Yester Year

• Ansett Holdings Ltd’s acquisition of NSW regional carrier Hazelton Airlines was completed on May 8. The Orange based airline has a fleet of nine Saab 340s and four Metro 23s.

• On May 23 the first RAF C‑17A Globemaster C. 1, ZZ171, arrived at RAF Brize Norton. The RAF will receive four C-17As under a seven year lease. The aircraft may also be purchased at any time.

• New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced in Parliament on May 8 that the RNZAF’s combat fleet will be withdrawn from use, with the 17 A-4K/TA-4K Skyhawks and 17 Macchi MB-339C fleets to be retired by the end of this year. The Skyhawks will go into storage prior to offer for sale “as is” in 2002, while the Macchis will kept airworthy and also will be sold.

• Following its 22 hour, 12,079km unrefuelled nonstop flight from Edwards AFB, California, to RAAF Edinburgh, SA, on April 22, the fifth production Northrop Grumman RQ‑4A Global Hawk, 95-2005, is now on a six week deployment. It will fly 12 missions participating in Tandem Thrust 01 before returning to the USA on June 7.

• The first 737-900 delivery was made to launch customer Alaska Airlines on May 15.

The aircraft, which received FAA certification on April 17, has so far received 46 orders.

50 Years Ago

• Two Bristol Freighter Mk 31s purchased by Trans‑Australia Airlines from the Pakistan Air Force are expected to be in New Guinea by the end of this month. They will be used to carry freight solely on the Madang- Highlands route. They will be able to carry 4535kg of freight out of Madang with a pallet system in use. They were bought because of recent weight restrictions placed on DC-3s.

• A USAF Convair B-58A, 59-2451, of the 43rd BW, nicknamed The Firefly and crewed by Maj Elmer E Murphy, Maj Eugene Moses and Lt David Dickerson, won the Bleriot Trophy outright on May 10 by becoming the first aircraft to maintain a speed of 2000km/h for 30 minutes.

After departing Edwards AFB, California, the aircraft flew on a somewhat rectangular course measuring 666. 4 miles (1073km) with corners near Needles, California; Kingman, Arizona; Mormon Mesa, Nevada; and Lone Pine, California. The average speed achieved was 1302. 07mph (2095. 48km/h) in a time of 30 minutes 43 seconds.

• USN Commander Alan B Shepard Jr became the second man to go into space when he was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 5 in the Mercury ballistic capsule Freedom 7, using a Redstone rocket as the launch vehicle.

His sub-orbital trajectory reached an altitude of 187km (116 miles) over a range of 478km (297 miles) with a flight time of 15min 22sec.

• The DC-8F Jet Trader cargo-passenger version of the DC-8 jet transport has been announced by Douglas, with the first flight of the prototype scheduled for August 1962.

25 Years Ago

• Defence Minister Kim Beazley announced on May 1 that a $471. 6 million order had been placed for 14 Sikorsky S-70A-9 Black Hawks for the RAAF and an additional eight S-70B-2 Seahawks for the RAN. The Seahawks will be based on the RAN’s new FFG-7 class guided missile frigates. A total of 48 Black Hawks are currently planned for the RAAF.

• The private venture prototype British Aerospace Hawk 200, ZG200, had its maiden flight from Dunsfold, Surrey, on May 19 flown by chief test pilot Mike Snelling. The single seat fighter/ ground attack aircraft is based on the Hawk jet trainer.

• Construction commenced on May 20 of London City Airport located in the Docklands district of East London.

• Ansett Transport Industries subsidiary Trans Pacific Enterprises has placed an order for six McDonnell Douglas MD-83s plus a further six options, for delivery in 1987. They will be leased to other airlines by Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services.

• Classic Aircraft Corporation of Lansing, Michigan, is to produce the YMF-5 version of the classic Waco open cockpit biplane.

• As one of the events commemorating 75 years of US naval aviation, two privately owned PBY Catalina flying boats began a re-enactment flight on May 5 of the original Curtiss NC-4 floatplane trans-Atlantic crossing which commenced on May 8 1919. The Catalina flight started at NAS Pensacola, Florida, and then commenced the original route from NAS Rockaway Beach, New York, concluding in Lisbon, Portugal, after several intermediate alightings in the USA, Canada and the Azores.