Yesteryear

The First Atr 42 Regional Airliner Had Its Maiden Flight At Toulouse On August 16. The 2½ Hour Flight Was Made Over A Substantial Portion Of The Flight Envelope, Up To 270kt (500kmh) And 20,000ft. The Second Aircraft Is Due To Fly In October And Certification Is Set For The Third Quarter Of 1985.

An Era Came To An End On August 14 When The Last Boeing 727 Was Rolled Out At Renton. The 727-200f Freighter, Due To Be Delivered To Federal Express On September 18, Was The Last Of 1832 727s To Be Produced. The First 727 Flew On February 9 1962 And About 1800 Are Still Flying, Including The Original 727 Which Is In Service With United Airlines.

The First Flight Of A Mcdonnell Douglas F/a-18a Hornet Fitted With Reconnaissance Equipment Took Place At St Louis On August 15. A Sensor Pallet Fitted In The Forward Fuselage Provides Two Sensor Stations Capable Of Using A Combination Of Usn And Marine Corps Reconnaissance Equipment.

Six Raf Tornado Gr Mk 1s From No 617 Squadron And Three No 55 Squadron Victor K Mk 2 Tankers Are Taking Part In The Usaf Strategic Air Command’s Giant Voice Bombing Competition For The First Time. This Year’s Exercise Known As Prairie Vortex Is Centred On Ellsworth Afb Over An Eight Week Period.

20 Years Ago

The Second Production Bac/aerospatiale Concorde, Number 202 G-bbdg Left Heathrow On August 7 For A Demonstration Flight To Tehran, Iran. It Later Proceeded To Bahrain For Hot Weather Trials And Will Then Fly Nonstop To Singapore Before Arriving Back In Britain On About September 2.

Rex Aviation Delivered 156 Cessna Single And Multi Engined Aircraft Plus Two Citations In The Year To June 30, Under Their Cessna Franchise For Australia And Papua New Guinea. In Just Over 20 Years As Australian Cessna Distributors, Rex Has Delivered More Than 1730 Aircraft Including 500 Cessna 172 Skyhawks.

The First Rockwell International B-1a Swing Wing Supersonic Bomber Airframe Was Completed By Mid August And The Rollout Is Expected In Late September Or Early October With A First Flight About 30 Days Later.

Hawker Siddeley Has Completed The Customer Mock-up Of The Hs 146, And It Will Be Available For Inspection By Airline Executives At Hatfield, In Time For The Sbac Show At Farnborough.

The First Prototype Panavia Mrca, D-9591 Had A 30 Minute First At Manching, West Germany On August 14 And The Second Prototype, Xx946, Has Been Assembled By Bac At Warton.

The First Landing At Lord Howe Island’s Partly Completed New Airstrip Was Made By Raaf Caribou A4-140 On August 4. Although Initially Planned As An Aerial Survey Of The Airstrip, The Caribou Landed To Evacuate An Island Resident To Brisbane After He Was Injured In An Accident. Airlines Of New South Wales Will Commence Regular Services On September 15 Using A Riley Heron Wet Leased From Connair.

An Additional 60 Westland/aerospatiale Gazelles Have Been Ordered For The British Army Taking Uk Forces Orders To 202 And Total Sales To 477.

A Rough Field Version Of The F27 Friendship, The Series 500, Has Been Developed By Fokker With Low Pressure Tyres.

Boeing Sales In The Six Months To June 30 Were $us1810m, Up 13% On The Comparable Period Last Year. Commercial Aircraft Delivered In The Period Consisted Of 11 707s, 51 727s And 11 747s. Orders Received During The Period Were 110 Compared With 95 Last Year.

30 Years Ago

A Convertible Cargo Passenger Version Of The Boeing 727, Designated The 727c, Is Now In Production. With A Large 2.31×3.40m (91 Inch By 134 Inch) Cargo Door Fitted To The Forward Fuselage, The 727c Can Carry Up To 16,685kg (36,750lb) Of Cargo, Or 10,895kg (24,000lb) Of Cargo With 52 Passengers, Or 94 Passengers. The First Order For Three 727cs Has Been Received From Northwest Orient Airlines With Deliveries Starting In April 1966. Sales Of The Boeing 727 Stand At 222 And The Number Of Orders Of All Boeing Jet Airliners Of All Versions Totals 658.

By The Middle Of August, Victa Had Sold 96 Airtourers Of Which 80 Have Been Delivered. The Price Of The Victa Airtourer 100 Is £4750. In A Move That Is Attracting Interest, Victa Is Offering Free Instruction To Private Buyers Of The Airtourer Through Clubs Or Schools.

Captain John Chapman, Assistant General Manager Of Taa, Accepted Delivery Of Vh-tga, The First Of The Airline’s Three Beechcraft A.80 Mk.2 Queen Airs At A Ceremony At Bankstown On August 18. The Aircraft Left Bankstown For Melbourne After The Handover And Entered Service In Tasmania The Following Day.

Klm Has Taken Delivery Of Its 100th Douglas Aircraft, A Dc-8f Jet Freighter, Ph-dcs “alfred Nobel”. The Airline Has Operated All Douglas Aircraft To Be Offered For Commercial Use, Commencing With Its First Dc-2 On August 22, 1934.

Lockheed F-104 Starfighters From Two Usaf Air Defense Command Squadrons Are Having Their 20mm Vulcan Cannons Installed Again. The Starfighters Will Be Used Against Possible Cuban Intruders, A Close Proximity Role In Which The Cannons Are Considered More Suitable Than The Existing Sidewinder Air-to-air Missiles.

Production Has Started Of A New Short Field, Short Haul Utility Aircraft, The Dh Canada Twin Otter, Powered By Two Canadian Pratt & Whitney Pt6as Of 550shp (410kw). The Twin Otter Can Carry Up To 14 Passengers At 160 Knots (295kmh) And Has A Range Of 700nm (1295km).

The Uk Minister Of Aviation, Mr Julian Amery, Confirmed In The House Of Commons That An Order Has Been Placed For Two Mcdonnell Phantom Iis To Be Re-engined With Rolls-royce Speys For A Detailed Evaluation For The Fleet Air Arm.