Yesteryear

Upgrades are being investigated to keep the RAAF’s Caribous flying for another five to eight years while the service’s future airlift requirements are being assessed.

An agreement for US$12 million was signed by Brazil early this month to acquire the French aircraft carrier *Foch** which will be renamed the “Sao Paulo**. The 265m long Clemenceau Class vessel will replace the Brazilian Navy’s *Minas Gerais** (formerly HMS *Vengeance** built during WWII), due to be decommissioned in 2002/3. It is believed the new carrier’s air wing will include Brazil’s recently acquired ex-Kuwaiti A-4KU/TA-4KU Skyhawks and SH-3D Sea Kings and AS 332F-1 Super Puma helicopters.

The sale of eight HK-36TC Super Dimona two-seat motor gliders to the Indian Air Force built by Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH of Weiner Neustadt, Austria is the first sale of of aircraft to a military customer by neutral Austria. It is believed they will be used as basic trainers.

On August 4 Lockheed Martin announced the selection of the General Electric CF6-80C2 engine as the powerplant selected for the USAF C-5A/B Galaxy Reliability Enhancement and Re-Engining Program (RERP). The GE engine nominally rated at 266.88kN (60,000lb) will be de-rated to 222.4kN (50,000lb) for this program and will replace the existing 182.37kN (41,000lb) General Electric TF39 offering enhanced takeoff, climb and initial cruise altitude performance.

The tenth Antonov An-124-100 for Volga-Dnepr Airlines was formerly handed over at Moscow/Sheremetyevo on August 3. The aircraft was the first to built at the Aviastar Ulyanovsk factory for five years. It is the first with a 24,000 hour service life and incorporates a new avionics suite. The world fleet of 18 An-124s operated by Volga-Dnepr with joint venture partner HeavyLift Cargo Airlines (10) and Antonov Airlines (8), according to recent figures provides 92.3% of the world outsize cargo market.

25 Years Ago

A new international airline with Chinese backing based in Hong Kong, Dragonair, will begin operations this month, initially with daily charter flights to Peking and Shanghai with a Boeing 737-200 on lease from Guinness Peat Aviation. The airline eventually plans to operated scheduled flights to destinations in China. The other Hong Kong airline, British-owned Cathay Pacific has a current licence to operate three scheduled flights per week to Shanghai and has rights for occasional charter flights to Peking.

An agreement was signed on August 2 between Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany in Turin to develop and produce the European Fighter Aircraft (EFA). An eventual market of about 650 EFAs for the air forces of the three countries is expected, with Britain and Germany receiving 250 each and Italy about 150. The EFA is a single-seat twin-engined aircraft optimised for air-to-air combat with a secondary role as a ground-attack aircraft.

General Electric conducted the first low-power test run of its GE-36 UDF (unducted fan) proof-of-concept engine on August 30 in an outdoor test stand at its Peebles, Ohio facility.

Three additional McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F Freighters have been ordered by Federal Express of Memphis, Tennessee for delivery in February, March and May 1988 and will eventually have a fleet of 20 DC-10s. Sales of the DC-10 have reached 377 with 369 having been delivered. The USAF has also ordered 60 KC-10 Extender tanker/cargo versions with 32 so far delivered.

A change to the 1923 law which prohibits the Italian Navy from operating fixed wing aircraft is being sought by the Italian government. A repeal of the law would enable Italy to purchase British Aerospace Sea Harriers for their new aircraft carrier *Giuseppe Garibaldi**.

A Handley Page Herald 201, G-APWJ, previously operated by Air UK has been acquired by the Duxford Aviation Society for preservation. Another former Air UK Herald, G-ASKK, has been preserved by the City of Norwich Aviation Museum.

Twenty additional Lockheed F-104 Starfighters have been received from the USA by the Taiwanese Chinese Nationalist Air Force to add to the 66 former Luftwaffe F-104s received during 1982-83.

General Jeannou Lacaze who retired as the French Chief of Defence Staff this month has warned that budgetary restrictions may cause the French Air Force to reduce its combat aircraft strength from 450 to 300 during the next decade.

50 Years Ago

Japan Air Lines operated its first jet airliner service on August 12 with a flight by a Douglas DC-8 from Tokyo to San Francisco.

During 1958-59 Pan American traded in many of its Stratocruiser airliners to Boeing in conjunction with its purchase of the 707. On August 14 the remaining 14 Pan Am Stratocruisers from the once proud front-line fleet were sold to a scrap metal dealer for US$105,000.

The rocket-powered North American X-15A flown by Major Robert White set a new world altitude record of 136,500ft over Edwards AFB, California after being dropped from its B-52 mother ship at 40,000ft on August 12. The previous 126,200ft record was established by Captain Iven Kincheloe in a Bell X-2 on September 7 1956.

Using a specially developed ‘snatch’ technique, a Fairchild C-119 transport recovered a data capsule ejected from the orbiting Discoverer 14 satellite, in mid-air at an altitude of 8000ft on August 18. The satellite had been launched from a Thor-Agena A rocket from the Vandenberg AFB, California one day earlier and carried out the first successful photosurveillance mission.

The latest version of the de Havilland Dove is the Mk. 8 intended mainly for executive travel. This version is powered by improved Gipsy Queen 70 Mk. 3 giving a 210mph cruising speed. A new cockpit canopy and new low drag nacelles slightly alter the appearance of the aircraft which will be known in the US as the Dove Custom 800.

The US Army now has 5,500 aircraft of 15 different types in operation and expects to have 8,000 aircraft of seven different in service by 1970. The Army’s current program has a requirement for about 250 Grumman AO-1 Mohawks for surveillance and the purchase of 300 de Havilland AC-1 Caribous.

Aerial Agriculture of Bankstown Aerodrome, Sydney has been advertising for experienced agricultural pilots with a minimum of 1000 hours agricultural experience to fly de Havilland Beavers, offering average earnings of £40 to £50 per week plus expenses.

In the annual report for Qantas Empire Airways tabled in the Senate by the Minister for Civil Aviation, Senator Paltridge, the airline made a record net yearly profit to December 31, 1959 of £853,963 compared with £419,097 in 1958. QEA derived income of £5,585,048 from mail, £2,798,056 from cargo and £16,905,560 from passengers. Passengers carried increased by 14.3% to 201,051 and of these, 70,274 were carried in economy or tourist class.