Aircraft Illustrated 03 2008 Vol 41 No 3

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Vol 41, No 3 $7. Z5uS $7.25CAN

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llluslsaled is 40! This month marks the 40th anniversary of

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ircraft lllustrated,

the UK's longest-running monthly aviation magazine. We've put together a bumper

preservation and airshows, and 40 of the biggest moments in aviation over the last four decades as covered byA/.The celebrations start on page

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51

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Contribufors

4oyears oi AI Starting the magazine in style

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this month with 40

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from 40 years

Have your favourite magnzine

delivered direct to you!

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Record year of orders for Airbus and Boeing . Delta in merger talks . Orders, airports, routes and aircraft

report on the roll-out of the ARJ 21, the Chinese airliner with high PLUS! A special

hopes of major success

l6 lhilitory

birthday section ofthis issue, including Peter R. March's memories of 40 years of Al reporting, reflections on 40 years in military and civil aviation,

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USAF returns some F-15s

to flight . First Tranche 2

Typhoon airborne . New missile test-fired from QF-4 . and all the international military aviation headlines

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ANNIVERSARY SPE CIAL A bumper section to mark the 40th anniversary of Aircraft lllustrated, with special features and archive material

52 40 yeors of... Reporting PETER R. MARCH

Our longest-serving contributor, the only person to have had something published in every issue, looks back at four decades of reporting for this magazine

28 Dreonliner deloyed

Ihe oges of Conrorde

8EN DUNNELL

Exclusive artwork centrespread

Boeing's bosses have had to deliver more bad news

about the 787 programme. What's the way forward for the troubled Dreamliner?

32 Eyes of Jopun RICHARD COOPER

The Japanese Air Self Defence Force's RF-4E Phantom

their unique range of recce roles Air-to-air photography by Katsuhiko Tokunaga

lls and PLUS!

40 New Yorlg Newurk GEOFF JONES

60 40 yeors of... Civil BRUCE HALES-DUTTON

'Heated debates about airport expansion, the appearance of the world's largest airliner and calls for more fuel-efficient engines. Yes, it's 1968..;

54 40 yeors of... lUlilitury JON LAKE

An airport so good they (almost) named it twice. We report from Continental's hub in New Jersey

'The four decades since 1 968 have been a time of small, unspectacular incremental progress, rather

44 Steolth su((ession

than of dramatic step changes in performance or capability'

LAWRENCE SPINETTA

The USAF prepares to make the transition from one

stealth aircraft to another, as the F-1 17 gives way to the F-22 PLUS! Air-to-air photography by AndyWolfe

f,1,13,I""rs

FREE 9UPPLEII'IENT!

JOHN DUNNELL

-

of

... Preservolion

'ln 2008, it is perhaps difficult to appreciate the extent to which the aircraft preservation scen€ was still in its relative infancy 40 years ago'

72 40 yeqrs of... Aitshows is a wonderful thing, todayt shows are more than capable of matching the standards set by their predecessors'

'Whilst nostalgia

77 40 yedrs of... Aviqlion

I

,BLACKJACK'IS BACK The somewhat chequered story oftheTu-160

r

JERSEY

AIRPORI

The resurgence ofthe Channel lslands gateway

r

AIR CANADA One of North America's best airlines ContenE subject to change

40 moments from 40 years of aviation history, as covered by Aircraft lllustrated

98 40 Greolest Airrrsft A look back at part of A/'s countdown of the greatest aircraft of all time

99 And finolly... The lighter side of A/'s 40 years

Alruaft

Vol4l No3

March 2008

Managing Editor: Allan Burney (allan.burney6ianallanpublishing.co.uk) Commissioning Editor: Richard Cooper ([email protected])

Features Editor: Ben Dunnell (ben.d unnell@ia na llan publishing.co.uk)

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Welcome to this very special issue of Aircraft lllustrated and thank you for joining us as we celebrate our 40th anniversary. It is with great pride that we reach this milestone, an achievement that confirms our position as the UK's longest-running monthly aviation magazine, a proud accolade that all our readers, new and old, have helped make possible. As is vibrantly illustrated in this month's special anniversary features (and by the'every cover tells a story' spread alongside), four decades represents an eternity in aviation and we hope you find our trip down memory lane as fasclnating and enjoyable as we found compiling it. So much of the industry is unrecognisable from the day when Aircraftlllustratedfirst hit the shelves back in 1968... but so much of it is also stillfamiliar. I am privileged to have worked on the magazine for 30 of those 40 years, and when I first joined, we were still scribbling out our articles with the Mk1 Biro, liberally assisted with volcanic amounts of Tipp-Ex. The freedom and flexibility that desk-top publishing offers today was then an unthinkable nirvana and while we may look back at some of the past issues with affectionate amusement, we have to remember that they were magazines of their times. The future is shaped by the past and magazine publishing is no exception. Editors have come and gone (and here lwould like to add a personal note of gratitude to Martin Horseman,

who somehow recognised that a skinny long-haired youth had a future in publishing), but one name that has been constant from the very beginning is that of Peter R. March. Quite simply, Peter's contribution as a writer/photographer/ advisor to Aircraft lllustrated has been immense... and over 40 years he has never missed a single deadline! With this issue, Peter has decided to hang up his keyboard and bow out of his monthly'Airview'column, but fear not - he will still be writing regularly for us. Another editoriai name who is moving on, but of whom we most certainly have not heard the last, is Richard Cooper. Over the Iast 1 0 years, Aircraft lllustroted (and more recently Combat Aircraft) has benefited hugely from Richard's boundless enthusiasm, drive, knowledge, humour and photography. Many thanks to both - it has been a real adventure and an honour to work with such dedicated professionals. That leads us on to one more announcement that is appropriate to make in this anniversary issue, and that is the appointment of Ben Dunnell as Editor. A long-time contributor, over the last four years, Ben has brought his

considerable knowledge to bear on Aircraft lllustrated and we would like to congratulate him on his new role. Exciting times, l'm sure you will all agree. Now, please sit back and enjoy this special anniversary edition. We can't wait for the journey to conti n ue!

Allan Burney Managing Editor

/M.l)

SPECIAT REPORT hat a difference a year makes. ln March 2007, British Airways was one of the sharpest critics of the Open Skies deal negotiated by the EU and US. Yet, within 12 months, BA was preparing to take full advantage of the accord's provisions by launching a new airline to fly between the US and continental Europe. The new subsidiary, called OpenSkies, will fly under its own Air Operator's Certificate and, subject to regulatory approval, is scheduled to start operations in June. But at the time of its announcement in early January, the details were fairly sketchy. BA was unable to say what fares will be charged, which New York airport will be served and whether it will start the planned daily flights from Paris or Brussels. A BA spokeswoman explained that uncertainty about the New York slot situation made it impossible to sort out timings and decide which of the two European cities should be the operation's launch point. Earlier, Robert Boyle, BAs commercial director, said slots had been secured at Newark but admitted JFK was preferred. New York's main airport, however, faces problems with congestion, rising delays and creaking infrastructure leading to a review of the slot position by the airport operator.

FIRST OFF THE MARK BA is still the first major European carrier to launch an operation aimed at exploiting the Open Skies accord, which from March

words: Bruce Hqles'Dufton

8la

gives EU and US airlines access to cities in Europe or the US. Before BA's announcement, most of the attention had been focussed on Heathrow, access to which was seen as the big prize secured by US negotiators. Airlines like Continental and Delta have revealed plans to move into what is already one of the world's most congested airports. so far, though, the only European carrier to do likewise has been

Air France-KLM, which intends to fly between Heathrow and Los Angeles. BA was first to seek regulatory approval for its plans. How will its rivals respond? Analyst Chris Avery pointed out that American Airlines is a BA partner in the oneworld alliance.'l wonder what American thinks of its European routes being trampled on by its partneri he mused. But BA seems to have stirred up trouble closer to home. lts 3,000 pilots are concerned that OpenSkies, which is recruiting externally but is also expected to use some mainline pilots,

will put the

BA brand at risk by

employing

less experienced crews. They also fear its pay scales could even drag down those on the BA

mainline. Because BA's announcement pre-empted

talks with the British Airline Pilots'Association (BALPA), the pilots' representatives were apparently taken by surprise. This has done little to ease their suspicions, but BALPA general secretary Jim McAulan said:'The new subsidiary can only fly successfully with the full support of BA's pilot force. We have issues with BA on how the new services should be structuredi A BA spokeswoman told Aircraft lllustroted in mid-January that talks with BALPA

were'ongoing.'

Some observers thought it ironic that BA should now be preparing to take advantage

of the (albeit limited) liberalisation resulting from Open Skies, but the BA spokeswoman disclosed that BA had been contemplating the move for about a year and that planning had actually started before the accord had been finalised. She said:'lt presented us with an opportunity we'd not had before: to fly between points in the US and EU. We have a strong brand presence in both.' Until the announcement, BA's new initiative had been known internally as Project Lauren.That, explained the new operation's managing director, Dale Moss, was because

'Lauren happens to be the name of my first granddaughter'. Previously BA's director of

worldwide sales, Moss added:'This airline very much family to me.'

is

OPENSKIES AIRCRAFT OpenSkies will operate initially with one Boeing 757 transferred from its parent's fleet. A second will be added later in the year to

enable the subsidiary to operate from both Paris Charles de Gaulle and Brussels. Other EU cities under consideration include Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Milan and Madrid. Possible additional US destinations include Boston and Wash ington. BA has earmarked

two 757-236s from its mainline fleet for the operation. They are G-BPEJ and G-BPEK, construction numbers 25807 / 61 0 and 25808/665 respectively. According to Dale Moss:'Our plan is to operate six aircraft by the end of 2009, originating in the New York area and flying to a range of destinations throughout Europe.The'planes will be efficient and proven 757s with a redesigned travel ler-friendly cabin configured in three classes: business, premium economy and economy.' The business class cabin will have 24 seats that convert into six flat beds.And when we say flati Moss emphasised,'we mean completely horizontali He claimed this will make OpenSkies one of the only airlines in the market to offer this feature. The 28 premium economy seats will boast a 52in pitch which the airline insisted'is also unique, redefining the premium economy classl Added to the 30 economy seats on board, this means that no more than 82 passengers will be accommodated.'lt's all part of our vision for a more personal flying experiencel Moss insisted, adding:'l d like to say that OpenSkies is dedicated to elevated customer carei BA, however, declined to say what load factors are expected.

The new carrier's 757s will display OpenSkies titles in dove grey lettering on the forward fuselage, but its affiliation to BA will be clearly evident from the wavy red, white and blue tail stripes. The aircraft will also feature retrofitted winglets intended to improve fuel efficiency, cut CO2 emissions and increase operating range.

HOW WIIL IT PERFORM? BA chief executive Willie Walsh hailed the launch of OpenSkies as 'an exciting new venturei and said he was'confident it will be a great success as we build on the strength of BA's brand in the US and Europe'. lndustry

observers agreed that this would make it a more formidable competitor to rival European operators on their home turf than they might be to BA if and when they start flying from Britain to the US. At the time, BA's carping about the accordl terms was seen as nothing more than an attempt to defend its grip on Heathrow. But, to some degree, its objection was based on a beliefthat the deal was rather one-sided and that the US had gained more from Open Skies than it had been prepared to give (see boxed item). Perhaps, then, there's a touch of irony in the moniker BA has chosen for its new subsidiary. 'By naming the airline OpenSkiesi said Walsh, 'we're celebrating the first major step in 60 years towards a liberalised US/EU aviation market which means we can fly between any US and EU destination. lt also signals our determination to lobby for further liberalisation in this market when talks between the EU and US take place later this yearJ Well, perhaps. Only last year Walsh was speculating that thls year! US Presidential election, coupled with a change in the European Commission in 2009, could stall progress on the second stage ofthe Open Skies accord, the first of which runs until 2010. Meanwhile, opinions are divided on whether or not now is a good time to be launching a new airiine. Despite fears of a credit crunch in the wake of the collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market and a decline in business travel, BA seems confident. ButVirgin Atlantic, which last year was talking about starting trans-Atlantic operations from European cities, seems to be having second thoughts. An airline spokesman told ABTN, the online travel industry newsletter, that Virgin was putting plans for a premium-only airline bn ice'because, as the situation stands, it would have to'be wound up' in a year and a half. One analyst who asked not to be named told Aircraft lllustrated he thought OpenSkies

will'struggle'. Although its aircraft will come from BA's own fleet, he considered the757 to be inefficient equipment for the type of operation proposed'with fuel the price it isi Observers also fret about the close correlation between stock-market movements and the business travel market.'BA is one ofthe first to start worrying when business travel starts to drop offi said one. Most, however, seem agreed that it may be a year or two before OpenSkies can be hailed a success or branded a failure in the new world of Open Skies.

al9

il-ilrr{clvtt

Jomie Hunter

BA 777 crcrsh-ldnds

Air transport safety concerns came a little too close to home on 17 January when a British Airways Boeing 777 -236 (G-YMMM) dramatically crash-landed at London Heathrow. The aircraft was operating flight 8A038 from Beijing, China, and appears to have suffered engine power loss in the final moments of the flight, causing it to touch down on the grass short of runway 271, coming to rest on the runway threshold. AII 1 36 passengers were evacuated on emergency slides and only three suffered minor injuries - it appears to have been a textbook operation by the BA cabin crew.The airline was quick to praise all 16 staff members aboard the aircraft, and their actions helped prevent this incident escalating into a major disaster. However, many passengers were surprised that the flight deck crew didn't make even a brief announcement to brace, or make them aware that an emergency had dramatically developed in the final moments of the flight. The aircraft was on final approach to 271 under the control of senior first officer John Coward when, according to the initial Air Accident lnvestigation Branch (AAIB) report,'the auto-throttle demanded more thrust from the (two Rolls-Royce Trent 895) engines, and they failed to respondiThis caused airspeed to bleed offand the aircraft progressively adopted an unusually nose-high attitude as it clawed for lift to make it to the airfield.The report added that that despite further demands for increased thrust from the auto-throttle, and the flight crew moving the throttle levers, the engines did not respond.The slowing aircraft limped over the perimeter fence, couldn't reach the runway, and touched down on the grass on the extended centreline of 271. The aircraft only skidded a short distance (about 350m)

following touchdown on the grass, suggesting that it was probably close to stalling speed. Capt Peter Burkill paid his tribute to his crew at a news conference:'Flying is about teamwork and we had an outstanding team on board. As captain of the aircraft I am glad to say that every member of my team played their part expertly. No one more so than my senior first officer, John Coward, the handling pilot on the final approach. He did the most remarkable jobl The main landing gear dug into the soft ground as it touched down, ripping off the right main wheels and forcing the left main gear up through the wing root. lnspection ofthe engines suggested that they were stationary or at very low power settings upon impact with the ground. The incident is remarkable in nature.The flight crew clearly ran into the trouble very late into the approach and had little time to react, only declaring an emergency late on finals. lf the power loss had occurred earlier then the incident could have been catastrophic. British Airways operates 43 Boeing 777s,and around 667 are in operation around the world.The aircraft has an excellent safety record, without a single hull loss to date. Experts are still trying to assess the reason for the power loss, and fuel contamination is understood to be one option being evaluated. Weather or a multiple bird strike are not understood to be factors being considered. British Airways has praised its staff and indeed the pilots who seem to have done an excellentjob in the dire circumstances. Some eyebrows have nonetheless been raised that the Boeing 777 fleet has not been grounded or restricted in operations, given that the accident is probably being attributed to a technical failure. However, we will not truly know the facts until the full investigation has been completed.

€lockwise from top left: The damaged British Airways Boeing777-236, G-YMMM, on the grass short of runway 27L at Heathrow. PA Photos

Firefighters douse the sfticken 777, with the escape

thutes visible.

PA

Photos

The short distan(e in which the 777 came to a halt

indicates that its airspeed must have been very low when the crash-landing was accomplished. lan Black The removal operation proceeding at night. PA Photos

Virgin scrops oll-premium plons

Euro flight surge

Virgin Atlantic has abandoned immediate plans to launch an all-premium trans-Atlantic operation from mainland Europe, claiming that the lack offollow-on Open Skies progress has rendered the venture too risky. Last summerVirgin, outlined its intention to launch all-premium services between contlnental Europe and the USA during 2008, but CEO Steve Ridgway said that aircraft and product challenges made it uncertain whether the carrier would go ahead with the move. The carrier has now confirmed that it has abandoned the plan, with an airline spokeswoman saying:'Virgin Atlantic can confirm that it has put on hold its plans for a business-only carrier operating between key European cities and New York. With no progress being made on the crucial next stage of the Open Skies talks, it would be too risky to start this new venture with the likelihood that the first stage of Open Skies could be reversed in 2010. Our plans will remain on ice until there is clearer progress. Virgin Atlantic would like to see European carriers being allowed to fly onwards within the USA as soon as possible, as US carriers will be allowed to fly onwards within Europe from March 2008.'

The Eurocontrol organisation has revealed that the number offlights in Europe surged to approximately 10 million in 2007, an all-time high and an increase of 5.3 per cent on 2006. Average daily traffic wa s pul al27 ,676 flights compared to 26,286in 2006.Traffic growth has been strongest in eastern Europe, with several states seeing growth near 20 per cent, while Finland, Sweden, Azores and the Canary lslands posted results lower than the European average. The reason for the increase is placed at the door ofthe low-cost carriers (up 25 per cent) and business aviation (1 0 per cent), which together accounted for nearly all the new flights. Delays are also on the rise, affecting 1 1 per cent offlights, up from just under 1 0 per cent in 2006. Most of these delays are attributed to the airlines, with l6 per cent coming from airports, 1 2 per cent from en route factors and only 9 per cent from weather. Air traffic flow management delays caused by ATC capacity, staffing, weather and aerodrome capacity increased from an average of 1.9 minutes perflight in 2006 to 2.1 minutes in 2007. Eurocontrol Director General David McMillan warned that air trafflc control is operating at capacity in some places with a real risk of significant delays this summer. The number of flights in 2008 is expected to rise 4.2 per cent, with major growth in the Adriatic coast region and in Poland and the Baltics and low cost airlines accounting for 20 per cent of all flights.

10tE

Big yecrr for Airbus crnd Boeing Moior monufocturers onnounce record 2007 Airbus and Boeing have both announced significant sales successes in 2007. Airbus recorded another blockbuster year with deliveries of 453 aircraft, 19 more than in 2006 and 1 2 more than Boeing. The European manufacturer racked up a record 1 ,341 net orders worth 51 57.1 billion, slig htly less than Boeing s 1,41 3 net orders.They both now have the sobering challenge ofdelivering these on time. Airbus made a stunning recovery from its troubles in 2007, with its 4380 entering service flawlessly with Singapore Airlines and the A350XWB winning the prized Emirates order. During the year it delivered 367 A320family

aircraft, six 4300 freighters, T9 4330/A340s and one 4380.The firm net orders comprised 9'13 4320 family aircraft,405 4330s/A340s/A350s and 23 4380s.The A350XWB has really come good and is provlng popular with 292 firm orders. The end of 2007 saw Airbus reaching a backlog of 3,421 aircraft, representing six years of production and the highest backlog ever in aviation industry. The company expects to deliver more than 470 aircraft this year, with orders'above' that figure.

Boeing smashed its previous commercial aircraft sales record in 2007,

with 80 customers placing orders for 1,413 aircraft. The manufacturer topped the 1,000-0rder mark for the third consecutive year after posting 1,005 orders in 2005 and 1,044in 2006. lt set sales records forthe Boeing 787 and 737, while rhe747,777 and767 programmes also passed order milestones. The 2007 orders take Boeing's backlog close to Airbus at around 3,400.

fhe737 had a bumper year, setting a third consecutive annual record with net orders for 846, breaking the previous tallies of 729 net orders in 2006 and 569 in 2005. The type (originally launched in 1 965) passed the 7,000 total order mark last year, underscoring the longevity ofthe design.The 787 also enjoyed a record-setting year despite the delays that have been announced, clocking up 369 orders in 2007. Boeing freighters also enjoyed a third consecutive record sales year, with 83 gross orders for cargo aircraft in 2007 , up from 81 in 2006 and 74in2005.

Embrqer sets delivery record Embraer's 61 fourth-quarter 2007 deliveries boosted its year total to 1 69 aircraft, up 30 per cent on 2006 and a company record. The Brazilian manufacturer delivered some 45 commercial aircraft in the last quarter of 2007, taking the 2007 tally to I30 commercial

ltsfirm backlogasof3l Decemberwasawhopping518.8billion,with51.1 billionofthishaving been announced at the Dubai Air Show in November. ln 2008, the company expects to

aircraftcomprisingsevenEMB-145s, 11E-170s,34E-175s,68E-l90sand10E-195s.

deliver about 195 to 200 aircraft in total and about the same number in 2009.

UK ROUND.UP Ryonoir bose of Bournemouth Ryanair has chosen Bournemouth Airport as its newest base, with the airport having won in competition against other airports in Europe to become the carrier's 24th European base. From April, Ryanair will base a Boeing 737-800 there to operate to Malaga, Murcia, Nantes, Palma and Wroclaw as it increases capacity to fly one million passengers per year from Bournemouth. However, Ryanair's proposalto establish operations at Milan Malpensa have been rejected by airports operator SEA, which is 84.5 per cent controlled by the municipality of Milan. The carrier unveiled plans in September to set up a base at Malpensa with up to 12 aircraft operating on 50 European and '10 domestic routes in response to Alitalia's plan to reduce its presence at the airport as part of a reorganisation effort.

Flybe fronchise deol with Logonoir Flybe has announced a franchise agreement with Scottish airline Loganair that will see the latter take to the skies in Flybe colours from 26 October. Airline chiefs have said that the deal will deliver more UK and European flight connections to passengers in Scotland. Loganair provides services throughoutthe Highlands and lslands with a fleet of Saab 340s, lslanders and Twin Otters, while Flybe flies from four Scottish airports. The new franchise will not affect the 40 per cent core fares discount given to passengers from Orkney, Shetland, the Western lsles, lslay, Jura, Caithness and North-West Sutherland. But, Flybe CEO Jim French said:'This landmark agreement, the first time a low-cost carrier has entered into such a franchise arrangement, is an exciting development in the evolution of the low-cost model and one which Flybe sees as a valid strategic option for the future. lt is also a win-win for both airlines. For Flybe, we will see our presence in the key Scottish market greatly enhanced and will benefit from increased passenger traffic into our existing network. For Loganair, the alliance is a major opportunity to bring the recognised brand of Europe's Iargest regional airline and the benefits of the low-cost model to hundreds ofthousands of passengersl Flybe has now announced the launch ofa newthree times daily service from Aberdeen to Gatwick, the airline having been in talks with Aberdeen Airport since BA announced it was axing the service last year. lt will begin operating the service from 30 March with an Embraer 195.

all

1

il-flrlClvlt AROUND THE WORTD Delto in merger tolks Delta Air Lines is holding talks with both Northwest Airlines and United Airlines about a possible merger after the board of directors gave CEO Richard Anderson direction to explore options with both carriers. Northwest is shaping up as the most likely option as Mr Anderson came to Delta from Northwest and knows both companies very well. The two airlines'route maps are considered to be complimentary and Northwest would enhance Delta with its extensive Asian network.The fleet issue is a difficult one - Delta's mainly Boeing inventory would clash with Northwest's mostly Airbus fleet. lf they were to merge, Delta would probably be the surviving name as Northwest is considered too

regional. Both carriers have a relationship with the Air France-KLM group, which and may have the last word on any merger and might already be involved in the negotiations. lt is possible that AF-KLM would want a portion of the new merged airline and anti-trust considerations will be considered along with the possible loss of service to small cities. Any announcement will probably ignite other large mergers as carriers attempt to reduce costs through consolidation.

Singopore Airlines lotest The second production Airbus 4380 (c/n 005) was handed over to 5ingapore Airlines on 1 1 January in line with the latest delivery schedule. By the end of 2007, the first SIA 4380 had accumulated over 1 30 flights and around 950 flight hours.The ajrline had to cancel 4380

fliqhtSQ22lasaprecautiononl0January,puttingpassengersonaback-upBoeing747-400, after the a problem with the tow bar on the tug that was pushing the 4380 back off its stand. The 4380 was disconnected and rolled into the grass and mud. When the aircraft came to a stop, four wheels ended up offthe pavement, but the aircraft was not damaged.

Clickoir slows progress Clickair may have carried 4.5 million passengers in 2007, in line with its business plan, but full-year revenue came in lower than forecast according to CEO Alex Cruz. Speaking rc Aircraft lllustrated, Cruz also confirmed the airline would scale down its planned fleet expansion this year. Two new A320s are scheduled to be delivered in February and March, but deliveries beyond that are being put on hold. The carrier ended 2007 with 23 aircraft and had planned to increase that to 30 bythe end ofthis year. Cruz says he favours a cautious approach in this difficult environment.'Our contracts allow us flexibility, which also means we can add more capacity later in the year if the market conditions improvei he said. However, he remains extremely pleased with the operational side of the airline's first full calendar year, adding:'We ended the year with the lowest CASK (cost per seat kilometre) ever achieved by a European low-cost carrier operating to main airports: Clickair, which is 20 per cent controlled by lberia, will add some 1O routes this year, including Barcelona to Asturias, Alicante, Brussels and Dubrovnik during February alone.

Londing on ice Australian airline Skytraders has been awarded route authority from Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to fly between Australia and Antarctica. The company can now fly passengers from Hobart to the ice runway located at the Wilkins Aerodrome near the Australian Antarctic Division's Casey Station. lt will carry scientists and other personnel going to the station. The flight is about four hours each way for the Airbus 43 1 9-1 1 5LR (VH-VHD, cln 1999, formerly F-GYAS). The company had to demonstrate the ability to handle the unique flights and often severe operating conditions. The aircraft must have sufficient fuel capacity to safely make a return trip (there is no fuel in Antarctica) or be able to turn around in flight should the weather turn bad. lt must also be able to complete the trip if it loses an engine. The first historic trip took place on 1 1 January between Hobart and the blue ice runway at Wilkins. The flight, with 20 passengers, took four-and-a-half hours one-way. The A546-million ice runway took two years to build and actually drifts about 36 feet a year due to glacial movement! Flights will not be open to regular passengers. Passengers waiting to board Airbus

A3t9-l

15LR PA Photos

of Skytraders on the Antarctica ice.

Virgin biofuel test Virgin Atlantic is planning to fly one of its Boeing 747-4OOs on a biofuel during a demonstration flight in February. lt will be the first time that a commercial aircraft has operated with biofuel in-flight and is part of a major initiative among some airlines and Boeing to discover sources of sustainable aircraft fuel for the future. TheVirgin Atlantic Boeing 747 willflyfrom Heathrowto Amsterdam on a demonstration flight, with no passengers on board, using a sustainable type of biofuel that doesn't compete with food and fresh water resources. The flight, in conjunction with Boeing and engine maker GE Aviation, is part of Virgin's drive to reduce its environmental impact.

SPECIAT REPORT

w; A"ti '.1

ARJ2I rolled out Chino's AVIC I unveils new oirliner he Shanghai Aviation lndustrial Group's Dachang facility was the focus of attention for the world airliner market on 21 December when AVIC I officially rolled out its all-new ARJ 21700 commercial aircraft, China is looking to tackle the airline industry head-on. In an effort to streamline production, it is reportedly now seeking to re-merge its Aviation lndustries of China (AVIC) | and ll plants in order to better position itself to become a major player in the sector. Shanghai-based AVIC l's new ARJ 21-700

is

the go-seat first variant of the type, with a Iarger 1 05-seater -900 series planned to follow. The ARJ 21 (ARJ standing for Advanced Regional.let)

dates back to State Council approval in 2002. The aircraft draws heavily upon Western suppliers, with a Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21-based cockpit avionics suite, a Sagem flight deck control system to interface with the fly-by-wire system and its twin General Electric CF34-1 0A engines. The design ofthe ARJ 21 has been specifically developed to meet performance parameters required for the diverse and demanding conditions in China, including the'hot-and-high' airports at altitude in the west of the cou nty. The ARJ 21 is intended to offer powerful take-off and climb performance to best suit it for use at'basic airports with short runwaysi The first flight of the ARJ 2l is scheduled to happen in the next few months (probably in

March) and an intensive flight test programme is planned in order to achieve Civil Aviation Administration of China certification in 2009. This will meet its first delivery commitment to launch customer Shandong Airlines in September 2009. So far, the ARJ 21 has notched up firm orders for 35 aircraft, for as well as Shandong the aircraft has been chosen by Shanghai Airlines and Shenzhen Leasing. AVIC I has teamed up with Canadian

manufacturer Bombardier to develop the new well as to establish longterm strategic co-operation for the developmenl of 90-149-seat commercial aircraft.This latter version could be ready for service entry by 201 l, and a further series of developments is likely to include an extended range version as well as a freighter variant. The ARJ 21 marks the start of what are huge plans for Chinese commercial aviation manufacturing. The industry has taken a big step forward with the ARJ 21, but larger aircraft are very much part of the future picture as the industry looks to challenge Airbus and Boeing directly on the world market. Next on the horlzon could be a I so-seat airliner, and a formal announcement on thls latest project is expected soon. Add to this the involvement of Chinese firms in joint ventures with Western manufacturers, and it is clear that China intends to become a major'powerhouse'in this sector. ARJ 21-900 version, as

Top: The first ARJ 21 -700 was rolled out on 21

December with all the ceremony you'd expect for such an occasion in China, PA Photos Left: The design of the ARJ 21 has been optimised for the Chinese market, but Western influenres are very strong. So too is Western involvement in the programme. PA Photos

at13

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CIVIt

I

Orders! Orders! ln brief Air lronte-Kllll agreed in December to buy VLM Airlines, the Belgian regional carrier and the biggest operator at London City Airport. The takeover move, which is subject to approval, defeated rival interest from British Airways and was announced on Christmas Eve. This makes Air France-KLM the dominant carrier at London City, controlling almost half of all operations there. lt also makes the French carrier the world's biggest airline measured by turnover.

Ihe lroubled

ATG (Aviation Technology Group) Javelin

light jet programme seems doomed. Most of the company's employees have been made redundant and funds appear to have dried up.

I

Air Pacific has ordered three additional Boeing787-9s, making a total of eight. lt is also taking three purchase rights. I AWAS, the Dublin-based lessor, gave Airbus a strong start to the year with an order for 75 A320s plus 25 options. The firm aircraft will bring its Airbus portfolio to 1 45 units, the manufacturer said. The deal is valued at 56.9 billion at list prices. AWAS currently owns and manages more than 320 aircraft and said it is one of the worldt three largest aircraft lessors. I China Airlines has signed up for 14 A350-900s from Airbus and taken another six on option. China Airlines intends to start using the A350XWB from 2015. I LOT Polish Airlines has signed a contract for 12 Embraer 175s plus two options and 10 purchase rights. LOT will

become the largest E-Jet operator in Europe once the jets are delivered. Niki has converted 1 0 options for the Airbus 4320 family into firm orders.The aircraft will be delivered starting in 2010. PrivatAir has converted a Boeing 787-8 purchase right into a firm order. The company now has two 787s on firm order plus one remaining purchase right. According to PrivatAir CEO Greg Thomas, 'The ever-increasing demand from charter customers for long-range, large-cabin

I I

aircraft shows no sign of abating.' Brazilian carrier TAM Linhas A6reas has firmed up its order for 22 43SOXWBs and for four additional 4330-200s. The airline, based in 56o Paulo, has furthermore

I

added another 20 A320 family aircraft to the initial order.

Aer Aronn has announced a franchise agreement with Nex Aviation that will add jets to its fleet and four new routes its network. The airline will wet-lease two BAe 1 46-200s from Nex Aviation to launch new routes to the continent, operating alongside Aer Arann's current fleet of 4 ATR turboprops. New destinations of Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Malaga, and Faro are all planned from Galway and Waterford Airports from May. 1

Midwest Airlines announced that Skyway Airlines, which provides regional services as Midwest Connect, will cease flying before the end of March as operations are transferred to SkyWest Airlines under the terms of a fiveyear agreement that took effect last April.The latter will use 5o-seat CRJ-200s as opposed to the 32-seat Dornier 328Jets used by Skyway.

Howoiiqn Airlines may be forced to cancel its Airbus order for six 305-seat A330-200s and six 322-seat A350-800XWBS.The airline is facing an Airbus and Rolls-Royce deadline to finalise the order but pilots have not agreed to fly the new aircraft. The ALPArepresented pilots are asking for a new contract that addresses their concerns involving sick leave, rest facilities on long-haul flights and other issues. Contract negotiations have dragged on for over a year. The company will not be able to move ahead with the new aircraft without a new contract with the pilots. Anslerdom Airlines

is a new carrier being proposed by former VLM owner Rosen Jacobson. The prospective lowcost carrier is planning to lease Airbus A320s, although no start-up date has been disclosed.

Yeli Airlines

has teamed up with Air Arabia to fly lowcost international flights from Nepal. Since 20 January, the airline has operated to Sharjah using a Boeing 737-800. It plans to add Doha, Kuala Lumpur and various cities in lndia later. lt has received permission to operate to 14 destinations in Asia. This is the second joint venture for fast-growing Air Arabia which will be a major shareholder with more than 25 per cent of the stock.

SunExpress, the joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, will open a third base in Turkey at lstanbul Sabiha Gokcen this summer. lt will base two

aircraft there starting with the new summer schedule, operating flights to eastern Anatolia and western European destinations.

Iollowing lhe withdrawal of

Polish airline White Eagle from Dundee airport on 7 December, the joint venture with Fly Whoosh ground to a halt, stranding its passengers. Services to Birmingham and Belfast ceased after the Polish carrier pulled out on

'commercial groundsl

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Jomie Hunter

Ecrgles bcrck in the crir USAF returns mony F-l5s to flight After over a month of grounding, the USAF returned a portion of its F-l 54 to D Eagle force to the air on 8.lanuary following a directive from Air Combat Command (ACC). The'limited return to flight'followed the completion of engineering risk assessments and data received from fleet-wide inspections, but only about 60 per cent ofthe total Eagle force was cleared to return to flight operations. ACC chiefGen John Corley received a briefing on the findings ofthe accident investigation of the 2 November loss of a Missouri ANG F- l 5C that led to the grounding, and also received feedback from Boeing and USAF structural experts. ln his announcement, he commented:Aircraft inspection results and counsel from both military and industry experts have made me confident in the safety of a portion ofthe fleet. As a result, I have cleared those F-'l 5s to return to flyj The aircraft that remain grounded do so because they are considered not to meet'blueprint specificationsi according to ACC. One USAF insider went as far as to say'many of these aircraft may never fly again: However it is believed that most ofthe F-1 5 force will be returned to operations over the coming month. Structural experts from Warner Robins AFB have said that cracks have been found in both the right and left upper cockpit longerons of nine aircraft. A thinning ofthe longeron at a key stress point, possibly due to a manufacturing defect, may be the root cause ofthe trouble. Replacement longerons can be manufactured at Robins and retrofitted as required, but this has a significant lead time.

A pilot climbs out of an F- l 5A Eagle from the Hawaii ANG's 1 99th Fighter Squadron at Hickam AFB on 9 January after flying a training mission for currency. This followed the return to flight of some F-l 5A to D aircraft. USAF

USAF leaders have clearly used the F-1 5 grounding to their advantage in pushing for more F-22A Raptors. One senior USAF officer likened the F-15 grounding to the USAF'having a heart attacki

IThe bad news for the F-1 5 hasn't stopped Boeing securing support for the type. The Republic of Singapore has now announced a follow-on order for 24 mo(e F-15S examples, the company emphasising that age ls the key factor in the USAF troubles and that newer F-1 5Es and derivatives are not affected.

lqtest RAF upgrodes announced two key Royal Air Force combat aircraft support deals over the last month. First up is an f84-million contract for the development of Hanier GR9 Capability E. This comes as an addition to the costly f 500-million GR9 baseline upgrade and builds on Capabilities A to D that are already being BAE Systems has

implemented across the RAF fleet. Capability E involves the design, development, integration and clearance of a number of systems including software functionality for secure communications, a replacement video recording system, modified Auxiliary Communications Navigation ldentification Panel (ACNIP), the establishment of a second secure communications channel and the introduction of Tactical lnformation Exchange Capability (TIEC). As with the previous phases, Capability E will be introduced to the Harrier force as part of the Harrier Joint Upgrade and Maintenance Programme (JUMP) at RAF Cottesmore. Capability C, which includes Paveway ll+ and the Sniper advanced targeting pod, is currently being introduced across the GR9 fleet, with Capability D bringing in the MBDA Brimstone anti-armour weapon and Joint Reconnaissance Pod (JRP) by 2009. All remaining Harrier GRTs and T1 0 trainers should have been cycled through the basellne GR9/f12line byJune 2009. TheTornado GR4/4Ais also in line for new BAE Systems upgrades under the f200-million CU5(P), this standing for Capability Upgrade Strategy (Pilot). CUS(P) will involve the design, development and integration of upgraded secure communications and the introduction of a Tactical Datalink Capability as well as the integration of Paveway lV. Capability A will provide the new communications and Paveway lV followed by Capability B's datalink.

Seo King blqde upgrqde completed QinetiQ and ATEC (the AircraftTest & Evaluation Centre) at Boscombe Down have completed the t5.25-million Carson blade upgrade programme on the Royal Navy Sea King HC4 fleet.The retrofit of the new Carson main rotor blades was completed under an Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) for the HC4s of 846 NAS deploying to Afghanistan.The new system generates an increase of up to 2,0001b in maximum hover mass at high altitude plus a significant increase in the maximum forward speed.

16lA

FR

supports King Airs

Hawker Beechcraft has announced that

FR

BAE receives JSF contrqct

Aviation at Bournemouth lnternational Airport is a new Authorised Service Centre for the Beechcraft family of aircraft. This is likely to directly relate to a new batch of King Air 350s that the UK MoD has recently purchased for Urgent Operational Requirements (UOR). Nigel Guz, the company's business development executive for Special Mission Aircraft, commented:'FR Aviation is a key provider

BAE Systems has received f 25 million worth of funding for its participation in the build of the first F-35 Low-Rate lnitial Production (LRIP) aircraft. The contract will see the manufacturer delivering the

of special-mission services and we see many opportunities for closer co-operation.'

annual LRIP'lots' initially as manufacturing increases towards full-rate production.

aft fuselage and empennage (vertical and horizontal tails) for two F-35A Conventional Take-off and Landing (CTOL) variants of the

Lightning ll. JSF production is limited to

lYphoon sweeps into frclnche 2

Eurofighter Typhoon lPAT (serial 98+07), the first Tranche 2 aircraft, making its initial flight at Manching on 16 January. Reinhard Bayer

First flight of lotest stondord Typhoon mode ot Monching Eurofighter has notched up the first flight of a Tranche 2 Typhoon, the milestone occurring at Manching in Germany on 16 January. Single-seat aircraft IPAT (lPA standing for lnstrumented Production Aircraft) from EADS Military Air Systems was flown by Chris Worning. lt represents the first fullTranche 2 build standard aircraft and it will be used to gain Type Acceptance for the latest Block 8 standard Typhoon, planned for April. BAE Systems is operating lPA6 at Warton as a Block 8 aircraft, but this is a Tranche 1 aircraft that has been upgraded with the Tranche 2 mission computer suite and avionics features. The EurofighterTranche 2 production contract was signed back 93 for the RAF, 75 for in December 2004, and includes 251 aircraft Germany,48 for ltaly and 35 for Spain.The total includes 15 Tranche 1 aircraft that are planned to be diverted to Austria, with the figure being added toTranche 2 to make up overall partner nation numbers. Tranche 2 deliveries will run through to 2013, and 32 aircraft are already in final assembly.

