Yesteryear

There was a dramatic increase in tensions between India and Pakistan on August 10 following the interception and shooting down of a Pakistan Navy Breguet Atlantic by two Indian Air Force MiG-21s. The lead MiG launched two Aphid air-to-air missiles which hit the Atlantic’s port engine with the aircraft coming down with the loss of all 16 crew. Pakistan claimed the aircraft at the time of attack was on a training mission in Sindh province in southern Pakistan in the Sir Creek area while India maintained the aircraft had intruded 10km into Indian airspace on the coast of the western state of Gujarat near Kori Creek.

The Thai cabinet agreed on August 3 to acquire 25 Alpha Jets made surplus by the Luftwaffe. Dornier will refurbish the aircraft at Oberpfaffenhofen and the £425,000 cost of the deal will be subject to a barter agreement for rice, rubber and tapioca. Delivered between 1979 and 1982 the aircraft have only flown an average of 2000 hours with 20 overhauled to flying condition and five retained for spares.

On August 10 major assembly began at Everett of the first Boeing 747-400F Freighter to become the first YAL-1A Airborne Laser (ABL) platform for the USAF. With serial 00-0001 it will be the USAF’s first aircraft of the new millennium. The aircraft will be rolled out in December and will then undertake an 18 month modification program at Wichita, Kansas. The USAF plans to acquire seven AL-1A aircraft.

25 Years Ago

The maiden flight of the first Grumman Gulfstream SRA-1 electronic surveillance/reconnaissance aircraft, N47449, took place from Travis Field, Savannah, Georgia on August 14. The aircraft is powered by two 11,400lb Roll-Royce Spey 511-8 engines and has under fuselage Side-Looking Airborne Modular Multimission Radar (SLAMMR).

British Aerospace announced the sale of four additional BAe 125s during the recent Hanover Air Show taking orders to 585. Included in the sales was a Series 800 for the Queensland State Government and a 700 Series to another undisclosed Australian customer.

After having been used to house chickens for the past 40 years on the Isle of Lewis, a Handley Page Halifax fuselage section together with its four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines have been acquired by the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, York. The Halifax II, HR792, made an emergency landing on the Isle in 1945 and the aircraft fuselage section was purchased by a crofter and used as a hencoop.

The maiden flight of the ATR 42 twin-engined turboprop airliner developed jointly by Aerospatiale and Aeritalia took place from Toulouse on August 16. The two and a half hour flight at speeds up to 270kt and 20,000ft altitude involved a thorough check of much of the aircraft’s handling and systems. Orders and options are held for 60 aircraft.

An agreement has been signed between France and Germany to proceed with the development of the PAH-2 anti-tank helicopter powered by two MTU/Turbomeca MTM385-R turboshaft engines driving a 42ft 6in four-blade main rotor. Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm and Aerospatiale will work on a basic design with a mission weight of about 10,570lb which will be available in three versions. The armies of both countries have a requirement for 427 of these helicopters.

The first flight of the prototype Claudius Dornier Seastar amphibian, D-ICDS, took place from Hamburg-Fuhlsbuttel on August 17. This all-composite aircraft is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT6A-11s mounted in a tandem puller/pusher arrangement in a nacelle in the centre portion of the high-mounted wing. The basic layout is reminiscent of Claudius Dornier’s pioneer father’s pre-war Dornier Wal (Whale) which first flew on November 6 1922.

50 Years Ago

In a record takeoff weight from an aircraft carrier, a Douglas A3D-2 Skywarrior flown by Lieut Cdr Ed Decker took off three times on August 25 from the USN’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS *Independence** at a 38,102kg (84,000lb) weight during suitability trials prior to the ship’s commissioning.

Operation Julius Caesar, involving the first flight by jet fighter aircraft over the North Pole was conducted on August 7 with the landing of two USAF North American F-100F fighters at Eielson AFB, south east of Fairbanks, Alaska. The flight from Wethersfield, Essex was completed in 9hr 37min.

Five reconditioned Sea Furies from the batch of 15 Mark 11s and two T. Mark 20s purchased by the former Batista Government in Cuba in 1958, which had been withheld, have now been released following representations from Fidel Castro’s Government. In 1957 Hawker Aircraft Ltd purchased a large number of surplus Fleet Air Arm Sea Furies of various marks and these were re-sold to Burma and Cuba.

Lockheed is testing a C-130A Hercules with two 375 Imp gal pylon tanks taking total capacity to 6150 gal. At present the Hercules has only been able to fly from California to Hawaii under favourable wind conditions. The increased fuel capacity will now enable the C-130 to fly from Travis AFB, California to Hickam AFB, Hawaii with a 20,575lb payload against a 52kt headwind during the entire flight.

The Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) is taking delivery of three Douglas C-54 transports to carry freight between Denmark and Greenland. The RDAF is re-opening Narssarsuak as a base, an airfield better known by the code name of Bluie West One during the war. The base will be home to a detachment of Consolidated PBY-5A amphibians used for search and rescue duties and iceberg spotting.

The Tasmanian Aero Club is offering three aircraft for immediate sale – DHC-1 Chipmunk T. Mk 10 VH-BSR with 1666 airframe hours since new at £2150 and two DH.82A Tiger Moths – VH-BSE with 1459 hours for £825 and VH-BSD with 476 hours for £875. Both Tiger Moths are described as as being in excellent condition, never having been damaged and are fitted with canopies, brakes and steerable tailwheels with the undercarriage rigged 11 inches forward of normal.