000 employees and guests. Noted in the background was Qantas’ first 747SP.

The first of 33 Boeing Vertol Chinook HC. 1s for the RAF was handed over at Odiham, Hampshire on 2 December. Deliveries will be made to the RAF at a rate of two per month.

• Because of attrition and lack of procurement monies, the USN has been forced to reduce the complement of its Gruman A-6E Intruder squadrons from 15 to 12 and now 10 aircraft.

The maiden flight of the first production Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion took place on 13 December, and it was handed over four days later to the USN.

The Australian Defence Forces lost one Macchi trainer, two Mirage fighters, two Army Kiowas, one Porter and three Sky- hawks during the past year. Two of the RAN Skyhawks were lost in one week while operating from HMAS ‘Melbourne’ during an Indian Ocean patrol. During the same period, US forces lost 82 aircraft including 17 F-48, four F-14s, three F-15s and four F-111s.

• Australian Army Aviation light aircraft and helicopters are to have a new camouflage pattern of matt black, light green and tan, replacing the present olive drab semi-gloss colour. The entire fleet of 47 Bell 206Bs, 17 Pilatus Porters and 11 Nomads will be repainted progressively starting with the helicopters.

20 Years Ago

One of the RAF’s most famous fighter bases, RAF Tangmere, closed on 14 December. In the thick of the Battle of Britain Tan- gmere was raided on 16 August 1940 and, despite heavy damage, 25 enemy aircraft were destroyed between Tangmere and the coast. By September 1944, Tangmere based aircraft had destroyed 866 enemy aircraft, probably destroyed 252 and damaged a further 440.

• The RAAF will purchase a further six Mirage IIID dual seat trainer aircraft taking their total of this version to 16. The order, valued at $11m will see French produced Mirage IID fuselages mated with CAC produced wings and fins. Final assembly and testing will be carried out by GAF at Avalon.

• On 15 December Airbus Industrie was established by Aerospatiale, Deutsche- Airbus and Fokker-VFW. The new company will be responsible for the A300B program.

• The Imperial Iranian Air Force has placed an order for an additional 30 Lockheed C-130 Hercules taking its total C-130 fleet to 56, making it the third largest C-130 operator after the USAF and the RAF • Boeing announced on 2 December that the 747 production rate at Everett of seven a month will be reduced to five a month by February 1971. Of 203 747s on order, 91 have been delivered.

The prototype Grumman F-14A Tomcat had its maiden flight at Calveron, New York on 21 December. During the second flight on 30 December the Tomcat crashed while approaching to land, though both crew members safely ejected at 200ft. Apart from twelve prototype and pre-production aircraft, an initial batch of 67 production aircraft has been ordered and total USN procurement of 463 is expected.

• The Transavia PL-12U utility version of the Airtruk agricultural aircraft was first flown by test pilot Roy Williams on 15 December. The PL-12U can carry five passengers in addition to the pilot.

The first of a new range of light aircraft to be produced by North American Rockwell at Albany, Georgia first flew on 4 December. The Aero Commander 112 is a four seater with a retractable undercarriage powered by a 180hp Lycoming O-360-A1D.

30 Years Ago

• Sydney Airport had a record 125 international movements for the week ending 7 December, beating the previous 111 weekly record.

The recently formed British and General Aviation Company is developing a 4-5 seat twin engined low-wing aircraft suitable for air ambulance, military liaison and executive use. • Nineteen new Short Seamew anti-submarine aircraft, which have each logged less than two hours flying time, have been declared surplus by the Admiralty, sold for scrap and broken up.

A conditional letter of intent has been signed by Eastern Airlines for 40 Boeing 727 short-medium range jets and United Airlines may follow with a similar order. If a firm order from both airlines for the 80 aircraft is received, Boeing will lay down a production line. Pan American may also buy 20 727s for its Latin American routes.

• Douglas is offering the DC-7F, a new cargo version of the DC-7 airliner. Douglas has already converted six DC-7s to DC-7F standard for United Airlines, 10 for American Airlines, two for KLM and one for Panagra • Qantas’ Lockheed Electra VH-ECA left for Burbank on 13 December to become the first Australian. Electra to have its wings and engine mountings modified. It is due to leave Burbank on 19 January on its return flight.

• The name Hawkeye has been officially given to the Grumman W2F-1 airborne early warning aircraft which flew for the first time last month.

The Minister for Defence, Mr Townley announced on 15 December that the Dassault Mirage III has been selected to replace the RAAF’s Sabres. The decision on the selection of a powerplant will be made by the middle of 1961 after Dassault conducts tests of a Rolls-Royce Avon installed in a Mirage airframe. The RAAF will obtain 30 Mirages to equip one operational squadron and an operational conversion unit and deliveries are expected to commence in 1963. Both the airframe and engine will be manufactured to a substantial degree in Australia, The last Boeing B-52G was delivered last month and production will now be of the more powerful B-52H version which will be able to carry the Douglas Skybolt ballistic missile.