Yesteryear

The second Northrop F-20 Tigershark crashed at Goose Bay, Labrador on May 14 while the aircraft was en route to the Paris Air Show. Northrop test pilot David Barnes was killed in the accident which occurred while the aircraft was making a practice flight for the airshow. F-20 No 1 crashed during a demonstration tour of South Korea the previous September.

Two McDonnell Douglas TF/A-18 Hornets were delivered to RAAF Williamtown on May 17 after a 6637nm (12,300km) ferry flight across the Pacific. The Hornets had been accepted last October from McDonnell Douglas and had been retained in the USA for the training of RAAF pilots and maintenance personnel conversion. The Hornets were refuelled 13 times during the 15.2 hour flight by an accompanying USAF KC-10 Extender tanker. On May 4, the first of the 73 Hornets to be assembled by GAF was formally accepted by the CAS Air Marshal David Evans at Avalon.

The second production Rockwell B-1B bomber had its maiden flight on May 4. It is scheduled to be the first B-1B to enter the Strategic Air Command inventory, when it is delivered to Dyess AFB near Abilene, Texas on June 29. B-1B production at Rockwell’s final assembly plant at Palmdale will reach one aircraft per week in September 1986. This rate will continue until April 1988 to meet the USAF contract for 100 B-1Bs.

The RNZAF has received four bids for the proposed avionics update for its 22 A-4 Skyhawks. Meanwhile the first of the ex RAN A-4G and TA-4G Skyhawks which have been converted to A-4K and TA-4K configuration.

The Australian Aircraft Consortium received the first set of wings from Hawker de Havilland on May 31 for the AAC A.10 Wamira. These wings will be used for static testing and the wings for the prototypes will be delivered in August.

20 Years Ago

On May 28 the Minister for Defence, Mr Barnard, announced the order of eight Lockheed P-3C Orions for the RAAF to equip No 10 Squadron. It was also stated that 10 Squadron would move from Townsville to Edinburgh when it received the Orions.

A maritime reconnaissance version of the F27 Friendship has been projected by Fokker which would be comparable to the Hawker Siddeley 748 Coastguarder.

A Russian E-266M (modified MiG-25 “Foxbat”) established three new height records during a recent series of flights from Podmoskovnoye airfield near Moscow. One of the records was 114,829ft (35,000 metres) reached in 4min 11.3sec. During the flights, the Russians reported that climb rates of up to 400 metres/sec (78,740ft/min) were attained.

The British Defence Minister, Mr Roy Mason, announced on May 15 that the Royal Navy is to have 25 Hawker Siddeley Sea Harrier FRS.1s, and two more ‘anti-submarine cruisers’, in addition to the first ship, HMS Invincible. The first Sea Harrier FRS.1 will be delivered from the Kingston production line in 1979. The British Defence Minister announced plans to acquire 25 Sea Harriers, in May 1975.

It is rumoured that the Rhodesian Air Force is in the market for 28 surplus Fiat built Venezuelan Air Force North American F-86K Sabres.

The ability of the BAC Jaguar GR Mk 1 to operate away from main air force bases in wartime situations has been demonstrated by BAC’s military aircraft deputy chief test pilot Tim Ferguson, when he took off from the new M55 motorway near Blackpool.

Hawker de Havilland has sold 23 aircraft to the Indonesian Government under a $5 million contract. Included in the order are two Beechcraft King Air 100s for airways inspection and 21 Sundowner 180s for primary training.

The first Boeing 747SP registered N530PA and destined for PanAm was rolled out on May 19. The new “Junior Jumbo” is 14.3m (47ft) shorter than the standard 747 and carries 100 fewer passengers. It is more economical over certain ranges and can fly higher, faster and further.

Qantas has sold two of its Boeing 707s to British Caledonian Airways. VH-EBX left Sydney on May 15 and VH-EBW departed on May 29.

30 Years Ago

The de Havilland Canada Twin Otter had some short hops up to an altitude of 100ft on the evening of May 19, followed by the first full flight on the 20th. Jointly funded by the Canadian Department of Defence and de Havilland Canada, the Twin Otter has been produced to meet a worldwide requirement for a STOL, medium size, utility turboprop transport.

The US Navy version of the USAF’s F-111A, the General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B, had its first flight on May 18. The F-111B has longer wings at 21m (70ft) extended instead of (19.2m (63ft), but is 1.8m (6ft) shorter than the F-111A. A total of 454 General Dynamics F-111s are now on order, 23 development aircraft (18 F-111As and five F-111Bs), and 431 production examples (407 for the Air Force and 24 for the Navy).

The prototype Dart powered Convair 600 was rolled out by General Dynamics at San Diego on May 12 and had its first flight on May 18. It is a converted Convair 240D powered by Rolls-Royce Dart R.Da10 propjets. Fifty-one Convair 600s have been ordered by four US operators, Central Airlines 10, Trans Texas Airways 25, Hawaiian Airlines seven, and Caribbean Atlantic Airlines nine.

Services between Australia and South Africa were increased to twice a week from May 10, with Qantas departing from Perth each Monday and South African Airways leaving on Saturday, using Lockheed Model 1649A Starliners chartered from Trek Airways. The initial service from Perth on May 10 was flown by Lockheed Starliner ZS-DVJ. In Trek service, the Starliners are referred to as Super Stars.

On May 1, the Lockheed YF-12A flown by Col Robert L Stephens USAF, flew from Edwards AFB and broke four world records. These new records were: Straight course 15 to 25 kilometre speed record 2062mph (3317km/h), 500 kilometre closed course 1642mph (2642km/h), 1000 kilometre closed course 1588mph (2555km/h), sustained altitude in horizontal flight 80,000ft.

Both Ansett-ANA and TAA have confirmed to Douglas that their orders for DC-9s will be for the Series 30 version.

The Lockheed XH-51A rigid rotor compound helicopter established a new world speed record of 259mph (417km/h) on May 13.