REST OF THE WORTD Morocco looks ot Vipers Lockheed Martin looks to be close to securing a deal to supply F-1 6s to Morocco. The US Congress has been notified of the possible sale of 24 Block 50/52 F-1 6ClDs as well as 24 T-68 trainers in a deal that could be worth up to 52.6 billion. Morocco had previously rejected a bid by Dassault for the Rafale bid in favour of the'Viperi lf the sale goes through, it is expected that the F-1 6s will be latest standard examples complete with JHMCs, the newest radar and conformal tanks.

Conodo buys C-130J On 1 8 January, Lockheed Martin confirmed that Canada had signed a $ 1.4-billion contract for 1 7 new C-1 30Js. The Canadian Forces C-1 30Js will be the stretched C- 1 30J-30 versions (CC-l 30Js) and will be delivered from 2010. Jim Grant, Lockheed Martin vice president for Air Mobility and Special Operations Forces, said:'This contract begins the process for working with Canadian industry to establish a 20year In-Service Support (lSS) programme for the new fleeti Canada currently operates 32 CC-1 30E/Hs. The C-1 30J was selected over the Airbus A400M in 2006. The Canadian AF has already started retiring some older CC-1 30Es, and the Js will see this process being accelerated. All 17 CC-130-Js will be delivered by 2012.

Soudi Arqbiq chooses A33O MRTT The Royal Saudi AF has announced plans to buy EADS 4330 Multi-Role Tanker/Transport (MRTT) aircraft. The Saudi aircraft are planned to feature both the centreline Air Refuelling Boom System (ARBS) and underwing hose and drogue pods. The news came as another blow to the 4330 MRTT's Boeing KC-767 competitor in the region, as it also lost out to EADS in the UAE at the end of 2007.

I

Meanwhile, Eurofighter has ended its participation in the fighter procurement programmes in Denmark and Norway to replace current F-1 6 MLUs. The decision leaves the Lockheed Martin F-35 and Saab JAS39C Gripen as the only candidates remaining. Eurofighter is understood to consider the Norwegian competition as being biased towards the acquisition of J5F, and believes its time is better spent concentrating on its competitions in Greece, lndia, Japan, Switzerland and Turkey. Norway is planning to retire its F-16AM/BM force by 2015 and has now issued a formal request for information (RFl). lt expects to decide formally on 48 new aircraft by 2009.

I

Luftwaffe wing JG 74 at Neuburg in Bavaria (see last month) started the transition to an EF2000-equipped QRA commitment on 8 January, with a launch of two aircraft.The unit's F-4Fs will continue to carry out QRA missions alongside the Eurofighters untilthe middle of the year.

lndio looks of more Howks The lndian AF is gaining support over plans to increase its BAE Systems Hawk Mkl 32 buy. The IAF is already on contract for 66 Hawk advanced jet trainers (AJTs) and another 57 could be added, comprising 40 for the IAF and 1 7 for the lndian Navy. The existing deal for 66 aircraft did involve options for follow-on sales and a protracted negotiation period for additional orders is not expected, unlike the decision for the initial batch which was years in the offing. The first two Hawk Mki 32s for the IAF left Warton in November 2007 bound for Bidar.

Pqkistqn to get more F- l6s Lockheed Martin has finalised a 5498.2-million contract to supply 18 new Block 52F-16s to Pakistan, which could receive up to 36 new and refurbished examples. Pakistan ordered a total of 1 1 1 Block 15 F-16A/Bs in the 1980s; ofthese, Tl were embargoed by the US due to the Pakistan nuclear weapons programme.23 were actually built and stored for many years at DavisMonthan before being distributed evenly between the USAF test community and the US Navy adversary force. The USAF has already relinquished these airframes, which are finally being prepared to be refurbished and delivered to Pakistan as part of the latest deal. The US Navy examples at Fallon are likely to follow

dl17

Tf{TIIf N'IILTTARY

Briefing room Gullslreom ir leading

Hot HAR.IUI? QF-4G lounches new missile

with

its F/A-l8C/D Hornet

version ofthe AGM-88 HARM.

French Alpho Jets upgroded The French AF has secured funding for a long-standing requirement to upgrade its Alpha Jets to better suit the role as lead-in fighter trainers. A 533.4-million deal with Thales and Sabca of Belgium includes a modest cockpit avionics upgrade for 20 Alpha Jets, which will serve as direct lead-in trainers for pilots progressing to the Rafale force.The upgrade includes a new head-up display, GPS navigation, and air-to-air and

Swiss fighrer updote

Meanwhile, the Swiss

carrying and firing what appears to be a ramjet-powered

mystery. From inspection of the poor quality images that accompany the release, the missile appears to be a ramjetpowered version of the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM). Maj Markle's comments offer a little more indication:'This is a new high-speed, antiradiation missile the Navy designed to defeat SAM threatsi Lt Col Joel Rush, Det 1 commander, further commented: 'With this successful test, we have pioneered a new venue to test forward-firing ordnance without risk to valuable alr assets or crew members.' This airborne live firing trial seems to have revealed a hitherto unseen AGM-88 derivative, possibly developed in secrecy under the US Navy's Higher Speed Anti-radiation Missile Demonstration (HSAD) programme that has been running for several years. lt had been thought that the Navy was placing emphasis on the AGM-88E AARGM as its next SEAD missile to replace the HARM. Whether it is pure coincidence that it is a QF-4G (formerly a'Wild Weasel') that was performing the test is still open to question.

EUROPE

AF is moving ahead

A USAF QF-4G

USAF

ln a surprising media release from the USAF, it has been revealed that the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron has been called upon to perform test work with an unidentified new suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) missile. A QF-4G from the squadron's Det 1 at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, launched the missile (as seen here) during a trial over the White Sands test range on 9.lanuary, marking the first time an air-to-ground missile had been fired from a full-scale aerial target (FSAT) drone QF-4. The QF-4G, sporting faint tiger stripes that it has worn for some time, was operated unmanned in remote control mode from a ground station. Maj John Markle, the detachment's operations officer, commented:'This test is an important part of our mission because it increases survivability of our airmen going against (surface-to-air missile) threats. Furthermore, it's the first time the drone has been able to shoot backl As well as being remarkable due to the unusual use of the QF-4 as a launch platform for a missile, the actual missile that was fired has turned out to be a bit of a

The Swiss Government issued a request for proposals on 7 )anuaryfor a new fighter to replace its remaining F-5ElF Tiger lls. The competition will be between the Boeing F / A-13E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab JAS39 Gripen. Flight evaluations are expected this year as the aggressive procurement works towards the F-5t retirement by 2012 at latest.

the programme to enhance self-protection for the USAF s five C-37As through installation of the Northrop Grumman

upgrade (HUG). The 33 Swiss Hornets are now moving into'Upgrade 25' thanks to a new 5535million deal with Boeing that builds on the original 'Upgrade 21' project. lt includes the procurement of 20 AN/ASQ-228A(V) Advanced Tactical Forward Looking lnfra-red (ATFLIR) pods for a precision strike capability, as well as AN/ALR-67(V)3 Electronic Warfare Countermeasures Receiving systems and a new Joint Mission Planning System.

air-to-ground fi re control simulation. Prototype testing is planned to start in 2009. Subsequent serial production upgrades will be supplied in kit form.

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fhe Gernon ministry ofdefence has ordered four Bombardier Global 5000 business jets and two Airbus A319s forVlP transport and medical evacuation duties.The aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 201 1 and will replace the current C1601 Challenger fleet.The new Bombardier aircraft will be able to carry an intensive care patient transport unit, and Lufthansa joint venture German Operating Aircraft Leasing is acting as subcontractor for the acquisition of the Global 5000s. Thoi Avinlion lndustries has awarded Rockwell Collins the second phase of a contract

to upgrade the Royal Thai AF! fleet ofC-l 30 Hercules with integrated Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/ AirTraffic Management (CNS/ATM). The fi rst phase called for completing the avionics upgrade on six C-1 30s and Phase 2

will include the avionics system upgradeforthe

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EAGLE IN CRISIS Combat Aircra{t reports on the recent grounding due to structural problems of the USAF's aging F- I 5 force

KOREA -THETHREAT Highly detailed satellite images by DigitalGlobe illustrate the North Korean air bases whose assets pose a threat to the US presence in South Korea

SEA MONSTER Combat Aircraft briefs us on the history and current operations of the venerable Beriev Be- | 2 amphibian. PLUS - Colour artworks

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TNITTTARY

STATESIDE Cqsuo lties Iwo

US Novy Super Hornets collided in midair and crashed in the Northern Arabian Gulf on 7 January.The VFA1 05 F/A-1 8E and VFA-1 1 F/A-1 8F were operating

from the

USS Harry S. Truman. All three crew

The first two VH-71 helicopters have entered the flight test phase at Patuxent River. This is TV-5 flying from the Agustawestland plant at Yeovil before leaving for the USA, US Navy

VH-71 tesfing moves qheqd two Lockheed Martin/Agustawestland VH-71 presidential helicopters for the US Marine Corps have entered flight testing at NAS Patuxent River, MD. Test helicopters TV-2 and TV-5 arrived at'Pax'in November and December from AgustaWestland's facility at Yeovil and will be used initially for structural and propulsion testing. TV-2 and TV-5 are the first of four test aircraft built for the initial phase of the VH-71 programme, known as lncrement One. Two more lncrement One aircraft, TV-3 and TV-4, will undergo additional assembly and mission fitting at Lockheed Martin Systems lntegration, Owego, New York, prior to being transferred to Patuxent River for testing. TV-1, an industry-provided test asset, has been in flight test since shortly after the contract award. The first

'Bones' heqd for upgrode The USAF has started introduclng the Sniper advanced targeting pod across its B-1 B Lancer force. Testing and integration of Sniper for the B-1 has been under way for several years, and now the 65strong active fleet is being cycled through Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, for the upgrade. Boeing is leading the programme under a 53-million initiative that involves uncovering sealed attachment points originally used for carrying long-range air-launched nuclear cruise missiles. They will now be used for the Sniper pod.

C-5 self-defence The USAF is expanding its C-5 Galaxy self-protection system programme. Northrop Grumman's Large Aircraft Infra-Red Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system is being fitted to five C-5s this year, followed by another three in 2009, to increase protection against heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles. The USAF has already added LAIRCM to C-17s following non-catastrophic 2004 attacks near Baghdad that saw a C-1 7 and C-5 being hit by missiles.

New NVGs Air test and evaluation squadron VX-31 from NAWS China Lake has been instrumental in delivering a new NVG capability to front-line US Marine Corps and Navy units. Deployed in lraq, VMFA(AW)-225 has become the first unit to receive the new NightVision Cueing and Display (NVCD) system, providing Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) functionality

integrated into night vision goggles (NVGs) and giving pilots dramatically improved situational awareness. The QuadEye system is a follow-on to the JHMCS helmet including airspeed and incorporates the same symbology and altitude, heading, and indications of where the aircraft as JHMC5 into a four-tube night vision sensors are looking goggle. The two outer tubes can also be removed to create a two-tube version, known as Mini-QuadEye.The US Navy F/A-18 Program Office (PMA-265) has arranged an interim flight clearance for VMFA(AW)-225 to fly with Mini-QuadEye pending full clearance ofthe four-tube set-up.

P-3 novigotion upgroded The US Navy P-3C Orion

force has started receiving the latest Communication Navigation Surveillance/ AirTraffic Management upgrades. Federal Aviation Administration and lnternational Civil Aviation Organisation navigation requirements have lead to these avionics updates being introduced across a numberof aircraft fleets, and the P-3Cs are receiving certification for Mode Select and Required Navigation Performance Area Navigation, using GPS as a primary means

ofnavigation.The Navy has already completed CNS/ATM installations on four P-3Cs, and all aircraft (including EP-3Es) are expected to be upgraded by 201 3.

members were rescued.

A Polish AI C'29s (serial 01 9) crashed on approach to Miroslawiec on 23 January, killing all 20 on board, including senior officers. The aircraft was returning personnel to their bases after an air safety conference in Warsaw. More next month.

0n l6 lonuary,a US Navy MH-53E Sea

Dragon of HM-15 crashed and exploded in a field to the south of Corpus Christi during a night mission.Three ofthe four personnel aboard were killed.

lroq oir strikes increqse The US military stepped up air strikes across lraq in January as it launched Operation'Phantom Phoenix'on 8 January, designed to flush out insurgents in their safe havens. ln one day, the Arab Jabour district south-east of Baghdad was targeted and USAF B-1 Bs and F-1 6Cs dropped 40,0001b of explosives in 10 minutes, one of the largest strikes since the 2003 conflict. According to a senior US military official, the object of the strikes was to'shape the battlefield'and take out 'known threats before our ground troops move in. Our aim was to neutralise any advantage the enemy could claim with the use of lEDs and other weaponsi The latest strategy seems to be to employ air strikes supporting coalition troops as they clear hostile areas before holding and then rebuilding them as they home in on insurgent strongholds.

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Airview o Peter

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Morch

Big chernges for

CAF

B-29 engine rebuild funded by Covonqugh flight Museum deol ond Buch6n sole The long-awaited rebuild of four'custom-built'R-3350 engines for the Commemorative Air Force's B-29 Superfortress Flfl, grounded for some years, came a step closer in January with the announcement of a co-operative agreement between the CAF and the Cavanaugh FIight Museum (CFM), whose main backer Jim Cavanaugh has pledged sponsorship worth 51.2 million towards the project.'This sponsorship, together with additional donations from CAF members, should 9o a long way towards completing the project of putting Flfl back in the air againi said Stephan Brown, President and CEO of the CAF. 5o far, 52 million pledged byTexas inventor and industrialist Joe Jamieson in October 2006 has not been forthcoming. ln addition, the staffofthe CAF'sB-29/B-24 Squadron voted unanimously to move its two aircraft, Flfi and recently-refurbished B-24A Liberator Ol'927, from Midland to the Cavanaugh Flight Museum. Lyn Fite, the leader of the Squadron, said: 'We will reside in Addison, Texas, at the CFM, for six months while we perform annual maintenance and we will tour on behalf of the CAF, with our crews, for the other six months.' This news followed confirmation that the CAF had sold Hispano HA1 1 12-M1 L Buchon'Yellow 14'N109ME last December via Courtesy Aircraft Sales. A CAF spokesperson told A/that it was'part ofthe sale that we do not disclose the buyeri when we asked about speculation that the Buch6n has been acquired by an as yet undisclosed UK customer.The sale price is believed to have been about 5650,000, a further boost to the B-29 re-engining programme. Built by Hispano in 1950 for the Spanish AF as C.4K-31, the Merlinpowered Messerschmitt Bf109 was obtained in 1966, with a number of others, by Hamish Mahaddie to take part in the Battleof Britain movie. Operated by Spitfire Productions at Duxford for filming in 1968 and registered G-AWHE, the Buchon was sold to Connie Edwards at Big Spring,Texas in February 1969. Now registered N109ME, it emerged from storage two years later and joined the then Confederate Air Force at Harlingen, Texas. Over the next 35 years, it had a number of landing accidents and rebuilds. After the most recent restoration, it was flown to the CAF'S HQ at Midland in September 2004, but has been grounded thereafter due to the lack of suitably type-experienced pilots.

Top:The long-running saga ofthe funding required to re-engine the Commemorative Air For(et B-29 Superfortress Fifi, seen here at Midland in Sept€mber, has received a major boost from the Cavanaugh Flight Museum. David Halford Above: The CAF has sold its HAI

1 1

2-M l L Buch6n (Bfl 09J) N1 09ME, which has R. March

not

flown at Midland since arriving in September 2004. Peter

Stqrliner to fly in 20 I O Since last month's issue, in which A/ was the first magazine to report the purchase of Maurice Roundy's three Lockheed L1 6494 Starliners by the

Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin-Stiftung (DLBS), the foundation's parent airline Lufthansa has released further information about the project. DLBS has asked Lufthansa Technik AG to restore one of the aircraft to airworthy condition. A Lockheed 116494 became the first long-haul airliner operated by Lufthansa capable of crossing the Atlantic without refuelling in 1958. When it flies again in 2010, the restored Starliner will take its place alongside Ju52l3m D-CDLH in the DLBS fleet. An initial technical assessment ofthe aircraft by Lufthansa Technik confirmed that one of them, N7316C, can be restored to airworthy condition. Engines and components of the two other Starliners will be used for the restoration process. ln addition to the three airliners, numerous spare parts, as well as extensive documentation comprising repair and overhaul manuals, were obtained at the auction. Lufthansa Technik plans to have the restoration work carried

out mainly in the USA. Engineers and overhaulspecialists from the company's Hamburg facility, including former employees who worked on Starliners in Lufthansa service, will lead the team.The overhaul and restoration work is to commence immediately, and it was reported in mid-January that plans have already been made to move N974R, which saw Lufthansa service as D-ALAN, by road from its current home at the Fantasy of Flight museum at Polk City to Auburn, Maine, where N7316C and N8083H are located. Above left: Two of the L1 649A Starliners that Lufthansa has purchased are still sitting at former owner Maurice Roundy's premises in Auburn, Maine. ln the foreground here is N731 6C, which Lufthansa has earmarked for restoration to

airworthiness. Bill Blanchard/AirTeamlmages.com

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Left: lt is reported that plans are being made to move Starliner N974R from Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida, to join its two stablemates in Maine. Peter

22lA

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March

Yqk-3O flies in

R.ussicl

Historic iet troiner offered for sole Yakovlev Yak-30 jet trainer Bort 80 yellow made its maiden post-restoration flight from Zhukovsky near Moscow in late

December.The 1 961-vintage aircraft had been acquired by a private owner after Yakovlev sold off the contents of its museum following a takeover by the lrkut corporation. Now, it is being offered for sale by Aeroconcept Trading in fully airworthy condition after an airframe and engine overhaul, along with the example of the single-seat Yak-32 derivative that was also bought from the Yakovlev museum, and which is also being made airworthy. Aeroconcept also has various other Yaks for sale, including examples of the Yak-23UTl, Yak-25 and Yak-28P, all of which it says could be brought up to airworthy condition. The swept-wing Yak-30, given the NATO reporting name'Magnum', first flew in 1960. Despite its excellent performance, though, the USSR decided to buy the Czechbuilt Aero L-29 Delfin as the jet trainer for all Warsaw Pact air forces.

Spitfi re RR2 32 proqresses Devon businessman Martin Phillips has already spent

wing cannons, flying instruments, original seats

about seven years working on the restoration of Spitfire lX RR232 in a shed

and various components. Built in 1943, Spitfire HFIXc RR232 was delivered to the RAF at Kinloss. lt was twice damaged and repaired before going to the South African AF as5632 in May 1949. ln January I954, it was sold to the South African Metal & Machinery Co in Cape Town and two decades later the hulk went to Peter 5ledge in Sydney, Australia. Work started on its restoration for static

at his home at Langford near Exeter. Talking about his f 1 million-plus project, he said recently:'We are

making steady progress, but there are lots of engineering problems to overcome, we are looking at another one or two years before it is finishedi He has four Merlin engines, a L70,000

four-bladed

propeller, engine parts,

Vulcon lqfest ln mid-January, Dr Robert

on l8 October, we have

Pleming, Chief Executive of theVulcan to the SkyTrust, gave the latest news on progress towards Vulcan XH558 taking part in UK air displays this summer. 'The next phase in its new life takes the aircraft from today up to its first

chosen to avoid the risk of future fiscal embarrassment by electing to pay for any major work before it starts. 'Whilst the largest proportion of the f575,000 pays for the monthly f70,000 baseline costs of salaries and other vital items, the steepest part of the new challenge is the up-front outlay of f85,000 required now to restart the test flight programme. The costs of the display workup flights and aviation insurance are the other major elements making up the total.

public displayi he said. 'ln funding terms, we estimate that it will cost about t575,000 to meet our target of returning her to public display on 1 June, an amount which is consistent with our estimated gross annual running costs of about f 1.6 million. 'Following on from the enormous financial goodwill shown by many companies, and by Marshall Aerospace in particular, in enabling us to achieve the first test flight

'This leads me to

our revenue-generating activities. Donations are continuing, with some

significant donations coming from well-known

display at Bankstown where it was rolled out in October 1984.RR232 spent a period at Nowra Naval Air Station before being purchased by British collector Charles Church, arriving at Micheldever, Hampshire, on 13 .lanuary 1 987. Following Church's death, the Spitfire was acquired by Jim Pearce and was registered as G-BRSF to Sussex Spraying Services at Shoreham. lt was at Worthing for the

next 12 years, during which time a number of

companies, some of which fund the repayment of our extremely patient credltors following first flight. We continue to seek major donations not only of cash but of support-in-kind, from many different types of companies, groups and individuals, linked to project milestones, through for example fund-raising dinners and events at Bruntingthorpe. However, we cannot be confident that this is a source of revenue on which we can rely in the longer term. 'Gaining commercial sponsorship remains our primary objective for the majority of the longer-term funding of our operation. As we had hoped, the first flight has proved pervasive in establishing our credibility

with potential sponsors... However, the current economic conditions are

components were stolen. Martin Phillips purchased RR232 in 1 999 and set about its restoration the

A recent shot of Martin Phillips' Spitfire lX RR232 under restoration near Exeter. Keith Saunders

following year.

extremely unhelpful: many

Club's membership is not

companies are tightening

only achievable, but would reflect the sentiment of supporters and also provide a proportion of the ongoing revenues now needed by the Trust. The

their belts. True to our philosophy of never giving up, we have decided to go where the cash is: the Middle East. We already have one

potential line of significant interest, but,.. it may well take some time to carefully bring these opportunities to fruition. 'With our migration from a major capital project to an ongoing flow of commitments, we have been looking for ways to match our funding streams to the profile of our costs. 'lt's clear that the Vulcan to the Sky Club, which has almost doubled in membership over the past year, is home to our strongest, most loyal and active supporters. I have agreed with the Club's Committee that a significant growth in the

Club, with the support

of the Trust, is therefore embarking on a significant membership drive. 'We are undertaking a detailed review of our future requirements for our operating base. Our primary needs are clearly operational and maintenance feasibility, and affordability (including grants), however we also need to take into account the location as regards visitor access and catchment area, timescales and notice periods. Because of the sensitivity of some of the discussions, I can't at this stage tell you more, but will do so as soon as

appropriatel

dt23

IT TIE|PRESERVATION

with 'big props' Up rlose

The Coventry-based Air Atlantique Classic Flight has announced its programme of weekend Open Days for 2008, giving visitors an opportunity to see some of its piston-engined fleet at close quarters. With an admission fee of f1 0, the Open

Museum of Flight prolects Steady progress is being made in the restoration workshop at the Museum of Flight at Paine Field, Washington on several significant aircraft. The cockpit of the prototype

vought XFSU-1 (BuNo 1 38899) is nearly finished, and when the work is

complete it will be fully representative of the Crusader at the time of its first flight in 1955.

A great deal of

The prototype

effort

under cover. Work has

going into the long-term rebuild of 1942-vintage FM-2 Wildcat BuNo 4512. After painstaking work over a long

commenced to restore it to Kelly Johnson's'skunk Works' colour scheme with a polished metal bottom half, white top, dayglo and black five-inch strip along the centre line, and a small skunk emblem on top of

period, a new windscreen and canopy have been built from scratch and a new starboard elevator looks better than the original. There is still a long way to go before a completion date can be predicted, however.

the tail.

JIM GOODALL

Lockheed JetStar (N329J),

which is being restored to airworthiness, is now

is

Above left: The Museum of Flight's Vought XFgU-1 Crusader

BuNo l38899 is nearing completion. Jim Goodall Above: Lockheed JetStar prototype N329J, the only twinengined Jetstar ever built, will be a very rare airworthy example indeed when it flies again. Jim Goodall

F-22 becomes museum orece I

The National Museum ofthe US Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, unveiled its latest exhibit, a Lockheed

Days (from 10.00hrs to 16.30hrs) will take place on 7-8 June, 9-1 0 August, 1 8-1 9 October and 1 314 December. Flights

(pre-booked at t65

a

seat) will be available in the DC-3, Prentice and Dragon Rapide, and on

some dates the Twin Pioneer. Another of the highlights of each Open Day will be engine runs by the DC-68 G-APSA and Shackleton WR963 at 13.00hrs. ln the winter, there will be a second engine run at 16.00hrs under arc lights. The 5hackleton also does engine runs every Thursday at 1 3.00hrs. For further information, contact Richard Parr on

02476 882651.

Martin F-22A Raptor, on 1 7 January. The museum's aircraft, 91 -4003, was one of nine built for engineering, manufacture and development testing in 1 999, and became the first Raptor to launch an AIM-120 airto-air missile at supersonic speeds. After completing its test programme, the aircraft came to the museum and was prepared for display by the restoration team. lt is painted to represent an F-22A flown by the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Virginia.

GVIWE bock Despite the predictions that last year's Great Vintage Flying Weekend F-22A Raptor 91 -4003 on display in the National Museum of the USAF's Modern Flight Gallery. USAF

The 478th Aeronautical Systems Wing at Wright-Patterson, which

provides acquisition support to the F-22 programme by managing

contracts and ensuring on-time deliveries, led the effort to prepare the aircraft to be transferred to the museum last year.

(GVFWE) could be the last of these popular

events, organiser Terry Booker has announced

that GVFWE'is flying on for another seasoni The venue is once again the near-perfect

setting of Hullavington Airfield, Wiltshire, on 16-1 8 May.'There is so much goodwill and enthusiasm surrounding GVFWE

that I couldn't

let it just fade away; says Terry.'Many interested organisations and

individuals from within the vintage aircraft community are working hard to secure this, the UK's biggest event of its kind, a long-term futurei The successfulformula remains unchanged, and many pilots have already booked in their aircraft with Mike Andrews (telephone 01962 703143; e-mail [email protected]).

24lA

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[JSA: Grand Tour of Texas

18 - 23 Sep USA: CAF Airshol 25 - 29 Sep NIALTA: lnt'l Airsh,ow museums & leisure time. Beach hotel 2? Sep-Uf Oct CHINA, TAIWAN & SOUTH I(OREA: Hong Kong cuangfiou, Xan, EelJing, Seoul, l€ngshan, Seoul. Major museums, si$rtseeing (Great \,lbll, Tenacotta Army, DMZtunnelVGlorious Gloste€, etc)i fee days

3 - 19 octlNDlA: lndia Aviation 2008 lnflAirshow; IAF Museum; rail ioumeys, sightseeing slghbeeing lncluding 2-day llger Safuri by 4x4 and/or elephanb! 7 - 21 l,lov USA: Grand Tour US NaW Blue Angels Airshow (Fensacola); 5 Aircraft Canie6: Hornet (S'Fnsco), Midway (S'Diego), Lenngbn fm, Yoddcwn (S' Carolina) & lnuepid (Nq^/ Yoft); US Na\al AMation (FU, US [,4arine Cops (VA), Nat'l Air & Space & Ud\ar Hazv Museums (Vl/ash DC) Nov (tbc)bREECE: Hellenic Air Force 'lArchangel" Air Show (tbc) 15 - 20 Nor/ DUBAI BIZ JEIS & AIRUNERS: MiddIC EASI BUS|NCSS Aviatjon (N/EBA) Expo, Dubai Aiport (+ shalah if Photo l%sses re-started)

2009 23 - 29 Dec New todr: Chnstrnas in

St Martens, Dutch Antilles (Caribean). famous for low approaches over beachl Airport resort hotel: photos, spotting relaxing; great for family holiday!

& CAF Ai6how

aviolion tour speciolist--- for

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lan Allan Travel, Terminal House, Station Approach, Shepperton TW17 8A$1i11.

Tel:01932 255627 Fax:01932 231942 e'mail:

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Heathrow

SCANDINAVIA Jul 24-4 AuC AIRBUS Fac-COPENHAGEN-OSLO-HELSINKISTOCKHOLM-GOTHENBURG and lots more airfieldymuseums

PerArdtra ad A\lra -90 Years ofthe RAF !-11 RAF Se5a No.l Sqdn SpillireNlklX\ifgCo Jack Chxrl.'- RAf Biggin Hill

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Sycomore swqp The Helicopter Museum (THM) at Westonsuper-Mare has received Bristol Sycamore HRl 4 X1829, the last of the type to be retired from RAF service in December 1971. From 1978 until it closed in October 2006,XL829 was on display at the Bristol lndustrial Museum. Having decided not to include the helicopter in the new 'Museum of Bristol', the City Council passed it to The Helicopter Museum. The Sycamore was built at Westonsuper-Mare by Bristol Helicopters, which subsequently became part of the Westland Group, and is therefore'returning homel

will replace Sycamore HR14 XG547 (on loan toTHM) which is shortly due to go to Belgium in exchange for an Alouette ll.

No more Woburn The de Havilland Moth Club has confirmed that

the lnternational Moth Rally is moving awayfrom Woburn, its picturesque venue for many years. lt will now be held at RAF Halton on the weekend of 1 4-1 5 June. During the same weekend it will be combined with the annual Charity FIying Day. Entry to the aerodrome will be free of charge. During the weekend of 1 5-1 7 August when the Woburn Rally normally takes place, a Vintage AirTour is being arranged. Earlier in the year celebrations are being held in Scotland to mark the 75th anniversary of Capt

It

Sycamore HRt4 XL829 after its move to The Helicopter Museum. Peter

Concordes to go inside Manchester Airport has announced that work is to start early in the spring on a new f 1-million hangar and visitor centre to accommodate Concorde G-BOAC.The 68m-by-38m glass, steel and high-tech PVC structure is due to be completed and open to the public this summer. Concorde is the main attraction for the 250,000 visitors to the Aviation Viewing Park at Manchester Airport.The new

development will also include a corporate hospitality suite, an education centre, an aviation exhibition and a visitor restaurant with views of Manchester Airport's runways. The plan to build a new state-of-the-art museum to house Concorde G-BOAF at Filton has taken a step

forward with the publication of a draft concept statement. South Gloucestershire Council is supporting moves by the Bristol Aero Collection

Good news for RNHF An answer to the recurring problems with the Centaurus engine of the RN Historic Flight's Sea Fury FB11 VR930 has hopefully been found in the USA.The RNHFs chief engineer Howard Read went to Vintage V1 2 at Tehachapi,

California where Mike Nixon identified the problem and said that V1 2 could overhaul and repair the damaged unit.This will include the manufacture of pistons and rings. Once permission has been obtained to send

and Airbus UK to get the aircraft under cover. Land on which the f 12-million project will be built has been left by the late Jack Baylis,

the millionaire developer of The Mall shopping centre at Cribbs Causeway adjacent to Filton airfield. The Concorde has been sitting unprotected since it flew in to Filton on 26 November 2003 and is already showing signs of deterioration, despite the best efforts of BAC and Airbus.The chairman of the Concorde Trust, Mike Littleton, said

the Centaurus to Vl 2, attention can then turn to the fitting of data-gathering equipment to the Sea Fury. This will detect any temperature trends in all 1 8 cylinders on the engine, giving early advice of any future problems of this nature as well as monitoring the airframe and systems.

Museum of Army Flying exponsion

Texos museum plons

The Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop has taken the first step in its major expansion

which operates Fort Worth Veterans Memorial Air Park, has signed agreements to take possession of five aircraft with North Texas links. These include a Fort Worth-built F- l 1 1. The Association only started acquiring aircraft in 2004 and later this year, if all goes as planned, 14 will be on display at the air park adjacent to Meacham Airport. ln early January, the City Council approved appointments to a city-wide committee to attempt establishing a major museum. 'l have high hopes for iti said Clyde Picht, president of the 8-36 Peacemaker Museum.'This is the first time that we've had all parties on board, pushing for the same goal, and it's the first time we've had any kind of city backing to do thisl ln addition to the F-1 1 1, the collection includes an RF-8G Crusader built by Chance-Vought in Grand Prairie and flown out of Naval Air Station Dallas, and a US Navy A-7 Corsair.The group has also signed an agreement to take an ex-USAF TF-1 02 Delta Dagger, produced by Consolidated Vultee Aircraft in Fort Worth. See www.ov-1 0bronco.net for more information.

programme to provide an ongoing and comprehensive record ofthe achievements ofthe 'Soldiers in the Airi The extension will add considerably to the Museum! space both for new exhibits and a 783square metre venue for private and corporate activities. The museum still urgently needs f50,000 to meet the anticipated cost of f650,000. Apart from some money that has been donated from the Regimental Fund, most ofthe extension has been paid for by private individuals. Due to open in April, the extension will initially house a new art exhibition on the theme of 'Flight:

As efforts mount to try to launch an aviation museum in Fort Worth, Texas, the OV-1 0 Bronco Association,

R.

March

on the fourth anniversary of G-BOAF landing at Filton: 'We should hear about the

outline planning permission in January and, if it is granted, we are committed to opening the new museum by 26 November 20i 1.To do that we need to raise f 12 millionl ln the meantime, the centenary of Sir George White establishing the British and ColonialAeroplane Company, later the Bristol Aeroplane Company, will be celebrated in 201 O.The

E. E.

first Bristol Boxkite made its maiden flight on 30 July 1 910.

There was encouraging progress with Swordfish 15326 on 7 January when the lower set of wings arrived atYeovilton by lorry from BAE Systems at Brough. ln rebuilding the wings, new spars were made for the first time for 65 years and they have been re-covered with linen

Fresson's

pioneering

airline activities around the Highlands and lslands. All vintage Moths and Dragon/Dragon Rapide variants are encouraged tojoin in the

eventsfrom

3-1 1 May.

by Hornet Aviation using traditional methods. The Swordfish is now standing on its undercarriage, and when the wings have been painted the final stages of the rebuild will get under way. All being well, 15326 will be airborne in time to fly with the RNHF in the 2008 season.

The losr'Airvie\rv'... As you

will read elsewhere in this 40th anniversary

issue, this month sees Peter R. March's 444th and last Airview'column for

Aircraft lllustrated. The first, shown here, was featured in 1971, and from then until now it has included (we estimate) over 1.5 million words and 2,000 photographs. lts content has changed over the years, but the hard work put in by Peter, without ever missing a deadline, has not.

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Nexl month... From the April issue of

Al,our

Preservation News pages will be taken over by Ben Dunnell. AII contributions on preservation topics should be addressed to him at the e-mail address given on page 4.

