Yesteryear

• The first flight of an Airbus A300 with a two man crew Forward Facing Crew Cockpit (FFCC) took place on 6 October, the first time a widebody airliner has been flown with a two crew fight deck. Garuda will take delivery of the first FFCC airbus, an A300B4-200. in January after it has been certified for two crew operation.

In a reaction to market trends and the general decline in sales of general aviation aircraft, Cessna has suspended production of the Hawk XP, Model 180 Skywagon and Model 188 AgWagon after respective total sales of 1,467, 6,200 and 1,600 of these types. Production of the Cessna 310 ceased earlier this year after 5,447 had come off the line.

FAA type certification has been obtained by General Electric for the CF6-80 series of engines rated at 48,000-50,000lb st for the -80A and -80A2 for the Boeing 767 and the -80A1 and -80A3 for the Airbus A310. The CF6-80C of 59,000lb st is being developed by GE as a candidate to power the Airbus A300-600, Boeing 747-300 and stretched Boeing 767.

Three US aircraft companies are working on projects with so called stealth characteristics. The most advanced is the Lockheed stealth fighter with a platform similar to the Rockwell Space Shuttle and a size similar to that of the F/A-18 Hornet. The others are the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) being designed and built by Northrop to fly in 1984 and an air launched cruise missile being developed by Lockheed which is now being reconsidered in respect of the ATB

20 Years Ago

• A special luncheon was held at Rose Bay on 25 October to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ansett Flying Boat Services. Merged with Ansett in 1948 when it was given its present name, it was originally called Barrier Reef Airways when formed by Captain S C Middlemiss in 1946.

The last RAF transport squadron to oper ate the Argosy. No 114 Squadron, Benson, was disbanded on 8 October. The Argosy is still in service in other roles, with a detachment in the Persian Gulf until the end of the year, with a signals group which flight checks radar and navigation systems, and with Training Command for use as advanced trainers for navigators, air electronics operators and air engineers.

• A new Singapore Government sponsored charter operator, Saber Air, is expected to commence services to Europe on 1 November with a chartered McDonnell Douglas DC-8.

• The rollout of the Lockheed S-3A carrier based ASW aircraft is scheduled to take place at Palmdale on 8 November and the first flight is set for early January 1972, two months ahead of schedule.

• A Fokker Friendship was chartered by Iran Air between 10 and 20 October to fly VIPS between Teheran and Shiraz during the 2,500th anniversary celebrations of the Per- sian monarchy.

• As part of the rundown of British forces in the Far East, RAF Tengah was handed over to the Singapore Air Defence Command on 15 September.

• The X-3 satellite named “Prospero”, was placed into a polar orbit on 28 October when the Black Arrow three stage rocket was launched from Woomera.

• BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde 01 G-AXDN was rolled out at Filton on 20 September. The first of two pre-production aircraft, with a 193ft length, it is 9ft longer than the prototypes and maximum takeoff weight has been increased from 326,000lb to 357,000lb. • The first of 12 RAF Shackletons to be converted by Hawker Siddeley to Mk 2 AEW configuration made its first flight at Woodford on 30 September. The main changes are the deletion of the bomb bay and the addition of a large radome underneath the fuselage forward of the wing. The Mk 2 version has been selected for the conversion rather than the Mk 3, because it has a longer fatigue life.

30 Years Ago

• The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation has been awarded a US Navy contract valued at $180m for F4H-1 Phantom Ils. It has been reported that the prototype attained Mach 2. 6 on trials but it is not known if this was in level flight.

The Bristol-Siddeley Sapphire turbojet built under licence in the USA by the Wright Aeronautical Division of Curtiss-Wright as the J-65 is installed in the following aircraft: Douglas A-4D Skyhawk, Grumman F-11F Tiger, Martin B-57, North American FJ-3 and FJ-4, Republic RF-84F Thunderstreak and RF-84F Thunderflash and the Chance Vought Regulus 2 test missile. By early 1958 12,000 J-658 had been built.

• Ansett-ANA’s Bristol Freighter V-BFA is being operated on air freight services to Tasmania. On 21 October it was used to fly several elephants from Sydney to Hobart for a circus.

• When “Sky Shield”, a test exercise by the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was held on 14 October, all civil aviation in the USA and Canada was grounded for 12 hours from 11am. The grounding affected about 2,000 commercial airliners and about 125,000 domestic passengers.

• An open day was held at Nowra on 2 October as part of the RAN’s 50th anniversary. Some of the RAN aircraft present were 14 DH Sea Venoms, 15 Fairey Gannets, two Hawker Sea Furys, an Auster Autocar, five Bristol Sycamores and four Vampires. Some of the highlights of the flying display were a solo display by a Sea Fury and formation aerobatics performed by the RAN’s aerobatic team, the “The Checkmates”, from No 805 Squadron.

Three Boeing B-17s arrived at Gatwick from the USA on 8 October and later flew to Bovingdon Airport where they will be used in the filming of The War Lover staring Steve McQueen and Robert Wagner. The B-17s were reconditioned in Arizona and Texas before they were prepared for the Atlantic crossing.

• Qantas services to New Zealand were inaugurated on 3 October when Lockheed Electra VH-ECA flew from Sydney to Wellington. Amongst the passengers were Qantas chairman Sir Hudson Fysh and TEAL’S chairman Sir Leonard Isitt.