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Aviation History
1965
1965 - 1562.PDF
858 FLIGHT International, 3 june /96J parliament KENNETH OWEN The Royal Air Force has no current plans for replacing the Dakota, but replacement of the Anson is now in progress. This important piece of military intelligence was conveyed in a written reply by the Minister of Defence, Mr Healey, on Tuesday, May 25. It formed part of a complete list of RAF aircraft and missiles in service and in prospect, which had been requested by Sir John Eden (Conservative, Bournemouth West.) Of the 37 types of aircraft now in RAF service, there were "no current plans for replacement" of the Andover CC.2, Auster, Basset, Chipmunk, Dakota, Devon, Heron, Jet Provost, Meteor, Pembroke, Provost, Sioux, Valetta, Vampire, Victor and Vulcan. Replacement dates for the Argosy, Belvedere, Lightning, Pioneer, Shackleton 3, Sycamore and Twin Pioneer were "not yet decided"; and "no decision on replacement" had been taken for the Britannia, Comet and Varsity. The Beverley was to be replaced about 1968, the Gnat in 1973-74, the Hastings about 1967, the Hunter from 1968 onwards, the Shackleton 2 in 1969-70, the Varsity in the mid-1970s and the Wessex and Whirl- wind in the early 1970s. Replacement date for the Canberra "depends on decision on replacement type," while the role of the Javelin was to be assumed by the Lightning. Under "aircraft on order, or expected in service within two years," were the Andover C.I, Belfast and Dominie in 1965-66; and the C-130 and VC10 in 1966-67. Third category was "aircraft for which studies have been commissioned," in which were included a new tactical helicopter (early 1970s), operational Kestrel (late 1960s) and the two Anglo-French machines (1973-74 and "mid-late-1970s" respectively). Missiles now in service comprised Firestreak, Bloodhound 2, SS.ll, AS.30 and Blue Steel, with Red Top expected to enter service in 1965-66. Firestreak was to continue in service to supplement Red Top, and there were no current plans to replace the SS.ll or Blue Steei. The AS.30 replacement date depended on the decision on a Canberra replacement. There were no missiles on which feasibili - ty or project studies were outstanding, the reply continued. Development of a low- level ground-to-air missile was already in progress, and the air-to-surface AJ.168 was being developed jointly with the French. On Monday, May 24, Mr Bruce Millan, Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the RAF, apologized for the unannounced photoflash photography over the con- stituency of Hemel Hempstead during the NATO Royal Flush photo-reconnaissance competition on the night of May 18-19 Mr Stonehouse, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Aviation, said he had no knowledge of any loss of export orders that could be attributed to the cancellations nf the TSR.2, HS.681 and P. 1154. In reply to a question by Mr S. R McMaster (Conservative, Belfast East) Mr Roy Jenkins, Minister of Aviation, said his recent visit to Short Bros and Harland "has left me in no doubt of the urgency of this problem" of future work for the company. He referred also to a May 20 answer by Mr George Brown, the First Secretary of State, who announced that the Arthur D. Little company had been chosen as consultants to study the affairs of Shorts. The subject of hovercraft got off the ground on Wednesday, May 26, with a Commons question by Mr Jo Grimond, the Liberal leader. Would the Secretary of State for Scotland agree, he asked, that the development of these craft could be very fruitful for British industry, and that we were badly in need of new methods of ser- ving the islands in Scotland? Mr William Ross, the Secretary of State, would and did agree. In a question for written answer on the same day, Cdr Anthony Courtney (Con- servative, Harrow East) expressed concern to the Minister of Aviation that the SBAC, Shell and BP were now reviewing the Private Flying Loan Fund and were likely to end it "after recent governmental decisions in the field of light aviation." Mr Jenkins said he was aware that the sponsors were reviewing the fund, but "I hope they will decide to continue it." ROBERT BLACKBURN London, May 31 There is more than meets the eye in that familiar announcement that ABC Airways has ordered Z-liners. Ideally it should be a joint statement by manufacturer and operator, the wording agreed in advance and released in a form and at a time convenient to the Press. Leaks are nearly always damaging to both parties to a contract, and on the whole airlines and manufacturers achieve great success in keeping the news secure until release day. I estimate that unconfirmed newspaper reports of aircraft sales are wrong nine times out of ten. Occasionally, however, communication be- tween the manufacturer and his customer is not all that it might be. On May 26, for example, BAC and Sud announced that "a well known European airline" had decided to order two Concordes. This, The Times drily observed, was presumably Sabena, which had announced in Brussels on the same day its "decision to take an option" on two Concordes. Incidentally, when will the Ministry of Aviation (and the majority of the British Press) decide to spell Concorde correctly? By "correctly" I mean Concorde with an "e," as written by the French Government and Press, Sud-Aviation, Brit- ish Aircraft Corporation, and most people outside Britain. It is surprising that Mr Roy Jenkins, often described as a European, should uphold a fatuous practice which originated in his predecessor's adminis- tration. At present this policy of retaining anglicized spellings of Anglo-French aircraft with a French name is merely ridiculous, but as the project advances to reality it will become a source of inconvenience, embar- rassment and needless expense. How, for example, will the first aircraft be painted? It is a sad commentary on the pettiness of men's minds, and on the insularity of the British in particular, that two nations can agree to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on a joint venture of this magnitude but fail to find a common name for it. Possible British purchase of the F-lll, so recently a headline subject, has almost been forgotten by the London Press. The Guardian scored on May 27 with an impressively thorough-looking piece by its defence correspondent, Clare Hollingworth. The story was headed "Britain Almost Certain to Buy F-l 11 A," and it reviews the attitudes of the "many active lobbies at work in the long, drab—sometimes dirty- corridors of the Ministry of Defence." The next day's Guardian had a leader entitled "Beware of Low-flying Aircraft," question- ing Britain's economic ability to buy a large number of F-l 11s and urging, whatever happens, "hard bargaining with the Americans." Saudi Arabia, reported Air Cdre Donald- son in the Telegraph on May 25, is on the point of buying an advanced air defence system from Britain. "A struggle for the £80 million order," he wrote, "has continued for over a year between Britain and the United States. It appears that a premature announcement of success by an American source upset the Saudis." No doubt the suppliers of the British equipment reportedly chosen are hoping that the Saudi Arabians will be less sensitive about premature announcements of success from British sources. BEA's intended further order for Tridents has been reported so often that newspapers tend to believe they exist, whereas the matter is still the subject of long-drawn ana doubtless agonizing negotiation between BEA and Hawker Siddeley (agonizing, that is, for Hawker Siddeley). A Mail report W Ellis Plaice on May 26, headed "BEA wu Cut Trident Order," turned out to be about possible cuts in the unknown number oi extra Tridents, of unknown type, wnicn BEA had planned to order.
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