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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2085.PDF
106 FLIGHT International, 16 July 1964 France'si ndustry fid The Balzac V with deflector doors, hovering during one of its last flights. The Mirage IIIV is nearing completion durance, 12 Boeing KC-135s have been ordered and half of them delivered. Each KC-135 will serve two Mirages. The 60 kiloton bombe nationale is ready, but aircraft carry dummy finned "shapes" on which kinetic heating is still being measured. Though the Mirage IV has the most modern navigation and high- or low-altitude bomb delivery system engineered by Electronique Marcel Dassault—but incorporating CSF and Marconi radars and Sperry gyros—and a very advanced ECM system, it is the smallest of all the strategic attack aircraft and its cost is reported to be com- parable to that of a Caravelle, about 20m Francs (about £1.5m). At Melun, Dassault have nearly completed the prototype Mirage IIIV and are only awaiting arrival of the powerplants. SNECMA have experienced difficulties with the TF106, and the Mirage HIT test bed, powered by a TF104 flew in June. This aircraft is being handed over to SNECMA and will later be fitted with the TF105. The Mirage IIIV will also make its first flights with the TF104 and will receive a TF106 later this year. The second prototype, to fly next year, will have the definitive TF316. Also at Melun, the prototype Mystere 20 is being fitted with its GE CF.700 turbofans (in place of the original P & W JT12s) and other modifications demanded by the PanAm order for 40 of these executive jets. Production is getting under way at Bordeaux, with wings to be made at Talence and the fuselages by Sud-Aviation. This is a reversal of the previous arrangement, under which Sud were to make the wings. The first two sets of wings were made in Dassault's experimental works at St Cloud. Though there is a good deal of modification work and certification flying still to do, Dassault are hoping to keep to the schedule, which calls for the first aircraft to be delivered next March. PanAm must take up part of their option for another 120 Mystere 20s by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Dassault have announced the Mystere 30 medium- sized short-range jet transport, in which Siebel have a 35 per cent share of costs and production. The Mystere 30 is in a size bracket of its own at the moment, and the potential strength of French official support can be gauged by the fact that Sud-Aviation, who will probably be associated in production, have retired from the Fokker F-28 consortium, presumably to make way for the Mystere 30. Dassault are also discussing production sharing with Belgium and Italy. Both the Mystere 20 and 30 are largely private ventures and con- stitute a "self-help" effort to fill the design and production gap between existing projects and the Concord. It is this international SST project, whose costs were recently announced to have virtually doubled, which is absorbing most of the government funds avail- able for commercial developments. Production Mirage IVs at Bordeaux before delivery to the French Air Force Left, the Mystkre 20 prototype receiving its GE CF.700 turbofans at Melun. Right, artist's impression of the Mystkre 30 short-range airliner, being shared between Dassault and Siebel "Flight International" photograph
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