Yesteryear

7In an announcement on March 1 Defence Minister John Moore said Australia will join the US in a defence project costing $18.5 million evaluating the Teledyne Ryan Global Hawk UAV in Australia. The aircraft would be viewed in the context as an enhancement to monitor Australian territory and maritime approaches. g

On March 3 the government of Ukraine gave a directive to the Russian Commonwealth Aerospace Technology Consortium (RCATC) authorising the sale of three demilitarised Ukrainian Air Force Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers. The aircraft will be acquired by Platforms International Corporation (PIC) of Redlands, California to be used as satellite launch vehicles and will remain at their present base at Priluki, Ukraine. It is intended the T-160s would go to customer countries to undertake space launch missions and then return to their Priluki base.

It was revealed at a briefing at Warton Aerodrome, Lancashire on March 3 that studies have been conducted on the fitting of conformal tanks to the Eurofighter Typhoon conferring a range-payload capability equivalent to that of the General Dynamics F-111 while retaining Joint Strike Fighter manoeuvrability.
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On March 28 Ansett Australia and Air New Zealand joined the Star Alliance as its latest members, joining Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai, United and VARIG.

25 Years Ago

The first flight of the 20 seat Airship Industries Skyship 600, G-SKSC, stretched from the 10 seat Skyship 500, took place from RAE Cardington, Bedfordshire on March 6. An additional £7million is being raised by the company through the issue of new shares underwritten by the Bond Corporation.

The Avro Vulcan was withdrawn from all operational roles on March 31 with the disbanding of the RAF’s No 50 Squadron at Waddington, Lincolnshire. Originally curtailed for economy reasons their service life had been extended following the Falklands air war.

British Airways commenced a thrice-weekly Concorde service from London-Heathrow to Miami on March 27.

Airbus Industrie received approval at a meeting in Bonn on March 12 to¶ develop the Airbus A320 at an estimated research and development cost of US$1.7 billion with the venture underwritten by the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Federal Germany. The single-aisle 150 passenger aircraft will have an internal cabin width of 12 feet and it has been estimated it will need to sell 600 aircraft to break even. Firm orders have been received for 51 firm A320s plus 45 options from five airlines.

The North American T-28 Trojan ended its 31 year career of training USN Naval Aviators on February 13 with a final instructional flight by Ensign Michael Lee Gierhart of VT-27. The USN received 790 Trojans of various versions. On March 14 the last T-28Bx in Training Command, BuNo 137796, flew to Naval District Washington for permanent display at NS Anacostia, D.C.

During night exercises in the Sea of Japan on March 21 the USN aircraft carrier USS *Kitty Hawk** collided with a surfacing Soviet Victor I-class nuclear submarine. The submarine was towed by a salvage vessel to the naval base at Vladivostok while the carrier sustained minor damage.

The USAF announced on March 2 the selection of the Sherpa version of the Shorts 330-200 to fill the role of its European Distribution System Aircraft (EDSA). An order has been placed for 18 aircraft at a cost of £37 million as part of overall expenditure of £115 million for a 10 year contract covering servicing, support and maintenance. These aircraft will be based at Zweibrucken, Federal Germany. Future purchases could involve up to another 48 aircraft to serve in other USAF theatr∂es.

50 Years Ago

Flight testing of the USN’s Sikorsky HSS-2 all-weather anti-submarine hunter-killer version of the S-61 began at Stratford, Connecticut on March 11 flown by test pilot R S Decker. The S-61 is powered by two 1250hp General Electric T58 turboshaft engines and has an amphibious hull with the main wheels retracting into stabilizing floats. Other versions are destined for civil airlines, transport and rescue duties.

)As a means of testing the effectiveness of US air defence, two Boeing B-47s are being converted into pilotless drone aircraft with the QB-47 designation.

The Peruvian Air Force is in the process of replacing two squadrons of Republic F-47D Thunderbolt fighter-bombers with surplus USAF Lockheed †F-80C Shooting Stars which were delivered to Peru late last year.

Dominica has been unsuccessful in recent attempts to obtain Sabre fighters from both the US and Japan. It now appears that the Dominican Military Aviation Corps (DMAC) wishes to obtain at least 12 surplus ex-RCAF Vampire F.B.5s although the Canadian Trade Minister has said no permit has been issued for such a sale. The DMAC has possibly the last examples of Vampire F.1s in service, modified as fighter bombers, obtained from the Royal Swedish Air Force in 1952-53.

The first flight of the Lockheed YP3V-1 anti-submarine warfare development of the Electra transport is due to take place this norther§n autumn carrying its full load of electronic equipment. Flight testing will also include an evaluation of the 4050hp Allison T56 turboprop. The P3V-1 production aircraft are expected to enter USN service during 1960.

Indonesia is to be supplied 18 Fairey Gannets comprising 16 A.S.4 and two T.5 versions for the Angkatan Laut Republik Indonesia (ALRI) or Indonesian Naval Air Arm. Fairey has purchased 20 former Royal Navy A.S.1s and two T.2s from the British Ministry of Supply together with airframe sections for two new A.S.4s and one T.5. to fill the Indonesian order. Aircraft will be modified and re-equipped to the new standard including new Double Mamba engines.