Yesteryear

The Boeing 767 prototype N767BA was rolled out at Everett, Washington on 4 August.

The British Aerospace factory at Bitteswell has handed over to the RAF the last Vulcan to undergo a refurbishment there. Bitteswell has modified 370 Vulcans since June 1959 and some aircraft have been through the factory up to four times.

• An industry record has been claimed by Cessna Aircraft when it delivered 26 bizjets in June. In the nine months from the commencement of its business year on 1 October 1980, a total of 138 have been delivered compared with 97 last year.

The first McDonnell Douglas DC-8 Series 71 powered by CFM56s, converted from a DC-8 Super Sixty, made a first flight on 15 August lasting five hours.

The Air Force Avionics Laboratory will soon select two contractors as part of the “stealth” technology program in the USA, for a 34 month development effort to determine ways of reducing the radio frequency cross section of the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) and the New Technology Bomber (NTB) that are in the planning stage.

Despite earlier expectations, when the Strathallan Collection of historic aircraft in Britain went to auction, only one aircraft was sold to a purchaser outside the UK. This was the DH Mosquito B. 35 (RS712) which was purchased by Kermit Weeks for £100,000. He will fly the aircraft to Florida after it has been made fully airworthy.

20 Years Ago

The United States Congress has passed legislation which will enable the granting of US govemment guarantees on further loans to Lockheed for the TriStar program.

The US general aviation industry delivered 3,691 aircraft in the first half of this year compared with 4,028 deliveries in the first half of 1970. Piper was the only major producer to show an increase in deliveries (up 73 units in the first half of this year) and a slight rise in billings.

• Qantas took delivery of its first two Boeing 747s this month. The first was VH-EBA which arrived in Sydney from Honolulu on 16 August and VH-EBB which flew direct from Honolulu to Melbourne on 29 August. Following Australia’s refusal to grant increased services for Pan American, American Airlines and World Airways’s charter flights, the US Government placed a ban on 8 July on new services by Qantas. The Qantas 747B service due for introduction on 3 September to the US will now be replaced by initial services on the Kangaroo Route instead.

•HMS Eagle arrived in Sydney on 4 August before participating in Exercise Southern Clime. Aircraft embarked on the Eagle include Blackburn Buccaneers, De Havilland Sea Vixens, Fairey Gannets and a Whirlwind.

• Following the retirement of the Avon-Sabre from RAAF service on 31 July, it is possible that further Sabres will be given as gifts, with Malaysia having already received 10. In nearly 17 years of operations, the RAAF’s 112 Sabres flew a total of 210,600 hours.

Boeing’s next airliner, the 767, may cruise at Mach 0. 98 which is 100mph faster than the Mach 0. 82 Boeing 707. The main 767 design study at present has four engines, one under each wing and two at the rear.

Grumman Aerospace is studying the possible replacement of aluminium by graphite composite components in landing gear doors and overwing fairings in its the F-14 fighter. The benefits would be weight saving and reduction of labour costs.

A new charter cargo company. Orient Pearl Airways, has been formed in Hong Kong equipped with a DC-6.

Thirteen Boeing 707-131s have been purchased from TWA by Israel Aircraft Industries which will refurbish them for resale.

30 Years Ago

Fokker Aircraft is working on a project which is a small jet transport powered by Bristol Siddeley BS. 75 fan engines. It is intended as an F27 replacement.

• The first De Havilland DH. 121 Trident air- iner was rolled out at Hatfield on 4 August and the first flight is expected during December. • The first of four Boeing 707-1388 turbofan engined aircraft on order for Qantas arrived at Sydney on 6 August. The flying time for the San Francisco Honolulu Sydney journey of VH-EBH was 14hr 36min. Concurrent with the delivery of the new aircraft is the turbofan modification of Qantas’ seven existing Boe- ings. When the purchase of the new aircraft and upgrade of the older aircraft at a total cost of $US42m has been completed, Qantas will have 76 turbofan engines including 32 spares.

• British European Airways took delivery of their 14th and final Comet 4B at London on 4 August.

• The possibility of fitting arrester gear to its Boeing 727 aircraft is being investigated by United Airlines.

• A number of previously secret aircraft were revealed by the Soviet Union at the recent airshow held at Tushino Airport in July. They were the supersonic “Bounder” bomber, the Sukhoi “Fishbed” delta-wing fighter and a variant of the Yak-25 “Rashlight” designated “Flashlight C”.

One of the older residents of Bankstown, the General Aircraft Monospar ST. 12 VH-UTH built in 1935, left Bankstown on 18 August piloted by Dr John Morris and accompanied by Mr B Harrison, an engineer, on a flight to Ireland. Dr Morris will be undertaking a post graduate course and on completion he hopes to retum through South Africa. (The aircraft is now displayed at the Newark Air Museum, UK. ) The Minister for Civil Aviation, Senator Paltridge, announced on 7 August that the north-south runway at Sydney Airport would be extended to 7,500ft over the next four years at a cost of £3m. The extension will necessitate the construction of a tunnel for a road to pass underneath the runway.

• Six new Cessna 180s for the Army Light Aircraft Squadron, carrying serials A98-041 to A98-046, have been assembled at Bankstown