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How Boeing" bosses must turn the 787

progromme oround words: Ben Dunnell

he schedule from roll-out to first flight and service entry of the Boeing 787 was always impressively ambitious. When the manufacturer officially launched the aircraft with an order from All Nippon Airlines (ANA) back in 2004, the Dreamliner was expected to get air under its wings in the late summer of 2007, and to enter service in 2008. This was still the claim when the first 787-8 was rolled out in front of an enthusiastic 1 5,000-strong crowd at the Everett plant on 8 July last year. Since then, Boeing's timings have been blown comprehensively out of the water especially with confirmation on 15 January of the latest delays. These will see the long-awaited initial flight ofthe 787-8 slipping from the end ofthe

first quarter of 2008 to some time around the end of the second quarter, with the resultant hold-up to airline deliveries meaning that no Dreamliner will reach ANA until the beginning

of 2009. The fact that the 787-8 around which thousands swarmed at Seattle in.luly was not then assembled to a flyable standard was known by many, but failed to take the gloss off those celebrations. Had the extent of the underlying problems been known, things might have been different. Now, as its Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Scott Carson and general manager for the7B7 programme Pat Shanahan explained to the international media on 15 January, Boeing says itl going all out to make this delay the last'

THE BACKGROUND The production of no other Boeing airliner has ever been as dependent on external suppliers as the 787. Most of the largely composite airframe is built by industrial partners around the world and ends up at the Everett plant for integration and final assembly. However, certain partners tasked with building large structures and delivering them complete to Boeing for final assembly of the first aircraft (c/n ZA00'l) basically fell down

Left: At the end of 2007, the Boeing 787 production line at Everett was headed by the first flight test aircraft, which is being €ompleted structurally and having systems installed, Behind it are the static test airframe, soon to receive landing gear, engines and any required interior installations, and the fatigue test air(raft. Boeing Right: The 787-83 roll-out in July last year was a triumphant event, but major programme delays were just around the corner, as the aircraft was far from being ready to fly, Andreas Spaeth

delqyed on the job. Not only did completion of these sections have to be handed over to Boeing, for which so-called'travelled work'the team at Everett was not expecting to have to be prepared, but it turned out that the extent of the work done by some of these partner companies had not been fully documented. Shanahan says:'The process to reconcile

partner engineering with our production records and our production process is very onerous and time-consuming. That has proven to be the pacing item in completing our structural work in the critical fuselage area where we will install the systems and the wiring to put power on in the airplane. 'We underestimated how long it would take to complete someone else! work. The tools, the processes, the flow of material, the skills of the personnel are all tailored to perform last-stage high-level integration, check-out and test. We thought we could modify that production system and accommodate the travelled work from our suppliers. We were wrongl

Adding to this, large parts ofthe 787-8 which was rolled out in July (especially the wings) were fitted with temporary fasteners. At the time, A/ reported Tom Cogan, 787 chief project engineer, as stating:'We need some specialised fasteners for lhe 787 and there is currently a worldwide shortage. Big fastener companies such as Alcoa are under stress. lt is a sheer supply issue and has nothing to do with our heavy usage of compositesi The extent of this, says Scott Carson, was that fastener shortages totalled around 10,000,'but we're now down to hundredsi

WHAT's BOEING DOING? Addressing journalists on 1 5 January, Scott Carson summed up the situation thus:'We have seen progress in completing assembly of the first airplane. Fasteners are no longer pacing airplane number l, and we continue to work closely with our fastener suppliers to work these issues through the production ramp-up. We're making good progress with parts shortages on airplane number 1, and

we're getting the installation work back in sequence. However, as evidenced through our announcement today, we have found through our experience with travelled work and other lessons learned that it's going to take us longer than we had expected to complete our milestones to first flight. We simply have not burned through jobs at the rate required to keep our previous schedule. 'We have a very clear assessment of the work that remains to be done and how we will do it. From that assessment, we have set this revised schedule for first flight. Building on our commitment to first flight, we are also working with our suppliers to assess our schedule on the airplanes following number 1, to make sure they meet the required condition of assembly and reduce the amount of travelled work coming into Everett. This assessment, which will also include discussions with our customers, will determine the details of our flight test and delivery schedules. We expect to complete this assessment by the end of the first quarterJ

dt29

The worry must be that this process will lead to further delays. As recently as the very end of 2007, Boeing was finding

that its efforts to complete the first 787-8 were coming up against barriers which ate through what had been a two-month cushion in the programme. According to Pat Shanahan,'We thought that in the month of December, over the holiday break, that we would turn the corner of the completion of was travelled critical structural work - this in the fuselage, so work from our partners we could start installing the systems racks and the wiring. We have not been able to finish that assembly work.' Asked what makes him more confident about meeting the revised timescale set out in January than previous schedules, Shanahan replied:'lt's a question l've been asked many times by my superiors. October's plan was based more on analysis. The case is that we have not done our partners'

work in our facility before... l'm confident we'll execute this plan because we have demonstrated performance in the last three months. We have more experience and knowledge of the work statement, and we have more of the right skills and resources. I can see a path forward based on how much work we have completed. We've made significant progress in completing primary structures. When I look at the condition of the aircraft, the wings are in good shape, and in a few weeks we'll be routing wires in the critical fuselage areas to the airplane.' One end result is that, Scott Carson stated categorically,'We're not going to have 1 09 deliveries in 2009i He and Shanahan were unable to go into much more detail on this in mid-January, having not yet finished the assessment with customers and suppliers. Reaction from the airlines that have signed up for the 787 was fairly muted, possibly reflecting the lack of concrete information. Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon has said that the carrier (which has 'l 15 Dreamliners on order) will finalise its contingency plans to mitigate against the delay once the new delivery schedule is received from Boeing, this involving'a range of options including revised retirement dates for some of our aircraft, re-allocating existing capacity and potential schedule adjustments'. He also referred to the possibility of compensation 30lE

from the manufacturer, saying:'We will be discussing the issue of liquidated damages with Boeing in the coming weeks.' The last few months have seen considerable changes to the 787 leadership team, former programme manager Mike Bair being replaced in October 2007 by Pat Shanahan. ln outlining what Shanahan has done since assuming control, Scott Carson made what amounted to an admission of previous failings.'We have added strength to the team where neededi he said,'including experienced executives, business managers and planning specialists from around the company. We are basing them at our supplier partners, as well as our own final assembly facility in Everett, to make sure we get this job doneJ

Once assembly of the first 7B7 is complete, it will be possible to achieve'power oni the next milestone. All of the system components necessary to actuate the aircraft were ready at the time of going to press, following extensive verification testing. Above that, another 20 system components were required for taxi trials. Both ofthese stages have been delayed by the supply chain debacle.'Power on'is now expected to occur at the beginning ofthe second quarter of 2008. There have been suggestions that the maiden flight could be made on cln 2A002, the second of the six 7B7s that will perform the type's flight test schedule, such is the extent of the work remaining to be done on the first airframe. However, these were denied by Pat Shanahan. Major sections and components ofthe second aircraft have now arrived in Everett, and it is believed that there will be less work for Boeing to do on these

than on the first 787. lmportantly, though, Boeing has decided to concentrate its current efforts on getting the 787s required for flight-testing ready, rather than moving on to those further down the line. Scott Carson put it thus:'We have resisted the temptation this time to make a broad and sweeping generalisation about where we are on all the rest of the aircraft until we have completed our assessment of the condition of assembly of airplanes 2 through 6, the ones that are critical to our flight test programme, and worked through an assessment with our supplier partners and our customers on the ramp-up. We think it is prudent and the right thing to do for the

business, the programme and our customers to take the time to base this on hard, assessed facts, rather than, as Pat described, the shallower analysis that perhaps we did beforei Boeing has always been confident that certification of the 787 will be eased by the amount of work done towards this goal prior to the first flight. No obstacles are currently foreseen, and Pat Shanahan reports that Boeing is bn track'in providing the FAA with all the necessary documentation at this stage. The delays in other areas, while unwelcome, have allowed more time for this, and Rolls-Royce may also not be unhappy to have a longer period in which to refine the Trent 1000 engine, notably through improving its fuel efficiency.

WHAT NOW FOR THE 787? One irony of the 787's problems is that they come at a time when Airbus is considering outsourcing elements of aircraft production to US companies in an effort to lessen the

on the next airplane programmes whether we can accomplish something like thati One of Bair's reported comments about certain 787 ,,

programme suppliers was no less forthright: 'Some of these guys we won't use again.' The indications from what Scott Carson and Pat Shanahan had to say on 1 5 January are that Boeing has learned some important lessons from the difficulties suffered by the 787 programme. Some semblance of order seems to have returned, in contrast to the situatlon prior to roll-out when the need to unveil the aircraft on a set date took precedence, and problems with suppliers went unchecked. Boeing now has a firmer grasp on the whole of

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of Wi€hita, Kansas, and the two aft sections by Vought

Aircraft lndustries in Charleston, South Carolina. Boeing

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impact the strength of the euro against the dollar is having on its costs - and to try and help it win the USAF's KC-X tanker contract. ln November, Boeing announced that it was moving work on KC-767 tanker conversions for ltaly and Japan from Aeronavali in ltaly back to the USA, citing the need to lessen delays to those programmes. Outsourcing does not seem to have worked especially well for Boeing of late, especially given the rising costs associated with manufacturing in the eurozone. The ex-787 programme manager Mike Bair, still in a senior role with Boeing as a vice-president for business strategy, has not remained silent about outsourcing since changing jobs. ln November, the SeattleTimes quoted him as telling a gathering of business leaders and politicians in Snohomish County, Boeing's doorstep:'The right way to do this would be to have all those big parts across the street so you could just roll them in... We'll see

the build process. Of course, now is the time to resolve these things, for Boeing and its customer airlines cannot afford recurring supply chain failings during series production. ln working more towards getting things right on the first aircraft and getting it into the air, followed by the other five test machines, than rampingup 787 production, it hopes to minimise the effects of any changes that have to be made as a result of flight test experience. As long as some of the industrial partners raise their game in tandem with Boeing's own efforts, the strategy ought to work. Whether the company goes down this production route again must be considered doubtful. What's more difficult to predict is the reaction of the airline market. Soon, existing 787 customers will finally get the information on production and delivery dates for which they have been waiting. It remains to be seen as to what this information will hold, and how they will take it. While cancellations seem unlikely, at a time when the competing Airbus A350 programme is proceeding well, Boeing will not want to concede an inch unless it absolutely has to.

Pol Shonohon,

Boeing 787 programme ::l!€0cg9,:,-, ,1,,, r ,, ,r:rr::rr , '

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The company's Commercial Airplanes

president and CEO Scott Carson says he knows that Boeing's credibility is being tested by lhe787. At the same time, he stresses that all the testing done so far'is telling us that this airplane will indeed deliver breakthroughs for our customers and the flying publici Given all the delays and bad publicity, this is now more important than ever. Can Boeing and its partners deliver? A negative answer to that question simply isn't an option. n 8r,31

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words & photogrophy:

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of Jopon

JAPAN'S AIR ARMS 'Public relations has a vital role to play in getting people to see the Japanese Self Defense Force in the proper light. The SDF can't exercise power if the people aren't behind itiThese words spoken by the Japan Air Self Defense Force Chief of Staff, Toshio Tamogami, in November 2007 represent a whole lot more than PR-speak. The key to that public support is to continue to operate within its imposed'self defence' structure, and yet at the same time be seen to be supporting international goals. That is a tall order. Maintaining a non-combative force and doctrine, whilst successfully contributing (airlift) assets to lraq in the US-led campaign, all the while underthe steely glare of North Korea, China and Russia who are looking towards Japan across a body of water that, at times, is no wider than the English Channel, puts these forces in a unique position. ln this first part of an exclusive series of articles on the Maritime, Ground and Air Self aerial Defense Forces of Japan, one of the most intriguing missions of the JASDF is detailed

-

reconnaissance.

the north of our capital at 1 5,000ft, I could see Tokyo Bay and Mount Fuji quite clearly during the hour-long flight. lt was a great addition to my 1,200 Phantom hours - the visibility was awesome, I could see for over 100 miles to my left and right and the Milky Wayabove me,' s I passed over

Such was the recent experience of one RF-4E Phantom ll pilot from 501 Hikotai at

Hyakuri AB in Japan's lbaraki Prefecturejust 80km north ofthe capital Tokyo, a recce'Rhino'unit like few others that have ever existed. Almost

every military air arm in the world has

a

form of

aerial reconnaissance within its ranks, most, if not all, of which are employed to gain an insight

to gain intelligence, to into enemy territory seek out targets, to plan (and prevent) attacks. Platforms flying high in the atmosphere are there to pinpoint movement and co-ordinate targets whilst humming UAVS enter unafraid into the most dangerous of Troops ln Contact situations to call in ground attack assets (or even take out the threat themselves). At any time, fighters may streak in over the battle lines at qazy heights and speeds to obtain Battle Damage Assessment after a deadly strlke.The recce mission is the battlefield commandert biggest ally, and the lengthy service life of the F-4 Phantom ll, that most illustrious of

-

34t6

post-war fighters whose maiden flight took place 50 years ago this year, has long included the tactical recce tasking. 501 Hikotai is different, however.This is a fast jet reconnaissance force that may never be sent over a foreign land to collect the first pictures of enemy targets to strike, and one whose principal mission is the recording of natural disasters to aid the people of its country. This is no fighting force, though should ballistic missiles, enemy fighters, an unfriendly naval flotilla or an all-out ground invasion ever actually take place, then the SDF commanders quickly.Thats are going to need information where 501 Hikotai would come in. The squadron boasts the JASDF s sole tactical recce capability (and is the only unit

-

to report directly to Air Defense Command), equipped with RF-4E and upgraded RF-4EJ Kai Phantom lls. Mean shades of brown and green mottle together on the slab-sided fuselages of these charismatic jets, clashing with the vibrant splashes of colour bursting from a selection of shark-mouths that now adorn both the typically pointed RF-4E variant's Iines as well as the EJ Kai versions with their more traditional radomes. Then there's the charismatic squadron badge, a well-known cartoon woodpecker, sitting squarely in the middle of that classic tailplane. The recce Phantoms tend to operate alone, their pilots flying single-ship sorties to hone their flight profiles for whatever mission they may be

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tasked towards. However, when the unit's slot time comes up, it's not uncommon for six, seven or eight of these bent-wing wonders to wind their way along Hyakuri's famously kinked taxiway all at once (with one or two more following minutes later), line up at the last chance check area, and blast out into crisp, clear skies. After banging down and dropping their thutes, the jets will repeat this pattern in the afternoon, and again just after sunset if night flying is on the roster,

RECCE ROLE Lt Col Oka is the Tactical Reconnaissance Group's Chief of Staff. He told Aircraft lllustrated that the group's primary mission is to'perform aerial reconnaissance and collect information over disaster areas, whilst our secondary mission is to train new crews in the art of reconnaissancel The camera-carrying brutes undertake their duties over two training ranges, land and sea, designed to reflect the type of terrain that they could be tasked

to cover. The land-based training areas are located close to Hyakuri and encompass much mountainous terrain, whilst the over-sea areas are found to the south-east ofthe base, over

the Pacific Ocean. 'Today's flight saw me flying over a dam within our training ranges and taking pictures of three briefed pointsi explained one pilot after his sortie during A/'s visit.'Each sortie has different pre-briefed targets, but today we encountered poor visibility so we could not complete all of our tasking. We cannot take pictures through clouds, of which there can be many throughout Japan's mountainous terrain! Our Phantom was configured with the LOROP system and it took us 30 minutes to reach our first target. We passed over it once at 15,000f1 in a hi-hi-lo profile, which was difficult to achieve due to the low cloud that was present during our 1.2-hour sortie.' Three active recce profiles are employed by Hyakuri s Phantom variants: TA (Terrain Avoidance), TF (Terrain Following) and TAT (Target Acquisition Tactics). Facilitated via the jet's own radar, a TA profile will see the aircraft ingress towards its intended subject at a pre-determined height, whilst changing track to avoid upcoming terrain. TF, on the other hand, will keep the aircraft on the intended track towards the target, but the height will be adjusted where necessary to keep it heading in a constant direction.The third mission profile,TAl, is more complicated and involves generating tactics in accordance with the type and location of the target. Generally, these are undertaken at low altitude as the aircraft rarely carry any AAMs for self-defence

(though the converted machines retain AIM-9 compatibility). Of course, aiding disaster relief sits atop the list of mission priorities, and for that task the most appropriate of the above profiles would still be flown, regardless of whether the outcome was a photograph of an erupting volcano or erupting conflict on Japan's shores. Heading up Hyakuri's recce force is the Commander of the Reconnaissance Wing, Col Takagi, a man with the voice of experience that comes from having 2,000 Phantom hours. He talked about how his jets undertake that all-important disaster relief mission.'Usually we operate under a three-hour alert system, with the 'phone call for assistance usually coming from the mayor of the affected area. We have speciallyassigned people within the squadron to react if such a call is received, but we are allwell trained to react'automatically'when the call comes. We will usually send one aircraft, plus a spare, fitted with theTAC pod. Once the information is collected and downloaded back on the ground at Hyakuri, we take the photographs to Air Defense Command where trained specialists will analyse the material. Of course, we also have intel specialists within our squadronl 501 Hikotais disaster relief role is, by its very nature, unpredictable and can be called upon at any time. The Iast time the RF-4s were thus employed was to cover an earthquake in the Niigita area, which saw the well-rehearsed plan swing into action just a few weeks prior to A/'s visit. The pilot involved talked through the role.'First of all we flew over the whole peninsula at around 10-15,000ft to specifically

El37

Eyes

of Jopon

The more familiar role attributed to recce fightErs is still very much part of 501

Hikotai's doctrine, too.'A major difference in our operation of the RF-4 when compared to

check what areas had been affected. Of course, helicopters can take photographs from low altitude and provide details, but no-one can provide such large images and high-level coverage as we can. lt is our duty.' 381 A

other nations is that we only operate within our own countryi explained Col Takagi. 'We cannot deploy them outside of Japan. But we are ready to act against any form of aggression. For example, if a threat were detected out at sea, our recce Phantoms would be used to take pictures or to gather the radar frequencies of any vessel in order to collate as much information as possible for the commanders. ln another case, perhaps if we were fighting a ground invasion, then we would be tasked to take pictures of the damage that the SDF had inflicted upon that enemy. All of this would be under the protection of our co-located F-1 5 Eagle squadrons flying escort dutiesl The recce mission is undertaken with kit that remains pretty much the same today as it did when it was delivered in the 1970s (RF-4E) and 1990 (RF-aEJ Kai). The early variant, with the lens-housing, tapered Phantom nose profile more regularly associated with the type's recce role, was first imported from the USAF in 1974. It has undergone an lnertial Navigation System upgrade and a modernisation of the optical cameras, but it remains a workhorse RF-4E through and through. Sharing the 501 Hikotai ramp is the RF-4Ej Kai variant, which remains the same as the'standard'F-4E in terms of its shape, but which has been indigenously modified to fulfil the recce role to the same standard as the variant built for the purpose. This is achieved through the employment of three types of pods, selected depending on the mission required of that airframe. Carried on the centreline station are either the TAC pod (denoting TACtical recce, carrying KS-135A and KS-958 cameras, plus a D-500UR lR system) or the LOROP (LOngRange Oblique Photography) pod, both of which have exactly the same system capabilities as do the RF-4Es, only housed in modified fuel tanks. The third piece of wizardry carried by the EJ Kai comes in the form of the TACER pod, which stands for TACtical Electronic Reconnaissance, and incorporates a KS-146B camera and datalink. This collects input from radio and audio waves from a ground target and is able to pinpoint its position through triangulation.

PHANTOM EXPOSURE It has to come. lt is inevitable that the career of the recce Phantom in JASDF service will soon be over. Like so many other classic steeds, these recce Phantoms will have to suffer the ultimate indignity of being replaced by a pod in this instance, mounted underneath an F-1 5 Eagle. Just when, and the exact form of the system, is still up for evaluation. That said, plans are in place for a single F-15 to be modified to carry a recce pod (and to be re-designated RF-15 accordingly), with the trials likely to be conducted out of the SDF's test centre at Gifu within the next year, for testing over a three-to-four year period. Lockheed Martin is expecting to supply its Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system and to work alongside local industry to design and produce the pod itself and, whilst negotiations are still ongoing, the way forward has been set in stone. 'The RF-4s will probably continue in service for another two yearsi said ColTakagi.'We have a rough schedule in place to field a recce pod but, as is the case with so many procurement plans the world over, there is always a delay, particularly when budget constraints are involved. lt is very difficult to say at this stage if the pod will be a suitable replacement for the RF-4 fleet. Of course, apart from the obvious pros and cons of such a drastic change, there is the fact that the RF-'l 5 proposal involves a single-seat environment, which will clearly push the pilot s workload higher than that ofthe two-seat Phantoml Mirroring world-wide military thinking, Japan is also entering the wodd of 'no-seat'flight operations with the evaluation of UAVs to fulfil the recce role having started in 2004.Timescales for this entering the front line have not been finalised, and nor have the exact specifications of the two new systems'exact specifications, but the leap in technology will no doubt bring untold advantages and fielding a mixed manned and unmanned system will also bring great flexibility. Even sq the end ofthe photo-Phantom will still take a lot ofgetting used

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to.

Check rhisl lf you would like to see more images of Japanese Phantoms, check out'5moke Trails: the last of the F-4 Phantomsi Also of interest will be'F-4 Phantom ll: Production and Operational Datal Both books are published by Midland Publishing and are available

from wwwianallansuperstore.com

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I ontinental Airlines and Newark Airport are

inseparable. Together, they represent your New York equivalent of Delta and Atlanta, Northwest and Minneapolis, United and Denver,

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But did I say New York? You are there, but, at the same time, you are not there! You can see the famous New York skyline from Newark Liberty Airport, the helicopter shuttle gets you to downtown Manhattan in eiqht minutes and the shuttle train takes 30 minutes. Much of Newark s traffic is geared towards New York but it isn't in New York! JFK and La Guardia are in New York, but Newark is different, located on the western side ofthe Hudson River. And ifyou are not confused enough already, Newark is operated by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ). There is no disputing the important influence and association with the'Big Applel Opened on 1 October 1928, the Port Authority has operated Newark under a lease with the City of Newark since 22 March 1948. Continental Airlines

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is a relative newcomer, having joined the table almost by accident. At present, Continental, with its Continental Express affiliate, accounts for 68 per cent ofthe airport's passengers.The Continental-Newark'marriage' is inextricably linked to the post-deregulation era in U5 air transport, the demise of carriers, the mergers of others and the ascendancy of a 'survivorl

GROWTH OF A MA.'OR Continental Airlines, traditionally a secondary and regional airline in the US mid-west and Texas, had a limited route structure in the early 1950s linking manyTexas cities plus Kansas City, Denver and Tulsa. lt commenced an interchange agreement

with Braniff, United and American to spread its route tendrils as far at St Louis in the easl, San Francisco in the west and Seattle in the northwest. New York or Newark were definitely not on its radar, being as they were the scene of bltter fare wars and competition between U5 north-east rivals Eastern Air Lines, Delta Air Lines, Capital, National and Northeast, and thus best avoided. ln the 1960s and '70s, Los Angeles lnternational Airport on the US west coast, about as far away as you can get from New York, was where Continental developed its presence, more long haul routes being part of the managements mantra. Hawaii was one of its new'stars; as it shed some of its iocal service routes and expanded its outlook. On 15 July 1963, Continental formally moved its headquarters to Los Angeles, but not until the 1970s did the focus switch eastwards, as the carrier became preoccupied with developing trans Pacific routes. October i 978 s Airline Dereg ulation Act saw Continental start to embrace the'l-tub'airport system, establishing Houston and Denver as its two primary hubs. But huge financial losses followed in the early 1 980s, not just for Continental but for most other US'major'airlines. Enter Frank Lorenzo and his Texas Air Corporation. They were the catalyst that brought

Continental to Newark. This wasn't planned, being more of a process of evolution. Following a series of mergers and acquisitions, Lorenzo acquired a controlling interest in Continental in 1981, merging itwith hisTexas International. In i980, Texas Air Corporation formed New York Air, flying initially from La Guardia but then Newark, and by November 1981 Texas Air had acquired more than 50 per cent of Continental s stock. On 1 3 July 1982, Continental and Texas Air merged. lt was a match made in hell and, financially, was a disaster. Lorenzo shut down the whole of Continentall domestic operation on 24 September 1983 and the airline entered Chapter 1 1 bankruptcy protection amid bitter union negotiations. By 1984, though, Continental's 5Oth anniversary, the airline was slowly rebuilding itself under Lorenzo's ownership, becoming profitable again by 1985. Next on Lorenzo's acquisition 'shopping list'was Eastern Air Lines, at one time one of the'big three'U5 carriers and which was the largest airline in the world in the 1 960s measured in annual passenger boardings. With Eastern's network dominating the whole ofthe eastern seaboard, and together with that of the expanding New York Air, Texas Air's (for which read Continental's) domestic services were now set to cover the

Continental hub activity at Newark, with Continental Express ERJ-145s to the left along the central one of the three piers that make up Terminal C. Geoff .lones

The Manhattan skyline dominates Continental's Newark operations. Seen taking off here is Boeing737-70ON24736. AJ/AirTeam lmaqes.com

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legacy, was the start of Newark's development as a primary New York area international gateway

for

Europe. Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic had also arrived at Newark when this airline inaugurated its first trans-Atlantic services in June 1 984, and

started to call it NewYork/Newark. Despite financial and operational traumas throughout the 1 990s, Continental was noted as a survivor. Like its main'big six'US airline rivals it was making money again in the latter part of the decade. Wanting to realise the potential

whole US'lower 48i ln the New York area, Continental's market share skyrocketed. The final element of the Continental/ New York/Newark equation was Texas Air Corporation's acquisition of Newark-based PEOPLExpress in 1986. At the same time, it also bought Denver-based Frontier Airlines, which had earlier been acquired by PEOPLExpress. At the time, PEOPlExpress was probably the best-known example of what today wed call the low-fare or low-cost market. Founded by a group of formerTexas lnternational executives, its ebullient business plan was to operate highfrequency, low-cost services with a fleet of Boeing 737s between Newark and numerous other cities, mainly in the US north-east. With the catchline'Fly Smartl and only two years after operating its first services, PEOPLExpress entered the international market, launching a Newark to London Gatwick daily service on 26 May 1983, using Boeing 747-238s, these supplementing the rapidly-expanding domestic fleet it had acquired of over 70 Boeing 727 s and 737 s. Both NewYork Air and PEOPLExpress were soon to lose their identities. They were assimilated as part of Continental Airlines on 1 February 1987, whereupon Newark became a major Continental hub overnight. With 210 daily departures, it rivalled many of the other burgeoning US hub airports, and while air travellers to the New York area had traditionally used JFK and La Guardia, they now quickly 'discovered'a third major New York area airport, the New Jersey airport at Newark. Continental's presence at Los Angeles and Denver shrank, but the west coast's loss was Houston's gain. The big Continental hub at this Texas city was expanding rapidly to complement Newark. Soon, it would overtake Newark in terms ofContinental passenger numbers and

flights. lt was a bumpy ride for all concerned.

though. Back in the US north-east, Eastern, now under Lorenzo's ownership, was experiencing continuous labour and financial problems. The shuttle operation linking Boston, New York and Washington was sold, aircraft were sold, routes were sold, staffwere made redundant, salaries it was a downward spiral to an were slashed almost certain death. ln August 1 990, Lorenzo handed over the chairmanship of Continental Air Holding, lnc (the new name for the Texas Air corporation) to Hollis Harris. Eastern was surviving, but only by the skin of its teeth. On 1 8 January 1991, the airline, one of the most famous names in US air transport history and with its'Great Silver Fleet'that had been around since even before the 1 928 formation of Eastern AirTransport, ceased operations.This was the final event that propelled Continental and its Newark hub on the road to 21 st century success.

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NEWARK HUB Continental's first major investment at Newark bore fruit when the'state-of-the-art'Terminal C was opened on 22 May 1988, and it moved all its operations over from the airport'sTerminal B. ln October that year,Texas Air and Scandinavian Airlines System (5AS) signed what is claimed to be the first global airline alliance. 5A5'active North Atlantic traffic started using Newark and passengers could now connect with Continental's well-developed US domestic route system from here.This, together with the PEOPLExpress

of its Newark hub, in 1998 Continental launched its GlobalGateway Project, an 5800-million programme to add 12 wide-body and 19 narrow-body gates at its Terminal C and to provide a new international arrivals facility, which opened in March 2002. Any trans-Atlantic air traveller who has used this facility will relish its design and the speed of processing compared to JFK and several other US east coast gateway'airports.Terminal C is still Continental's primary facility at Newark, but the airline also utilises many gates atTerminals A and B. The statistics of Newark Liberty lnternational Airport statistics are quite daunting. The Airports Council lnternational ranked Newark in 2006 as the world's 21st busiest airport with 35,494,863 passengers, up 7.4 per cent on its 2005 figure, and a similar total in terms of passenger numbers to Minneapolis St Paul and Singapore. Continental and Continental Express contributed 24,293,210 passengers (68.4 per cent) to this total, carried on 70 per cent ofall flights at Newark and representing 408 daily departures (226 on mainline Continental and 1 82 on Continental Express). Continental now flies non-stop from Newark to more than 150 US destinations, plus frequent international schedules to Europe, Latin America and Asia. lts international roster from Newark includes 24 non-stop flights to European and Middle East destinations and further non-stop services to Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Delhi. Since 2002, Newark has been an all-jet hub but this will change during late 2007 when Continental Express'Colgan Air introduces part of its order for 1 5 Bombardier Q400s on its commuter network from Newark. Pinnacle Airlines, a Northwest Airlines subsidiary, acquired Colgan in January (2007) in a S2O-million deal in order to gain access to Colgan's partners, including Continental. A re-arrangement of some of the Newark gates used by these commuters is

New York, Nework

also in prospect, a 50-seat

ER.J-1

45 now not being

considered the most economical use of a gate that could accommodate a 18O-seat Boeing737800 or the like. Newark mirrors most large hub airports in the US, and despite Continental's dominance, it is still only a tenant. Looking down on its core activity atTerminal C from Continental's control tower, a completely separate facility from the FAA tower at Newark, provides an interesting insight.The FAA controls aircraft on approach to land, after landing or before take-off on taxiways, and during and after take-off But, as soon as these aircraft cross the'threshold'of the ramp area adjacent to the terminals, they transfer and come under the control of Continental's own controllers in this tower. This facility is a key part of the whole slick operation of the airline at Newark. lts controllers and staff monitor all the carrier's flights, 24 hours a day, even before they depart en route to Newark, so that delays are minimised and the transfer of passengers and baggage is optimised. New Jersey can see some horrendous winter weather as well as stifling heat in summer. When bad weather plans are mobilised, the Continental controllers go into overdrive, as the whole of the airline's schedule has to be re-organised. Continental has a huge fleet of de-icing vehicles and a special deicing pan during hot weather, blowers are introduced to circulate fresh air through parked

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aircraft. During thunderstorms and electrical activity, the whole of the ramp operation may be closed down for fear of lightning strikes. lt's a never-ending contest with the elements for which Continental is very well equipped. Many of Continental's business and first class passengers may be oblivious to all this pre-flight action. With free hospitality, business meeting rooms, showers and all the electronic/digital links required by modern business people, the 'Crown Room'for these customers is a hive of activity. There are also special areas for groups or parties travelling together and a large facility for unaccompanied minors. All the anticipated concessions for food, drinks and gifts are here, plus some that you might not expect. A New York deli and diner ensure that your'Big Apple' experience can continue right up until boarding. And if you wonder what that huge factory building is over to the north-west of the airport, it's a Budweiser brewery, and it's got a special outlet in Newark's Terminal C. Continental

currently occupies 58 gates in Terminal C as well asT2hybrid check-in stations, which combine a touch-screen'eService Centeri

RIDING THE TURBUTENCE Against the civil engineering and infrastructure that the Continental air traveller sees and uses at Newark, one has to set the recent and

hugely turbulent years ofthe

21 st

century and

Continental's survival. lt is allthe more poignant in the memories of many current Newark employees

when, looking eastwards towards the Manhattan skyline, they see the World Trade Center gap'as a permanent reminder of '9l1 1 iThe un-natural silence and lack of activity at Newark in the days following'9/1 i'is still strong in the minds of many. Continental rode the waves of the following years, strengthened by the tenure at the helm of Gordon Bethune, still losing money but along with American Airlines avoiding the potential ignominy of an entry to Chapter 1 1 bankruptcy protection (it would have been Continental! third). Part of this survival was down to a managed programme of fleet rationalisation. Continental had already committed itself to being an all-Boeing airline, like its SkyTeam partner Delta. At the end of 200'1, Continental had a main-line fleet of 352 aircraft, all Boeings except 33 MD-BOs (and even those were now technically a Boeing product after the takeover of McDonnell Douglas). These were disposed of, and although the average fleet age in 200'1 was the youngest of all the'big six'at 6.5 years, this youth and fleet consolidation and steadied Continental.

ln fact, unlike most of the other'big six' airlines which either cancelled orders or pushed their deliveries back, Continental's fleet has grown during the postr9/1 1'era. At the end of 2006, it totalled 366 aircraft, comprising 264 Boeing 737s (including -300, 500,700,800 and 900 models), 58 Boeing 757s (-200s and 300s),26 Boeing 767s C200ERs and 400ERs) and 1B Boeing 777-200ERs. Continental's average fleet age is still the best,9.1 years at the end of 2006. All of these airliner types can be seen at Newark. Fleet investment has also been high on Continentalt agenda. The fitting of APB blended winglets to some of its Boeing 737s and757s is helping with cruise economies and savings in fuel costs. Continental was one of the few airlines to buy the stretched 757, the 243-seat (two-class layout) Boeing 757300. lt continues to champion the cause of a 'young'fleet and was an early customer for the Boeing 787, though the hope that Newark would welcome the first of the 20 examples of the type that Continental has ordered during 2008 has now gone with the announcement of

further programme delays. Continental has also ordered more Boeing 777-200ERs. One of the best ways to observe all this Continental action at Newark, or ifyou have to change terminals there, is from the Port Authority's AirTrain high-level monorail. lts route extends from a multi-storey car park beyond Terminal A through all three main terminals and to the Amtrack and the New JerseyTransit railway station on the other side of the airport. lt's a free-use monorail, but does involve a transiting passenger going from the secure area and then having to be re-screened. However, the AirTrain provides unparalleled views down on to the ramps and terminals. With Continental employing 11,000 people at Newark (as a whole, the airport workforce numbers around 24,000), the symbiosis between airport and airline is as good as it gets. With the addition of Continental's partners Virgin Atlantic, Air Europa, TAP, EVA Air and the SkyTeam airlines, as well as its Continental Express affiliates, Newark Liberty lnternational is a truly world-class airline hub. Its ambiance and proximity to down-town New York is also helping it to become the favoured airport of access to the city - despite the fact 6 that it's located in New Jersey!

words:

Lqwrence Spineffo oi

r-to-oir photogrophy:

Andy Wolfe/Lockheed Mqrtin

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$teuhh su((esslon ut with the old and in with the new', says Maj Bret Carter, a pilot from the 8th Fighter Squadron based at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. He was referring to the impending retirement of the F-1 17A Nighthawk as the F-22A Raptor comes into service in greater numbers. lt's not a'like for like'transition in terms of role and capabilities, and therein lies a debate. Many aviation analysts and public officials were shocked when the US Air Force's 2007 budget request called for the early retirement of the F-'l I7, an aircraft affectionately known as the'Cockroach'or the'Stinkbugi Both senators from the state of New Mexico vigorously protested the Air Force's plan.'The Pentagon has not made a credible case for wanting to retire these stealth fightersi complained Senator Jeff Bingaman.'ln my view, the F-'l 'l 7s remain an important part of the Air Force's fleet, and there is no good reason to retire themi Similarly, Senator Pete Domenici remarked,'l am strongly opposed to the retirement of F-1 17s. They are vital to the overall Air Force mission.' Despite the surprise and opposition, USAF officials persisted and pushed forward the F-l 17's retirement date from 201 1 to 2008.

AT THE TOP OF IT5 GAME The USAF is not retiring the F-1 17 early because of its poor performance.'lt is still a good airplane right nowi asserts Gen T. Michael Moseley, the Air Force Chief of Staff. Echoing the Chief's comments, Maj Carter observes: 'lt is still completely capable of completing the same mission from the beginning'. The F-1 17 essentially leaves service at the top of its game. Of course, the jet has a proud combat record. F-117s led the initial strikes against the lraqi regime during Operation'Desert Storm', on the night of 17 )anuary 'l 991. The first of three F-1 17 waves was 50 miles inside lraq when fourAH-64A Apaches from the US Army's'l 01st Airborne Division fired shots at an early warning radar on the lraqi border. An official Pentagon report on the war notes: 'Over the course of the war, the deployed F-'l 'l 7s flew approximately 2 per cent of the total attack sorties, yet struck about 40 per cent of the strategic targets attacked'. Lt Gen Buster Glosson, the director of campaign plans for US Central Command, boasted to then Tactical Air Command chief, General Robert Russ,'Unless we have a mechanical malfunction, the Iraqis won't put one hole in an F-1 17i The pilots scheduled to fly the first Operation'Desert

Paul Ashenden

Mark Sutherland

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The F-22A and F-l 1 74 from the 41 2th Test Wing shown in the air-to-air photographs accompanying this article have, respectively, provided developmental test support to the introduction to service of the Raptor and (as part of the F-l 1 7 combined Test For(e) upgrades to the Nighthawk,

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Storm'sorties were less confident in the jet's unproven stealth abilities. They privately predicted half of the initial wave of 10 aircraft would be shot down. Fortunately, their fears about the effectiveness of stealth technology in combat proved unfounded. Likewise, F-1 17s dropped the opening salvo of Operation'lraqi Freedom'(OlF). On 20 March 2003, at 05.34hrs, Lt Col David Toomey lll and Maj Mark Hoehn delivered four 2,0001b bombs in the heart of Baghdad in an attempt to decapitate the lraqi regime. A dozen F-1 17s flew more than 100 combat sorties in support of OIF's major combat operations phase and were responsible for striking key strategic targets. The deployed jets posted an impressive 89.3 per cent mission capable rate, better than

the deployed F-l 5Cs and F-l 5Es. Only one F-1 17 has been lost in combat, to a Serbian SA-3'Goa'SAM on 27 March 1999 during Operation Allied Force'(OAF). Gen John Jumper, then USAF Chief of Staff, remarked: 'We put our stealth assets into the most dangerous places night after night and after the hundreds of sorties that have been flown in most dangerous situations, the loss of one is certainly better than any of us expected.'

WHY

RETIRE THE

F.I I7?

As late as 2001, Air Combat Command (ACC)

insisted that the F- l 1 7's service life could be extended well beyond 30 years and set a tentative retirement date of 2018. ACC officials even suggested the airframe could conceivably last until 2030 or later. Why, then, did the USAF dramatically

reverse course last year and accelerate the F-1 17's retirement? The answer is simple mone, money, money. The USAF is facing a budgetary crisis. lt has been struggling to 'recapitalise'a fleet of ageing aircraft while paying for the current costs of the global war on terror'and receiving an ever-decreasing slice of the defence budget. Moreover, Air Force officials face mounting pressure to help offset the costs ofthe planned 92,000 troop increase for the US Army and Marine Corps. USAF officials realise that this shift to a ground-centric defence budget is shortsighted, particularly since the increases in US ground force levels will not be available for use in lraq or Afghanistan in the short term. The value of this move is questionable since the Army and Marine Corps will probably absorb the increase at a time when the U5 is looking to significantly reduce its presence in lraq. Plus, the US is not planning on fighting a ground war to police a failed state any time soon. To fund recapitalisation internally, the USAF agreed to cut 40,000 troops from its ranks. The average age ofthe USAF aircraft inventory is 24 years. American airmen fly 50-year-old aerial refuelling aircraft and long-range bombers. Secretary of the Air Force, Michael Wynne, however, recently acknowledged that the fiscal austerity plan is not reaping enough savings.

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'lt's not workingiWynne said. Thus, the USAF decided to hasten the F-1 17's retirement because it needed to find more ways to maximise the funding available

for recapitalisation during a time when revenue for competing interests is sparse. According to USAF officials, the F-1 17 became too expensive and difficult to maintain, and it therefore became an easy target in the budget wars. Program Budget Decision 720 estimates that retiring the F-117 early will save 51.1 billion from procurement accounts and 55.1 billion from associated manpower accounts. Furthermore, the directive states that there are more capable USAF assets that could provide low-observable, precision penetrating weapons capability. The USAF has never been satisfied with the Congressional cap onF-22 purchases. Congress has limited the service's F-22buy to 183 jets. The Air Force leadership unanimously thinks the minimum number of Raptors that the country should purchase is 381.

NOT A PERFECT REPLACEMENT fheF-22 Raptor is not a perfect replacement for the F-1 17. ln fact, the aircraft are wildly different in terms of capabilities, mission, armament and weapons. Really, the commonality between the two jets does not extend much beyond a shared low-observable stealth capability.The F-1 17's stealth capability is based on 1970s technology.This remains effective, but the jet's very angular features contrast significantly with more modern stealth platforms like the F-22 and F-35. The F-1 1 7 is a precision strike aircraft designed to penetrate high-threat airspace. lts strength lies in its ability to use laser-guided weapons against critical targets. Recounting one notable mission during the first Gulf Wat MajJoe Salata described how he noticed a car driving across an lraqi bridge he was attacking. The jet's pinpoint laser designator allowed him to avoid killing the civilian driver while still knocking down the bridge.'l actually aimed behind him, so he could pass over the bridgei Salata said.'You can pick and choose a little bit in the F-117. ln any other type of aircraft, I would've never had the opportunity to move my spot. I would've missed everything, and then I wouldn't have been able to see what happened anyway. Stealth allows us to look longer at the targets before release, as well as after release.' The F-1 17 offers advantages over the F-22 in terms of the type of guidance of its weapons and the size of its bombs. The F-1 17 carries a maximum of two bombs, the same number as an F-22. However, the F-l 1 7 can carry heavier ordnance, in the shape of 2,0001b bombs versus the 1,0001b bomb limit for the Raptor. Additionally, the Raptor currently only'drops on co-ordinates'as it only carries the GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), a GPS-guided bomb. Both aircraft can penetrate high-threat enemy air defences, but the F-I17 is better able to attack hardened sites such as command bunkers. ln September 2006, Raptor pilots successfully tested the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), a 2501b guided weapon designed to strike fixed targets from a stand-off range while causing little collateral damage. Cunently, the weapon is

Et47

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only carried on the F-1 5E, but plans are to add it to the F-22's arsenal in around 201 4. The SDB upgrade will provide the jet with a weapons capability that the F-'1 17 never enjoyed.

