Yesteryear

• General Dynamics rolled out the 1000th F-16 Fighting Falcon at Fort Worth on July 8. Included in the total are aircraft coproduced by the four NATO nations (Belgium, Den- mark, the Netherlands and Norway) which have so far ordered 446 F-16s. The USAF now plans to procure 2165 Fighting Falcons while another 255 have been ordered by Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, South Korea and Venezuela taking total sales to 2866.

North Coast Air Services of Prince Rupert Sound, British Columbia has acquired an ex RNZAF Bristol 170 Freighter.

The Airbus A300-600 had a four hour maiden flight on July 8. A 580 hour, three aircraft, test programme is planned to have the initial version powered by JT9D-7R4H1 engines certificated by March 1984. The ver- sion powered by CF6-80C2 engines, ordered by Thai Airways, will be certified in September 1985.

• The first VC10 KMk 2 was handed over to the RAF at Brize Norton on July 25. It will serve with No 101 Squadron which was disbanded on August 5 1982 as one of the last Vulcan B Mk 2 units.

• In a demonstration of the effectiveness of the External Stores Support System (ESSS), a Sikorsky UH 60A Black Hawk completed a 12 hour nonstop flight. At the conclusion of the 1355 nautical mile flight from Stratford, Connecticut to Fort Rucker, Alabama, about 454kg of fuel remained in the main tanks.

20 Years Ago

The second group of six RAAF General Dynamics F-111Cs, A8-131 to A8-136 arrived at RAAF Base Amberley on July 27. The flight was commanded by Wing Commander G Talbot, the CO of No 1 Squadron.

A Handley Page Halifax II has been recovered by flotation drums from the bottom of Lake Hoklingen in Central Norway by an RAF subaqua team. The Halifax W1048 left RAF Kinloss on April 27 1942 on a low level attack on the German battleship Tir- piz. It crash landed on ice after being hit by flak, the crew of six all survived, and the Halifax later sank through the ice. After retoration it is hoped to have it placed on display at the RAF Museum at Hendon. • Swissair has ordered 10 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50s for delivery between the summer of 1975 and spring of 1977. The DC-9-50 is a new, larger and quieter version of the DC-9-30, capable of carrying 139 passengers in a fuselage which has a stretch of 3. 8m to 40m.

• Defence Minister Mr Barnard stated on July 20 that HMAS Sydney would be withdrawn from the Australian fleet and placed in reserve pending disposal. HMAS Sydney was commissioned in December 1948, served with distinction in Korean waters during 1951/52 and 1953/54 and in later years made 24 round trips to Vietnam carrying troops and equipment in a transport role.

Testing is now underway of the Boeing 747 prototype fitted with General Electric CF6-50 high bypass ratio turbofan engines. The first flight, which took place on June 26, marked the first time General Electric powerplants had been fitted to a Boeing aircraft since the J47 powered B-47 Stratojet.

• Tenders closed on July 3 for the disposal of 17 GAF Canberras at RAAF Base Amberley. Airframe hours range from 3269 to 4062.  BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde 002 G-BSST, the British assembled second prototype successfully completed its high temperature certification trials at Torrejon, Spain on July 30. The four Concordes so far built have now Blown about 2000 hours, 700 of them by G-BSST.

30 Years Ago

The New Zealand Government has authorised Tasman Empire Airways Ltd to purchase three Douglas DC-8 Series 50s. Total sales of the DC-8 stand at 208 of which 186 have been delivered.

• KLM plan to modemise and standardise their fleet over the next two years. Their DC-7Cs and DC-3s will be withdrawn as soon as possible, three of the 10 Convair 340s will be transferred to the West Indies and the other seven put up for sale. Eventually all European services will be operated by Electras and Viscounts and all other services by DC-8. The KLM fleet by early 1965 should consist of 16 DC-88, 11 Electras, nine Viscounts and four DC-7F Freighters.

• The Minister for Air Mr Fairbairn announced on July 29 that the first flight in Australia of the GAMD Mirage will take place at Ava- lon early next year. It will be flown from France to Australia in a RAAF C-130 Hercules.

• Douglas has received its second order for the DC-9. Bonanza Air Lines has ordered three DC-9s and placed options for three more and expect to have them enter service In early 1966. Fabrication of the first DC-9 started on July 26 and the first flight has been scheduled for March 15 1965.

• Trans World Airlines has ordered six Con-vair 880s from General Dynamics Corporation, taking their total for te type to 26.

Three RAF Avro Vulcans from No 101 Sodn have flown nonstop from their base at Waddington to Perth. They were refuelled by Vickers Valiant tankers. Headwinds of up to 90kts early in the flight prevented a record breaking flight. The first two Vulcans covered the distance in 18hrs 10mins.

A Lockheed F-104 has been successfully zero launched into the air by means of a zero launch ramp and a newly developed rocket booster at Edwards AFB. Lockheed test pilot Ed Brown said it was one of the easiest starts in his 20 years of flying.

• A second de Havilland Comet 4C has been ordered by Kuwait Airways for delivery in early 1964.

• The UK Ministry of Defence stated on July 31 that TSR-2 production orders will probably be placed towards the end of this year.