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Aviation History
1978
1978 - 0008.PDF
Tooling up for Tiger AS aircrew from both sides discovered during the Second World War, the Swiss guard their neutrality with a high degree of zeal. The conventional image of Switzerland may be one of Alps and cuckoo clocks but few nations have policed their skies so thoroughly. In the early 1940s the tiny Swiss Air Force made it abundantly clear to all parties concerned that short cuts through Swiss airspace were just not on. Several trespassing Luftwaffe formations found themselves under at tack by Swiss fighters, while Allied aircrew seeking internment were often greeted by flak. In the 1950s Switzerland purchased Hunters from the UK to keep its air arm up to date^ but the adoption of the Mirage III in the 1960s was a less happy exercise, the cost of the Swiss- requested modifications to Dassault's ubiquitous delta driving the unit cost unexpectedly high. Not surprisingly, selection of a re placement for the ageing force of Venom ground-attack fighters was a painfully drawn-out process. Harrier seemed persona non grata in Swiss eyes right from square one—the reasoning was never clear—and the Vought Corsair II seemed all set to col lect a substantial order after a fly-off against the Dassault Milan. Rather at the eleventh hour, how ever, the Corsair was rejected in favour of Northrop's F-5E Tiger II. Funding was approved by the Swiss parliament in early 1976, and a pro curement contract was signed in March the same year. Assembly of the first Swiss Tiger began at Hawthorne, Calif, some six months later, and F-5E No J-3001 flew for the first time last month. The US will supply 19 fully assembled aircraft, as well as components for a further 53 to be assembled by the Federal Air craft Factory (FAF) at Emmen, Switzerland. The largest components for Swiss- assembled aircraft will be delivered as four major sub-assemblies—forward fuselage, centre fuselage, boat tail and wing. Other major parts and internal hardware will be fitted at Emmen, where an assembly line is now being prepared. Assembly of the first FAF Tiger should start this month, with a first flight following in the autumn. Northrop technicians have been stationed at Emmen since last sum mer to help prepare the line, while FAF personnel have been at the Cali fornia plant to ensure close co-ordina tion with the planned two-and-a-half aircraft per month Swiss assembly line. In the second half of the year the 19 US-built aircraft (13 single-seat F-5Es and six two-seat F-5Fs) will be completed, test flown, then delivered to the USAF. After being partially disassembled these will be flown to Europe—three sorties by a C-5A Gal axy will handle the load. After re assembly all 19 should fly at Emmen between August and October. About 800 different items such as tools and test instruments will be required at Emmen during the assembly pro gramme. The FAF has produced some 300 of these; the remainder will be procured in Switzerland or from other sources. Since last summer personnel from the Swiss Ministry of Defence have FLIGHT International, 7 /anuary 1978 been stationed at the Northrop and General Electric plants in the USA. Having been familiarised with Tiger II quality-control procedures, they will in turn monitor the FAF assembly programme. Although similar to the normal ex port F-5E the Swiss Tiger lis have been modified to meet local require ments. Normal F-5Es have liquid- oxygen breathing systems but these could be a hazard in underground air craft shelters, where a build-up of LOx vapours within the enclosed space could increase the risk of fire. An FAF-designed gaseous-oxygen system is now in production for the 65 single- seat Tigers. A prototype installation of the planned anti-skid wheel brakes was tested by Swiss pilots in August 1976, while a cockpit mock-up has demon strated the proposed cockpit instru mentation layout and its associated lighting system. All tests required to adapt the basic aircraft to the Swiss requirements have been completed successfully, and the project is repor ted to be on schedule and within the planned cost laid down in the original 1976 budget. The initial funding of Swiss Frl,170 million ($555 million) was based on 1976 prices. Additional credits to cover the cost of inflation must be requested from the Swiss parliament at a later date. For planning purposes an infla tion rate of eight per cent per annum was assumed—a figure which agrees well with the actual value experienced during the first 12 months of the pro ject's life since contract signature. Switzerland's first supersonic pur chase was the sort of unhappy saga which keeps defence planners awake at night. Given a little luck plus the good start described above, the ser vice debut of the Tiger will be a very different story. Spain orders F.27 Maritime SPAIN'S search and rescue service (Servicio de Busqueda y Salvamento) has ordered three Fokker F.27 Mari time patrol aircraft to replace the ex isting Grumman HU-16 Albatross. They will be based at Seville, Palma de Majorca and the Canary Islands. The first production example of this F.27 variant was delivered to the Peru vian Navy last year and has been in operational service for three months. • The Senegal Government has taken delivery of an F.27—the first of six on order. Capable of carrying 44 pas sengers or being used for ambulance duties, the aircraft will operate from Dakar, Ziguinchor, Tambacounda and a dozen or so smaller airfields in the hinterland of Senegal. The second air craft will be delivered this month, another two in the autumn and the fifth and sixth in 1979. C-130 restrictions lifted ALL but 26 of the 271 Lockheed C-I30E Hercules transports subjected to flying restrictions last August after cracks were found in some wing spars have now been returned to full duty. Inspection of the fleet (Flight, Septem ber 17, 1977, page 815) revealed that 104 aircraft had no cracks, while 166 had cracks of varying severity. Of these, 29 were immediately grounded and three of them have now been repaired. All repair work should be completed in the next three months. The RAF fleet of 62 C-130Ks, essen tially similar to the C-130E, has been covered by a continuing fatigue- control programme and was not sub ject to this restriction. But 108 others in service in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Turkey are being checked. The cracks occurred in the lower spar boom at the front of the torsion box between the engines.
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