RAPTOR. OFFER.S MLICH MORE Despite the differences in air-to-ground ordnance capability, the F-22 is far superior to the F-1 17. 'The F-22 is a much more capable fighter than the F-1 1 7i says Col Jack Forsythe, the 49th Operations Group

48l6

commander at Holloman AFB.'We are passing the torch to fellow stealth drivers. The F-22 will fight in its own unique wayJ More than 70 F-117 pilots and maintainers came to Langley AFB, Virginia, in August to hand off their 25 years of stealth knowledge, including stealth integration tactics, to the '1 Raptor community in the st Fighter Wing. Capt at Langley, instructor anF-22 Raymond Thaler, remarked:'We will build on the legacy of the F-1

1

7's historic accomplishmentsJ

The F-22 is a true bird of prey, whereas F-1 1 7 is strictly a ground attack aircraft. The F-1 17 has zero airto-air capability, which has led many to question the accuracy of its'F' designation. The'Cockroach' possesses neither an air-to-air radar nor a Radar Warning Receiver (RWR). Pilots do not have any electronic warning that other enemy fighters or ground

the

threats are targeting them.'Cockroach' pilots often joke that they just'lower their seat'if they think they are in danger.

The F-22's best defence against other fighters is usually its offensive potential. lt carries six AllM-120 AMRAAMs, two AIM-9 Sidewinders, and an M6142 20mm cannon with 480 rounds. The Raptor's low radar cross section coupled with its superior agility, the ability to supercruise and integrated avionics provides the F-22 with an advantage oftactical surprise. The Raptor brings stealth into the day and actively searches for a fight, whereas the F-1 17 primarily flies at night and relies on its stealth characteristics to escape detection. Like the F-1 1 7, the F-22 is capable offlying into the most advanced integrated radar networks in the world to deliver bombs on target on time. But, the Raptor's primary mission is not air-to-ground operations. Rather, it will focus on ensuring air superiority in future conflicts. ln a recent letter to his airmen, staff, and war planners, Gen Moseley clearly relayed his intent for the future of the Raptor. First and

To see more images of the F-l

'1

7, check out

the Specialty Press title'F-1 1 7 Nighthawk: Stealth Fighter Photo Scrapbooki available from www.ianallansuperstore.com

The F-1 17's two non-afterburning General Electric F404 engines produce about half of the thrust of the Raptor's Pratt & Whitney Fl 19-PW100 turbofans, each of which deliver 35,0001b of thrust and permit'supercruisel ln contfast, the F-1 17 is limited to high subsonic speeds and a ceiling of45,O00ft. The Raptor's thrust-vectoring capabilities and high thrust-to-weight ratio make the aircraft an unparalleled dogfighter. No other modern jet can match its manoeuvrability.

foremost, the Raptor willfocus on ensuring air dominance.'The first step in recapitalising our ageing fighter fleet is fielding the F-22 to replace the F-1 5C as our front-line air dominance fighter. Controlling the skies is the first and most fundamental step in any joint operation. Potential adversaries continue to develop and field advanced aircraft, cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles in an attempt to project povrer in friendly airspace or deny our forces access to their airspace. Let there be no doubt about primary aircraft it - the F 22 will be the responsible for countering these threats, clearing the skies of bad guys, and ensuring our nation's air, land, and sea forces access for many decades to come. On my watch as the lead airman of this great Air Force will not allow air dominance to be taken for granted. This is a no-fail missionl I

'To ensure air dominance, Raptor pilots

must be trained and the F-22 must be equipped for air-to-air combat in any arena from homeland defence to anti-access

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environments. Since one of the keys to airto air success in anti-access environments is the ability to destroy enemy surface-to-air threats, want Raptor pilots trained and F-22s equipped to conduct the Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses (DEAD) mission as well. If the current focus of the Raptor programme - including training syllabi, ready aircrew programme (RAP) requirements, designated operational capability (DOC) statements, modernisation plans, test plans, or the Weapons School - isn't on air-to-air and DEAD, then it is wrong and want it fixed, and if we're spending precious Raptor modernisation dollars or training sorties on the core missions of our other aircraft, such as CAS, SEAD or interdiction, that is also wrong and I want it stoppedl Given the relatively low numbers being procured, the Raptor cannot entirely replace the F-15C. Accordingly, the USAF plans to continue flying approximately 1 B0'golden Eagles' until 2025. The recent mishap involving a Missouri Air National Guard F-'i 5, however, has cast doubt on the Eagle's sustainability.The USAF will probably seek additional funding from Congress to purchase more Raptors. I

I

e&11$€g*&Jstshs the Global Strike Task Force points out, 'the success of any major air-land operation today and in the future - depends -primarily on the United States'pre-eminent ability to detect and destroy enemy fighters as well as attack high-value ground targets with precision weaponsl The F-22 is neither a perfect substitute for the F-1 1 7, nor available in sufficient numbers to replace the F-15C. Nevertheless, the Raptor will add tremendous value to coalition war plans. Many, not least US warfighters, will undoubtedly shed a tear when the last F-l 1 7 makes its final flight to the Tonopah Test Range for storage, but the cycle of aviation progress continues. fhe F-22 will define a new era in Il fighter capability. As

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words & photogrophy: Peler R. Mqrch This 40th anniversary issu e of Aircraft lllustrated

marks a significant and, for us, sad event retirement, after 40 uninterrupted years,

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the

of

Peter R. March as a monthly contributor. Born, educated and working in Bristol, Peter had his first photograph, of an Auster Alpha that had crashed at Lulsgate Airport, published in

Peter R. March with Cessna 172E G-4555. The aircraft was purchased by his very good friend Dennis Squires in 1 965, and Peter flew regularly with him to air events. ln 1971, Peter got his private pilot's licence and later became co-owner. The red and white Cessna has some 3,500 hours in its logbook and continues to take him to events around the
September 1959. He went on to contribute to Flight, Air Pictoriol and other magazines and local newspapers quite regularly over the next 1 0 years. His initial contact with lan Allan Ltd came in 1960 when he provided photographs for CivilAircraft Markings by John W R. Taylor. Buyers ofthe 1 961 CAM could see I 3 of Petert photographs, for which he received a reproduction fee of37p each! He

took his first air-to-air photographs in September 1 961, after being invited by the air correspondent of the Western Daily Press to go to RAF Colerne and fly in a Hastings to take photos of another Hastings and Beverley making a para drop. Now with a taste for aviation photography, he came to the conclusion that you need to write about aircraft to get photos into print. His first major article in 1965 on the training and operations of Royal Navy fighter crews at Yeovilton enabled Peter to get his first taste of fast jet flying. That involved the first of many Hunter sorties from Yeovilton, taking air-to-airs of Sea Vixens, and a trip in the toal hole'of a Sea Vixen (including a supersonic dive) that afternoon. Since Aircraft lllustrated starled, Peter has been the only contributor to have had something in every single issue. He has never missed a deadline, even while he was working for A/ alongside his full-time job. 40 years ago, Peter was head of sixth form at a Bristol comprehensive school, and three years later deputy head of another school. ln 1974, he went to the new Avon local authority as a principal adviser, to run the careers service and to be an 'inspector'of a group of primary and secondary schools. He was also writing careers books, and had a weekly slot called Jobline on what was then the HTV evening news. ln the'70s and '80s, while also having been made Contributing Editor of A/ (in 1977) by the then editor Martin Horseman, Peter wrote three series of adult education TV programmes to do with choosing a job, and one about retirement (which he says he hasn't watched recentlyl) It wasnt until 1988 that Peter became a full-time aviation photo-journalist, having decided to 'retire'from education after 28 years. He had been closely involved with the lnternational AirTattoo and the RAF Benevolent Fund, producing the show programme since 1973, and when he was invited to take over the editorship of the Royal Air ForceYearbookhejumped at the opportunity. lt was also then that Brian Strickland became his assistant, and he has played a large part in all of the work Peter has done since, including that for A/. Over the 40 years, Peter has edited more than 50 books and magazines for lan Allan including Military Aircraft Markings,the ABC Recognition Series, the A/ Annual, Air Extrc, Air Disploy lnternationol and several'specialsi Peter's Airview' colu mn has been a constant feature for almost all of A/'s life. Now providing our Preservation News -. n*.u' ' coverage, it has regularly broken major stories in the last few "*.."r^r::Xt"S":,lftijffii years, often thank to the many contacts Peter has made over s,rm:riff$S,i"ili!!ii4*:!j$*4',"-'5 i@ "^1,*,rr*.:1"",iE past half-century. This has run alongside his authorship of thepasthalf-century.Thishasrunalonqsidehisauthorshipor the "rl*:.,1$xi*::F;,li',ifio"'-..,,,"::,].lli 5*1"#,Sl:Iftlg'':f many other news and feature articles. lt goes without saying ijili#":EltSlo

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l*:i:::l"fi[i:]x;,:""" tif;ti-$u$*ti$$$dl.iiri*ffi \':it':"J.xT,T$::i?""1 1, he willcontinue to contribute on a resular basis his #1"$;il*"$J":f;tt"lii:l:ur;tretirement mark the end of an era forAi. ' ttto*,Petertakesupthestoryof howhecameto I ":';,'.;':,1; . a, workfor Aircraft lllustroted, and of some of his most memorable assignments for the magazine. BEN DUNNELL P€te13 first contribution to the first issue of Aircraft lllustrcted, in?Ioducing the Tipsy Nipper.

t must have been towards the end of 1 967 when I had a call out of the blue from Philip J. R. Moyes. l'd met Philip when he was the PR officer at Filton at the time Bristol Aircraft was producing the Britannia. He had been really helpful in allowing me to photograph the airliners on the production line there and I missed his help after he moved to the SBAC. Suddenly, there he was on the'phone, saying that he had been asked to edit a new aviation magazine for lan Allan, and inviting me to send him anything of interest, particularly on the civil side, for the first edition. At Compton Abbas a couple of months previously I had seen a newTipsy Nipper (G-AVKT) that had been flown in by David Shrimpton. I said to him that I would like to photograph it when he departed - he offered to do a couple of flybys. Characteristically enthusiastic, David proceeded to make some very low runs past the clubhouse, to the chagrin of the airfield manager. one of the photos of him doing this with a little story appears as my contribution to the very first quarterly edilion of Aircraft lllustrated in March 1968.That started the ball rolling, and I have never looked back until now. I don't recall any particular rationale being mentioned for the establishment of the new magazine other than Philip saying that 'all aviation interests'would be catered for. This has broadly been the policy ever since, although I have had to fight (and generally lost) the corner for light aviation. With lan Allan producing books and magazines for 'transport spotters; it was not surprising that the new aviation quarterly followed the same line. Essentially, my involvement came about because I was a'spotteri in Philip's eyes, and knew about registrations, serials, markings and so on. He was a respected aviation historian, and wasn't too familiar with the modern scene, particularly on the civil side. Part of my work for Ai was placed on a more regular footing from the April 1971 issue onwards, when the Airview'column started.The idea in fact came from something ld followed in Air Pictorial, called lournal of a Roving Spotter'. I thought, and convinced Philip Moyes, that we ought to do something similar in A/.The idea was to cover as much as possible of what was happening on the UK aviation scene that would not otherwise be reported in the news pages. At that time, the rest of the magazine was rather more'esoteric', and this was my way of getting something in for enthusiasts like me. This would typically include squadron and base changes, airline fleet updates, interesting visitors, news from the growing preservation scene and an events

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calendar. The latter continued through in various forms for the next 35 years. Airview'included airshow reports right from the start of the 1 971 season, and that summer saw the first AirTattoo staged in aid of RAFA's South-East branch at North Weald. I was invited to take photographs at the show, where I met Paul Bowen and Tim Prince. The following year I helped with the compilation of the programme and as a member of Paul and Tim's volunteer team, and by the first Embassy Air Tattoo held at Greenham Common in 1 973 I was press officer, programme editor and photographer. I have continued the latter two tasks ever since, the AirTattoo having been my first direct involvement in the airshow world. As a result, there has always been a close relationship between the event and A/. 1995 saw a major change, when Air Display lnternational, a sister publication (quarterly,

later bi-monthly) of which I had been the founding editor in 'l 987, was incorporated into A/. This meant that the airshow coverage was removed from'Airview', which from then on has concentrated solely on the preservation scene. lndeed, the section's main title changed to Preservation News in 2004, giving it the same importance as the magazine's military and civil coverage, though I was insistent that the Airview'name should also be retained given its

longevity.

a Sea Vixen. lt didn't exactly work out, because the pair of Phantoms was running short of fuel and they started to dive in towards Yeovilton before we were half-way up to meet them. lt was all very much'hit or missl The first part of one of my early highlights was published in A/ in February 1969. I was

Following that 5ea Vixen trip in 1965, continued to do quite a lot of flying from Yeovilton. ln 1 968, just after I started contributing to A/, the Royal Navy invited me to take the first photographs of its F-4K Phantoms arriving in the UK. Again, lflew in a Hunter out over the south-west of England, together with I

been o long time, but

very enioyoble. lt wos

invited by RAF public relations to go on what was supposed to be the first'fastback'Shorts Belfast two-crew, straight-through trip to the Far

The RAF s new strategic transport had been having performance troubles, caused by what described in the article as'suction drag on the tail and rear fuselagei lt wasn't able to achieve the speed and altitude that were desired, particularly in hot and high conditions.There was a modification programme put in hand which produced the'fastbackl Unfortunately, by the date on which I was supposed to go out to Singapore, they still didn't have one available, so I flew out on a'Bel-slowi

o mogozine thot took o

East.

I

MEMORABTE ASSIGNMENTS

'40 yeors on A/ hos

while to estoblish itself, but since then it's become the

'number one' in my eyes,

ond those of mony others'

lM.ll

40 yeors of reporting

weeks in Singapore to report on and fly with the Far East Air Force, and I had a fantastic time. i flew in a Belvedere up into the Malayan jungle to photograph load-lifting and troop insertions into a small clearing. I was deposited on the ground and the Belvedere lifted up to the tree line. I expected a rope to be lowered and the soldiers to abseil down. To my surprise, the helicopter flew away, right out of sightl Before we landed, they'd advised me,'Be a bit careful there - there are locals in the area who are rather uncivilised, and there are snakes and wild animalsl I then saw the faces of quite a few locals peering out of the trees. I was getting more and more rnrorried, thinking'How do I get back? Has the Belvedere had a problem?'Of course, it was all a huge joke. They then returned, lowered the troops in, and landed to pick me up.

The route went first from Brize Norton to Luqa in Malta, then on to Akrotiri. From there,

we had to leave for an overnight trip round the CENTO route, which was up through Turkey and down the other side to Bahrain, because you couldn't go across Egypt and the Middle East. When we got to RAF Muharraq in Bahrain, it was morning, and it was already hot.The Belfast couldn't depart with its load during the heat of the day, so we had to wait until the evening. They had advance notice that I was coming, and the Station Commander asked me to take some photographs for the station Christmas card. They put up a Hunter, Andover and Argosy.The crew went offto the Britannia Hotel, but I was kept busy, and at one point I was arrested on the apron when I went back over to the Belfast to get some more film. While I was being held there, the soles of my shoes got stuck to the tarmac, before was'rescued' by the Station Commanderl From Bahrain, we flew to RAF Gan in the Maldives and out to Singapore. I then had two

I

On three of the days, I was allocated a HunterTT from No 20 Squadron, firstly to do photography ofa No 74 Squadron Lightning T5. Both units were based at RAF Tengah at the

time. That was an interesting one, because in the bar one evening I was chatting to the Station Commander at Tengah, and he said,'So, you're going to do a Lightning photograph, are you?'l replied that I was hoping to.'Right, l'll give you a challenge. ld like you to get a photograph of me in the Lightning at low level over a Chinese junk, to show where we arei I accepted the challenge, and managed to get the photograph, which was published subsequently in A/. On another day when I had the Hunter, we heard that the air wing was disembarking from HMS Victorious, so we went up and I took pictures ofthe Sea Vixens and Buccaneers while they were inbound to Tengah. And, of course, I photographed the resident No B1 Squadron Canberra PR7s, and No 20 Squadron's Hunters themselves, in action. All the while, lwas accommodated in the senior officers'mess, had a car and driver allocated to me, and my own'batmani A tremendous visit it was somewhat different to be back in the classroom a week later. I have contributed many features on RAF units and stations at home and abroad to ,4/, and visited Cyprus, Germany and Hong Kong several times. At Akrotiri, I saw the UN helicopter operations, the NEAF Vulcans and UK squadrons on Armament Practice Camps. The best was the last Phantom APC when the crews made some fantastic low-level runs towards the cliffs and across the airfield for the benefit

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of the photographers. At RAF Wildenrath, Germany, I was privileged to see early Harrier operations and had another memorable Hunter flight. This was with No ll(AC) Squadron, and it was another'challengei from the squadron boss this time. I noticed a twinkle in his eye when he said,'What I want you to try and do is to get a photograph of one of our Hunter FRl 0s at low level. We're going to put a target out, and I d like you to get a shot of the Hunter taking its picture of the target belowi What I didn't realise was that it was going to be hidden in a pub car park at the end of a winding German roadlWe were at low level, doing violent turns left and right, as we followed this FR10. With the g-suit pumping in and out all the time, it was very difficult to get any photographs at all, let alone over the target. I failed the challenge and felt very unwell as I walked into the crew room. I was lucky enough to visit Hong Kong before it was handed over to China and fly with the Wessex on No 28 Squadron. This gave me the opportunity to photograph the new airport and contrast it with KaiTak in an additional article. I also found the time to fly a Cessna 172 from the Hong Kong Flying Club out ofand back into Kai Tak an amazing experience. With a lot of these things, it's not only the aeroplanes that have been special, but also the people I have met and who have gone out of their way to help me to get photographs and

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stories. There were several such individuals at FRADU (the Fleet Requirements and Air Direction Unit), whose Scimitars, Meteors,

airport to go through briefing with them, the aircraft inspection and the walk-round. I then had to dodge back into the terminal, because

Hunters and Canberras I covered numerous

I was booked in as a passenger and not crew. On board, I was allocated a seat at the front of the aircraft, which I only used when lwent back from the flightdeck to have my meal. Otherwise, I was on the Concorde flightdeck from start-up at JFK to shut-down at Heathrow, and it was probably the most fantastic trip of my life. Of course, one ofthe saddest occasions in my aviation career was the arrival of Concorde G-BOAF at Filton on its last flight in November 2003. To see it now, as I do very often. sitting forlornly at Filton, I think it's such a tragedy that it wasn't able to continue flying. The Bristol Aero Collection needs all the help it can get to get AF into the planned new museum building to protect it from the elements. The Vulcan has played a significant part in my A/ reporting in more recent times, and was really delighted when XH558 took off from Bruntingthorpe last October. When the RAF was looking at grounding it in the early 1990s, I was invited by the Ministry of Defence to represent aviation journalism at two meetings of all the interested parties, discussing whether there was a viable, cost-effective case for keeping XH558 flying in military hands. Those of us who spoke in favour of this lost the day, but it was a rational decision in the end. lt would perhaps have flown

times for A/. On one occasion, I wanted to take pictures of a MeteorTT20 towing its target. The pilot said that he and a colleague had to go out and provide targets for the gunners off Portsmouth, which involved flying round in a racetrack pattern for half an hour or so. thought it a bit strange when I saw him stuffing a paperback into his flying suit. When we were in the racetrack, he said,'l want to have a read of my book. Will you fly it round?'The TT20 had rudimentary controls in the back, so there I was flying a Meteor while the pilot had a read. I

Concorde has been an almost constant feature of my time working forAf starting when I witnessed the maiden flight of the'British' prototype 002 at Filton on 9 April 1 969. I then saw several production aircraft making their initial test flights from Filton, but naturally I wanted the chance to go on board. Th anksto Aircraft lllustrated, it happened on 2B August 1984 when flew on G-BOAA from New York to London. I managed to persuade British Airways to let me do a feature on 'a day in the life of a Concorde piloti I met Capt David Leney at an hotel in New York, and he told me about what I was going to see the next day. I joined the crew at breakfast, drove out with them to JFK I

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40 yeors of reporting 1

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aircraft, with Frank in the second one and others trailing behind. While we were on long finals, the storm was flashing away, and a Southwest Airlines 737 scurried off. We had to slow down our approach, but proceeded to land in stream. We'd touched down and were going along on our mainwheels, slowing down, when suddenly the aircraft turned left. The next thing I could see over my shoulder was the second T-6 coming quickly towards us. We swung round further, and the pilot opened up the throttle to get out ofthe way, but the engine coughed. The wing of Frank's aeroplane hit our tail, and the wingtip ended up almost immediately behind my head. Another foot, and it would have hit me; more likely, the propeller would have made contact

with

us.

contrast, going to the Middle East in the immediate aftermath of the first Gulf War had been less dangerous. I went as A/'s representative to Kuwait, while the oil well fires started by retreating lraqi forces were still burning. lwill always remember flying through the smoke in an RAF Hercules. We went into various desert strips, some containing lines and lines of US military helicopters, and to Kuwait City itself where the remalns of the British Airways 747 deslroyed on the ground during the war were still sitting, along with those of several other aircraft. The devastation in Kuwait left quite an impression on me.Then, we went into Bahrain where we saw the RAF Tornados and Jaguars, now with their nose art and mission markings. I never imagined during the Cold War years that I would end up going to Russia, and especially to its main test airfield, but By

for two or three more years at the most before funding ran out, and there were competing claims for the money. On the warbird front, the Confederate Air Force (now, of course, the Commemorative Air Force) has been very important to me since the early 1 980s. Lloyd Nolen, the key founder, encouraged me to visit Harlingen and subsequently Midland to report on the annual Airsho. With the help of volunteer press officer Russ Anderson and colleagues I was fortunate to fly in and photograph most of the types in the CAF inventory, ranging from the B-23 Dragon in 1 980 to Catalina, B-24, B-25, A-26, B-29 and CASA 2.1 1 1B more recently. Two sorties in Air Atlantique's Shackleton from Midland will also be long remembered. One CAF colonel, former USAF Gen Reg Urschler,

has been a friend and inspiration over many years. I have enjoyed flying with him in P-

51 Mustang Gunfighterand admired him displaying it on countless occasions. Reg was also the first to assist a very shaken photographer to climb out of a tailless Harvard after my first (and, I hope, last) aircraft accident. The incident happened at the 1 997 CAF Airsho and involved another long-standing A/ contributor, my good friend Frank B. Mormillo. We were off on a post-show photo sortie involving fourT-6s going out to photograph some warbirds. lt had been a really hot day and there were thunderstorms around. Then there was a radio call to say that there was an ominous storm moving towards the airfield, and that we should get back. We weren't too far away to the south and lwas in the lead

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it happened in October 1993

- at a very interesting time. I went there with Richard Goode, for whom l'd been taking photos since his early days as a competition aerobatic pilot. The plan was to do air-to-airs of the new Sukhoi Su-31 aerobatic machine over Zhukovsky from a Yak-1 BT, as Richard (who had bought and displayed the first Su-26 in the UK) was purchasing one. My arrival coincided with a major crisis following President Boris Yeltsin's decision to rule by decree and his dissolution of the existing Russian legislative system, including the parliament. lt looked as though civil war could erupt at any time, and there were uprisings on the streets of Moscow. These were put down by force, and tanks shelled the White House in which members of the legislature lvere holed up.This happened on a Sunday, but largely without us knowing, as we were staying just outside the city. We had a Sukhoi representative with us, and Richard wanted to go to a large hotel near rne White House as he was setting up the first paying to fly '.,isits to Zhukovsky by Westerners in MiGs, Sukhois and so on A/ was the first Western magazine to report on this and rvanted to find a decent hotel to put them in. Driving towards it, we came to a roadblock, and a policeman told us: 'You can't go down there, there's troublei Our driver said, 'No, we've got to get to that hotel:The policeman replied something llke,'On your heads be itl and we drove down this dual carriageway. We went round a bend, and in front of us the road was biocked, there was a bus burning and there were people waving banners coming towards

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us. The Sukhoi man said to the driver,'Keep going, don't stop!; and to Richard and l,'Get your heads down!'We just drove straight past this group, who thankfully stepped aside for us, went over the bridge - the White House is on one side of the river, and the hotel on the other and were stopped by a British television -crew, I think from Sky, who asked us: 'What the hell are you doing? You're in the middle of a revolution!'Those people had been marching towards the television centre, to take it over. That evening, we went to a restaurant, and at about 10 o'clock the owner came up to us and said:'l think you'd better go now, because there are tanks moving in on the cityl Overnight, and especially first thing the next morning, we all heard the sound of gunfire. The next day, a friend Richard had brought out with him was going to fly in a two-seat 'Frogfootl somebody else was going up a

Without this understanding, lwould not have had these incredible experiences.

iltoT SutTE Tt{E Hr.{8.." Now, 40 years since,4/ started and since I made my first contribution to it, I feel it's time to

the dispersals at Zhukovsky. I went straight back to the UK the following morning, because I was flying to Midland for the CAF Airsho. When I got there, it was rather amusing to be able to say,'l've just come straight from the Russian revolution!'lt was a whole different world. Those are just a few of many marvellous

relinquish the responsibility of providing a full news section every month. To some extent, it has ruled my life, because l've had to arrange holidays and so on around the deadlines. It will be a bit of a relief when that changes. However, l'm certainly not going to finish contributing to A/, whether in the form of preservation items, show reports or feature articles. I don't intend to suddenly give everything up! As far as the changes over these 40 years are concerned, the most significant has been the method of supplying material to the editorial office. lt's not really that long ago that we all stopped posting typewritten copy to the office and began sending files on disk and, soon after, e-mailing them as attachments. The other huge change has been the development of digital photography, meaning that the magazine isn't reliant on receiving prints or transparencies in time and always at the mercy of postal services. lt all means that items can be added or altered at the last minute, and that the immediacy and topicality of the finished product is that much greater. 40 years on A/ has been a long time, but very enjoyable. lt was a magazine that took a while to establish itself, but since then it's

memories from four decades of ,4/ reporting! I have seldom referred to my family, and in particular to my wife Chris who has patiently put up with my preoccupation.

of many others. There is no other aviation magazine that's so all-embracing, and long may it stay that way.

MiG-29U8, and we were due to do the air-to-airs of the 5u-31 . We went to Zhukovsky and were

told that all airfields in Russia were closed, but by midday they said that all the flying could go ahead. This gave me just enough time to get the Sukhoi photos, and some'sneaky'shots of

become the'number one'in my eyes, and those

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eated debates about airport expansion, the aPpearance of the world's largest airliner and calls for more fuel-efficient engines. Yes,

it's 1 968, the year

when the UK government appointed a Royal Commission to recommend a site for the third

London airport, when the Boeing 747,the first of the wide-bodied airliners, was rolled out and when the Rolls-Royce RB21 1, which represented a new breed of efficient turbofan engines, was bench-tested for the first time. But it was also the time when predictions about atomic-powered hypersonic airliners seemed a lot less fantastic than they would today. Aviation's first half-century was characterised by ever-rising speeds and by 1 968 the first Westernbuilt supersonic airliner was poised to make its maiden flight the following year. As it turned out, though, lhe747 and the RB21 1 would prove to be more reliable harbingers ofthe future. For it was they, not the Anglo-French Concorde or the SovietTu-144, which represented the real instruments of change. Economic factors are now the main determinant of a form of travel which, in 1968, was still mainly for the well-to-do despite the efforts ofthe fastgrowing charter sector which was helping to transform sleepy Spanish fishing villages into playgrounds for :lorthern European holidaymakers. Today's low-cost carriers have helped to complete the revolution begun by the inclusive tour holiday operators in the 1 960s. They may have started with cast-off Constellations but they soon acquired modern aircraft and set standards for efficiency which their scheduled and usually state-owned rivals found hard to match. We may not have colonised Mars, but much :hat's commonplace in 2008 would have made .yes pop in 1968. Mobile 'phones and the internet 3re just two examples. Electronic technology has :,ven aviation things like secondary surveillance ':dar which enables air traffic controllers to -andle ever-rising volumes of traffic with ever-creasing safety standards. The technology which :;i transponders into aircraft to enable controllers :r direct radar beams to interrogate them and ':ceive vital information has made possible :irborne collision avoidance systems. Satellite navigation gives pilots the ability :o pinpoint their location anywhere on the ;iobe to within a few metres and now looks set to take air traffic management to the next jeneration. And the technology which has

3ut undreamed-of computing power into the 'rands of aircraft designers, airline managers :nd air traffic controllers has also given air

passengers the freedom to make their own travel arrangements from the comfort of their own living rooms. Governments now play a far less front-line role in airline, airport and even air traffic control operations. Who in '1968 could have imagined that London's Heathrow airport, recently handed over to the newly-formed British Airports Authority, would in 2008 be owned and operated by a Spanish construction company? Concorde inevitably captured a lot of headlines. Getting it into service was a major technological feat and the diplomatic transAtlantic negotiations involved in securing permission to operate into the US were just as tricky. Yet by 1976, when the green light was finally given, it had become obvious that initial airline enthusiasm for the 5ST had dwindled to virtually nothing. The cost of the aircraft coupled with the increasing environmental opposition to it and the supersonic booms generated by its passage through the air meant that only British Airways and Air France - whose governments had underwritten its development with generous helpings of taxpayers'money - were interested in operating it. The introduction of wide-bodied airliners like the 747, the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed Tristar had already ushered in an era of mass travel which had opened in 1970 with the arrival of Pan Am's fisl747 at Heathrow. The US abandoned its supersonic airliner project in the 1970s, leaving a few Concordes to continue conveying the super-rich across the North Atlantic until July 2000 when the loss of an Air France example signalled the end of the supersonic era. Whether or not this will have been the first such era remains to be seen. Airbus and Boeing conducted a joint study in the early 1990s but nothing came of it. There are plans for supersonic executive jets

but critical issues remain emissions at very high altitude and noise. Dr Dieter Schmitt, former Airbus vice-president of future projects and new technologies, said recently that no new 5ST can be expected for at least 1 5 years. Boeing's Sonic Cruiser, which would have sold on the basis of travel at high subsonic speeds and which might have brought a new shape to the world's major airports, failed to attract support from airlines more interested in the operating economics promised by the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has talked about a blended wing design, and although this may promise economic and environmental advantages there are knotty issues to be resolved such as the emergency evacuation of passengers. ln 1968 Britain was still able to build airliners of indigenous design. The Vickers, later British Aircraft Corporation, VC10 was to prove its popularity with long-haul passengers until

the late 1970s, while the de Havilland, later Hawker Siddeley, Trident formed the backbone of British Airways'short and medium-haul fleet well into the 1 980s, The successful short-haul BAC 1-'1 1 even secured orders from US airlines. All three did well but could have done better if domestic customers, particularly the state-owned airlines, had demonstrated greater enthusiasm. lnevitably they were up against US-designed products which benefited from a large domestic market and sold in thousands rather than tens. When in 2001 British Aerospace, or BAE Systems as it had then become, stopped building the Avro RJ family of aircraft, which had developed from the successful 146 regional airliner, Britain stopped manufacturing complete jet airliners. Paradoxically, the UK aerospace industry goes from strength to strength in the 21 st century. ln 2006, according to the Society of British Aerospace Companies, it supported 276,000 UK jobs, had a turnover of f.20 billion and exported 63 per cent of all it produced. New orders increased by 6 per cent to f26.2 billion. Much of this success results from the industry's participation in Airbus, the European consortium which is today one of only two builders of large airliners. Britain's initial approach to the Airbus concept in the late 1 960s and early 1970s was typically equivocal. But despite a lack of government commitment, Hawker which merged with BAC to form the Siddeley has nationalised British Aerospace in the 1 970s produced the wings for every Airbus airliner ever built. A blind alley Concorde may have been, but it did help to pioneer a cross-border approach to aircraft manufacture which even Boeing has adopted with the Dreamliner. The technologically-advanced, twin-engined, twin-aisle 43008 of 1972 was followed by the

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'Air trovel hos become cheoper ond sofer over the lost 40 yeors. The chollenge for the next 40 ond beyond is not only to mointoin those trends but to demonstrote thot qviotion is copoble of toking o responsible opprooch to climote chonge'

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even more advanced A310. But it is the single-aisle 4320, whose design represented a true distillation of British and European ideas, which has been the biggest success so far; with over 5,300 sold and more than 3,000 in service. At the other end

ofthe

scale, the A380, the biggest airliner yet built, has

recently gone into service with launch customer Singapore Airlines. This event was delayed by manufacturing difficulties which have led to a

major restructuring operation by Airbus. Further difficulties for the Toulouse-based assembler have been posed by the continuing low value ofthe US dollar relative to other currencies. As a result of this, Airbus managers have talked about setting up plants within the dollar area. Whether this represents a serious proposition or is just talk aimed at raising government support remains to be seen. Meanwhile, a new assembly plant opens this year in China, which will take total A320 production up to 40 units a month. Once the province of European manufacturers, regional jet manufacture in the Western world is now concentrated on two manufacturers, Brazil's Embraer with its E-Jet family and Canada's Bombardier with its CRJ series. Recent signs of a turboprop comeback seem to have been borne out by increasing sales achieved by the Franco-ltalian ATR combine and Bombardier's Q-Series. lt is in this sector that Russian, Chinese and Japanese manufacturers see their best chances of achieving success with indigenous designs. The 40 years have seen turbulent times for the world's airlines. Many famous names have passed into history, such as Pan Am,TWA, Swissair and Sabena.The state-owned British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways were combined into British Airways in 1974, which went on to become one of the first of the world's major airlines to be privatised in the 1 980s. Since then BA has absorbed British Caledonian, once seen as a spearhead of a private sector'second forcei and Dan Air. Others fell by the wayside in the '1980s. Laker Airways, launched by the flamboyant and entrepreneurial 5ir Freddie, and People Express of

the U5 were perhaps Iow-cost carriers before their time. Yet they were not alone in offering low-cost travel. Dallas-based Air Southwest had already changed its name to Southwest Airlines and started the no-frills, simple fare structure, shorthaul services which have since become the model for a new breed of airline: the low-cost carriers.

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Today, Southwest carries 100 million passengers on more than 500 aircraft (the world's is now the USA's biggest domestic airline. lt also has a unique record of consistent profitability since '1973. Among the first to absorb the lessons was Dublin accountantturned-airline boss Michael O'Leary who used them to transform the family-owned Ryanair into Europe's biggest low-cost airline, carrying 52 million passengers on 605 routes to 26 countries. ln 1995, Greek-born shipping magnate's son Stelios Haji-loannou launched scheduled fl ights between Luton and Edinburgh and Glasgow using two leased Boeing 737s. By the end of 2007, easyJet was operating 1 07 Airbus A31 9s and 30 737s. lt had also carried over 38 million passengers, and HajiJoannou is now Sir Stelios. Liberalisation of the EU aviation market in

fourth largest fleet) and

1993 created the institutional climate within which such carriers could flourish. Part of the key to success has been a rigorous approach to cost control, high aircraft utilisation and use ofthe internet for passenger bookings. Adherence to this business model enabled the low-costs to weather the '9111' crisis in better shape than their longer-established rivals. Just to survive, many of these'legacy'carriers found themselves obliged to adopt low-cost features like fewer frills and greater internet use. Many U5 majors sought bankruptcy protection after' 9 / 1 1 I i ncl udi n g U nited Airli nes, once the world's biggest canier. Rising fuel and labour costs will continue to make life tough in a business still subject to peaks and troughs. Roughly every eight to '10 years since the 1960s, strong recovery has been followed by a sharp downward lurch, usually prompted by world events like wars. lf the airlines could build up cash reserves, that would help tide them over the lean years, but they seem incapable of consistently recording average profit margins

much over 3 per cent. Ryanair, however. claims an astonishing 20 per cent-plus margin. Although the low-cost model has yet to be

applied to the long-haul market, it's probably only a matter of time. lndeed. O'Leary has already announced plans for a trans-Atlantic operation. lf this does get offthe ground, the tegacy carriers will have to respond with vigour or be forced further into niche markets. ln 2007, BA recognised that it is no longer a domestic carrier when it sold its regional BA Connect operation to specialist low-cost operator Flybe.

Another problem facing the industry is the web of government-negotiated agreements which govern most international air services and restrict market access. But here, again, some changes can be expected. From the end of March, the Open Skies deal negotiated by the EU and US will enable any EU or US airline to fly services to any EU or U5 city. Nowhere will this be more keenly watched than at Heathrow, access to which has since '1977 been restricted to two UK and two U5 carriers by the Bermuda ll agreement. The lnternational Air Transport Association has said it expected its members to be paying an average of 578 a barrel for oil in 2008, but the recent breach ofthe 5100 per barrel barrier has already made that seem out of date. This continual upward trend will place additional pressure on engine and aircraft manufacturers to find further operating efficiencies. Both CFM and Rolls-Royce are predicting that advanced turbofans will burn 1 5 per cent less fuel than today's. Four decades ago, arguments were raging about the expansion of London's airports, They still are, and not without reason. According to the lnternational Civil Aviation Organisation, the world's airlines carried around 261 million passengers in 1 968. The corresponding figure

for 2006was2.2 billion.That same year, UK airports handled 235 million passengers, not far short ofthe 1 968 global total. London airports were used by 136 million passengers. To aid its deliberations, the third London airport commission under Mr Justice Roskill employed many innovative techniques including cost-benefit analysis. But the result was a bit of a shambles: the commission favoured a green-field site in Bedfordshire but the government accepted a minority report calling for an airport off the Essex coast. That was overturned in 1974 by another government which cited growing costs and mounting difficulties as its reasons. Since then Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted have all had new terminals and London City has been built in Docklands. Manchester has become a two-terminal, two-runway gateway and many regional airports from East Midlands to Bristol have recorded staggering growth rates, thanks mainly to low-cost operations. ln March, Heathrow will have a fifth terminal. But it s still not enough.

