Yester Year

• On February 13 Rolls-Royce launched new versions of the Trent family, the Trent 900 for the Airbus A380, and the Trent 600 for the Boeing 767-400ER and 747X. The Trent 900 has so far been selected by all A380 customers.

• The 86-seat Bombardier CRJ900 prototype, C-FRJX, had its maiden flight, lasting 2 hours 54 minutes, from Montreal Mirabel International Airport on February 21. The 86-seat airliner which is stretched from the CRJ700 will be joined by a second aircraft in production configuration later this year for a flight test program conducted primarily at Bombardier’s Flight Test Center at Wichita, Kansas.

• Production of the MD-11/ DC-10 line concluded at the Boeing Long Beach plant on February 23 with the delivery of the last MD-11 to be built, an MD-11F Freighter, D-ALCN, to Lufthansa Cargo. During the last 30 years, 446 DC-10s (including 60 KC-10 tankers) and 200 MD-11s were built.

• The prototype Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) had its maiden flight from Bangalore on January 4 flown by Wing Commander Rajiv Kothiyal. During the 20 minute flight the aircraft was accompanied by two Mirage 2000 chase aircraft.

• On January 9 UPS Airlines placed a firm order for 58 Airbus A300-600F freighters plus an additional 50 options in the largest deal in its history.

50 Years Ago

• The Rolls-Royce Avon Mk 67 (RB. 146) powered Dassault Mirage III‑O1 first flew on February 13. The RAAF will evaluate it against the Atar powered IIIC.

• The maiden flight of the twin engined Cessna 336 Skymaster with one nose mounted engine and one pusher engine behind the cabin took place from Wichita, Kansas, on February 28.

• In a preliminary test for manned space flight, a Mercury capsule launched from a Redstone rocket by NASA from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 31 carried a chimpanzee named Ham who was successfully recovered after a 15 minute flight during which it reached a 155 miles altitude and travelled 675km down range. Despite being subjected to 17g during the launch, the tenacious Ham had not suffered any apparent ill effects after a recovery at sea by a USMC helicopter.

• Piper is introducing two new types into Australia. Due this month is the two-seat Colt 108 powered by a 108hp (80kN) Lycoming O-235 at a price including VHF radio of £3498 flyaway Archerfield. The basic Colt is marketed in Australia by Piper Aircraft Australia as the Pacific. Due for May or June delivery is the all-metal four-seat Cherokee powered by a 160hp (119kN) Lycoming O-320B with the standard model priced at £5995 flyaway Archerfield.

The Cherokee is the second aircraft built at Piper’s new plant at Vero Beach, Florida, following the Pawnee which has so far had sales of 13 in Australia.

• After the British Admiralty declared 19 new Short Seamew anti-submarine aircraft surplus, they were sold for scrap and broken up. Each aircraft had less than two hours’ flying time.

25 Years Ago

• The USAF received the first Lockheed C-5B Galaxy from an order for 50, at the 443rd Military Airlift Wing at Altus AFB, Oklahoma, on January 8. Another eight C-5Bs are scheduled for delivery this year, 12 in 1987, 24 in 1988 and five in 1989.

• The first Boeing 767-300, N767S, powered by two 48,000lb (213. 5kN) Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4D engines, had its first flight on January 30 from Paine Field, Everett. The second 767-300 will be powered by 50,000lb (222. 4kN) General Electric CF6-80A2 powerplants, with an expected first flight in March.

• The Airbus Industrie supervisory board agreed on January 27 to continue developing two new aircraft, the 310-seat medium/ long range twin engined A330 and the 260-seat very long range (6800nm) four engined A340, previously known as TA-9 and TA-11 respectively. Both types will share a common wing, avionics and control systems.

• The Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed on January 28 in an explosion 73 seconds after launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the beginning of mission STS 51-L, with the loss of the seven crew members. It was the first loss of life in flight of NASA’s manned space program.

A subsequent investigation found the explosion was caused by a booster failure.

• The Indian Air Force took delivery on January 11 at an air base in the Western Sector of the first MiG-27M fighter built by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd at its Nasik facility.

• An additional 13 Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir (F-21A) fighters are to be leased to equip a second adversary squadron at MCAS, Yuma, Arizona.