Yesteryear

The Piper PA-48 Enforcer had its first flight at Lakeland Florida on April 9. This modernised version of the North American P-51 Mustang is derived from the Cavalier Mustang. The powerplant is a 2445shp Lycoming T55-L-9 turboprop fitted with a reduced diameter 11ft 6in propeller from a Douglas A-1E Skyraider.

• A detachment of eight Hawker Hunters from the Republic of Singapore Air Force is currently based at RAAF Williamtown. The seven single seat Hunter FGA. 74s and one two seat T. 75 arrived last month and will be in Australia for several months. The group of aircraft from No 140 Squadron based at Tengah will carry out a variety of navigation and tactical exercises.

It has been confirmed that the Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic transport has been permanently withdrawn from service. Boris E Panyukov, the first deputy Minister of Civil Aviation said the Tu-144 was “too heavy and Inefficient”.

• Boeing is testing a CFM56-3 powerplant in the inboard port position on a Boeing 707. Installed in a representational nacelle, the first flight took place at Mojave on February 25 and engine certification is scheduled for September. The first flight of the 737-300 will take place in March 1984.

20 Years Ago

• Astronomers will be carried on board Concorde 001 F-WTSS across Central Africa at 1000mph on June 30. They will be an eclipse of the sun and will be able to study the effects for 80 minutes compared with the normal 7 minutes for ground observers.

The last airworthy DH. 80 Puss Moth in Australia has been sold to the USA. The Puss Moth is VH-UQB which was operated for many years by Marshall Airways at Banks-town for joy rides. Another vintage departure from Sydney on April 19 was the Lockheed Hudson VH-AGJ which has been purchased by a British collector.

• During celebrations to mark Indonesia’s national aviation day on April 9, Defence Minister Lance Barnard handed over sixteen CAC Sabres to AURI at Iswahyudi Air Base on East Java. At a dinner in Jakarta on April 7 the Minister announced that other aid would consist of a minimum of four GAF Nomads and some patrol boats.

On April 1 Qantas ceased all services across the USA to London. Instead, Qantas has made agreements which will see Continental operate to destinations within the USA on its behalf, while Trans World will fly passengers to London across the Atlantic.

The USAF received its first Northrop F-5E Tiger II at Williams AFB on April 6. This higher performance development of the F-5 has been produced primarily for foreign air forces which receive equipment under MAP. The USAF will use the first 20 F-5Es to train pilots from countries which will acquire the type, amongst which are Iran and Jordan.

It has been reported that Russia is now building two large aircraft carriers with a length of 900ft and displacement of 35,000 to 45,000 tons. The first ship, which has been under construction at Nikolaiev on the Black Sea, will be named the “Kiev” and is expected to be completed within the next few months.

• The General Aviation market in Australia will benefit from revaluations of the dollar in both Australia and the USA. Ansett General Aviation general manager Ken Holt has said that a Piper Cherokee 140 equipped with air conditioning, a 360 channel radio and other options now will cost $17,800 a reduction of $2000 compared with the 1972 price.

30 Years Ago

Donald W Douglas announced on April 8 that the Douglas Aircraft Company would put the twinjet DC-9, previously the Model 2086 project, into production. The 56-83 transport will have a maximum take-off weight of 77,000lb, fuel capacity of 2745 US gal and a range of 1100 statute miles at high speed cruise with 50 passengers.

• The four Royal Canadian Air Force Avro CF-100 squadrons based in Europe have been disbanded and the aircraft have been flown to Scottish Aviation at Prestwick for disposal.

Following its acquisition of jet airliners, KLM has disposed of 12 of its older types during 1962 These included one DH Dominie, two L-1049G Super Constellations, two L-1049H freighters, two L-749As, two Douglas DC-7Cs, two DC-6B, seven L-749As and 15 L-1049Es and Gs.

• It is expected that the US Defense Budget for the coming year will provide for 3240 aircraft: 960 for the USAF, 680 for the USN and 1600 for the Army.

• De Havilland will now build an initial production batch of 60 DH. 1258 instead of the originally proposed 30. Apart from several civil sales, 22 DH. 125s have been ordered by the RAF.

Qantas commenced their Lockheed Electra service to South Africa on April 27 replacing the Lockheed Super Constellations.

Shin Meiwa Industries Ltd (formerly Kawanishi) are presently testing a rebuilt Grumman HU-16C Albatross as a flying scale model for their PX-S four engined turboprop patrol flying boat. The Albatross which is now designated the UF-XS has a completely remodelled hull and is powered by four engines. It was launched on December 20 1962 and first flew five days later.

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Senator Paltridge, announced on April 19 that the Government has approved the purchase of an additional two Boeing 707-138B aircraft for Qantas, at a cost of about $5,000,000. This will take the Qantas total for the type to 13. Qantas is extremely pleased with the reliability and performance of the 707-138B powerplant, the Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofan. They have completed 169,000 hours in Qantas service without the need for a premature removal for overhaul which is seven times higher than the industry average.