A 2003 White Paper envisaged four new runways at UK airports by 2030. Last year, the

government confirmed that two of them will be required in the London area: at Stansted and at Heathrow, which will also need a sixth terminal. A village will have to be bulldozed to make way for this development. Even with the best available expertise, air traffic forecasts will not always be right, says Stan Abrahams, who was a researcher for the Roskill Commission. That experience has left him with a clear view of what should happen:'lt's important to plan and prepare early and flexibly, compensate generously and continually update the forecasts, evaluate and build at the last possible momentj Airport development has seldom been welcomed by local communities, and more battles lie ahead. Up to now airport operators have been able to counter Iocal objections by setting their plans in the context of national economic need. But fears about global r,varming threaten to alter that. Many will now be able to claim that climate change, to which

aviation is seen as adding a fast-growing contribution, is far bigger than mere national interests. Again, the arguments are cyclical. ln the Iate 1960s and early 1970s, noise was the primary environmental concern, with vehement views on both sides. Air travel has become cheaper and safer over the last 40 years. The challenge for the next 40 and beyond is not only to maintain those trends but to demonstrate that aviation is capable oftaking a responsible approach to climate change. Even that, however, may be easier said than done. Some parts of the world, such as the EU, are taking global warming more seriously than others the US under President George W. Bush, for example. The EU is keen on wrapping international aviation within the world's largest carbon trading market. This signals a bold move towards a new ievel of regulation and one that may not be universally welcomed. The EU's approach may find repercussions, for example, in the next stage of the Open Skies negotiations which Europe hopes will open up the US domestic market. The industry may draw inspiration from its past, but seeking the scope to continue its expansion in the face of world-wide concern for the environment will take it into new and uncharted territory. Time alone will tell how well it A

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succeeds.

Clockwise from top left: The VCl 0 (this being British Airways Super VCI 0 G-ASGR) could have been a world-beater British airliners of the era, wasn't. British Airways

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but, like other

The roll-out of the first Boeing 747, the aircraft that made possible mass long-haul travel, in 1 968. Boeing

After an uncertain start, Airbus lndustrie gradually gained strength, lts first product, the A300, would remain in production from 1 974 to 2007. Airbus The US market is the airline industry in microcosm, with the'legacy' and low-cost carriers battling for customers, and Boeing and Airbus for aircraft orders. Serge Bailleul/AirTeamlmages,com The problems en(ountered with the A380 programme taught Airbus many lessons. Airbus For how much longer will the congestion at major hubs be tolerated? Even those that are expanding will surely

fill up again in the years ahead. Gany Lewis/AirTeamlmages.com

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just seven years old when Aircraft Illustrated waslaunched, and though it would be another five years before I became a buyer {OK, addict), I did subsequently and retrospectively 'back-fill'my collection, so that I now have every issue. What that means is that when I look back at developments in aviation during the 4}-year life of Aircraft lllustrated,l am also looking back at how aviation and the aerospace industry have changed during my life. And, in some respects, the 40 years since 1968 have been marked by less excitement and less'progress'than has occurred in any 40-year period since the Wright brothers made their first tentative flights just over a century ago. If you'd asked my father how aviation had changed in the 40 years beginning from when he was seven, progress would have been dramatic! The flimsy biplane fighters gave way to all-metal monocoque monoplanes, and then to the earlyjets, and by the time he reached the age of 47,he'd seen supersonic fighters and Mach 2 aircraft like the Lightning and Phantom, while the'teen series' jets of today were already was

on the drawing board. And he'd seen offensive air power go from dropping tiny 20lb bombs to the horror of the atomic bombs at Nagasaki and Hiroshima and to the full spectrum of weaponry deployed in Vietnam. Things have been remarkably quiet, by comparison, in'my' 40-year period!

SETTI$dG T}'{E SCINF ln 1968, the world's leading air forces operated sophisticated, Mach 2, all-weather fighters (like the F-4 Phantom) and the USAF and Russia fielded long-range strategic bombers armed with stand-off guided missiles. Today, fighters are no faster than the Phantom, and the USAF and Russia still use the B-52 and the Tu-95 'Bear'as strateqic bombers, armed with stand-off missiles. The four decades since 1968 have been a time of small, unspectacular incremental progress, rather than of dramatic step changes in performance or capability. Rather than seeing dramatic increases in speed, rate of climb, range and altitude, there have with more been improvements in avionics accurate navigation, improved weapons accuracy and more reliable communications

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engines and systems. This has led to military aircraft enjoying much longer service lives since they rgmiin viable and competitive for much longer. For example, a radar upgrade is often a valid alternative to a new replacement aircraft type, which might offer little improvement in performance terms. ln 1968 I was living at RAF Wildenrath, where the based Canberra B(l)8s were viewed as grand old ladiesl long-serving veterans whose service career had been one of almost unparalleled length, and which was drawing to a close. When the B(l)B retired in 1972, the Canberra's service in the bomber role had a span which was recordlasted 21 years breaking then, but which would be unusually short today. When the RAF retired its Jaguar fighter-bombers, they had served for 34 years, and the Tornado looks set to enjoy a 43-yeat career under present plans, while the Nimrod might clock up 42years, the classic C-'l 30K Hercules will complete 44 years, and the VC10

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magnificent 48 years.

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And things are no different in the USA, where the B-52 has already achieved 53 years in service, while even 'newer'types like the F-l 5 are just as long-lived. The F-1 5 has already achieved 31 years in service, for example, and there are plans to keep them for at least 50 years. This is a global phenomenon. Although some of the aircraft types that I could see at Wildenrath in 1968 have disappeared from service (like the F-1 04 Starfighter. the Lightning, and, of course, the Canberra). many of them remained aclive over Aircraft lllustroted's first 40 years, and some (like the Bell

UH-l and AH-1, the VC1 0, the C-l 30 Hercules, and the P-3 Orion), remain operational, often with no end in sight to their distinguished

still raglng. At th€ tidrc,

careerS.

Stratofortress, even then a vttdtFlit would still be playing such a vlttl role in the USAF today and forthe foreseeable future. USAF

Aircraft lllustroted has witnessed two distinct periods in military aviation. Before the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, the period was dominated by the Cold War, while the period since then has been marked by instability and frequent conflicts.

AI RC RAF T I LLU ST RAT E D' S COID WAR YEARS Though the Cold War was marked by higher defence spending than is now the norm, the Cold War itself got progressively tooler'after 1968 (a hot year, with the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and tension in Berlin), while the general economic situation put increasing pressure on defence budgets, Ieading to continuing cuts and reductions in force structure. But even with these cutbacks, defence was accorded a higher priority than it is today. and the military aerospace industry enjoyed boom times. When Aircraft lllustroted was launched, the Vietnam war was still raging. Though this was an asymmetric conflict, fought far from Europe in tropical climates, against largely jungle targets, it had considerable influence on Cold War air forces. The latter adopted many of the weapons and tactics that were proved and refined in the crucible of south-east Asia, from Paveway laser-guided bombs, to the use of dedicated SEAD aircraft, weapons and tactics to overcome the new generation of air defence weapons. Another conflict, this time in the Middle East, was almost as influential. The 1973 Yom Kippur war saw lsrael's mighty air force brought io its knees by Egyptian SAMs, and only a massive resupply effort by the USA (Operation 'Nickel Grass') saved the day. The development of military aircraft has always been a game of measure and countermeasure, and the mid-'I970s saw the

deployment of a new generation of military aircraft, designed to counter threats that had emerged during the early 1960s.

The shift to low-level penetration by bombers and attack aircraft in the late 1950s proved to be an effective counter to SAM5 and radar-based air defence systems, though existing aircraft, designed and optimised for high-altitude operations, had some limitations. A new generation of dedicated low-level attack aircraft was developed, with airframes optimised for flight at low level, and with advanced all-weather navigation systems, and sophisticated avionics, sometimes including automatic terrain following. As Aircraft lllustrated began, the Anglo-French Jaguar fighter-bomber prototype began flight testing (on 8 September 1968), and the MRCA (MultiRole Combat Aircraft, later Tornado) programme began in earnest. The growing importance of low-level penetration posed problems for air defences, and necessitated the adoption offighter radars with better look-down/shoot-down capabilities, able to pick out low-flying targets

from ground clutter. The limitations of mediumrange weapons like the AIM-7 Sparrow, coupled

with the need to be able to out-manoeuvre more agile fighter opponents, also required unparalleled agility in the new fighters that were developed during the late 1960s. Thus, while the U5'teen series'fighters were no faster than the F-4 Phantom and other inservice types, they had more effective sensors and weapons and were much more agile. But

though the F-14Tomcat and F-i5 Eagle (and especially the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F/A-1B Hornet) demonstrated levels of agility that were unparalleled in previous radar-

equipped and missile-armed all-weather fighters (which had always been a heavier, less manoeuvrable class of aircraft) their impressive instantaneous and sustained turn rates were not dramatically different to those that could be obtained by aircraft like the Gnat, F-5 and MiG-l7. lt was therefore the combination of agility and capability that was novel and innovative.

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Left, top to bottom: King of the'heavies', Even today, no transport aircraft (an match the versatility of the evergreen Lockheed Hercules. This pyrotechnic display of fireworks is given by an AC-l 30H gunship as it fires infra-red countermeasure flares. USAF Con(eived to counter the'untouchable'threat of the SR-71, the Sovi€t development of the MiG-31 'Foxhound'began to make the West sit up and take notice. Vyacheslav Martyniuk via Yefim Gordon The shape of things to come? Current as the F-1 5E Strike Eagle (top) and F/A-1 8 Super Hornet (middle) may one day be giving way to machines like the

fighters such

X-45C (bottom), the first autonomous

aircraft designed from the beginning to Gonduct strike and surveillance missions, Boeing

Perhaps the biggest new features of the new generation of fighters (the US'teen series; and aircraft like the Tornado, Viggen and Mirage 2000) were the least obvious, but simultaneously the most useful and the most obvious to those who had to fly and operate the aircraft. ln creating these new aircraft, the designers paid ever closer attention to reliability, maintainability and supportability, to minimising operating and support costs, and to improving handling qualities and cockpit workload. HOTAS controls and head-up displays became de rigeur, allowing pilots to operate all systems while keeping their heads up, and their eyes outside the cockpit. As military aircraft became more and more sophisticated, they also became more and more difficult and expensive to develop. ln Europe, this had already led to considerable consolidation and

rationalisation, which would continue during the late 1 960s and early 1 970s. The process culminated with Dassault's 1971 acquisition of Breguet to produce Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation, and the 1 977 merger of Hawker Siddeley, Scottish Aviation and BAC to form British Aerospace in the UK.

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Above: The first flight of the Northrop B-2 stealth bomber in 1 989 introduced perhaps the most dramatic shape the skies have ever seen. Stealth has been perhaps the biggest technological development in aviation over the last 40 years. USAF

of the envelope, with manoeuvres like the

'tailslide' and'cobra' demonstrating rocksolid'post-stall' handling characteristics, and an unmatched ability to point the aircraft's nose (and its weapons, sensors and weapon seekers) 'off axisi away from the direction of flight. They had also incorporated infrared search and track systems, giving the aircraft a useful ability to detect, locate and track a target passively, without using their own radar. They had also provided But even though these new European giants rivalled the big US companies in size and industrial and economic muscle, they were not really big enough to undertake the most complex and ambitious programmes. There rvas an increasing trend towards international collaborative programmes in the UK, and even iowards co-operation between US companies. Thus, the Tornado was a product of Britain's 3AC, Germany's MBB and ltaly's Aeritalia

,operating through the management company Panavia), while in the USA, the F/A-18 Hornet \'/as very much a collaboration between

),4cDonnell Douglas and Northrop. The USSR lagged slightly behind the USA ;n the development and deployment of its new generation of fighters, so that when the twin,'lnned, LERXed MiG-29 and 5u-27 appeared after the twin-finned F- 14, F-1 5 and YF-] 7, and after the LERXed F-1 6 and YF-1 7, there were inevitable, and misplaced, accusations of copying.

THE POST.COID WAR YEARS When the new generation of Russian fighters made their first Western airshow appearances, it soon became clear that their designers had made massive strides in agility, especially at the low-speed end

helmet-mounted sighting systems, further enhancing the ability of the MiG-29 and Su-27 to engage targets'off boresight' outside the relatively small patch of sky -visible in the head-up display. To a great degree, the post-Cold War period has been characterised byWestern manufacturers playing catch-up, struggling to counter these new fighter capabilities, while further improving their pilots'situational awareness, refining the so-called man-machine interface and reducing cockpit workload, and further improving reliability, mai ntainabil ity, and supportability, with aircraft like the Saab JAS39 Gripen and EurofighterTyphoon. There has, however, also been the emergence of one key technology that does represent more of a step change that is low observability, or stealth. -Much misunderstood, stealth does not make an aircraft invisible, but, when'seen' from particular aspects, it can reduce the radar cross section to the extent that the aircraft will appear much smaller on radar, dramatically reducing the effective range of an enemy radar. This can allow a stealth aircraft to slip between enemy radar coverage either undetected or detected too

late for any defences to be effective. The Lockheed F-1 17 Nighthawk stealth fighter made its combat debut during US operations in Panama in 1989, and was subsequently used extensively over lraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. The Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bomber made its combat debut 10 years later, in 1999, during the Kosovo war. Air forces have been busy in the period since 1989. When the stabilising influence of the confrontation between the Cold War superpowers vanished, the 'lids'were taken off a number of simmering conflicts - initially in the Balkans, where Yugoslavia splintered into its separate ethnic components, in the Horn of Africa, and in the Middle East, where Saddam Hussein's lraq began to throw its weight around. Since then, lslamist terror has also started to pose a growing threat. But while the world has become more dangerous, defence spending has been cynically reduced, providing the'Peace Dividend'expected by a naiVe public, and allowing electorally-popular tax cuts, and/or increased spending on social programmes. A more sensible policy would have been to spend more money restructuring and re-equipping air forces to meet the new s ituation. New trends in air power are already becoming evident. New precision guided weapons are being developed and deployed, some of them optimised to produce the lowest possible collateral damage, while unmanned platforms are being heavily promoted. Combat experience is already showing that while such unmanned platforms do offer useful niche capabilities, they also have many limitations. But because they offer low cost and low risk of human casualties, they are attractive to politicians, and are being promoted more widely than may be appropriate. ln the next 40 years, we will no doubt see military aviation continuing to develop, and Aircraft lllustrated will be there reporting on how the story unfolds. A

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l

..:,{

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Amongst many great restorations of the past 40 years, that of P-38F Lightning Glacier Girl is one of the most outstanding. John Dibbs/The Plane Picture Co

n 2008, with a plethora of aviation

museums to visit and airworthy historic aircraft a feature of almost every airshow, it is perhaps difficult to appreciate the extent to which the

aircraft preservation scene was still in its relative infancy 40 years ago. However, the important thing was that the seeds for the future were being sown. Only a few of the major national museums were already in existence in anything like the form they take today. France's Mus6e de lAir had been inaugurated at Chalais-Meudon in 1 921, but space at this location was insufficient.The collection forming the US Air Force Museum had started to be built up in the 1 920s too, but its site at Patterson Field, opened in 1 954, offered iittle indoor accommodation. The lmperial War Museum in London naturally included some aircraft exhibits, but they were only part of its remit.The Smithsoniank National Air and Space Museum still awaited a dedicated facility for its collection. There were already, of course, some rnajor collections of airworthy aircraft, but these ioo were at an early stage. Even the grand-daddy' cf them all, the Shuttleworth Collection, had only cpened to the public at Old Warden in 1963. Of course, it was the realisation in the years following WW2 that important aeroplanes were being lost, and of the lack of support from cfficialdom for preservation activities, that sparked off the activities of many pioneering individuals. ln 1968, these were still in their relative infancy, but already bearing much fruit. Their influence remains strong today. Perhaps the first was Lloyd Nolen, who oought an ex-USAAF P-40 Warhawk in 1951.This Texan pilot really wanted a P-51 Mustang, but had to wait until 1957 to get his hands on one, curchased in conjunction with some friends. Thus was born the Confederate Air Force, and :hat P-51D Red Nose is still with the organisation. t,Vith the desire to expand the fleet came the realisation amongst the CAF s Colonels that :hey were virtually alone in wanting to preserve :xamples of significant WW2 aircraft. With an :iement of organisation behind it, the CAF soon 9rew. lt opened a museum facility at Mercedes, --fre first Rebel Field, in 1965, but soon this wasn't cig enough.40 years ago, a new Rebel Field was :stablished by the CAF at Harlingen, and there ts headquarters would remain for 23 years. The same sort of story lies behind The Air ',1useum'Planes of Famel born out of Edward i Maloney's concern at the numbers of WW2 :ircraft being scrapped at Chino Airport and 3iher locations around California and the ,restern USA. His collection started life in Claremont in 1957 as little more than a roadside attraction, yet despite the lack of facilities, at east the aircraft had been saved.40 years ago, The Air Museum was located at Ontario Airport,

and had already developed considerably with the addition of airworthy machines. Just five years later, it moved to its current home at Chino and was set fair for the future, making good use of volunteer help and gradually being built up. ln the UK, there was no national museum with a significant aviation element when A/ was founded in 1968. However, there was one major private collection, again thanks to the determination of one man. ln 1959, Peter Thomas, a Welshman with a passionate interest in aviation, realised that no Short Sunderland was earmarked for preservation. Thomas therefore established the'Save-a-Sunderland' campaign, and succeeded in securing an example from the French Navy. Sunderland V M1824 made a triumphant arrival at Pembroke Dock in March 1961, and went on to be cared for at this former RAF flying boat base in Wales by the Sunderland Trust for a decade until it was handed over to the RAF Museum. With the aim of saving further British WW2 types, PeterThomas and his family founded the Skyfame collection at Gloucester's Staverton airport in 1 963, and really kick-started the preservation movement in the UK. lt was the country's first dedicated aviation museum (it still held this distinction 40 years ago) and operated a number of airworthy machines from the outset. Rising rents at Staverton caused Skyfame to close there in 1978, with most of its aircraft going to the lmperial War Museum at Duxford. lts legacy is immense, though. The influence of the Battle of Britorn film, made in 1968 and released the following year, must also be mentioned. ln hunting down Spitfires, Hurricanes, Bfl09s and He1 1 1 s for the movie, Gp Capt Hamish Mahaddie furthered the cause of what was to become the warbird movement no end. A significant number of Spitfires were restored to fly in order to take part, and the film certainly prompted an upsurge of interest in the preservation of Spitfires and Hurricanes, not least in airworthy condition. The market for these aircraft,'Spits' in particular, was stimulated and many more restorations would follow as a result. Battle of Britain also brought the ex-Spanish AF '1 HA1 l2 Buch6ns (Bfl09Js) and CASA 2.1 1 1 Bs (Hel 1 1 H-l 6s) onto the scene, thereby providing a source of 'German'aircraft for airshows, further film work and museums for many years to come. The 1970s was a particularly important decade for aircraft preservation. lt was the period in which a fair proportion of today's flying warbirds and restoration projects first surfaced in private hands, with the great David Tallichet being at the forefront. His company, Military Aircraft Restoration Corporation (MARC), undertook and sponsored numerous expeditions to far-flung places that recovered such as P-39s, P-40s, Beauforts, A-20s and B-26s, and Tallichet also purchased many airframes from the US military for much the same reasons

as the CAF,'Planes of Fame'and others. Well

over 100 aircraft passed through Tallichet's hands, and this preservation pioneer was still

flying his B-17G Memphis Bel/e untiljust a few months prior to his death last October. Similarly, it's remarkable how many aircraft we see flying today that were part of Doug Arnold's Warbirds of Great Britain collection at one time or another. Many of today's large museums really started to take shape in the 1 970s, too. The US Air Force Museum's facility at Wright-Patterson AFB was inaugurated in 1971.lts development was an early example of the sort of fundraising that is now common, as a campaign by the Air Force Museum Foundation brought about large-scale private sector donations to provide the majority of the required 56 million.The opening of the National Air and Space Museum was a big event in Washington on 4 July 1976, lndependence Day in the American Bicentennial year. lt attracted an incredible 2 million visitors in just over a month. France's Mus6e de lAir set up its first hall at Le Bourget airport in 1975, and would gradually expand there in stages. ln the UK, a decade's deliberation, planning and fundraising came to fruition when the Royal Air Force Museum opened at Hendon in 1972. And at Duxford, where great uncertainty over the future ofthe airfield had reigned even after the lmperial War Museum started to make use of it, the IWM and the Duxford Aviation Society were allowed to establish a permanent museum in 1976. That the techniques of successful aircraft preservation are today much more refined and widely disseminated than they were 40 years ago is one of the most important pieces of progress. Even in the late 1970s, it was still believed by many that painting an aircraft on external display was sufficient to preserve it. This soon changed, and many more aircraft started to go under cover,

'The circumstonces in

which museums find themselves operoting in

2008 ore surely for more fovouroble thon they were

in

.l968'

Mili,

Clockwise from left:

air(raft at staverton, where this pioneering British
Hurricanes and An exceptional sight in 1 968 Spitfires lined up at Henlow for the filming of Battle of Britain, Peter R. March

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The collection at what is now called the National Museum of the USAF has to be the best held by any air arm in the world, USAF The National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center is a modern standard-setter. NASN4

Duxford surely has no equal as a
The MiG-3 completed last year by Aviarestoration in 5iberia for The Fighter Fa(tory is a fine example of the modern-day restorer's art, involving remanufacturing where necessary. Boris Osetinsky

with museum staff and volunteers often working together to conserve and restore exhibits, and, through increasing expertise, coming to understand the best means of so doing. But despite all this, and the awareness of the need to keep examples of as many different types as possible for future generations, it is wrong to be complacent. Every year, for various reasons (and, to some extent, inevitably), historic aircraft continue to be lost for good, and not just those for which no suitable home can be found upon retirement. After all, we have only recently witnessed a collection of aircraft owned by one of the world's leading national airlines and housed by one of the worldt leading in some aviation museums being broken up cases, literally. Other large museums have been forced to scrap important exhibits owing to their deteriorating condition, lack of resources for upkeep and other factors. The availability of funding from different sources has allowed several ofthose large museums to build major new'landmark' exhibition spaces during the last decade or so, with the attendant benefits of getting more aircraft under cover in suitable surroundings. Duxford's American Air Museum, the RAF Museum's Milestones of Flight hall at Hendon and the National Cold War Exhibition at Cosford, and the NASM's Steven F. UdvarHazy Center in Washington have all received

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great acclaim from various quarters. However, critics including, it must be said, this author would argue that just the Udvar-Hazy Center, of which only the first phase of two has been completed thus far, offers the flexibility inherent in many more'traditional'aviation museum buildings that allows change-overs of aircraft exhibits at intervals or the easy addition of new ones. Getting aircraft in or out of the American Air Museum is impossible without removing its entire glass frontage, a very costly and complex task, and it isn't easy at the National Cold War Exhibition or Milestones of Flight either. I believe it's always a shame when any museum of any type doesn't or can't refresh its exhibits (not just the displays surrounding them) on an occasional basis. But all of those museums also provide perfect examples of the way in which it's been necessary to move with the times. The expectations of the modern museum visitor are rather different from those of even a decade ago, let alone 40 years. Enthusiasts may be satisfied with a collection of aircraft and nothing more, but museums need to get more than just

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enthusiasts through their doors. Those with the resources to do so are increasingly turning to interactive, multi-media displays to augment the aircraft and making efforts to place them in broader historical and social contexts, all with the aim of appealing to as wide an audience as

possible and going some way to meeting the range of expectations of that audience. This is especially true in relation to younger visitors, who would not now be inspired by the museum displays of the past. Displays of airworthy historic aircraft have developed in a similar way. We are fortunate in the UK to have Flying Legends, now the world's best thanks to the efforts of Stephen Grey and The Fighter Collection, whose part in the success of Duxford as a whole has been very notable. The airshows organised at Chino by'Planes of Fame' have derived much inspiration from this, thanks to the links between the two.That both these leading events are always able to offer something new and different is not just testament to the hard work and imagination of their organisers, but the continued strength of the warbird scene and the levels of activity within it. It is no secret that times are harder for the operators of airworthy warbirds than they used to be. Making money from such activities has been getting steadily tougher, thanks to the rising costs of fuel and insurance at a time when revenue from airshow bookings has been decreasing. On the latter point, I feel it's

worth noting that the reduction has probably been less marked in the US because of the numbers of military shows that still book a lot of historic items, whereas in the UK and Europe, where (dare I say it) more thought goes into

these things, they now tend to be used when necessary as part of a theme. There's also been less film work with the more widespread use of CGl. Yet despite all this, relatively few aircraft have actually been grounded as a result, the number of new restorations to airworthiness shows no sign of decreasing, and the trade in warbirds remains most healthy. This is in part down to the skills of those engaged in restoring aircraft to flying condition, which never cease to amaze. The implementation of modern engineering and safety standards has been of great benefit, combined with the knowledge and expertise built up by the individuals involved over the years. ln static as in flying restorations, this now extends to the remanufacturing of components or larger airframe sections to an extent that would have been all but unimaginable to the restorers of 40 years ago ot indeed, of more recent times. some may feel that this detracts from the historical originality of the'end productl but the number of aircraft now extant that would not otherwise be flying or on display is surely a positive thing. Neither does it muddy the waters of originality unduly. After all. it is generally well known as to whether a warbird has gone through its entire life without a major rebuild or, for instance, whether large parts have been remanufactured owing to the condition in which it was found or after an accident. And the skills and craftsmanship involved in the best of remanufacturing to standards of the highest authenticity are exceptional in themselves. This has ensured that some otherwise 'impossible' projects have been undertaken with

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great success, especially after aircraft have been recovered from inhospitable locations. Consider, for instance, the wrecks found in Russia during the 'i990s. Several have already become immaculate exhibits or flyers, and there are many more being worked on. lt's now far harder for Westerners to get aircraft out of Russia, and indeed lndia, another excellent source in the past, but it is said ihat parts of the Middle East will have treasures to yield when it's safe to go and recover them. ln a rather different way, the return to flight ofVulcan XH558 has been another demonstration of how the'impossible' can become possible. However, the enormous

t;

difficulties faced by that project have surely made anybody think twice, at least, about trying something similarly complex. lf they haven't thought twice, unless funding and technical support on a massive scale are guaranteed right from the word go; they surely ought to. Today, it is often bemoaned that there is a greater lack of appreciation of history, and therefore the importance of preserving that history, than once there was. However, people were saying the same things 40 years ago. The aircraft preservation pioneers who were active in the 'l 960s often had to battle against the forces of officialdom, and their lack of interest in keeping old aeroplanes. Those involved in so doing have always come up against barriers of one sort or anothet often in the form of those with little understanding as to why historic aircraft need to be preserved. Today, at least, the concept of preservation is generally accepted when aircraft are retired from service.This should mean that fewer types slip through the preservation net, even if it's unlikely that many jets of the current era will be kept flying as'warbirdsi Another positive step is that there is now more recognition when distributing airframes of the need to give aircraft a good home. though there have been important exceptions. One big difference today, however, is that certain things posing problems for museums and the operation of airworthy aircraft have

become enshrined in law or are the result of unavoidable economic forces. While wellmeaning, health and safety legislation has been a burden, while insurance regulations like those imposed by the EU and the cost of insurance premiums themselves have had a big financial impact. Museum resources remain a problem, too. The allocation of grants for specific projects is all very well and good, but no substitute for proper levels of funding on a regular basis, even when visitor numbers are healthy. And will there still be enough enthusiastic volunteers around in the years to come, willing and able to devote their spare time to assisting with aircraft preservation? ln the light of this latter concern, the efforts being made by some museums and organisations to train a new generation of restorers and pass on the necessary skills are especially laudable. Nevertheless, the circumstances in which museums find themselves operating in 2008 are surely far more favourable than they were in 1968, or indeed for much of the intervening period. On the flying side, the growth in numbers of airworthy historic aircraft, particularly warbirds, tells its own story. This is far from not to say that everything is perfect it but has it ever been? Whatever the next 40 years hold, the range of outstanding projects currently under way shows that there is much n to look forward

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to.

/M.l

A stunning view from 'insidc-

the ever-rpectacular ltalian AF Frerce Tricolori, who hav€ .

oisfiome tragedy to regain thoir polition amongst the ::uorld's top dlsplay teams. .. (atsuhiko Tokunaga/DACT

John Dunnell

1*''!!*

rr{l{b
'----#

ome things never change

not much.40 years -ago,well, in the summer of 1968, lwould set out in my Ford Anglia to a variety of air displays around the UK. Perhaps surprisingly, in 2008 I will still be going to some of the same venues and will expect to see a handful of the same aircraft taking part... and still at the wheel of a Ford, albeit a far more recent model!While times have changed in the airshow world in many respects, it's the variety we still enjoy at airshows that keeps me going, year after year. ln 1968, the vast majority of displays in the organised by the military air arms based here.This largely meant RAFAT Home'Days and USAF Armed Forces Day events, with similar affairs being mounted by the Royal Navy and Army Air Corps. Often, each of these would feature fairly similar participants, notably the RAFs Battle of Britain At Home'Days which still saw a touring 'circus'of RAF and USAF items going round the different airfields staging these shows in different parts ofthe country.The home-based units provided variety, and would help ensure that enthusiasts were prepared to visit several such shows, while international participation came from other NATO nations. Much the same was the case in continental Europe, and particularly in Belgium and the Netherlands, where air force open days took on a similar form although rhey were fewer in number. in each case, with military aviation always in a state of change and development, these shows reflected this process. Of course, the three big European trade shows were all around 40 years ago, and by iar the most famous individual air displays in their respective countries. The SBAC show at Farnborough in 1 968 was only the second rime limited overseas participation had been cermitted, in the form of foreign aircraft with 3ritish engines. lt had been realised, not least because of growing international co-operation cn programmes like Concorde, that Farnborough :ould no longer be just a showcase for British :viation. 1 968 was not a good year for the show however, with the first day s flying being cancelled as part of the airfield was flooded, and ater the fatal 8169uet Atlantic accident. Then held at Hanover, the ILA was by far the biggest airshow .n West Germany and reflected the growth of ihe country's relatively new post-war aerospace :ndustry. Paris outstripped both in terms of size :nd stature, and 1 969 s Salon A6ronautique at !e Bourget was surely one ofthe great events of 3ll time, featuring the d6buts of both Concorde prototypes and the Boeing747 amongst others. l.4emorable times indeed. But it wasn't all about the military and trade :hows. Of course 1 963 had seen the first of Biggin lill! annual Air Fairs, and by 1968 this was an UK were

established feature of the calendar. lt had grown in reputation and popularity since its earliest days

when it was seen simply as a means to raise the public profile of air travel and the holiday trade. ln the USA, the Confederate Air Force staged its first Airsho in '1963 at the organisation's then Rebel Field in Mercedes,Texas.The CAF's move to Harlingen in 1 968 took the Airsho with it, and there it thrived as the first regular display anywhere in the wodd to be focused on historic aircraft of the WW2 era. Many others would follow. ln the 1970s, the pattern of military open days, though reduced slightly in numberi still provided a core of major shows. New venues were presenting themselves it now seems hard to imagine the airshow scene without Duxford, yet its inaugural display under the auspices ofthe lmperial War Museum wasn't until 1973. The flying side of the early Duxford shows was co-ordinated by staff from the Shuttleworth Collection whose expertise had been built up running the events at Old Warden, already quite well established. Let s not forget that warbird operators as we know them today were very few and far between 40 years ago. ln fact, I very much doubt that the term 'warbird'was widely recognised on this side of the Atlantic. it certainly wasn't in France, where the first La Fert6 Alais'Meetings A6rien'were taking place in the early 1970s. Gradually, though, that part of the scene grew, and with it the part these

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machines played in displays. Air displays were more popular than ever

with the public, and for the first time it was becoming almost possible to think in terms of an airshow'industryl The flrst professional, sponsored civilian aerobatic teams began to appear, more historic aircraft were becoming available, and great pilots like Bob Hoover, Neil Williams and Ray Hanna were gaining widespread recognition for their display flying prowess. Some of the finest shows were also born. Numerous displays had been held at different UK venues in aid of the Royal Air Forces Association for many years. When that at North Weald in Essex was transformed into something called the AirTattoo in 1971, run by a team of volunteer enthusiasts including two young air traffic controllers, Paul Bowen and Tim Prince, those involved hoped to improve on what had gone before but their ambitions were still fairly limited. They grew when what now became the Embassy AirTattoo moved to the USAF stand-by the base at RAF Greenham Common for 1973 start of a golden era. lt was the most impressive military air display the UK had ever seen on a regular basis. After a one-year break because of the effects ofthe fuel crisis and various changes within the organising team, the first lnternational AirTattoo, staged in 1976 underthe direction of Paul Bowen andTim Prince in aid of the RAF Benevolent Fund, set the tone for what was to come. Greenham went on witnessing some of

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the best airshows in the world, growing ever further in size and stature, until the presence of the U5 cruise missile base there made hosting further Tattoos too difficult after IAT 83. As it turned out, IAT's new home at RAF Fairford would see the event moving to the next level in terms of its status in the airshow world. The other fine example of how the UK came, in the eyes of many, to lead the airshow world was an Anglo-American affair. RAF Mildenhall, like other USAF bases in Britain, had staged Armed Forces Day shows for several years, but it wanted to do something more in 1976 to mark the US Bicentenary. lt called on the services of organiser Roger Hoefling, who transformed the event, bringing in a level of professionalism that, frankly, on USAF displays had never seen before either side of the Atlantic. Having a permanent, knowledgeable co-ordinator to run things, rather than relying solely on base personnel who are soon posted away, was perhaps the most important element. lt allowed the Air Fete, as the Mildenhall show became known in 1978,ro develop into something very special. Throughout the 1980s, Air Fete's unique formations and large-scale operational scenarios mounted on particular themes set new standards, and the combination of this with the best American hospitality has never been improved upon. Neither, in all probability, will it be. Looking back, the Cold War years were heady days for military-organised or military-orientated airshows. Most of the time, air arms had the budgets to provide strong support to events, and not least by air displays were certainly seen the USAF as a means of illustrating the close partnership between NATO members in a very public way. The public responded, too, often in huge numbers. For instance, the Abbotsford Airshow the largest in Canada with strong international involvement (and known for some

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'Whilst nostolgio is o wonderful thing, todoy's shows ore more thon

copoble of motching the stondords sef by their predecessors/

lM.ll

This photographt The brutish fartje* ofthe

ti6it A*lewfrom

Alr Fete'89. taken from one GF1A3 lrwolved in that year's Tactical SetB-18 {which made its UK flying d6but at

erown Copyright

Cold War era always made for a great airshow spectacle when displayed well, like this Luftwafft RF-4E. John Dunndll

{.24

memorable formations), and Mildenhall regularly used to quote crowd figures of over 300,000, and the Flugtag at Ramstein AB, Germany even more. Moving into the 1 990s, there occurred a gradual reduction in the number of military airshows as the end of the Cold War saw base closures and force reductions. lt had a positive effect too, though, as former Warsaw Pact nations started to participate on a regular basis, they and Russian manufacturers bringing front-line aircraft to all sorts of events in Europe and North America. For me, the highlight was the sight of the Russian AF Tu-95MS'Bear-H'at IAT in 993, and almost everybody has fond memories of Anatoly Kvotchur turning up at venue after venue all over Europe every summer in the Llls red and white Su-27. Those were good times, too, until the Russians'money ran out. The shows that remained in the 1990s seemed to become more prominent, but further problems were around the corner. Most civilian shows in Europe had never made huge amounts of money, but the recession around the time of the first Gulf War and rising costs, notably associated with insurance, would sound the '1

death knell for some.Those that remained had to become more sawy, recognising the need to maintain broad public appeal, and pitching for commercial sponsorship. lAT, subsequently the Royal lnternational AirTattoo, had built up a worldwide reputation and its organising team was much sought-after by air forces wanting to put on their own big displays, but even it saw that it had to change. lts 'Theatre of the Air' concept was the result, used to best effect in commemorating the 50th anniversary ofVE and VJ Days in 1 995. The last decade has seen further retrenchment. The unbroken run of 23 Air Fetes at RAF Mildenhall came to an end in 1999 as a result of NATo's Operation Allied Force'in Serbia and Kosovo. lt then returned for two years, but then came'9/1 1; the'war on terrorism'and 2003's conflict in lraq. All of these have had a huge effect on military events in the USA as security concerns (some might argue paranoia) have taken a grip. The relaxed atmosphere of the past has well and truly gone, as anyone who read this magazine's Airshow Legends'feature last year on the Armed Forces Day shows

will have realised with regret.

Shows of all types in many countries have been affected by cost factors, even one as big as

lts incredible'100 Years of Flight'celebration not least in 2003 will surely never be beaten because of the expense involved. Sponsorship or other strong financial backing for civilian events and acts is now more vital than ever. The vicious circle whereby lower military involvement leads many organisers to have to book civilian acts, which then have to charge less than they need to cover all therr costs because otherwise the shows would not be able to afford them, shows no signs of being broken. The picture has not been entirely bleak, though. On the historic front, Flying Legends has become one of the world's finest warbird displays, attracting a worldwide audience to Duxford. Old Warden still provides its unique atmosphere, while the Biggin Hill Air Fair, the CAF Airsho and La Fert6 Alais amongst others are also going strong.They have all had their difficulties, but deserve their longevity when so many have fallen by the wayside. Perhaps most surprising to some in terms of survival is that there are still three biennial RIAT.

