Yester year

• The first production Raytheon T-6A Texan II had its maiden flight on July 15 from Raytheon Aircraft’s Beech Field facility at Wichita, Kansas, flown by test pilot Bob Newsom. The winner of the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS), the Texan II will first be delivered to the USAF in April 1999 followed by aircraft for the USN in 2002.

•Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites prototype 281 Proteus, N281PR, had its maiden flight from Mojave on July 26. Of unusual layout, the all-composite Proteus high-altitude long operation (HALO) multimission aircraft is powered by two 2293lb Williams FJ44-2 turbofans, and can conduct high altitude surveillance missions of 14 hours duration at a 51,000 to 65,000ft altitude.

•The USN’s eighth Nimitz class nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S Truman (CVN-75), was commissioned on July 25 at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.

The ship was built by Newport News Shipbuilding.

• The first of three Beech King Air 200s leased from Aeromotive Ltd to enter RNZAF service arrived at Whenuapai on July 7 to join No 42 Squadron. They will replace the role of the RNZAF’s Andover C. 1s, with the final aircraft retired by No 42 Squadron on June 20.

They were the last military Andovers in service in the world.

25 Years Ago

• Dick Smith completed the first solo helicopter flight around the world when he returned to Fort Worth, Texas, on July 22 in his Bell 206B JetRanger III VH‑DIK Australian Explorer. He began his flight on August 5 1982 and covered 30,640nm (56,742km) in a flying time of about 320 hours.

• On July 8 the maiden flight of the first Airbus A300-600, F-WZLR, took place from Toulouse. An additional 16 passengers are accommodated compared with the standard A300, with a total of 267 in a two-class configuration.

• The 1000th production General Dynamics F-16 was rolled out from the Fort Worth factory on July 8. F-16 orders stand at 2866.

• The first BAe VC10 K Mk2 tanker conversion, ZA140, was delivered to the RAF at Brize Norton on July 25. It joined the re-formed No 101 Squadron which was disbanded on August 5 1982 as one of the RAF’s last Vulcan B Mk2 squadrons.

• Murray Valley Airlines of Mildura has ordered one Shorts 360 plus a further two on option to become the first Australian customer for the type. Orders and options for the 360 stand at 59.

• The Swiss Air Force is looking to select a replacement for its Hawker Hunters in 1986 with the Northrop F-20, GD F‑16 and Dassault Mirage 2000 in contention.

• The US Navy has ordered 15 modified Cessna Citation IIs for its Undergraduate Navy Flight Officer/Training Systems Upgrade program to replace T-39s.

50 Years Ago

• The prototype Bristol 192, the largest military helicopter in Europe, XG447, had its first flight from Westonsuper- Mare on July 5. With a gross weight of 8165kg the 192 has a 108kt (201km/h) cruising speed.

• British European Airways retired its Airspeed AS. 57 Ambassadors from scheduled service on July 30 with the final flight made by G-AMAF.

• American Airlines ordered 25 Convair 600 Golden Arrow airliners and optioned another 25 on July 30. They will be designated the 990 in American service.

• The de Havilland Canada prototype DHC-4 Caribou, CF-KTK‑X, made its first flight on July 30 from Downsview, Ontario.

• Avro Lincoln Mk. 30A bomber equipped 1 Squadron RAAF ceased operations at Tengah Airfield, Singapore, on July 2 to return home to Amberley. The squadron has been engaged in Malayan Emergency operations and will be replaced by 2 Squadron equipped with Canberra Mk. 20s based at Butterworth in northwest Malaya.

• Minister for Civil Aviation, Senator Paltridge, has indicated Qantas is looking to dispose of most of its Super Constellations within the next 12 to 18 months but will retain two for the South African service. Qantas’s Lockheed Electras on order will be delivered in November- December 1959.

• Twenty years of flying boat operations for Qantas came to an end on July 24 when Catalina VH-EBD alighted at Port Moresby.