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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 2377.PDF
620 FLIGHT International, 18 October 1962 WORLD E W S BUCCANEERS FOR SOUTH AFRICA The South African Government and Blackburn Aircraft Ltd jointly announced on October 11 the signing of a contract for the supply of a number of Buccaneer Mk 2 aircraft. Signatories were Mr V. P. Steyn, South African acting Secretary of Defence, and Capt E. D. G. Lewin, Blackburn Air craft managing director. It has been an open secret for more than a year that South Africa has been shopping for a modern aircraft capable of fulfilling both reconnaissance and strike roles, particularly over the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Especially close study was made of the Victor B. 2 and Dassault Mirage IV, but the final choice has fallen upon the Buccaneer. The number of aircraft involved is not stated, but is probably sufficient to equip two squadrons. The operating ser vice will be the South African Air Force, and the Buccaneers will be shore-based. Some "de-navalization" may be expected. Engines of the Buccaneer Mk 2 are Rolls-Royce RB.168 Spey turbofans. The first of these aircraft, a converted Mk 1, is soon to fly. Meanwhile, the Buccaneer S.l has completed its carrier, tropical and in tensive-flying trials with the Royal Navy, and 801 Sqn is to embark in HMS Ark Royal early next year. faction with the handling and low noise and vibration levels. The conversion was described in our issue of July 12 (pages 57-58). Sud also announce the successful com pletion, several months ahead of schedule, of the endurance testing at Le Bourget of the dynamic components of the Super Frelon helicopter. The final lOOhr test was satisfactorily run between September 17 and October 4. The first Super Frelon may fly before the end of the year. There are now 1,050 Turbomeca-powered Sud helicopters in service in 33 different countries, and recent statistics show that they have logged a total of 540,000 flying hours—75,000 by Djinns, 460,000 by 785 Alouette 2s and 5,000 by 50 Alouette 3s. Bristol Siddeley-Fiat Agreement Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd and Fiat SpA have signed an agreement whereby Fiat are granted the option on an exclusive licence to build vectored-thrust engines in Italy for installation in Italian-built air craft. This follows long and successful co-operation between the two companies in the manufacture of BS Orpheus turbojets for the Fiat G.91. Sud Helicopter Progress On October 9 Sud-Aviation announced the first flight of the first licence-built Sikorsky H-34 (S-58) helicopter re-engined with the Turbomeca Bi-Bastan coupled turbine. The resulting aircraft, which in many respects resembles the Wessex illus trated opposite, was taken into the air by M Jean Boulet, the company's chief helicopter test pilot, who expressed satis- German F-104 Programme In Bonn on October 11, Maj-Gen Werner Panitzki, newly appointed Inspector of the Luftwaffe, announced that his government was "having second thoughts" about replacing 604 F-104G aircraft with a VTOL machine. By far the largest of the potential NBMR-3 markets, Germany is likely to go her own way in this respect; and at present she is committed to a long- For the Springbok Pack: a new picture of a Blackburn Buccaneer, with long-range tanks, the Mk 2 version of which has been adopted by the South African Air Force (see first news-item)
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