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\ This photograph: Today's great warbird specta
The RAF'S Open Days and larger Battle of Britain ?t Home'Days used to present some memorable displays, often of their home-based aircraft like these Vulcans'scrambling' at Waddington. Allan Burney

aerospace industry trade shows in Europe.They,

West German government put a blanket ban on

too, have had to change and cut costs to survive, but none wants to move to a three-year cycle, nor combine into a single event. For reasons of politics and prestige, Paris, Farnborough and Berlin all seem set to remain on the calendar for a good while yet. Meanwhile, other areas of industry growth have seen the dominance of that European'big three' challenged. Dubai's expansion has been quite staggering, and as long as the Middle East continues to be such an important defence and airline market, the huge show at the emirate's Airport World Expo will reflect this. The more specialised, targeted events, such as NBAA and EBACE in the business aircraft sector, have also assumed more importance. It used to be that the traditional trade shows were renowned for their spectacular flying, but no more.40 years ago, in the UK, no spectators had been killed during a flying display since Farnborough in 1952, but damage to, or the destruction of, participating aircraft was not uncommon. sometimes accompanied by death or injury to the crew. The UK again led the way in certain respects, adopting a constructive attitude and imposing new regulations when lecessary such as the ban on carrying anyone other than non-essential crew during display iights. Many was the time, though, that aviation magazines and some within the industry would complain about potentially restrictive rules. \4inimum safety altitudes had been established, and opinion seemed to be that more regulations ',vere almost inevitable. Then, 1988 saw disaster at Ramstein in Germany when three MB339s of ihe ltalian AF FrecceTricolori team collided. One of the three came down in the crowd, where 67 oeople died. This was the worst airshow accident ,n history and the response was immediate.The

air displays and German military aircraft were prohibited from participating in foreign events.

ln the UK, the debate on whether airshows should be allowed to continue reached the very highest levels of government. ln fact, the UK's response seemed to be very proportionate to the scale of this tragedy. Aircraft were no Ionger allowed to overfly the crowd and distances between the display axis and crowdline were increased. Manoeuvres towards the crowd were also restricted. These recommendations seemed a small price to pay for the continuation of air displays in this country, and similar measures were heeded elsewhere if not everywhere. Over the years, increased safety has had some impact on the character of shows, with many low-level displays being a thing of the past. I for one miss some of the sights from years gone by, but on the whole these restrictions have proved perfectly acceptable. I am certain that most regular airshow spectators have witnessed events which, even if no accident resulted, they would not like to see repeated and which these regulations mostly help prevent. That the Ukrainian AF Su-27 crash at Sknyliv in 2002, which killed 84 people, did not cause any anti-airshow reaction in the media and more widely was testimony to the way in which the safety standards upheld by Western airshows have improved to a point clearly far in advance of those in Ukraine at the time.This is not to say that things are perfect, as unnecessary incidents and avoidable accidents continue to happen, but the risks have been reduced as lessons are learned. How on earth, then, to sum up thousands of shows over the last 40 years? Some venues have continued, many have gone and new

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ones have appeared on the calendar. ln terms of the overall scene, I honestly believe that air displays are far more varied in content now than they were in 1968, and exhibit much greater professionalism in their organisation. Of course old favourites are greatly missed, but we still experience the shock of the new (or, maybe, the not so new) from time to time. l, for example, will never forget the first time I saw an in-service F-1 6 display, the spectacle of an SR-7'l accelerating in low and fast at Mildenhall, and the truly amazing MiG-29M OVT. I expect all of us who regularly attend airshows could go on at length in a similar vein, but whilst nostalgia is a wonderful thing, today's shows are more than capable of matching the standards set by their predecessors. And, looking back through old copies of this magazine makes you realise that some of today's difficulties for and criticisms of the airshow scene aren't as new as we sometimes think. Farnborough was accused of 'lacking in spectacle and novelty'in 1 968, and the'heavy hand of restrictions on the display sequences'was castigated in 1976 for going 'too far in reducing the opportunity given to the test pilots to show their skills and the qualities of the aircraftiThe RAF At Home'Days at Abingdon and St Athan in 1981 were called 'pale replicas of the huge events which were a feature of the 1950s and 1960si Ayear later, USAFE cancelled all its open days in Germany for cost and security reasons. A/'s preview of the upcoming 1982 season stated: 'Costs of running air shows and flying aeroplanes at them have risen enormously.' All sounds quite familiar, doesn't it? When you think about it, there's never much new under the A

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t the outset, Aircroft lllustrated was not, it is fair to say, all that interested in out-and-out topicality. For instance, the second year of the magazine's publication, 1969, witnessed two of the most significant events in aviation history. This is how they were covered in the April 1969 issue: ln fact, u , 747 ,, jumboj.,Tl"o$;?;3:tff"f"""",f first flight on resurar section wasn,t February 9 from Paine. Field, Washington' introduced to A/ untit the fourth F-[lss{'"ri:"dr1, "*f;/s[t otSi'o:;?,:

news

i..,,o vvrrLr.r rJJqs' ,arhan the magazlne

on March 2 front Toulouse. Pilot was Andr6 Turcat ancl the flight lasted 27 minures.

(previously

quarterly) went monthly. lt and Peter R. March's 'Airview' section provided a comprehensive topical element, at a time when it was far more difficult to keep up to date than the internet, e-mail and digital photography help us be today. This, then, is how Aircraft lllustrated covered 40 of the biggest aviation stories of the past 40 years. lt's by for one thing, the magazine no means complete didn't used to report disasters, like the 1977 Tenerife collision that remains the worst loss of life in any aviation accident. Rather, it provides a snapshot of some of the major events of these last four decades, and a look at the way we saw them at the time. Sometimes, this differs greatly from what we know now. Look at the claims made for the Boeing 747 on the occasion of its maiden flight, for instance - or the plans for F-22 production when it beat the F-23 in the Advanced Tactical Fighter ' --tD- I contestl Our look back at 40 moments from 40 years also reflects the fact that the major achievements and highlights in aviation have always been tempered by sadness and tragedy, also reflected here. We hope you enjoy this trip down Ai rcraft lll ustrated's memory la ne.

40 yeors of Aviotion

The first prototype TupolevTu-l44 (CCCP-68O0I ). FoxbatFiles.com

Russia's Tu-'144 supersonic transport has been rolled out of its final assembly hall at the Shukovski lsicl plant near Moscow, and taken to the nearby airfield for first flight preparations according to Moscow radio reports. lt may well fly before the end of the year.

A/ October 1 968

Tupolev's latest aircraft and the world's first supersonic airliner, the Tu-144, made its first flight, of 38 minutes'duration, on 31 December. The Tu-144 was flown by test piiot Eduard Elyan from an airfield near Moscow, and was accompanied by two chase-'planes, one unidentified and the other a modified MiG-21 fighter fitted with a scaled-down Tu-i 44 wing. Second flight of the supersonic airliner prototype CCCP-6800'l was made on 8 January and lasted for 50 minutes. AI March 1969

\\\. \ \^747 F

aoEHe

Will the Boeing 747 really seat 490 passengers?

While it is capable of carrying 490 passengers, Pan Am plans to use the great size of the aircraft to offer the traveller more comfort and space. As an example, the Pan Am 747 will normally carry 362 passengers: 58 in first class and 304 in economy. Won't this be more like a cattle boat than a luxury liner in the sky? BoeingT4Ts will enable the airlines to get away from what critics call 'steerage'seating. The cabin, nearly 20ft wide and 186ft long, with thick wall-to-wall carpeting, will give the traveller the feeling of being in an airborne salon. First class passengers will find swivel chairs, tables, and a plush lounge on the upper level.

747^

these need to be used to board a full load in record time. PIans call for splitting some terminal waiting rooms into two or three lounges, each serving a different door of the aircraft. What about claiming baggage on arrival? Baggage retrieval should be as fast or faster than at present. One plan now under study calls for passenger loads to be divided into five groups for more personal handling. Each group would have different colour baggage tag and boarding pass. The baggage would be placed in huge colour-coded containers and delivered by colour to separate counters on arrival.

Won't it take forever to board the 747?

Will the 747 add to air traffic congestionT On the contrary.fwoT4Ts will do the work of five of the largest 707 jels.

Definitely not. Boarding may be completed in less time than it takes now. The 747 has 10 doors, but, normally, no more than three of

AI July 1969

40 yeors of Auiotion

.-21 This page: Con(orde 001 on its initial flight from Toulouse. A6rospatiale

H

The first

flight was made by Andrd Turcat, Sud Aviation chief test pilot,

in 001 (F-WTSS) on 2 March 1969, soon followed by Brian Trubshaw BAC chief test pilot, in 002 (G-BSST) on 9 April.

With the two prototypes now available, the flight test programme began and it rapidly became apparent that all the pessimistic predictions could be swept aside - within three months, the equivalent of 10 North Atlantic trips had been flown and the flight envelope explored... By early August, both aircraft had completed Phase I of the programme, and the speed range explored stood at l38kt to Mach 0.95, the highest altitude reached being 40,000ft. At this time, both prototypes were grounded for scheduled modifications making ready for Phase 2, the supersonic investigations. On 21 September 1969, F-WTSS began flying again and investigated speeds up to Mach 0.95 - and then, on 1 Octobet the first supersonic flight was made. Turcat flew 001 to a

maximum speed of Mach 1.05 with two engines at full power (with afterburning) and the other two at reduced power. Now the scene was truly set for success after success - the penetration into the supersonic arena had been, as predicted by design, smooth and sure, and by the end ofthe month the speed had been increased to Mach 1.25 at 45,000ft. The programme was now so obviously successful that the decision was made to hand the aircraft over to customer airline pilots, and in November captains and flight engineers from Pan American, BOAC, TWA and Air France flew 001 from take-off to touchdown, all accelerating to supersonic speeds during the flight... The report from the airline crews was highly enthusiastic: '...the aircraft was pleasant and easy to fly, imposed no excessive workload on the pilot even in failure conditions, and there should be no problem in training airline pilots and engineers to handle the aircraft...' A/ September

1

972

rwl

40 yeors of Aviotion

The Royal Air Force received its first operational Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR1 V/STOL strike fighter on 22 April, when two aircraft were delivered to No 1 Squadron at Wittering, Northants. Al June 1969

On 21 January. Pan American World Airways inaugurated its first Boeing 747 service a daily round trip between New York and London and by the end of two weeks'flying it had carried 6,318 revenue passengers on 30 jumbo jetflights across

-

-

theNorthAtlantic.ThisfiguregavePanAm

atotal average loadfactorof 58.'l per cent, which is considerably higher than the747's break-even factor. Pan Am now has one daily evening 747 departure out of New York for London, and this single747 is doing more work and carrying more passengers than the two daily evening 707 departures for London did before lhe 747 came along. Pan Am has also begun 747 services between New York and San Juan, and New York and Paris, and by midsummer its'747 System of

the Seventies'will reach around the world.

fhe 747 ,lhe largest commercial air transport ever built, required Pan Am to devise a totally new approach to the interior design of an airliner, and the finished product represents a new peak in gracious living a $23-million flying penthouse

-

with four salons in different colour schemes, six galleys with one for buffets, a dozen rest rooms and a circular stairway rising to a cocktail lounge in the sky.

AI May 1970

The Lockheed TriStar airbus, powered by three Rolls-Royce R821 1 engines, made its first flight on 16 November. The first aircraft is a production model, and 12 TriStars including two structural test aircraft are now either completed or in various states of construction. By next NovemberTriStars should be leaving the production line at the rate of one a week. AI January 1971 Most of the 240 passengers on board the big tri-jet slept as the most powerful model in the DC-10 series slid across the clear Atlantic sky. The film had long finished, everyone had eaten well, and the steady swish of jet-cum-aerodynamic noise provided a faint but appropriate background sound for the first night flight. This was another of those occasions when I was unable to join the ranks of slumbering travellers, for as far as I was concerned there was far too much to enjoy, and, slight disorientation over time aside, this was no occasion on which to be buried in sleep. The flight was a scheduled service from Miami to London by the American carrier National Airlines, and which had carried us out of Miami the previous evening on one of the airline's brand new DC-10-30 jets. On this occasion, the seat was first class, the cabin crew performed likewise, and as we flew at 36,000f1 into a magnificent dawn I felt that this was one of the finest flights I had ever made - and in 20 years of air transport reporting I had made a few.

RoyAllen,AlJune 1974

National Alrlines was among the

flrit op€rators of the DC-t O. 8AA

F'

yeors of Aviotion

.1

Boeing was given the go-ahead to develop America's first supersonic transport on 23 September by President Nixon, who said that he had decided to ask Congress to appropriate a development sum of 5726 million over the next five years. This is considered sufficient to enable Boeing to have two prototype SSTs flying by the end of 1972.The present estimated cost of putting two prototypes in the air is 5'1,200 million, of which the US Government will have provided 5994 million.

The U5 Senate has cut offfederal funds for the Boeing 5ST. Despite talks of possible private financial backing, Boeing has said there is no feasible way in which it could continue with prototype development and 7,000 Boeing workers are being laid off.

Al )une 1971

The British Airways board announced in .lanuary that the name British Airways will replace the names British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA) with immediate effect. The two airlines will continue to operate separately but expenditures are expected

to be cut by promoting them jointly, and to this end their aircraft will gradually be repainted in a new British Airways colour scheme. AI February 1973 The first aircraft in the new British Airways livery could be flying this autumn. This was stated by British Airways Chairman Mr David

Nicolson on 7 March at the British Airways board meeting with senior management and staff representatives. Referring to the good names of BEA and BOAC, Mr Nicolson said: 'We are well aware of the investment and goodwill in these names and we are not going to rush away from their use. We hope to phase them out by April 1974 bul only if the name British Airways is by that time standing on its own and is acceptedJ

AI May 1973

The culmination of a five-year development programme was marked on Thursday 23 May when an Airbus lndustrie A300 took offfrom Paris Orly carrying fare-paying passengers for the first time. The Air France flight AF810 from Paris to London was the first of daily services offering wide-bodied comfort to passengers on this, the highest-density international route in the world.

AI July 1974

F-gv6A.

t t . .tl .it I t t I r '

40 yeors of Aviofion

This is Panavia MRCA prototype 02 flying out ofWarton. BAC

The first prototype of the Anglo/German/ltalian Panavia MRCA (Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) made its first flight on 14 August at Manching in southern Germany, piloted by the project test pilots, Paul Millett with Nils Meister in

the second seat. BAC test pilot Paul Millett, who captained the aircraft during its 30-minute flight, said afterwards:'the aircraft handled superbly well there were no problemsl

-

This is the first of nine prototypes and six pre-series aircraft to fly at BAC's airfield at Warton before the end of the year, the fourth during 1975 at Manching and the fifth at Aeritalias flight test centre at Caselle. Some 800 aircraft are to be built for the RAF, the German and ltalian Air Forces and the German Navy. The MRCA is scheduled to enter service by the end ofthe 1 970s.

Al October 1 974

The U5 government has decided to equip the USAF with the General Dynamics F-16 in preference to the Northrop F-17 after an intensive 1 0-month flight evaluation programme at Edwards AFB, California, during which prototypes of the two new fighters were pitted against current first-line aircraft in the US fighter inventory. The first of 15 new F-16s will be built at the General Dynamics plant at Fort Worth, Texas, starting this summer, and flight-testing is expected to begin 'l 6-18 months later. The developmental aircraft will comprise 11 single seat and

four two-seat F-1 6s, and they are expected to be the forerunners of 650, or more, production aircraft to be ordered by the USAF. Potential orders from four NATO countries Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway - now -considering replacements for their ageing F-104s, and from other foreign countries, could increase total production. AI March 1975

without news is almost unbelievable, yet the 30th Air Display presented by the SBAC really made us aviation journalists work hard for our corn... The biggest news, in fact, was the dearth of stories and the show was dubbed the'Farnbore Show'by one avuncular writer. Sadly, the main aviation stories of the week originated far from Laffan's Plain and the black sheds.'Pity it didn't come here'was the amused response to the news of the jolly jape by Soviet Air Force Lt Viktor Belenko who, in his'Foxbat'had whistled undetected through Japan's defensive radar screen to land at a Hokkaido airfield. A Farnborough exhibition

Paul Humphreys, AI Novemb er 197 6 Fixed-wing aircraft carrier operations, long restricted to such major powers as Britain and the United States, now have another active proponent - the Soviet Union. The first operational Soviet Navy aircraft carrier, Kiev, entered the Mediterranean on 19 July. An additional carrier of the same class, Minsk,is now reported to be undergoing sea trials in the Black Sea, while a third as

yet un-named carrier is now under construction. NATO intelligence officers estimate that a total of four aircraft carriers will be in the Soviet fleet by the middle 1980s. As soon as the Klevwas spotted transiting the Bosporus the NATO intelligence network swung into high gear to learn as much as it could about the new Soviet carrier. RAF Hawker Siddeley Nimrods of No 203 Squadron and a Canberra from No 13 Squadronjoined aerial reconnaissance elements of the US Sixth Fleet... The biggest surprise offered by the appearance ofthe Klev in the Mediterranean was the new Soviet vectored lift/thrust V/STOL fixed-wing tactical aircraft deployed with the expected complement of Kamov Ka-25 'Hormone'helicopters. Aware that the Soviets were developing several V/STOL fighter prototypes, Western observers thought it likely that a development of '1967 Yakovlev s VTOL prototype flown at Moscow's Domodevodo [sic] airfield in from advanced aircraft that could be deployed lead to an would eventually Russian ships. ln the intervening years that prototype has been considered the

Yak-36'Freehandl although intelligence experts now consider the designation

to be more appropriately applied to the obviously operationaljet-powered V/ STOL aircraft currently deployed aboard the Kiev and NATO codenamed'Forgerl

Peter Kilduff, Al November 1976

The West's first look at operational Soviet Navy Yak-38s aboard the aircraft carrier Kiev (this shot taken from the frigate HMS Torquayl as passed through the Mediterranean in 1976, Crown Copyright

it

_4O)eors

oJ

Aviotion

In:ffi*f m@;-"F."

Freddie Laker celebrating the inaugural Skytrain service with a group of passengers in front of DC-I0 G-AZZC Eostern Berle, PA Photos

Concerned that Laker Airways as well as established scheduled operators should be given a fair and equal opportunity to compete, the UK Civil Aviation Authority finally decided in mid-September to allow Laker Airways'Skytrain services to operate from Gatwick and

without

restrictions on the number of seats on any one flight. The authority's original decision, taken in 1972,waslo require Skytrain to operate from Stansted and to be subject in winter to a limit of 189 passengers on each flight. This was to provide a measure of protection to British Caledonian's services on the North Atlantic. BCAL suspended its Gatwick-NewYork

service in 1974 and the new Bermuda Air Services Agreement provides for only two British airlines to be designated between London and New York. British Airways and Laker Airways have been duly designated. The new era in low-cost North Atlantic air travel subsequently got under way on 26 September with the inaugural Laker Airways DC-10 Skytrain departure from Gatwick to New York. During the first week of the service, the flights were reported to have generated traffic either side of the break-even figure of the 1 89 passengers per departure and the airline remained optimistic about Skytrain's prospects.

A/November 1977

The high point of one of the most successful

aircraft production pro9rammes ever was marked by special ceremonies at 5t Louis, Missouri, on 24 May when the McDonnell Douglas Corporation rolled out the 5,000th F-4 Phantom. The occasion was also doubly auspicious as it also commemorated the 20th anniversary of the first flight of what has become a legendary fighter. The 5,000th production aircraft, an F-4E, was unveiled to reveal a special two-tone blue and white paint scheme with an appropriate legend on its nose and the national flags of the 1 1 countries which have operated the Phantom.

A/August 1978

The 5,000th F-4 Phantom ll, an F-4E serialled 77-o29o,was

eventually delivered to the Turkish AF. Boeing

40 yeors of Aviotion

Keith Blincow/AirTeamlmages,com

Had it not been for the concerted efforts of a group of determined aviation enthusiasts and the

willing co-operation of Dan-Air, the last commercial flight of the de Havilland Comet (the world's first jet airliner) might have taken place in obscurity, going unnoticed bY the public save for the interest of a few cognoscenti and, of course, the

tz?.t.z?/t'

airline involved. ln the event, however, this nostalgic occasion was celebrated on SundaY 9 November 1980 bY what Proved to be a memorable t hr 'l0min flight (a round-trip from London-Gatwick) in Comet 4C G-BDlW. At 14.09hrs Capt John KellY opened the throttles, released the brakes and'lndia WhiskeY' leaPt forward. DAB874 climbed steePlY away with fuel momentarily streaming from the wingtip vents, Levelling out at some 2,000ft, G-BDIW turned on to a north-

westerly heading

-

destination Heathrowl

G-BDIW then headed north-west to complete another dramatic overshoot (from 300ft) at Brize Norton before

continuing south-west to its old home at RAF Lyneham for yet

another flypast... At 15.20hrs, Comet 4C G-BDIW completed its 10,933rd Ianding.Thus ended the commercial life of the Comet for arguably the most revolutionary airliner - a fitting finale aircraft in the annals of civil aviation history. Allan Burney, Al FebruarY 1981

is only five aircraft apiece.The Sea King HC4s of 846

Squad ron were much in evidence despite their toned-down markings. The Iarge number of HU5s embarked in lntrepid

new

Wessex ani Fearless came from the

Following the Falklands conflict, various Argentine AF air
Navy's last operational Wessex commando unit,845 5quadron. For anti-submarine duties, Sea King HAS5s of Culdrose-based 820 Squadron were taken on

the carriers with Lynx HAS2s of 815 Squadron on the frigates'

Peter R. March, Al JulY 1982 It is a sobering thought that had the Argentine Junta delayed its aggressive action until the end of the year, the entire operation would have been almost impossible from Britain's point of view By then the planned phase-out from front-line service of the three remaining Vulcan squadrons would have been effected and only No 9 Squadron would have been equipped with Tornados and not really worked up to full operational state. HMS Hermes could have been heading for the breaker's yard, and almost

Above: A Royal Navy sea Harrier FR51 overflies Port Stanley after the successful, if bloody, British recapture of the Falklands. PA Photos

Jft: Argentine Navy Super Etendard 3-A-204 en route io attack the Afrdntic Conveyor
certainly, preparations for the handover of HMS tnvincibte, sold to the Royal Australian Navy, would have been well advanced. Moreover, the Argentinian Super Etendard pilots, who have already shown their effectiveness with the destruction of HMS Sheffield,would have been that much better drilled. On the credit side, the Royal Navy would have worked up its Sea Harriers to an even finer pitch ofoperational preparedness than theyare now and the Argentinian Canberras and Skyhawks would have been that much older... But possibly only one British aircraft carrier would have then been available to join the Task Force.

Paul Humphreys, AI August 1982

40 yeors of Aviotion

The commercial aviation industry is still reeling from the shock of two Boeing747 accidents within the same number of months. At the time of writing, the question looming over the Air lndia crash remained largely unanswered, while in contrast the cause of the Japan Air Lines disaster was pointing increasingly towards a failure in the aircraft's tail section. lnevitably, the tragic events have focused as the Boeing747 is considered to be the most remember, over five million passengers fly in Jumbos'every secure mode of transport in existence month! lf it is at all possible to view an air crash in a positive light, then it is for the reminder it serves to individuals and companies as to the importance of maintaining and, indeed, furthering the high

world attention on the subject of air safety, especially

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standards of safety that are prevalent (though by no means total) throughout the airline industry.

Allan Burney, Al October 1985 No sooner had last month's column been written and gone to press, than the civil aviation industry was struck yet another devastating blow. During take-offfrom Manchester airport, a British Airtours Boeing 737 suffered a catastrophic engine fajlure. Although take-offwas safely aborted and the aircraft brought to a halt, a severed fuel line sprayed the rear of the aircraft, engulfing it in flames.Tragically 55 people lost their lives in the resulting inferno. With public attention focused on air safety, the press is now reporting'minor'airliner incidents (eg precautionary engine shutdowns) that six months ago would not have made news. Events such as these are not uncommon and do not merit headline status. On the other hand, the newspapers have picked up on a number of items with more serious undertones. .. lf by their coverage on these issues the newspapers can evoke a positive response from those concerned, then their sensationalist reporting on other aviation topics will be forgiven.

Part of the wreckage of Japan Air Lines Boeing 7475R-46 lfua119, with a res(ue helicopter in attendance. JAL Flight 1 23 crashed into Mount Takamagahara on I 2 August I 985 after losing most of its vertical stabiliser. PA Photos

Allan Burney, Al November 1985

Nowadays it is rare for an aviation endeavour to hit the world's headlines - and unheard of that it remains there for the next nine days! But that distinction can be proudly claimed by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager when, at 08.05hrs local time on 23 December, their Voyager aircraft landed at Edwards AFB, California after the first unrefuelled round-the-world flight. By now we have all learnt of the risks and discomfort (both financially and otherwise) experienced by the pilots before and during the flight, and there is no question that the adulation being poured onto them is justified. Historically the flight sets Rutan and Yeager alongside the likes of Charles Lindbergh and Amy Johnson (to name just two). But there is a subtle difference between the achievements of

Voyager's crew and those ofthe previous generation ofaviation pioneers. The endeavours of the early aviators were an essential

part of the development of air travel and provided a pointer to the future domination of the world by air, as we know it today. No matter how remarkable Voyager's flight was, it will not change the face of commercial aviation (or indeed the publict perception of it) in such a manner. ln no way does this devalue the importance of Rutan and Yeager's achievement as they claim to have rekindled the pioneering spirit of aviation that has been dormant for some time. We heartily congratulate the Voyager's crew and support team for uniting the world if only for nine days.

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Allan Burney, Al February

1

987

40 yeors of Aviotion

This poor-quality, retouched shot provided the first official (onfirmation of the shape of the Lockheed F-1 1 74. USAF

Stealth is the catchword of the moment. From being a subject shrouded in conjecture, within the space of two weeks the US Air Force unveiled its stealth technology to the world in the form of the Lockheed F-1 '1 7A fighter and the Northrop B-2 bomber. The stealth saga took a dramatic twist when the USAF acknowledged for the first time the existence of its F-'l 17A (previously dubbed the F-'1 9 by the aviation world) by releasing a heavily-retouched low-quality photograph of the design. Since the beginning of this decade rumours about the stealth fighter have been rife and its presence has never really been in doubt. However, what has been in doubt is its configuration and the pyramidal shape the F-117A has taken most experts by surprise... lnstead of the smoothlycontoured, well-proportioned, futuristic design depicted by most artists'impressions, the photograph released by the USAF reveals a small, single-seat, twin-engined aircraft that is of angular line. lf the photograph is to be totally believed.... then the configuration reveals thatthe F-1 17A is not a dogfighter but a weapons platform for short-range stand-off attack missions. The service states that it has ordered 59 ofthe type ofwhich 52 have been delivered, three having crashed. Funding for more F-l 1 7As has been terminated to release funds for more advanced projects including the Northrop B-2 stealth bomber that was publicly rolled out on 22 November.

Allan Burney, Al January

1

989

At the turn of the year, when most people's thoughts were on peace and goodwill to all men, a terrorist's bomb and a small Scottish town seized the hearts and headlines around the world. Death and disaster always seems more terrible at Christmas time, but nothing could add to the horror ofthe Pan Am Boeing 747 which, blasted out of the sky at some seven miles high, crashed onto Lockerbie. As with all accidents, in the aftermath of this latest slaughter of the innocents, the words 'lf only...'were on everybody's lips. lf only the warning of a bomb on a Pan Am flight originating Ac€ident investigators examining the remains of the
Frankfurt to London.

Paul Humphreys, Al March 1989

l]J[ll)

40 yeors of Aviotion

Chalking up a new trans-continental speed record, a Lockheed SR-71 A has streaked across the U5 in 68 minutes coast-to-coast. Flying the US Air Force SR-71 from Palmdale to Washington, DC, were Lt Col Ed Yeilding, the pilot, and Lt Col joe Vida, the recon naissance systems officer. The record flight was also the final one by this supersonic aircraft, 64-17972, now immortalised in aviation history.The Smithsonian lnstitution's National Air and Space Museum received the retired SR-71 and its logbook in a ceremony at Washington's Dulles lnternational Airport shortly after the Blackbird landed. lts final home will be a proposed museum extension, slated to be located at Dulles. The 5R-71 took off from Palmdale site 2 at 04.30hrs. Refuelled in the air, the SR-71 then started its record run from over the Pacific coast near Oxnard. A sonic boom from the aircraft was felt in southern California at 06.00hrs.The aircraft reached the Atlantic coast near Salisbury, Maryland, 2,404.05 miles away 6B minutes and 17 seconds later for an average speed of 2,1 12.52mph.

Once all the USAF'S 5R-71 s had been flown back to Palmdale, Lockheed arranged them for this memorable shot. Lockheed

The record-setting aircraft then flew to Dulles lnternational Airport and performed two flybys, the second of which saw the pilot punch in the afterburners to ignite the cheers ofan emotional crowd of some Al May 1 990

Tu,o USAF

It was 03.15hrs local time 35 minutes into Operation'Desert Storm' and still before dawn as 28-year-old Capt Steve Tait manoeuvred his F-1 5C Eagle over the outskirts of Baghdad, locking the APG-70 radar on to the lraqi fighter ahead. A single AIM-7 Sparrow missile was ejected from the shoulder stowage position and streaked towards the Mirage Fl EQ, striking it with an explosion which momentarily appeared to illuminate the whole sky. Spiralling down, it struck the ground and violently exploded, Ieaving no doubt that the first entry had been made on the air-to-air combat scoreboard. Tait and America! Coalition partners expected many more such victories to follow, confident that the generally superior Western interceptors would have a 'turkey shoot' at the expense of their mostly Soviet-equipped adversaries.

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F-l6Ai, hiiof=+5Es:nd a[F-l5C

Even as Tait was securing his place in military history, other pilots were noting disturbing signs on their radars. Said one:'We had no adversaries.Those who did (take off) got nothing and headed north. think that was a preservation move. Had they remained on the ground they would have been bombed and had they come southbound towards us they would have been shot downl A few days previously, according to lraqi AF commander Lt-Gen Muzahim Saab Hassan, the lrAF pilots had vowed to sacrifice their lives in suicide attacks against designated objectives in the coming Mother of Battles. lt soon became evident that they had done no such thing. I

Paul Jackson, A, May 1 991

40 yeors of Aviotion

The Boeing 737 has reached another milestone in its reign as the world's top selling jetliner. Delivery of the Boeing transport reached 2,000 as Lufthansa received a new 737-500 model at Boeing Field on 25 February. The delivery also marked the 1 00th 737 for Lufthansa and brought the airline full circle in its association with the Boeing twin-jet programme. Lufthansa launched the programme into production in 1963 by placing the first order for the original 96-seat 737-1 00, then received the first delivery in late '1967 and was first in service early in 1968. By 1987, boosted by new generation models, the737 series had surpassed the orders recorded by the previous best seller, the Boeing 727 tri-jet. The 727 had accumulated orders and deliveries of 1,831 when its production ended

in '1984. Total announced orders for737s stand at 2,887,and production of the aircraft at Boeing's Renton, Washington, plant is proceeding at a record pace of 17 per month.

AI May 1991

Fe>

ln less than 24 hours the F-l'1 7A had evolved from the deepest, darkest depths of the world of 'Black'programmes to the stage where airborne videotapes from its top secret infra-red targeting sensors had been broadcast on TV news bulletins around the worldl 'l JCS Chairman Gen Colin L. Powell credited the F-1 7As with

the capability of being able to strike 80 per cent ofthe key lraqi targets that had to be'taken out'within the first 48 hours of the operation. This they accomplished ably, and relentlessly, under the guiding hand of the 37th TFW commander Col Alton C. Whitley. The initial waves entered the fray at midnight, Zulu (approximately 02.39hrs, local time) on 17 January. Among their chief targets numbered the crucial air defence radar and military command,

lnset: RAF Tornado GRI s and F3s in formation during the build'up to OPeration 'Desert Storm'. Crown Copyright Above: The lirst major combat use of the USAF'S F-l 1 7As in 'Desert Storm' proved a huge success. Here, one refuels by night from a KC-l 35Q. via Peter R. March

control and communications facilities sited at Kirkuk, Nasiriya, 80 targets on day one alone, Rutba and downtown Baghdad most of which were successfully destroyed in the first 30 sorties. Anthony M. Thornborough, Al May 1 991

lff;rll

40 yeors of Aviotion

This spring, the USAF is expected to select a winner in the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) competition and award a contract that could turn out to be'the aviation sale of the centuryi With the world now in the flnal decade of the 20th century, it is a fair bet that, if the USAF does decide to go through with the ATF programme, whichever contractor team is selected to produce the aircraft will sign on for the definitive'sale of the centuryi lnitial USAF planning calls for the production of 750 ATFs; in addition, there is an understanding with the US Navy that the aircraft selected for the ATF will also serve as the basis for the Navy Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF), a programme that could involve up to another 500 aircraft. Based on past experience, it is very likely that the winner of such a contract would also end up producing versions of the ATF for foreign sales as well.

Frank B. Mormillo, Al May 1991 'Team One' ATF winners, Lockheed-Boeing-General Dynamics, had cause to pop some champagne corks on 23 April. The USAF's decision to proceed with the F-22 model of the Advanced Tactical

Two YF-22 prototypes flew during the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition. This one, registered N22YX, was powered by the Pratt & Whitney YFI 1 9 engine which was also selected as the winning engine, Lockheed

Fighter came as both a financial blessing to the partners, and vindication of their aero-engineering and managerial skills. Low risk and cost were cited as the key issues which swayed the decision in favour of the'Team One'submission. Low-rate initial production is anticipated to kick off in Fiscal Year 1 998, peaking at 48 aircraft annually between FY2003 and FY201 5, when the USAF should have taken delivery of a grand total of 648 aircraft worth 598 billion! as a

Anthony M. Thornborough, Al September

1

991

Struggling Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) finally succumbed to the inevitable when it ceased operations in early December 1991. This followed just a week after another troubled US carrier, Midway Airlines, filed for liquidation following the collapse of a planned sale to Northwest. The demise of Pan Am had been bn the cards'for some time, but it still shocked many in the industry and sent shockwaves through the leasing and used aircraft market, a market that is already overcrowded with 'stra nded' airliners. The last l l years have been tra u matic ones for Pan Am. lt first started posting massive losses following its takeover of National and these losses culminated in the airline filing for Chapter 1 1 bankruptcy in January 1991. lt sold most of its trans-Atlantic routes to United in February and, by August. it was forced to sell shuttle, aircraft, routes and terminals to Delta, leaving it just with its valuable Latin American services - these have now gone up for auction. The carrier's 126-strong fleet of aircraft is owned by a variety of different organisations, so their eventual fate will be a protracted affair. AI February 1992

Another significant chapter in the withdrawal of Russian forces from the former East Germany was concluded in April when the last three jet air bases bade farewell to their equipment. Withdrawal was accomplished over a period of about a week in early April and began at Gross Dolln on the 5th when the 20th Fighter-Bomber Regiment headed east with a total of 27 Sukhoi Su-]7M-4'Fitter-Ks'and six Su-'l 7UM 'Fitter-GsiThe focus of attention then shifted a few miles to the west of Gross Dolln, when the second stage of the withdrawal operation took place two days latet on 7 April.This involved the 33rd Fighter Regiment at Wittstock but the immediate destination wasn't actually an airfield in Russia. lnstead, the unit's remaining aircraft flew first to Damgarten near Rostock, where they experienced a short lay-over period prior to flying home in company with the Damgarten machines. A lull of a few days followed the transfer to Damgarten, but the withdrawal was not long delayed and on 1 1 April no fewer than 44 of the 46 MiG-29'Fulcrums'that were present at Damgarten were flown out... Departure from Damgarten started at 08.00hrs exactly, with 773rd Fighter Regiment M|G-29UB'66'being the first aircraft to get airborne. Half an hour later, the remainder began heading out and, as usual on occasions like this, most went in pairs.The first element comprised MiG-29UBs'White 55'of the 33rd regiment and'White B0'

of the 773rd, these presumably being flown by the respective unit commanders. Damgarten's own'Fulcrums' followed in quick succession. It fell to the 33rd Fighter Regiment to bring up the rear... Unfortunately, two of the Wittstock machines ('White 08'and 'White 09') were forced to return to the flightline when one of them experienced a technical problem and they may well have had to wait several days before another opportunity to leave presented itself. What is clear is that these will have been the last Russian fighters to leave Germany.

Lindsay Peacock, Al August 1994

40 yeors of Aviotion

It was only a matter of time before someone saw the light in Europe and followed the lead taken byValuJet in the States back in I992.The concept of a 'no-frillsi get what you pay for'carrier lasting past its first month was laughed at by the US majors and undoubtedly Delta, which had even provided Valu.let's first DC-9-32s from its own fleet. Nearly four years on. Delta has seen its small counterpart grow in unprecedented fashion' With staggering low fares starting from a train-beating f29 one way, the pitch has not been at those who would normally fly business class on a day trip from Heathrow but more at the person who has'always wanted to pop up to Scotland'but couldn't face the eight-hour coach journey, or for that matter the high rail fare. firstly, cut out the travel agent, easyJet's philosophy is simple effectively a middle-man, and pass the savings onto the passengers. Next, cut all the non-essential overheads and'frills'that at first glance enhance the service, but really only serve to inflate the price.Thirdly, make a no restriction-based fare structure so simple that even a five-year-old could understand it. And lastly, provide the best value for money in the air today'

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easy.Jet launches its thrice-daily Edinburgh service on 24 November with its second 737-200 and plans to expand into Europe after gaining its own air operator's certificate early in 1 996. lfValuJet's success is anything to go by, the future for easyjet looks bright, and it has certainly received the public's backing so far with 1 1,000 seats sold in the three weeks since the launch.

'Working together'is a phrase synonymous with United's relationship with Boeing on the development of the 777 . No other commercial aircraft has been designed from the outset with such complete consultation between the manufacturer and its customers. As a consequence, United decided to decorate the actual aircraft that flew the inaugural passenger flight on 7 June (Boeing 777-200 N777UA, United's first and delivered on 17 May to the airline's Chicago base) with the logo'Working Together: 'We're truly pleased with the customer-friendliness and efficiency of this airplanei John A. Edwardson, president and chief operating officer of UAL Corporation and United Airlines, told a press conference at Heathrow on the day before the inaugural flight to Washington DC.'lt is the replacement for the DC-10 with Unitedi

Any criticisms? Well,

Hajiloannou doesn't slip offthe tongue quite like Branson, but one has the

feeling

itwill...

Niall Booth, AlJanuary 1996

Mark Ashley, Al August 1 995

Following the landmark announcement on 15 December 1996 that Boeing and McDonnell Douglas intend to merge, transition teams are now at work planning the integration of operations. The historic merger, while far from unexpected. unquestionably represents the most dramatic step so far in the consolidation of international aerospace industries and has far-reaching consequences in the future of both the commercial and military aviation markets. lf the new aerospace group wins the sanction of the U5 authorities it will operate in 27 states, with a workforce of 200,000, and can expect estimated annual revenues in excess of 548 billion. Its nearest civil competitor Airbus stands to be dwarfed by its combined

Above left: Many would contend that the Cold War was already over by the time the last Soviet AF combat aircraft, such as these 5u- l 7M-4s departing from Templin, left eastern Germany' Alexander Golz

Above: M|G-29UB Bort 64 of 33 IAP taking off from Wittstock in 1 994. Alexander Golz

strengths, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas (MDC) jointly representing around 70 per cent of current airliner deliveries. Meanwhile, combined in the defence field' the manufacturers bring together a formidable array of products, totalling half of the United States' current military aircraft production. For both Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, a fusion of interests would immediately offer both companies radically improved economies of scale, greater market penetration and an expanded pool oftechnological knowledge - yet the benefits of the merger are clearly tipped in Boeing's favour. Condit has clearly stated Boeing's reasoning behind the merger; his company needs more employees and capability and MDC can provide both. His counterpart, Stonecipher, hardly needs to explain why at this juncture MDC should chose to surrender its company name and status. Al February

1

997

40 yeors of Aviotion

The catastrophic loss of an Air France Concorde on the afternoon ofTuesday 25 July drew the kind of attraction worldwide that is only reserved forthe worst of disasters. US President Bill Clinton broke off a news conference, called to announce the failure of the Middle East peace

talks, to send a message of condolence to the relatives of those killed in the Concorde crash. All the majorTV news channels in Europe and the USA re-structured their news schedules to continue to broadcast reports coming from the crash site ofGonesse, north of Paris, close to Charles de Gaulle International Airportfrom wherethe stricken airliner had taken off. Such reaction would not have been incurred by a similar crash of another type of aircraft. The degree of reportage and of emotional reaction to the terrible crash which cost 1 14 lives is living testimony to the exceptional amount of awe, wonder and fascination that Concorde embodies in the minds of so many people.

