Yesteryear

The ninth and final VC10 tanker, a KMk 3, has been delivered to the RAF. Eight are in service with No 101 Squadron at Brize Norton, while the other aircraft is with the A&AEE Boscombe Down. This latter VC10 will be returned to BAe at Filton to be brought up to standard before delivery to the squadron.

The military C-118 Liftmaster variant of the Douglas DC-6 has been retired from USN service, and the last of the type (BuNo 131597), has been flown from the Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 46 at Atlanta to the Davis Monthan storage facility at Tucson, Arizona. The first C-118 (BuNo 128424) was accepted by the USN on September 6 1951.

The second Airbus A310-300 had its first flight at Toulouse on September 6 in Air India colours. It is powered by General Electric CF6-80C2s.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister Mr Tarek Aziz has stated that the Iraqi Air Force has returned the Dassault-Breguet Super Etendards to France, which were delivered under a controversial two year leasing agreement in October 1983.

The Ilyushin Il-76MD is now entering service with No 44 ‘Mountain Geese’ Sqn of the Indian Air Force and will replace the An-12. In IAF service the Il-76MD is known as the Gajaraj (King Elephant).

The Ecuadorian Air Force will boost its jet training capacity with the acquisition of 25 Lockheed T-33As from surplus US stocks. The aircraft will be refurbished by the Sabreliner Corporation of Perryville, Missouri.

A 12 year interruption to Pan Am services to Ireland will cease in April 1986 when Airbus A300s are placed into service on the New York/Shannon route. It will be the first time the A300 has been used on scheduled services on the North Atlantic.

20 Years Ago

It has now been revealed that a South Vietnamese Air Force Lockheed C-130A Hercules escaped from Tan Son Nhut to Thailand in April with a record lift of 452 refugees, including 32 in the cockpit.

The RNZAF is looking at the possibility of obtaining some surplus RAF Hawker Siddeley Andover C.1s to replace its Bristol Freighter, Dakotas and Devons.

The last scheduled Vickers Viscount service in New Zealand was operated by an NZNAC 800 series aircraft on September 28 on a flight from Palmerston North to Christchurch via Wellington. Of the 438 Viscounts built between 1953 and 1964, approximately 200 are still serving with nearly 50 operators around the world. NZNAC operated five Viscounts with the first aircraft being delivered in 1958.

Qantas established a nonstop record flight for one of its aircraft when Boeing 707 VH-EAF flew 6410nm (11875km) from Sydney to Santiago in 12 hours 15 min on September 13. It was the first Qantas flight to both Santiago and Easter Island, which was used as a refuelling point during the return flight via Tahiti. On September 13 1975 a Qantas 707 establishes a non stop record by flying from Sydney to Santiago.

The first of eight two seat TAV-8A Harriers has been delivered by Hawker Siddeley to the United States Marine Corps. The TAV-8As will be operated by the fourth USMC Harrier squadron VMAT-203 based at Cherry Point, North Carolina later this year.

The first twin engined aircraft to be delivered to the South Australian Police was handed over on September 3. The Piper Seneca is appropriately registered VH-COP.

The recently published British Airways annual report has revealed that the aircraft with the highest utilisation in its fleet are its 15 Super VC10s, with an average 3867 flying hours during the financial year ended March 31. The Boeing 747 is next with 3761 hours followed by the Boeing 707-336 with 3511 hours.

The name ‘Matador’ has been selected by the Spanish Navy for its eight Hawker Siddeley AV-8A Harriers which have been ordered for use on board the helicopter carrier Dedalo.

Boeing 747 sales have now reached 300, following an order for an additional two aircraft by Air France. The order will take the Air France 747 fleet total to 18.

30 Years Ago

The South African Air Force has chosen the Macchi MB-326 as its new jet trainer/light attack aircraft. Reports indicate that the order may be for as many as 300 aircraft. The first 16 will be supplied complete from Italy, then a further 10 in major assembly form, 40 in sub-assembly form, the remainder to follow by licence production in South Africa by the Atlas Aircraft Corporation.

The outbreak of hostilities between India and Pakistan on September 2 has led to a rearrangement in Qantas’ scheduling. Pakistan banned flights over its territory on September 6, restricted operations into Karachi to daylight flights, and civil aircraft landing there had their fuel supplies cut off. These events have seen Colombo, which is not a normal destination for Qantas aircraft, become one of its busiest ports of call. The Australian Federation of Air Pilots announced a ban on September 21, on Qantas aircraft flying within 160km of India, Pakistan and Vietnam.

On September 17 the prototype North American XB-70A Valkyrie reached a speed of Mach 2.81 (about 3055km/h).

The South Vietnamese Air Force is to receive its first jet aircraft, four ex-USAF Martin B-57 Canberras.

Lockheed has been awarded a US Department of Defense contract to develop the C-5A transport for the USAF. The initial production order is for 55 aircraft. The C-5A will be powered by four General Electric GE1-6 turbofans with an estimated 40,000lb (179kN) thrust each, will weigh about 350 tonnes and is designed to carry 600 fully equipped troops across the Pacific nonstop. It is due to become operational in 1969.

Air Force Week displays were held at bases around Australia this month, which marked the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Some of the highlights were: Fairbairn – a spirited display by visiting RAF Vulcan B.1A XH480, Garbutt – formation flying by five Neptunes and a strike and handling demonstration by USAF Douglas Skywarriors visiting from Guam, Pearce – displays by visiting RAF Vulcan B.1A XH479 and Britannia C.1 XM519, East Sale – two Martin RB-57F weather reconnaissance aircraft were on ground display.

The first flight of the LTV A-7A Corsair II light attack carrier aircraft took place at Hensley Field NAS on September 27.