Mark Ashley, Al September 2000 The beginning of the tragic end of Air France Concorde F-BTSC, which killed all I09 on board when crashed in Gonesse on take-off from Paris CDG. PA Photos

it

The JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) programme is vitally important to US industry, since it will result in the production of a huge number of aircraft to replace USAF

F-1 6s, US Navy and Marine Corps F/A-1 8 Hornets and even USMC AV-88 Harriers. The aircraft is also being pushed hard to a number of export customers, from existing F-l6 customers to the UK MoD, for whom the.JSF

promises to be the Future Carrier Borne Aircraft, replacing'Joint Force'Harriers and Sea Harriers. And yet when we talk about the JSE we must remember that no aircraft has yet been selected to fulfil the JSF requirement, and that the rival Boeing X-32 and Lockheed X-35 prototypes are still

just competitors in search of a production order. Even more incredibly, while the JSF programme is vital to US industry, the intended principal customers have a more equivocal attitude... The JSF promises to be a vitally important industrial programme, which should produce a very large number of highly capable strike-fighters at a very low unit cost. But at the end of the day, the emphasis placed on meeting absolute and inflexible costs may reduce the resulting aircraft's capabilities to a point at which it will be unable to match competing European fighters. Alternatively, ifcost constraints are relaxed in orderto ensure operational capability is not compromised, costs and prices could spiral out of control.

The two Joint Strike Fighter contenders, the Boeing X-32 (left) and the eventual winner, the Lockheed Martin X-35, Lockheed lvlartin

Jon Lake, Al May-June 2001

The world was rocked by the devastating terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and seriously damaged the Pentagon in Washington on the morning of 11 September. The terror began shortly after 07.00hrs when two Boeing767s, each flying from Boston to Los Angeles, were hijacked while flying over New England. Both altered course without warning and headed for New York with devastating consequences, hitting the famous twin towers in sequence and ultimately forcing their horrific collapse. Another aircraft, an American Airlines Boeing757, en route from Washington Dulles to Los Angeles, was also hijacked and hit the Pentagon building in Washington. Meanwhile, a second Boeing757, operated by United Airlines, was hijacked while operating from Newark to San Francisco. This aircraft crashed in Pennsylvania, south-east of Pittsburgh, with all 45 people on board killed... The passengers aboard the ill-fated 757 are now credited as heroes for attacking the terrorists themselves, resulting in the destruction of the airliner.

Eryl Crump, A/ November 2001 Having watched hijacked jet airliners being deliberately flown into the World Trade Center on national TV (from several angles, and in heart-stoppingly graphic detail) many people were discouraged from flying, and passenger numbers did decline markedly. Some felt that this was the beginning of a'seismic'shift in behaviour, and

that the industry would never be the same again. However, many observers believe that such a change in behaviour will not be longterm, and believe that people will return to their pre-WTC patterns of airline use as memories of the tragedy fade and as confidence is rebuilt by improvements in security. The collapse in passenger numbers was accompanied by a brief but extremely costly enforced stoppage, which naturally had an impact on airline profits. . . ln normal times, the loss of a few days'revenue should not tip healthy airline companies into bankruptcy, and should have relatively little effect beyond denting in-year profits and perhaps reducing the shareholders' next dividend payment. But in the wake of the WTC tragedy, there has been a depressingly long Iist of airline collapses and of airlines making massive

job cuts.

One could already fill a book with details of the airline and aircraft manufacturing cutbacks and job losses that followed the terrorist attack on the WTC. But the highest-profile casualty of the airline recession has been Switzerland's flag carrier Swissair,

and its subsidiary Sabena.

Jon Lake, AI December 2001

PA

Phola

40 yeors of Avioiion

This photograph: British Airways flight 8A002 from New York to London Heathrow, the last Concorde service, taking off from JFK airport on 24 October 2003. PA Photos

Bottom: Concorde G-BOAG rolls out after its final touchdown at Heathrow on 24 October 2003, with Capt Mike Bannister at the controls. Mark Wagner/Aviation-lmages.com

Cn Thursday 10 April, British Airways and Air France made simultaneous

announcements that Concorde would make its last scheduled passenger ilight at the end of October, ending nearly 30 years of supersonic travel. The news of Concorde's premature withdrawal had been widely :xpected, though it remains extremely controversial. The Concorde fleet nas received massive investment since the tragic crash at Gonesse, and the rype was certified until 2009, although Air France had reportedly planned io cease operations in late 2007. The complex support arrangements for

ilre aircraft were such that it was never likely that one of the two operators ,vould continue without the other (unless it took on the retiring airline's :ircraft) and 2007 thus seemed likely to be BA's end date as well. lt was .inderstood that a relatively minor engineering programme could have :xtended the aircraft's life to 20'15, however. Concorde's return to service following the Paris crash, in the face of a cre-existing recession in air transport was, perhaps, a remarkable gesture cf optimism. The recession continued, however, and was exacerbated by security fears following the World Trade Center attacks, and worsened egain following the March 2003 war against lraq. Reading between the lines, it seems that Concorde's premature :etirement may be the result of uniquely French factors. BA was experiencing a steady fall in passenger revenue against a backdrop cf rising maintenance costs for the aircraft, but it was still viable... Air :rance had never enjoyed the commercial success experienced by BA's Concorde Division, and the aircraft has not been profitable since the return to service following the Paris crash.

ion Lake, AlJune 2003 At 14.06hrs on Friday 24 October, Capt Mike Bannister, manager of BA's Concorde fleet, eased flight BA002 from New York down to the tarmac, closing a special chapter in commercial aviation. Ninety minutes earlier, Flight BA9022C carrying guests on a trip to rhe Bay of Biscay and back taxied away from Terminal 4. As the subsonic :raffic waited deferentially, it passed majestically across the southern 'unway and out to the northern one. Once the preceding GB Airways Airbus 4320 inbound from Malaga rad cleared the runway, Capt Paul Douglas radioed the tower to ask if he .vas clear for take-off.'That's an understatementi replied controller Roger Clarke.'You look absolutely superb. Speedbird Concorde Alpha Foxtrot, ,,ou're clear to take off on Runway 27 Right.'

Carrying less fuel than that needed for the normal trans-Atlantic crossing, the aircraft lifted off smartly and headed for the clouds with its customary roar.'lt was quite an experiencei Clarke said afterwards.'l thought I would say something special to match the occasionl His colleague lvor Sims had cleared the first scheduled Concorde departure for New York. Now he would handle the final arrival from JFK, which was to join the other two in an aerial rendezvous. BA9021C from Edinburgh, part of the nation-wide Concorde farewell tour, was directed as normal to the Bovingdon hold north of Heathrow. BA9022C and BA002 came in via Ockham to the south to begin their approach from the east, passing over central London one last time. Aboard Flight BA002, Capt Bannister was telling his passengers:'Thank you forjoining us for a moment of historyl One after the other, the three dream machines alighted upon Heathrow's tarmac for the last time.

Bruce Hales-Dutton, A, December 2003

40 yeors of Aviotion

On Thursday 3 March 2005, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, with Steve Fossett at the controls, completed the first ever non-stop

solo flight around the world. Having taken off from Salina Airport, Kansas at 00.47hrs GMT on Tuesday 1 March (1B.47hrs local on 2B February), Fossett arrived back there after his pioneering voyage of aerial discovery that lasted 67hr l min 46sec. lt had been a truly epic undertaking, including potentially major problems along the way, but in the true spirit of aviation adventure and record-breaking the team pressed ahead, confident of the abilities of the aircraft and the man in the pilot's seat to setting new - no stranger, of course, to get through them benchmarks in challenging circumstances and make it home. GlobalFlyer touched down at Salina just after T 9.48hrs UTC on 3 March, in order to enter the record books. The final reckoning showed that it had travelled 19,880nm, 17 more than were needed to break the record. ln front of a jubilant crowd of onlookers and an understandably delighted project team, Steve Fossett declared: 'That was a difficult trip. I mean, it was one of the hardest things l've ever done, to be on duty for three days and nights with virtually no sleep.'

&

F '@.

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u-Q.t

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'677'was the number of the day, briefly displayed in huge figures on the sides of the stage. For the first time ever in civil aviation, an aircraft that has never flown had amassed 677 f'rm, announced orders by the time of its roll-out. The last new model, the 777 unveiled in 1994, had only around 1 50 by then. On the day before the ceremony, the latest substantial 787 order came in the biggest so far from Europe, which has generally been slow to respond to the Dreamliner. Air Berlin of Germany made firm commitments for 25 Boeing 787-8s and signed options for another 25. So far, by list prices, the 787 has racked up a turnover of around USSl 00 billion, about equivalent to the gross domestic product of a country like New Zealand. No wonder Scott Carson, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, stated that the mood at the Seattle manufacturer is'pretty darn goodi

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'About once a generation, the Boeing family comes together to revolutionise air travel', said Boeing CEO Jim McNerney in his short speech to the 15,000 people present in the huge hangar mostly employees working on the 787 programme, a$well as -airline customers and media from around the world. But never before had Boeing been as self-confident about a new product as this time.

Andreas Spaeth, Al September 2007

At 1 2.28hrs on Thursday 1 8 October 2007, Avro Vulcan 82 XH55B took offfrom the 3,000m runway at Bruntingthorpe, Leics for its maiden post-restoration flight. With the successful completion of the most ambitious'return to flight'project ever undertaken, this will now always be remembered as a very special day in the history of British aviation. The long-anticipated first flight came after 1 0 years'hard effort, many thousands of hours of hands-on restoration work, at a cost so far of some f6 million, including f2.5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and the support of more than 20,000 people woddwide. On the flight deck for this momentous occasion were civilian test pilot and former RAF Vulcan captain Al McDicken, the Vulcan Operating Company's David Thomas in the right-hand seat and Barry Masefield as air engineer. David Thomas, who was one of the RAF'sVulcan Display Flight pilots, had made the last ight of XH558 into Bruntingthorpe 14-and-a-half years ago. The flight, in perfect weather conditions, lasted for 34 minutes, during which a number of basic systems and handling tests were carried out.'Everything worked and she flew like a dreami Al McDicken, who last

fl

flew

a

Vulcan almost 25 years ago to the day, said to the assembled press

after stepping back onto Bruntingthorpe's tarmac.'She was an absolute delight, every bit as good as I remember. lt was a tremendous privilege to

fly it again. There were no problems at all during the flight, a tremendous tribute to the team here and the designers all those years ago.'

Peter R. March, Al December 2007

The big announcement was made at 07.21hrs:'The world's first 4380 passenger service, flight SQ380 to Sydney, is now ready for boardingi Getting almost 500 people aboard a new giant aircraft with two separate decks seems to be no easy task, especially not with everybody seemingly taking pictures at every step,

but it proceeded surprisingly smoothly. Once everybody had found their seat and settled in, pushback commenced at 08.01 hrs sharp, just seconds after the scheduled departure time. Majestically, the A380 proceeded to the runway, yet many people on board didn't even realise they were moving. Some who were seated far from the windows didn't even get any sense at all of the aircraft taking offwhen it lifted from the Changi runway at 08.16hrs local time, so unbelievably quiet is the cabin even with the engines at high thrust. Whereas the atmosphere was fairly sophisticated in the suites and business class, party mood soon caught on in both economy cabins. Enthusiasts from all corners of the world were meeting and sharing their experiences, later even helping themselves to champagne from the galleys. Andreas Spaeth, Al December 2007

Compiled by Ben Dunnell Editorial Assistant Amy Bridges

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Visit our new and imProved website www.ianal lan pu bl ish i ng.com

1

BAC/A"rotputiale concorde

John Dibbs/The Plane Picture Co

2 Supermarine Spitfire John Dibbs/The Plane Picture Co

3 Hawker Siddeley Harrier John Dibbs/The Plane Picture Co

John Dibbs/The Plane Picture Co

How quickly the aviation world moves. As with any branch of industry, some of yesterday news soon becomes today's object of mirth. Here are just a few of the stories from 40 years ofAl that prove what a wonderful thing hindsight is

Stamps

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PHILATICUS

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Beyond Concorde The need for long range airliners flying at Mach 4. or twice the speed of Concorde,

was envisioned by GraYden M.

Paul,

deputy director of airline requirements of Lockheed, at the Association of British Travel Agents meeting at Vienna recently. Technological development of commercial

-FHERE was much protest a few years ago because a r certain British manufacturer of buses had obtained an exceptionally large export order to Cuba. These protests cama from-those trading isolationists who would rather

Leftl supersonic transport once seemed like it could take over the airline world, but reality soon bit. A year or so before the global oil crisis hit wasn't the best time for Lockheed to postulate this idea.

starve than export such aiticles as buses to countries having

a different political

or philosophy. -You may be or stamps' to do with aircraft

system

wondering what this has

Al Januaty 1973

aircraft would continue and the future market would justify advanced concepts

passenger planes. "We see an increased demand in all aspects of air

of

traffic-short haul. medium haul and even

to long-range Mach 4 supersonic

trans-

ports." he said. Current designs of widebodied passenger aircraft would be used until 1985 when a new design would be needed. Lockheed forecasts showed that

world air

ic would reach

about 850 000 million revenue passenger miles by the end of 1 980 and by the year 2 000 it would possibly be 3 500 000 million. traff

From our one-time sister publication Air Display lnternational comes one of the most familiar, but still funniest, misprints ofthem all.

Air Racing

Flashback', Air Display

lntenational

July-August 1 991

At

Choosing a good headline for a story isn't always easy. You probably wouldn't believe how long it can take, if inspiration is lacking. Here are a couple from the history of A/ that either might have been improved by a bit more thinking time, or, perhaps, by less.

+hat tim€ some afuffaft

and there were many in the UK kept- specimens of their earlier designs and flew them regularly in pubic

ers

Some helpful advice here for those who want to make their plastic kits thal little bit more'realistic'. Note the health and safety note sounded at the end. AI May 1970

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come these splendid shols ol P"47 t Thundeftohs aing to go on a cambat -', mlsston clevetly conulved aclion scenes leatunng Aihx models. Lighung is natural daylight-in a back gatdenalthough the use ol flash rcllected oll tin loil cdn give I bilghtet elfect if tequhed. fhe photogrcphy wes by Mt Jim Wilson, t'".

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painted brown, you see. Al May 1971

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lnitially, we were a

little bit frustrated with this simulation. The gliding lessons have no interactivity, so it is a case of trying to recreate what has been shown in the lesson demonstration before attempting it yourself, perhaps having made some notes. This doesn't seem helpful when trying to learn a new simulation. The cockpits don't have any'point and click'interfaces either, meaning that everything has to be done using the joystick and keyboard which, again, takes a bit of getting used to. However, once one gets over these initial hurdles, this very quickly becomes an addictive simulation that is likely to appeal to people ofall ages and skills.The scenery is not highly detailed but the result is a simulation that runs very smoothly, a real plus over similar titles. The developers have also done much to enable one to customise the simulation with additional scenery, new tasks and even the chance to repaint the default aircraft, although we could find no information about how to do this in the manual. There were a few niggles that we were left with, switching views prior to a race in the even at the end version that we tested (version 1 .12) occasionally lost the countdown timer for races and we could find no way of saving a race part-way through, which suggests that longer tasks will need to be completed in real time without a break other than using the'Pause'key. Howevel the overall impression is of a superb, stand-alone title whlch offers hours of fun, an education into the mysteries of gliding and which clearly has the potential to be very addictive! With a large fan base already in place, no doubt future versions of this simulation willfollow as more and more enthusiasts discover its delights.

Soqring qwqy Sompling some of the ioys of gliding Title: Developed

Condor

by:

Condor Soaring

Web:

www.condorsoaring.com Sniper Entertainment (www.sniper.fr) f29.99 Price: Minimum requirements: A 1 GHz PC running Microsoft Windows 2000 or RAM, a CD-ROM drive and a 32Mb video card Published

by:

roting: verdict:

PEGI

XP

with 256Mb of

3+

****

WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Condor is a gliding simulation 'designed to recreate the ultimate experience of competition soaring' on the PC, its developer says. ln development, considerable attention was given to aerodynamics and weather physics, which has resulted in a realistic simulation covering all the different classes of glider. Clever design has opened up the possibility of users and publishers creating their own add-on scenery, and this, coupled with good reviews of earlier versions, has led to a large, worldwide fan base for this simulation and a number of dedicated web sites.

INSTALIATION lnstallation requires the CD-ROM to be inserted, after which you need to run the file 'CondorSetup.exei Once the file has been run, users will be prompted to add their details so that at least one pilot is created for the simulation. Then the registration process has to be completed by inserting the serial number to

j

be found on the bottom lefthand corner ofthe front page of the manual. Once this has been done, it is then possible to access the'Settings' menu, which contains a host of variables related to the running of the simulation. The installation process is explained clearly in the

illustrated manual provided.

THE SIMULATOR lnstallation adds 13 different gliders in six different classes. Each glider is accurately

recreated with moving parts, animated cockpits and realistic handling characteristics. The ASK-'i3 is the sole glider in the School class but this comes with no fewer than a dozen different colour schemes. The Standard class features the ASW-28, Discus 2B and LS8; the 1 5-metre class the ASW278, LS6 and Ventus 2BX; the 18-metre class the ASW-281 8, Discus 2c and LS85; the Open class the ASW-28B1and Nimbus 4; and the Acro class the charismatic MDM-1 Fox. Access to the menus where the gliders are selected also reveals five more, namely

offers users the chance to completely customise the simulation. lt comes with 10 different flight plans already created, all centred around various parts of Slovenia. Slovenia is the home country ofthe developers and the scenery covers around 37,000 square km ofterrain, ranging from Alpine to small mountains and large, flat areas. Each flight plan offers a helpfully, racecourse to try these are of different lengths and for different classes of glider.To customise the simulation, users can create their own courses, adjusting the weather, class of glider, realism settings and penalties as well as deciding upon course length, placement of the start, finish and turning points. Having set up a course, it is then possible to fly it, record the flightplan and then fly again against these previous attempts at the same course in a race. As has been mentioned

the PZL PW-5, the solitary type in the World class, the ASG-29, LS l 0 and Ventus 2CX in the 18-metre class, and the Jantar 28 in the Open class, all

of which form Plane Pack I which can be purchased online for 5 1 0 via a link in the simulation. Further packs appearto be in the pipeline but, while the simulation allows third party users to create additional sceneries or repaint the default gliders, at present only

the developer has the facility to add new glidertypes. For many,

the'Flight

School'section ofthe simulation will be the first port of call. Within this there are sub-sections entitled Basic, lntermediate, Advanced, Acro and Custom, offering 15 lessons in total which take you through the various stages of learning to fly a glider. Lessons cover aspects such as winch launches, aerotows, landing, different means of soaring, navigation and aerobatics. ln

before, it is possible to add further scenery. A list of available third party sceneries is held on www. condorsoaring.com; some of these are free to download

each case, you can sit back and watch a lesson and then try the same task on your

own.The'Free Flight'section

'

while others need to be purchased. Developers such as France VFR are now

turning

their hand to creating scenery for Condor and, from previews that we've seen, these will be at least as good as the default scenery, if not better. For those interested in trying their hand at creating scenery, the Condor SceneryToolkit can be downloaded free from the Condor Soaring web site, which also has a helpfulforum offering hints and tips on scenery design. As with most titles of this ilk, Condor comes with a multi-player section where up to 32 glider pilots can fly together at one time.There are a number of web sites hosting multi-player sessions for this simulation. The final two sections offer the chance to replay flights (with the exception of multi-player flights) and to analyse those that you have undertaken. Many of the workings of the simulation are explained via the handy illustrated manual, which is certainly necessary to get the most out of it. An electronic version in Acrobat Reader format is available via the simulation.

Following on from its very popular A-6E lntruder package, it was perhaps no surprise that AlphaSim would then release an EA-68 Prowler package for Flight Simulator 2004 and Flight Simulator X. lt has four different model variations and six detailed sets oftextures.The model variations provide a variety of loads

with HARM missiles, ECM pods and fuel tanks, while the texture sets recreate two U5 Marine Corps machines and four in the colours of different US Navy units. ln addition, by editing the aircraft's configuration file, it is possible to adjust the weapons loads to suit. The Flight Simulator X model utilises FSX features such as bump mapping and self-shadowing, while owners of Windows Vista and Service Pack 2 of FSX will also see self-shadowing in the virtual cockpit.The usual high standard ofAlphaSim cockpit is evident, both in the virtual and 2D cockpits, and the FSX model even has a fully

modelled rear cockpit complete with working moving map and radar. Animations include control surfaces, animated canop, crew entry steps, wing folding, spoilers and tail hook, while amongst the effects are turbine glow, smoke, wingtip and flap contrails. A realistic sound set is provided along with a detailed checklist and performance that closely matches the real aircraft. For those looking to repaint the aircraft in other schemes, a paint kit is available.

I I

Price: NZS55 (f21.36) Web site: www.alphasim.co.uk

Aviotion sites on the lnternet The Aviotion Sodety

Militory Al Works

m The Aviation Society, orTAS as it is widely known, is based at Manchester Airport. lt is the largest aviation society in the UK outside London with more than 1,500 members and 36 years of unbroken experience. lt has a commercial arm that runsThe Aviation Shop and The Airport Tour Centre at Manchester Airport, and it also provides professional tour guides at the Aviation Viewing Park there. TAS also has a very active Yahool discussion forum with around 1,000 registered users. The TAS web site has several sections devoted to the society, including one offering details about how to join, complete with a membership form that can be printed out. Elsewhere there are details of social evenings, information about forthcoming coach excursions both in the UK and abroad, and galleries of members'photos. For visitors to Manchester, there are details of viewing locations, the Manchester Aviation Viewing Park and Airport Tour Centre, and

ww w. m i I it a rya iw o r ks.co m Military Al Worls (MAIW) is a loose collection of military aviation enthusiasts whose mission is to provide quality, freeware Artificial lntelligence packages for the flight simulation community. The staff and contributors at MAIW come from all over the globe. On the MAIW web site is a'Downloads'area which gives details of its current and proposed packages. On entering this area, world maps appear and, by clicking on the area of interest, further information is provided. For completed packages, a link is then made to AvSim.com, from which the packages can be downloaded. Presently, packages are for Flight Simulator 2004 although a link on the front page takes you to the MAIW Forum, where details of how to convert these to Flight Simulator X are given. Users will need to register before they can access the forum, but it also has information about packages being worked on, scenery, aircraft design and screen shots, along with an area devoted to discussion about real-life military issues. All this and itt free, too!

w ww.t a s m o n c h e st e r.co

information about how to book a guided tour around its Concorde, G-BOAC. Other sections provide live arrival and departure information for Manchester, details of the aviation fairs run byTAS twice a year, articles from TA5 members on spotting abroad, and a variety of links.

Airshows As more and more airshow dates are confirmed, this is just a reminder that airshow web sites are listed on the AirNet'Web Site www.aviation-links.co.uk. Please note that the web site is shortly expected to move to a new host so ifyou have it in your bookmarks, make sure you have lhe www.aviation-links.co.uk URL.

-

Your continued feedback is appreciated and we would be pleased to correct any errors or misunderstandings. A list of all the sites reviewed in this column and much more can be found at TheAirNet'Web Site www.aviation-links.co.uk.lf you wish to contact the author by e-mail, please do so at adm i n@aviati on -l i n ks.co.u k

-

81103

Denis J. Colvert

'iur.l ie4 lsa

ffiry#; '

h &t'#ili RAFT AI RC

@recll Britons... ...not-so-greot book! Britoin's Greotest Aircroft Roberi Jockson Pen & Sword,

**ii;.i

f25.00

i.i

You have to allow an author at least a degree of freedom. lf he chooses to pen a volume with the title of 'Britain's Greatest Aircraft; then it should be his choice and his choice alone as to which aircraft types he includes. After all, he has at least selected a positive theme; who would have wanted to read about'Britaint Worst Aircraft'? Here, author Jackson has made a safe choice with his 22'greatest' aircraft by including four from the

WWl era, two from between the wars, six from WW2 and 10 from post-war, giving each its own chapter.True Brits will be pleased if unsurprised to know that the Spitfire, Comet and Lightning are featured, although some might question the inclusion ofTSR2 on the basis that the sole example to fly made only 24 flights in its short career. But maybe that's one ofthe great things about being an aviation author; you can air your opinions, fly

your kite, put events into your own perspective and stir up controversy as you as much or as little

-

wish. Jackson has generally chosen

to play it safe in what is a generally unremarkable pot-boiler, and his text tells each type's story from both development and operational service points of view, only rarely offering comment on the political considerations which affected (afflicted?) several of the post-war aircraft described. An exception is in the case ofTSR2, where he allows himself to describe the type's cancellation and the subsequent destruction of everything connected with the project as 'an act of vandalism unparalleled in the history of British aviation: Few would disagree with him. Taking this chapter as typical, the author describes the background to the project, the TSR2 s advanced design, the over-heavy service/min istry/ma nufactu rer

management structure which so hampered progress, the flight test programme's trials and tribulations and the attempts to sell TSR2 to the Australians, though it adds little (nothing?) to what we already know An unfortunate typo states that 'the Australians decided to meet the RAF requirements by ordering twenty-four General Dynamics F-1 1 1As'when the service in question was, of course, the RAAF. Other typos, such as reference on the cover flap to the Wellington's construction as'geodic' rather than

'geodetic; are too easily found. The photo selection features not just the aircraft described but also others developed against the same requirement. Thus, in the chapter on the Harrier and Sea Harrier, the first photo is ofthe tail-sitting Convair XFV-1 built in the early 1950s to a US Navy requirement for a VTOL fighter. Photo reproduction is decent if unspectacular and

Get all the news from the world of aviation!

SUBSCRIBE NOW! CALL

+44 (0)1932 266622

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ustrated.com

mainly in b/w. The 1 6-page colour insert offers 28 colour plates, but your reviewer would question the decision to feature the 5E5a - and the Shuttleworth Collection's in four of them. SE5a at that A few are unsympathetically cropped, with a bad case of 'My Comet has no nose'on a shot of the A&AEE XS235. Captions are adequate if not illuminating. The photos illustrating the Lightning, though, feature too many errors of identification. The colour shot of 'a Lightning F1 A of No 92 Squadron' is actually an F2, the'F3 armed with Firestreak AAMs'is a two-seat T4 (the yellow trainer bands, if not the huge underwing serials, are a give-away), while the reference on page 196 to Thunder City's'two Lightning F5s'should surely read 'T5si Even the non-specialist, nonenthusiast readership at which this title is clearly aimed deserves better than this.

[eoiidfdo o"

\s

FLIGHT

'r

Hurricones Versus Zeros Terence Kelly

Pen&Sword,fl9.99

1;.,

***n *

****;:

***-.:-;

***r^r.:

Leonqrdo on Flight

Airfields ond Londing

Tortqn Air Force

Domenico Lourenzo

Grounds of Woles: West

Deboroh Loke

lvor Jones

Birlinn Lid,

The John Hopkins Universiiy Press, 820.00 While the name of Leonardo da Vinci as an aircraft designer may not immediately spring to mind alongside those of Reginald Nlitchell, Ben Rich or Alexander Kartveli, he fully justifies his place in the ranks ofthe greats, having designed and constructed his famous ornithopter something over 500 years ago. Da Vinci also experimented with parachutes,

flying spheres, flying wax figurines and inflated bullocks' intestines at around the same time he was painting 'The Last Supperi This is a fascinating volume, beautifully produced and with exquisitely reproduced contemporary illustrations.

Tempus Publishi ng, 91

The story of the air battles over Singapore, Sumatra and Java in WW2. An interesting account written by a Hurricane pilot who was there and who endured three years in a prison camp after capture by the Japanese.

Rupert Red Two

f 'l6.99

Jock Broughton

6.99

It is a sad fact that, of the 26 airfields/landing grounds/strjps herein described, virtually none remains in use for its original purpose. While this is not just a wartime history of the locations described, most came into existence just before or during WW2 and reverted to more rural use soon after.The photo caption to a shot illustrating RAF Pembrey is typical: '. ..another of the'F' sheds that has been renovated. lt is ready for dairy cows and milk processingi The photo selection is well chosen. Sadl, its standard of reproduction is less than wonderful.

*****

Bomber Units of the

Luftwoffe I933-1945: Volume I Henry

L.

de Zeng lV ond

Douglos G. Stonkey

Midlond Publishing, 135.00 This volume provides'much

highly detailed information on the organisation ofthe Luftwaffe's bomber units'and covers some 35 bomber Geschwader and their component Staffflights and Gruppen. lt details each unit s operations, along with bases, dates. statistics and commanding officers. just There is no narrative as such solid information. lf you want and need this title it must be assumed that you know and understand the background to the subject. Photos are well reproduced and include a few in colour.Volume 2, covering the remaining Geschwader, will follow as surely as Nacht follows Tag.

,l6.99

Zenith Press,

Although this book features aircraft, it is not a technical volume... This book is about

The career of one Jack Broughton,

****;: who flew P-4TThunderbolts with the USAAF post-war, following this by commanding theThunderbirds demonstration team and flying combat missions in south-east Asia in the F-1 05 Thunderchie[

people: lts theme is Scotland's

contribution to military flying over the past hundred years, and the text reads well and does indeed give a good and

interesting account of military aviation north ofthe border, with particular emphasis on the two World Wars and the Cold War period.There are plenty of human stories and insights into current RAF operations from Scotland, although the unanswered question remains: what does a flying Scotsman wear under his G-suit?

Royol Air Force Bomber Commond Losses: Volume 9 W. R. Chorley Midlond Publishing, l1 9.99

****ii The final volume in this wonderful series is as valuable as ever to researchers and comprises a Roll of Honour of bomber crews who died from 1 939 to 1947. 494 pages of solid information.

W ffim

ffi

f

The Preface sets the scene:

Rocks in lhe Clouds Edword Doylerush

Midlond Publishing, 11 1.99

***-.^r-'i Subtitled'High-cround

Aircraft

Crashes of South Wales'(hence

***r.-:;

** ii

i^'

the slightly tongue-in-cheek title), this volume details several ofthe more interesting crashes t-:

and crash sites.

luftwoffe Colours: Schlochrflieger

Eurofighter Typhoon

L. Richord Smith et ol

Poolo Frongois et ol

lan Allan Bookshops:

IBN Editore (www. ibneditor e.itl, €24. 50

LONDON

Midlond Publishing, €29.95 The Luftwaffe got the chance to validate its tactics in the spanish CivilWar, when the Junkers Ju87 proved its worth and later became the backbone of the Schlachtfliegergruppen. This book tells the story of all the aircraft used by the Luftwaffe's ground attack units, with special reference to their camouflage and markinqs. Photos form an

important part ofthis offering; here, it should be recorded that they are all decently reproduced although some of the originals are not ofthe highest quality and justify their inclusion on interest value. The few colour shots are of surprisingly good quality.

EF-2OOO

Most books and videos reviewed are available or can be ordered from the

4516 Lower l'4arsh, Waterloo,

London 5El TRGTel:020 7401 2100

This volume is aimed squarely at

MANCHESTER

the enthusiast and the modellet with around a third ofthe 96 pages given over to detail shots of the Eurofighter and reviews of various plastic kit offerings.The photos are well reproduced and feature in the main Aeronautica Militare examples, a fact none too surprising given the title's ltalian origins.The text is dual language Italian/English, but theres no doubt which is the translation: witness such mouthfuls as'On a complex airframe such as the EF-2000, there are many blind areas, often banally darkened by the prestigious characteristics of the machinel Er, yes. Precisely.

5 Piccadilly Station Approach,

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CARDIFF

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CardiffCFl0lAE Tel: 02920 390

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BIRMINGHAM 47 Stephenson Street, Birmingham 82 4DH lel:0121 6432496 Or online: www.ianaliansuperstore.com

Mail Order enquiriesl

Midland Counties Publications, Watling Drive, Hinckley,

4

Leics

LE'l 0 3EY

Tel:01455 254450 [email protected]

Et10s

Ben Dunnell

LATEST DATES FOR 2OOS! Old Warden, Beds: Shuttleworth Collection

MAY 03-04

Popham, Hants: lnternational Microlight Exhibition (Tel:01 256 397733 | web: www.popham-airfield.co.uk)

Abingdon, Oxon: Abingdon (Tel: 01 235 5291 42 web: |

Great Vintage Flying Weekend web: www.gvfwe.co.uk)

|

17

Old Warden, Beds: Shuttleworth Collection Evening Air Display (Tel: 017 67 627 933 lweb: www.shuttleworth.org)

18

Duxford, Cambs: Duxford Spring Air Show

25

Old Sarum, Wilts:

(Tel: 01223 835000

web: duxford.iwm.org.uk)

|

Beach Lawns, Weston-super-Mare, N Somerset: lnternational Helidays 2008 (Tel: 0l 934 635227 | web: www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/helidays.htm)

26

AAC Centre, Middle Wallop, Hants: Wallop 08 (Tel:-Q1264 7 84421 | web: wwwfl ying-museum.org.uk)

26-27

The Glebe, Bowness on Windermere, Cumbria: Windermere Airshow (Tel: 0l 539 436205 | web: www.windermere-rotary.orq.uk)

26-27

(Tel: 01

01

07-08 13-15

DCAE Cosford, Shropshire: Cosford Air Show (Tel:0870 606 2014 | web: wwwcosfordairshow.co.uk)

Old Warden, Beds: Shuttleworth Collection Military Pageant Air Display Iel: 017 67 627 933 lweb: www.shuttleworth.org) Biggin Hill, Kent: Biggin Hill lnternational Air Fair (Tel: 01 959 5781 00 | web: www.airdisplaysint.co.uk)

t4

www.expo.aero)

07-10

Margate seafront, Kent: Margate's Big Event (Tel: 01 843 577 I 67 | web:

l5

Day 2008

21-22

(Tel: 0 483 200900 1

1

30-31

30-3

1

12-13

3l

MARCH 09

Sywell, Northants: Sywell Airshow 2008 (Tel: 01604 491

1

12 | web: www.sywellairshow.co.uk)

RAF Fairford, Glos: The Royal lnternational AirTattoo 2008 (Tel: 01285 713300 I web: www.airtattoo.com) Farnborough lnternational 2008 (Tel: 01 252 532800 | web: www.farnborough.com)

Duxford, Cambs: Flying Proms (Tel: 01 223 835000

|

web: duxford.iwm.org.uk)

Weston-super-Mare, N Somerset: The Helicopter Museum Open Cockpit Day (Tel:01934 635227 | web: www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk)

Bournemouth seafront, Dorset:

Henstridge Somerset:

Bournemouth Air Festival 2008

(Tel:01963 364231 | web: www.wessexstrut.flyer.co.uk)

Cornbury Parli Charlbury, Oxon:

13

Shoreham, W Sussex:

RAFA

LAAWessex Strut Fly-in

APRIT

Shoreham Airshow 2008

Popham, Hants:Jodel Fly-in (Tel: 01 256 397733 | web: www.popham-airfield.co.uk) Weston-super-Mare, N Somerset: The Helicopter Museum Open Cockpit Day fiel:01934 635227 | web: www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk)

Little Gransden, Cambs: (Tel: 07730 091 i 32 I web: www.littlegransdenshowco.uk)

Fenland, Lincs: Vintage Aircraft Club Daffodil Rally (Tel: 01 280 705400 web: www.vintageaircraftclub.org.uk) |

SEPTEMBER 06-07

19-20

Duxford, Cambs: Duxford 90th Anniversary (Tel: 01223 835000

|

06-07

Portrush, Coleraine, Nl: Northern lreland lnternational Airshow lTel:02870347234 | web: wwwniinternationalairshow.co.uk)

Spring Fly-in

web: homepage.ntlworld. com/northcoatesflyingclub)

web: duxford.iwm.org.uk)

Foxlands Farm, Cosby, Leics:TheVlctory Show 2008 (Tel: 0771 1 430472 | web: www.victoryshow.co.uk)

North Coates, Lincs! (Tel: 01472 388850

Air Show

06-07

Farnborough, Hants:

10618

2008 | web: www.wingsandwheels.net)

Duxford, Cambs: Flying Legends Air Show 2008 0l 223 835000 | web: duxford.iwm.org.uk or www.fi ghter-collection.com)

19

The Helicopter Museum 0pen Cockpit Day (Tel:01934 635227 | web: www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk)

Little Gransden Charity Air & Car Show

| web: wwwgoodwood.co.uk/fos)

(Tel:

12-13

Weston-super-Mare, N Somerset:

fel:01273 441545 or 296900 | web: wwwshorehamairshow.com)

1-'l3 (Tel:01 243 755000

web: www.flyingproms.com)

FIy to the Past 2008 CANCELLED

OldWarden, Beds: Shuttleworth Collection Summer

-

Valentine Rally (Tel: 01280 705400 | web: www.vintageaircraft club.org.uk)

(Tel: 01 202 451 1 95 | web: www.bournemouthairshow.co.uk)

Yatton, N Somerset: Woodspring Wings Show (Tel:0l l79679653

100th Anniversary ofBritish Aviation Air Display lTel: 01767 627933 | web: www.shuttleworth.org)

|

Dunsfold Park, Surrey:Wings &Wheels

RNASYeovilton, Somerset: Fleet Air Arm Museum Model 5how and British Model Flying Association Flying Display (Tel: 01935 840565 | web: www.fleetairarm.com) Turweston, Northants: Vintage Aircraft Club

American Air Day | web: duxford.iwm.org.uk)

Headcorn, Kent: Headcorn Flying Proms

RAFWaddington lnternational AirShow

06

Duxford Autumn Air Show web: duxford.iwm.org.uk)

FEBRUARY 09

Clacton seafront, Essex: Clacton Air Show (Tel: 0l 255 686633 | web: wwwessex-su nshine-coast.org.uldAirShow.htm)

Duxford, Cambs:

Waddington, Lincs:

|

|

Old Warden, Beds: Shuttleworth Collection Autumn Air Display (Tel: 01767 627933 | web: www.shuttleworth.org)

| web: www.roughamairfield.org) NOTE: FUIL DISPLAY ON SUNDAY ONLY

RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset: RNAS Yeovilton lnternational Air Day (Tel:0870 800 4030 | web: wwwyeoviltonairday.co.uk) 28-31

web: www.woodsprinqwings.co.uk)

Duxford, Cambs:

-

(Tel: 01223 835000

web: www.waddingtonairshowco.uk)

OCTOBER

(Tel: 0'1359 270524

London City Airport Fun Day

05-06

Old Warden, Beds:

20

(Tel: 01223 835000

Rougham, Suffolk: Rougham Air Display 2008

22

|

(Tel:01473 8241 l6 | web: elmsettairfield.co.uUopenday2008.shtml)

Eastbourneseafront,Sussex:

(Tel: 01622 891539

(Tel: 01 522 7261 00

web: www.goodwood.co.uk/revival)

Shuttleworth Collection Evening Air Display Iel: 0 17 67 627 933 | web: www.shuttleworth.org)

16-17

London City Airport, Greater London:

RAF

|

Elmsett, Suffolkl Elmsett Airfield 0pen Day

Old Warden, Beds: Shuttleworth Collection Evening Air Display (Tel 017 67 627933 lweb: www.shuttleworth.org)

23

05-06

Goodwood, W Sussex: Goodwood Revival (Tel: 01 243 755000

16

JUTY 05

19-21

|

Eastbourne lnternational Airshow (Tel:0871 663 0031 | web: www.eastbourneairshow.com)

CANCELLED

05

RAF Leuchars, Fife: RAF Leuchars Airshow 2008 (Tel: 01334 839000 web: www.airshow.co.uk) |

(Web: www.dawlish.net/carnival)

14-17

London Ashford Airport, Lydd, Kent: Lydd Airshow 2008

13

Dawlish seafront, Devon: Dawlish Carnival Airshow

14

(Tel 01285 77 1 177 lweb: www.kembleairday.com) 2A-29

St Peter Port, Guernsey: Guernsey Battle of Britain Air Display (Web: www.guernseyaviationweek.org.gg)

Shuttleworth Collection Flying Proms (Tel: 017 67 627933 | web: www.shuttleworth.org)

www.visitthanet.co.uk)

Kemble, Glos: Kemble Air

www.seething-airfield.com)

l1

Old Warden, Beds:

Shuttleworth Collection Evening Air Display (Tel: 0'17 67 627933 | web: www.shuttleworth.org)

14-15

67 627933 | web: www.shuttleworth.org)

5t Aubin's Bay, Jersey, Cl: Jersey lnternational Air Display (Web: wwwjerseyairdisplay.org.uk)

Bristol lnternational Balloon Fiesta (Tel: 01 l 7 953 5884 I web: www.bristolfiesta.co.uk) 09

017

11

Ashton Court, Bristol:

Airbourne

RAF Halton, Bucks: DH Moth Club International Moth Rally, Flying Display and Charity Flying Day (Tel: 01 442 862077 lweb: www.dhmothclub.co.uk) NOTE: MOTH RALLY ON SUNDAY ONLY

553 2006

Old Warden, Beds: Shuttleworth Collection Military Pageant Air Display (Tel: 017 67 627933 | web: www.shuttleworth.org)

Old Warden, Beds:

14-15

Seething, Norfolk: Seething charity Air Day

AUGUST

Wycombe Air Park, Bucks: AeroExpo 2008 (Tel: 020 8255 421 8 | web:

9l

RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall: RNAS Culdrose Air Day fiel: 01326 57 4121 | web: www.airday.co.uk)

JUNE 01

07

web: wwwsunderland-airshow.com)

Goodwood Aero Club Vintage Fly-in and Air Display (Tel: 01 243 755000 | web: www.goodwood.co.uk) (Web: www.southendairshow.com)

Sunderland seafront, Tyne & Wear: Sunderland lnternational Air Show

Goodwood,W Sussexr

Southend seafront, Essex: Southend Airshow

Old Warden, Beds:The Shuttleworth Pageant

(Tel: 01508 550453 | web:

25-27

(Support Our Paras) Airshow

25-26

07

Iel:

|

web: www.lowestoftairfestival.co.uk)

SOPARA

Southport seafront, Lancs: Southport Airshow 2008 (Web: www.visitsouthport.com/airshow)

Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival

Hullavington, Wilts! (Tel: 01 202 737430

Lowestoft seafront, Suffolk: (Tel: 01 502 587027

www.abingdonfayre.com)

Display

l6-18

24-25

Air & Country Show

Old Warden, Beds: Shuttleworth Collection spring Air (Tel: 017 67 627 933 | web: www.shuttleworth.org)

06-07

Evening Air Display and PFA Rally (Tel: 017 67 627 933 lweb: www.shuttleworth.org)

26-27

|

Old Warden, Beds, Auiation Wotld 2008 (Web: www.aviationworld2008.com)

K2 Centre, Crawley, W Sussex: LGW 2008 19th Gatwick International Aircraft

-The Enthusiasts

Fair (Tel : u4a3 252628 | web: www.gatwickaviationsociety.org,uk)

www.oirshows.info

'7

Laredo lnternational Airport, Laredo, TX:

Laughlin AFB, TX: Laughlin

Whitehorse Airport, YT: Yukon Rendezvous Sourdough Air Display (Web: www.geocities.com/sourdoughjack-2000)

MCAS Yuma, AZ: Yuma Alr Show 2007 (Web: www.yumaairshow.com)

10-1

1

l0-11

'

:-16

Centro Air Show 2008

10-i

Space Coast Regional Airport, Titusville, FL: Valiant Air Command Warbird Airshow (Tel: USA32l 268 194'l I web: www.vacwarbirds.org)

Goodfellow AFB, TX: 'j-1 6

1

Metropolitan Airport, Columbus, GA:

17-18

17-18

Mather Airport, Sacramento, CA:

17-18

Riverside Municipal Airport, Riverside, CA:

Tyndall AFB, FL: Gulf

Coast Salute

(Tel: USA 850 283 4500

|

17-18

(Web: www.quebecairshow.com)

Denton Air Fair & Airshow

Toronto, ON:

PA:

FL:

Florida International Airshow (Web: www.fl-airshow.com)

:i-06

NAS Kingsville, TX: Wings over South Texas

:.3-1 3

Linder Regional Airport, Lakeland, FL: 5un 'n Fun Fly-in (Tel: USA 863 644 2431 | web: www.sun-n-fun.org)

Klamath Falls, OR: Klamath

21

5an Carlos, CA:

21

24-25

21-22

Davenport, lA:

Star Spangled Salute (Web: www.tinker.af.mil/airshow/index.asp)

21-22

Gateway Airport, 5ioux City, lA:

Florence, SC: May

25

Goderich, ON: Goderich Air Show

27-29

Front Range Airport,Watkins, CO: Rocky Mountain

I

web: www.watsonvilleflyin.org)

Fly Air

Ohio River, Louisville, KY: Kentucky Derby Festival Thunder over Louisville Airshow (Web: www.thunderoverlouisville.orq)

RutherfordCountyAirport,Smyrna,TN:

Janesville, Wl: Southern Wisconsin AirFest

EAA Regional Fly-in

(Web: www.swairfest.org)

(Tel: U5A 720 323 6784

Jones Beach,Wantagh, NY: NewYorkAir Show

Greater Peoria Regional Airport, Peoria, lL: Prairie Air Show River City Air Expo (Tel: USA 309 697 6757 | web:www.prairieair.org) NOTE: CHANGE OF DATE

-

Wilmington lnternational Airport, Wilmington, NC: Coastal Carolina Airshow

Charleston Air Expo 2008

8th Annual Spirit of Flight Airshow | web:www.spiritofflight.org)

Southport Airport, Portage Ia Prairie,

-

28-29

Huntsville, AL: Huntsville Airshow 2008

28-29

Quonset State Airport, North Kingstown, Rl: Rhodelsland National Guard Open Houseand AirShow (Tel: USA 401 275 4110 | web: www.riguard.com)

I

JUtY 02-06

W. K. Kellogg

Airport, Battle Creelt Ml:

Joint Base Open House 2008

Battle Creek Field ofFlight Air Show and Balloon Festival (Tel: USA 269 962 0592 I web: www.bcballoons.com)

01

Westman, MB: Westman Air Show

Dubuque, lN: Dubuque Fireworks Air Show

04

Kapuskasing, ON: Kapuskasing Air Show

0l

McGuire AFB, NJ:

(Web: www.dubuque365.com/stage/info/1 663)

Tacoma, WA: Tacoma Freedom Fair Airshow (Web: www.freedomfair.com)

Rantoul, lL: Chanute Air Festival (Tel: USA

06-08

21

7 893 i

61

3 | web: www.aeromuseum.org)

Regional Airport, Reading, PA: Mid-Atlantic Air Museum WW2 Weekend (Tel: USA 610 372 7333 | web: www.maam.org)

06-08

Yuba County Airport, Marysville, CA: Golden West EAA Regional Fly-in and Air Show (Tel: USA 530 852 0321 |

(Tel: USA 91 2 538 8687 | web: www.vidaliaonionfestival.com)

web: www.qoldenwestflyin.org) 07-08

Big Country Appreciation Day

MB:

JUNE

Vidalia, GA: Vidalia Onion Festival Air Show

rfuAY :: Dyess AFB,TX:

Carp Airport, Ottawa, ON: Air Show ottawa (Tel: Canada 6l 3 27 1 81 65 | web: www.airshowottawa.com)

web: www.manitoba-airshow.com)

Galveston lnternational Airport, Galveston, TX: (Tel: USA 888 359 5736

Magic Valley Regional Airport, Twin Falls, lD:

Arctic Thunder 2008 ElmendorfAFB Air Show and 0pen House (Web: www.elmendorf.almil)

Manitoba Air Show 2008

(Tel: USA 910 341 4333)

Charleston AFB,5C:

Lake Tahoe Airport, South LakeTahoe, CA: Lake in the sky Air Show (Web: www.lakeintheskyairshow.com)

ElmendorfAFB, AK:

31-0i Jun Ramona, CA: Ramona Air Show (Web: www.ramonaairshow.com)

Ocala lnternational Airport, Ocala, FL: Heart of Florida Airshow ' :-20

28-29

web: wwwarmywingsandwheels.com)

31-01 Jun

and Front Range AirShow | web: www.rmrfi.org)

Air Magic Valley 2008

Airport, Poplar Grove, lL:

(Tel: Canada 204 428 6040

MacDill AFB, FL: MacDill AirFest 2008

28

Army Wings and Wheels (Tel: USA 81 5 547 31 1 5 |

Smyrna Airshow

't-20

28

|

Regional Airport, Columbia, MO:

-01 Jun Poplar Grove

web: www.highlandlakessquadron.com/airshow.html)

Quad City Air Show (Web: www.quadcityairshowcom)

Siouxlandl Airshow

5how

Memorial Day 5alute to Veterans 2008 Air Show (Web: www.salute.org)

|

CFBBorden,ON: CFB Borden Open House

web: www.jonesbeachairshow.com)

31

Valle, AZ: Planes of Fame High Country

21-22

(Tel: USA 631 321 3510

24-25

Falls Air Show 2008

Warbirds FIy-in and Airshow (Tel: U5A 909 597 3722 I web: wwwplanesoffame.org)

Tinker AFB, OK:

Burnet Airport, Burnet, TX: Bluebonnet Air Show (Tel: U5A 512 756 2226

21

Vertical Challenge Helicopter Air Show (Tel: USA 650 654 0200 | web: www.hiller.org)

Malmstrom AFB, MT:

(Tel: USA 831 763 5600

24-25

Municipal Airport, Oshawa, ON: Canadian Aviation Expo (Web: www.canadianaviationexpo.com)

Fort Smith, AK:

Cranbrook, BC: Cranbrook Air 5how

Canadian Eusiness

Kingston, ON: Kingston Air 5how

of Fame Airshow 2008 | web: wwwplanesoffame.org)

Planes

-

(Tel: Canada 61 3 236 561 1 | web: www.cbaa,ca)

Andrews AFB, MD: Joint 5ervice Open House Chino, CA:

CBAA 2008

Aviation Association Annual Convention

20-22

(Web: www.mayfl yairshow.com)

Charlotte County Airport, Punta Gorda,

Municipal Airport, Denton, TX:

Pittsburgh AR5,

Watsonville, CA:

24-25

Great Tennessee Air Show

Jean-Lesage lnternational Airport, Qu6bec City, QC: Qudbec lnternational Air Show

web: www.airpoweroverhamptonroads.com)

23-25

Slidell Airshow

:i-04

5

14

|

Memorial Day Weekend Fly-in and Airshow

Slidell Municipal Airport, Slidell. LA:

:'-27

3-1

LangleyAFB,VA:

21

NAS Meridian, MS: Wings Over Meridian 2008

1

1

Malmstrom AFB 0pen House

APRIL

-*-

web: www.barksdaleairshow.org)

Rogue Valley Air Festival

Fort Smith Regional Airshow 2008

web: www.tyndall.schultzairshows.com)

'2-13

Smyrna, TN:

(Tel: UsA 909 597 3722

Riverside Airshow 2008 (Tel: USA 951 351 61 13 I web: wwwriversideairshowcom)

:i-06

07-08

(Web: wwwjsoh.org)

web: www.californiacapitalairshow.com)

:l-30

Defenders of Liberty Open House and Air 5how (Tel: USA 3 1 8 456 5650 |

Lancaster Airshow

California Capital Airshow (Tel: USA 916 875 7077 I -f,

Rogue Valley Airport, Medford, OR:

Mcwhirter Field, Lancaster, sc:

17

Fest

07-08

Wings over Pittsburgh Air Show and Open House (Web: www.wingsoverpittsburgh.com)

Air Show

Thunder ln The Valley Air Show (Web: www.thunderinthevalleyairshow.com) t-1 6

Rockford, lL: Rockford Air (Web: www.flyrfd.com)

Barksdale AFB, LA:

(Tel: USA 757 764 2018

NAF El Centro, CA: El

07-08

AFB Air Show

Air Power over Hampton Roads

MARCH :5

-

Anderson, SC: Anderson Air Show

(Web: www.wbcalaredo.org)

Millville, NJ: Millville Airshow 2008 Wings & Wheels (Web: www.millvilleairshow.com)

March Air Reserve Base Airfest (Web: www.marchfleldairfest.com)

WBCA Stars and Stripes Air Show Spectacular

73-24

07-08

March ARB, CA:

FEBRUARY

MCAS Cherry Point, NC: [4CAs Cherry Point Air Show (Web: www.cherrypointairshow.com)

07-08

Q4

04-05

Thunder on the Lakeshore (Tel: USA 920 482 '1650 |

Americal Heroes Air & Sea Show CANCELLED

web: www.manitowocairshow.com)

Regional Airport, Cape Girardeau, MO: Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival (Tel: U5A 573 334 6230 | web: ww.capeairfestival.com)

05

Goshen, IN: Freedom

Fest Goshen

(Tel: U5A 574 533 8245

|

Airshow

web: www.freedomfestgoshen.com)

05-06 05-06

Binghamton,NY:6reaterBinghamtonAirshow Grand Traverse Bay, Traverse, Ml: National Chetry Festival Air Show I web: wwwchenyfestival.org)

{Tel: U5A 231 947 4230

Manitowoc County Airport, Manitowoc, Wl:

Fort Lauderdale Beach, FL: National Salute to

Tyler, TX: Tyler Air 5how

11

Pensacola Beach, FL: Pensacola Beach Air 5how Geneseo, NY: Geneseo Air Show (Tel: USA 585 243 2100

|

web: www.1 941 hag.org)

8t107

AIRSHOW CATENDAR Milwaukee Lakef ront, Milwaukee, Wl:

12-13

Milwaukee Air Expo (Iel: U5A 41 4 247 9055 web: wwwmilwaukeeairexpo.com)

16

|

Downtown Airport, Kansas City, MO:

Orlando, FL: NBAA 2008 National Business Aircraft Association Annual Meeting & Convention

Aviation Expo & Airshow (Web: www,kcairshowcom)

y*_T!!..j9p,b\4'hl.)

23-24

Hemet-Ryan Airport, Hemet, CA:

(Tel: U5A

NOTE: CHANGE OF DATE

27

Welland, ON: Welland Air Show

Yellowknife, NT:

29

Laughlin AFB, TX: Air Amistad

l

Air Show 8 628 9996 ]

30-31

(Tel: U5A 21 web: www.duluthairshowcom)

Gary s South Shore Air Show

Mcchord AFB, WA:

Cheyenne, WY: Wyoming (Tel: U5A 307 772

06

ANG Air Show

Prince George, AB: Prince George Air Show

Lethbridge, AB: Alberta Airshow 2008 (Web: www.albertaairshow.com)

International Air Show

(Web: www.rochesterairshow.com)

NA5 Brunswick ME:

06-07

0s

o6-o7

10-14

Lake Washington, Seattle, WA:

'13 '13-14

Penticton,

web: www.wingsoverhouston.com)

25-26

Abbotsford lnternational Airshow

Stanfield lnternational Airport, Halifax,

09-1 0

Fairchild AFB, WA: Skyfest 2008

09-1 0

Storm Lake, lA:

09-1 0

16-17

16-17

,3

Nellis AFB, NV: Aviation Nation 2008

08-09

(Web: aviationnation.org)

5

NAS Pensacola, FL: NAS Pensacola Open House and Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show (Web: wwwnaspensacola.navy.mil)

Greenville, MS: Mid Deita Air Festival & Airshow

2Q-21

NAS Oceana, VA: Oceana Airshow 2008 (Web: www.oceanaairshow.com)

Fina-CAF Airsho 2008 (Tel: USA 432 563 1 000 web: www.airsho.org) |

Scott AFB, lL: Scott

24

Tri-Cities, WA: Tri-Cities Air show

27-28

Chico, CA: Chico Air Show

AFB

zz

Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti, Ml:

21

zg

Victoria,

i

(Iel: UK 020 8255 4000 | web: www.expo.aero/prague)

MAY

Ct"nd Jun.tiotr, CO

27-28

Salinas Municipal Airport, Salinas, CA: California lnternational Airshow (Tel: U5A 831 754 1 983 web: www.salinasairshowcom) ]

web: www.rockymtnhouseairshow.com)

Springbanlr AB: Sprlngbank Air

01

Douglas, AZ: Douglas Air show

04

Lincoln, CA: Lincoln Airport

04

VanceAFB,OK:

Show

Camarillo, CA: Camarillo Air Show

NE: Open House and Air Show (Web: www.offutt.af mil)

--y*r.*yrhv@ Cannes-MandelieuAirport,Fran(e:EurAvia - lnternational General (Web:www.euravia.com)

Cannes 2008

Day and

Airshow

16-18

04-05

Santa Rosa, CA:

20-22

2008

MCAS Miramar, San Diego, CA: i\4iramar Air Show (Web: www.miramarairshow.com) Redding Air Show (Tel: U5A 530 222 1610 l web: www.reddin gairshow.com)

Balloon Fiesta Park, Albuquerque, NM: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 2008 (Web: www.balloonfiesta.com)

-

(Tel: Switzerland 2766 0076

24-25

|

web: www.ebace.com)

Pratica di Mare AB, ltaly: Giornata Azzurra 2008

24-25

lAir

European Business Aviation

EBACE

Convention & Exhibition

web:www.amigoairsho.org)

French AF Meeting de

Geneva-CointrinAirport,Switzerland:

(Tel: U5A 915 562 6446

Municipal Airport, Redding, CA:

04-12

-__

(Web: www.flugtage.de)

Biggs AAF, El Paso, TX: Amigo Airsho 2008 j

Aviation Show

Kiel, Germany: Flugplatz Festival BAI 1 5 Orange, France:

Partners in the Sky Air 5how 04-05

Biscarrosse,France: Rassemblement lnternational d'Hydravions (Tel: France 5 58 83 40 40 |

(Web: www.lincolnairportday.com)

Chicago Lakefront, Chi(ago, lL:

Offutt AFB,

01-04

02-04

OCTOBER

|

city, NJ,Th,

Pribram Airfield, Prague, Czech Republic: AeroExpo Prague 2008

30-01 MayNiederrhein Airport,Weeze, Germany: Airport Fifth Anniversary Airshow (Web: www.airport-weeze.de)

BC: Victoria Air Show

Air Show Western Colorado 2008

Rocky Mountain House, BC: Rocky Mountain House Air Show

Alpena, Ml: Wings over Alpena

APRIT

0pen House

Westover ARB, MA: Great New England Air Show

(Web: www.wingsoveralpena.com)

l OBIE

_

Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, Eau Claire, Wl: Chippewa Valley Airshow

20

l!""tl.

Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL: World Space Expo (Web: www.worldspaceexpo.com)

National Championship Air Races and Airshow (Tel:USA775 972 6663 | web: www.airrace.org)

Midland, TX:

Wings over Wine Country Air 5how (Tel: U5A 707 575 7900 | web: www.pacificcoastairmuseum.org) 20

Stead Field, Reno, NV:

Toledo Airshow 2008

Chicago Air and Water Show (Tel: USA 31 2 744 33 1 5 | web: www.cityofchicago.org) 16-17

Lafayette Airshow

(Web: www.scottairshow.com)

(Tel: USA 805 383 0686 I web; www,camarilloairshow.com)

16-17

Lafayette Regional Airport, Lafayette, LA:

NS:

14-1

Toledo Express Airport, Swanton, OH:

(Tel: Canada 403 322 0034

01-02

Air Show

20-21

Thunder over Michigan (Tel: UsA 734 483 4030 web: www.ya nkeeairmuseum.orglairshow) 13

Lackland AFB, TX: Lackland AirFest 2008

Westover ARB, MA: Great New England Air Show

FIy lowa 2008 (Web: www.flyiowa.org)

(Web: www.greatnewen glandairshow.com) 09-1 0

-02

(Web: www.lackland.af.mil/airshow)

-

20-21

|

web: www.abbotsfordairshow.com)

09-1 o

01

Terre Haute Air Fair CANCEttED

BC:

(Tel: Canada 604 852 851 1

NOVEMBER

NAS Lemoore,CA: NAS Patuxent River, MD: Air Expo 08 Southern Maryland Aviation Days

NAS Jacksonville, FL: NAS Jacksonville Air 5how

Hulman Field, Terre Haute, lN:

BC: Penticton Air Show

Abbotsford,

FL:

Airfest

Ellington Field, Houston, TX:

2s-26

lyt41gi:{lgy1glandairshow.com)

Dawson Creek, BC: Dawson Creek Air Show (Tel: Canada 782 9595)

10

Albert Whitted Airport, 5t Petersburg,

Nova 5cotia lnternational Air Show (Tel: Canada 902 46s 2725 web: www.n5?I19ygl |

BC: Wings over White Rock

KeyBank Air Show at Seafair (Web: www.seafaircom)

06

'18-19

Central Valley Lemoore Airshow

06-07

AUGUST

03

Robins AFB, GA: Open House and Air Show

Wings over Houston Airshow (Tel:UiA713266 44921

Stephenville, NL: Stephenville

01-03

itle

Great State of Maine Airshow (Web: wwwgreaterstateofmaineairshow.com)

Wittman Field, Oshkosh, Wl:

White Rock,

LittIe RocKAFB, AR: AirPower Arkansas Air Show

Schenectady, NY: Empire State Aerosciences

Shaw AFB, 5C: Shawfest 08

o6-o7

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008 (Tel: U5A 920 426 4800 I web: www.airventure.org) 30

Dobbins ARB, GA:

(Tel:USA727 20462821 web: www.stpetersburgairfest.com)

06-07

Reynolds-Alberta Museum, Wetaskiwin, AB: Wetaskiwin Air Show 2008 (Tel: Canada 361 1351 I web: www.wetaskiwinairshow.com)

28-03 Aug

CFB MooseJaw 5K: Snowbirds End ofYear Show

18 -19

Travis AFB, CA:Travis Air Expo

06

GreaterRochesterlnternationalAirport,

26-27

17

Open House and Wings over Marietta

Museum Northeast Air 5how (Tel:USA5183772191)

5040 | web:wwwwychey.ang.af.mil)

ESL

San Francisco Waterfront, San Francisco, CA: Fleet Week Airshow (Tel: USA 650 599 5057 | web: fleetweek.us)

SEPTEMBER

McChord Air Expo 2008

Rochester, NY:2008

11-12

St Petersburg

{Web: www.garyairshow.com)

19-20

Fort Worth Alliance Air Show (Web: www.allianceairshow.com)

18-19

30-01 5ep Lake Ontario, Toronto, ON: Canadian International Air Show (Tel: Canada 4l 6 263 3650 | web: www.cias.org)

Marquette Park, Gary, lN:

23

Burke Lakefront Airport, Cleveland, OH:

|

Alliance Airport, Foyt Worth, TX:

8758lweb:www.smmof.org)

Cleveland National Air Show (Tel:U5A216781 0747 l web: www.clevelandairshow.com)

Duluth, MN: Duluth

26-27

Santa Maria, CA: Thunder over the Valley (Tel: USA 805 922

30-31

11-12

www.indyairshow.com)

23-24

web: www.daytonairshow.com)

26-27

7 335 7252 | web:

Hemet-Ryan Airshow (Web: www.hemet-ryanairshow.orq)

(Tel: USA 937 898 5901

19-20

3 I

-

(Tel: U5A 202 783 9000

Mount Comfort Airport, lndianapolis, lN: Indianapolis Air Show 2008

Dayton, OH: Vectren Dayton Air Show

19-20

Wing Armed Forces Day

Thunder Over the Red River Air and space 5how

Yellowknife lnternational Air Show 19-20

15

KC

Grand Forks AFB, ND:

19

06-08

CFB Moose

23-24

Thompson, MB:Thompson Air Show

19

Jaw SK:

23

Vasteras, Sweden: Roll0ut 2008 (Tel: Sweden 021 146055 | web: www.f lygmuseum.com)

Volkel, The Netherlands: Volkel in de Wolken Airshow (Web: www.volkelindewolken.nl)

www.oirshows.info

27-01 Jun

Berlin-Schiinefeld Airport, Germany:

St Stephan, Switzerland: 5oYears ofthe Hunter in Switzerland (Web: www.hunterverein.ch/hunterfest-08.htm)

09

ILA 2008 Berlin Air Show (Tel: Germany 30 3038 2170

I web: www.ila2008.de)

09-10

iC-0i Jun Ganderkesee, Germany: Flugplatz Festival (Web: www.flu gtage.de)

i1-01 Jun La Fert6Alais,France: Meeting A€rien de la Fertd Alais

lS-r

_Belsian

16-17

23-24

Bremerhaven Airport, Germany: 30-31

|

I

30-31

web:wwwplknik-goraszka.pl)

Karup AB, Denmark: Royal Danish

AF

Airshow

(Web: forsvaret.dk/FLV-Aabenthus)

30-31

Black Sea

StGallen-AltenrheinAirport,Switzerland:

Aachen-Merzbriick, Germany:

Maribor, Slovenia:

3

Open Dagen 2008 (Web: www.luchtmacht.nl)

CANCELLED f'lSW, Temora Aviation Museum Flying Days (Tel: Australia 2 6977 I 088 I web: www.aviationmuseum.com.au)

MAY 16

Hato Airport, Netherlands Antilles: Dutch Caribbean NavY DaY

Griesheim Airfield, Darmstadt, Germany:

JUNE 07-08

Temora, NSW, Australia: Temora Aviation Museum Flying Days (Tel: Australia 2 6977 1 088 I web: www.aviationmuseum.com.au)

Air 2008 Magdeburg Aviation Trade Fair

25-29

Rionegro, Colombia: Fourth International Aeronautical Fair (Web: www.f-aircolombia.com.co)

|

Brno-Turany Airport, czech Republic:

Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, Germany: Tempelhof

Czech International Air Fest 2008 (Tel: Czech Republic 2 660 346 83 web: wwwairshowcz)

Allied and Historic Aircraft Meeting (Tel: Germany 30 325 95 887 |

-

web: www.tempelhof-aviators.de)

A6rodrome Vidor Hamm, Sarre-Union, France:

20

Meeting Adrien (Tel: France 3 8800 1 1 96 | web: www.acrsu,orglhtml/meetin g08,htm) 20

NAS Kiel-Holtenau, Germany: 6th Kiel SAR Nleet Open Day (Web: www.sarmeet.de)

|

,w1

web: wwwairshow.lu)

Rakowice-Czyzyny, Krak6w, Poland:

27-28

8A102 Dijon, France: French AF l\4eeting de lAir BAN Landivisiau, France: Portes Ouvertes

OCTOBER 04-05

Hilzingen/5ingen, Germany:

Romaero, Bu€harest, Romania:

' '-:

Vichy, France:

Days

14-16

Amberle,

1 1- I

r

s-r

2

QLD, Australia:

Osan AB, Sorrth Kor""t An Po*.t D.v

s-rya"rab"d

26

AirpottJndia:

lndia Aviation 2008

HMAS Atbdtross, Nowra, NSW, Australia: Royal Australian Navy Air DaY

NOVEMBER

l\4alta International Airshow 2008 (Tel: N4alta 214 44089 | web:www.maltairshow.com)

04-09

Zhuhai, Guangdong, China: Airshow China 2008 (Web: www,airshow.com,cn)

1 1

-1

3

Dubai Airport Expo, Dubai, UAE: Dubai Helishow 2008 (Tel: UK 01 293 823779

Cas(ais Airport, Estoril, Portugal: Helitech Europe (Tel: UK 020 8439 8894

Den Helder,The Netherlands: National Fleet Days

RAAFB

Australian Defence Force Air Show

5t Paul's Bay, Malta:

OCTOBER

JULY Florennes AB, Belgium: Belgian Defence

(Web: www.aadexpo.co.za)

Black Sea Defence & Aerospace 2008 (Tel: Romania 21 327 6651 | web:wwwbsda.ro)

Air Picnic

AFB Ysterplaat, Cape Town, South Africa: Africa Aerospace and Defence 2008

Roanne, France: l\4eeting Aerien de Roanne

(Tel: Germany 7731 12422 | web: www.sfg-singen.de)

24-26

17-21

web: www.dennato.cz)

22nd Hilzingen lnternational Airshow Show 2008

SEPTEMBER

Leos Janacek Airport, Ostrava, Czech Republic: NATO Day (Tel: Czech Republic 597 479 208 I

(Web: www.meeting-roanne.com)

:j'C6 -:-13

nutt-ti*_=--

zo-Zl f".--r,

weh www.air-maodeburo.com)

I

web: www.fidae.cl)

Juan N. Alvarez lnternational Airport, Acapulco, Mexi(o: Alextremo Air Show Acapulco

Gdteborg Aero Show 2008 (Tel: Sweden 3i 55 83 00 I web: www.aeroseum.se)

Private & Business -(Tel:5port, Germany 391 593450

KLU

RSA

-1

Save Dep5, Giiteborg Airport, Sweden:

Magdeburg Airport, Germany:

Leeuwarden AB, The Netherlands:

{Tel: Luxembourg 21 240 140

1 1

SEPTEMBER

lnternational Air Show Maribor (Web: www.lcm.si)

Bitburg, Germany: Luxembourg Air

|

APRIT

Westf lug Festival

-

st lnternational KZ Rally and Airshow NOTE: AIRSHOW ON 14 JUNE ONLY

Emotions

ft-oO np, nrturo wterino-B"nit". lnt"rn"tional AirPort, Santiago, Chile: FIDAE 2008 (Tel: Chile 2 873 9755

Airshow and Fly-in

1 00th Anniversary ofAugust Euler'Airfleld Airshow (Tel: Germany 6151 166200 | web: www.windkanal.tu-darmstadt.de)

Stauning, Denmark: 41

3

Temora Aviation Museum Flying Days (Tel: Australia 2 6977 1088 | web: www.aviationmuseum.com.au)

(Web: www.fluqtage.de)

G6raszka, Poland: G6raszka Air Picnic (Tel: Poland 640 2711

:t

A"tffi

Kecskem6t,Hungary:Hungarianlnternational

Tuzla, Romania:

_

N4argate Airshow

lnternational Eodensee Airshow 2008 (Web: wwwibas08.ch)

web: www.regionalflu ghafen-bremerhaven.de)

-.__

Temora, NSW, Australia:

-

Air Bremerhaven 08 (Tel: Germany 471 972 340

-a-29

22-23

International Defense Exhibition IDELF 2008 (Tel: Russia 495 937 4081 | web: www.idelf.ru)

lvleeting 46rien du GAIVl5TAT Valence (Web: www.meeting-gamstatvalence.com)

_ _:

(Tel: Belgium 9 235 3014 | web: www.wingsandwheels.be)

All-Russia Exhibition Center, Mos(ow Russia:

Valen(e, France:

I

Margate Airport, South Africa:

(Tel: Romania 451 7 9903)

8A709 Cognac, France: French AF Meeting de lAir

::-08

_ 22

Air Show and Military DisPlaY (Web: www.repulonaP.hu/airshow)

lorll9srP9!EDI9:90,

JUNE

-08

(Tel: New Zealand 3443 861 9

Ursel, Belgium: Wings and Wheels 2008

z -ictratte*Ol"tt,

16-17

i I -01 Jun LiCae-Bierset AB, Belgium:

Wanaka, New Zealand: Warbirds over Wanaka 2008

web:www.warbirdsoverwanaka.com)

lnternational Old-Timer Fly-in (Web: flyin.dac.be)

{Tel: France 1 64 57 55 85 | web: www,ajbs.fr or www.ferte-meeting.com)

Helidays 2008

21-23

|

I

web: www.dubaihelishow.com)

web: www.helitecheuroPe.com)

National Rally 2008

(Web: www.rsafrance.com)

CAIIING AtL ORGANISERSI

= 3 rclfr""gt"",

St W. Scalaria Air Challenge 2008 (web: www.airchallenqe.com)

8A702 Avord, France: French

vigo, Spain:

AF N4eeting de

l?ir

Festival Adreo Vigo 2008

(Tel: Spain 608 883 552

':':0

lf you're planning an event in 2008, please get in touch

I

FEBRUARY 09-10

Tannheim,Germany:Tannkosh2008 cermany 8395 1244 | web: www.edmt.de)

Hechtel, Belgium: Sanicole lnternational Airshow (Tel:

web: www,aviationmuseum.com.au)

16-17

Belgium 1 134 7739 | web: www.sanicole.com)

Augsburg, Germany: Augsburg Airshow 2008 (Tel: Germany 9403 9529 426J

19-24

web: www.abacus airshow.de)

:-

Katwijkseafront,TheNetherlands: 5AR

Katwijk 2008 (Web: www.sarkatwijk.nl)

I I

the best in the businessl Fax: +44 (0)1932 266633

e-mail: [email protected]

Disclaimer:

(Web: www.schultzairshows.com/DomRep2008.htm)

from a number of different sources and remains

New Changi Exhibition Centre, Changi North, Singapore: Singapore Airshow 2008

You are advised to use the calendar with caution and

MARCH 07-09

-

San lsidro AB, Dominican Republic: 2008 Caribbean Airshow

(Tel:5ingapore 6542 8660 | web: www.singaporeairshow,com.sg)

Bray seafronq Republic oflreland: Bray Air Display (Web: www.brayairdisplay.com)

AUGUST

Temora, NSW, Australia: Temora Aviation Museum Flying Days (Tel: Aunralia 2 6977 1 088 |

web: www.festivalaereovigo.com)

(Tel:

_a-27

to have it included in Alrcraft lllusfrated's calendat

Hamilton lnternational Airport, New Zealand: New Zealand International Air Show 2008 (Web: www.airshow,co.nz)

This calendar has been compiled

PROVISIONAL until confirmed by the organisers. confirm directly with the organisers that any event that you plan to attend is taking place on the date and at the venue expected, before making any travel arrangements. lf we know a telephone number (and/or web site) for an event we show it. Please notify us of any changes you discover.

Eli 09

When you tal
IETI I*IIT

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Slide service - High quality colour slides, comprehensive range of subjects, Civil and Military. TOP PRICES paid for collections / spares. Colour / B&W prints also available. Contact Air Photographic lnternational, 14 East cote Road, South Harrow, Middlx HA2 8LG, England. Tel: 020 8422 5499 email : chrisknott.api@talktalk,net

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Bristol Airport Enthusiasts' Fair Sunday 6th April 2008

10am - 4pm in the old terminal building, Bristol lnternational Airpoft. Buy, Sell, Exchange or just watch the aircraft. Free Parking Stalls/Enquiries 01278 760448 or email

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This exciting event will feature stalls buying, selling and exchangng any related items. Models, books, magazines, relics, printed matter including postcards, slides, photographs and tickets, videos, DVDs and memorabilia should all be available in abundance.

Bring along your surplus items to sell or exchange!

VAUXHAII RECREANON CLUB, GIPSY I.ANE, LUTON, BEDS LUl 3JH From Junction 10 on the M'l pro@ed to Junction 10A, following signs for LUTON AIRPORT Turn left at next rounabout. Then left at second rounabout. Turn left into the club car park. Distance approximately 1 mile from M1. Opposite Luton Airport Parkway Station.

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"40th Anniversary MaEiazines" Aircraft lllustrated - Vo1 No1 - December 2007 Complete set of 475 issues. Near perfect / mint condition Will not seperate. Buyer collects. Offers to OI923 283232

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aGrrsiast: -r,q.rs in the planning include. 17

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Hay Civil Airports tour of China visiting to include Guanghan Museum, Chengdu, Guangzhou Baiyan, Kunming, Shenzen'

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-:.ir.ran, Shanghai Hongqiao & Pudong, Beijing, Datang Shan !J-s€um and Xian

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Hay 2008. The Floatplane flyin - Southwest France. r. ,,eekend to enjoy local flying and French wine and hospitality.

Mail order specialists www.transmac.net

2 tours to Russia to include 2i June / 1 July - Moscow Weekend Visiting Bykovo, Vnukovo, lomodedovo, & Chkalovskaya with extension to St. Petersburg. 30 August

weekend

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12 Sept - Gelendzhik Hydro Air Salon - Flying boat

Covering aviation interests in South west Russia and Ukraine. Sept. Weekend tour to the Hungary. - Airfields & Museums Pleasure flights in Li-2, An-2, PO-2, Hiller 12, Jet ranger, Falke 4 etc,

23 Oct - 3 Nov. Wings over Houston, & Lackland AFB Airshows' Tour of Texas Aviation in Houston. Fort Worth & San Antonio. - airoorts, museums, flying & ranching.

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This is the extraordinory story of o

Battle of Britain survivor Hurricane R41 18 is the only Hurricane flying today that saw action in the Battle of Britain. This DVD covers the fascinating story of her discovery as a wreck in lndia and her restoration to full flying condition. You will learn not just about R41 18, but

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