Aeroplane Monthly 1977-06
-
News Spotlight
The beautiful little Nieuport 17 "Bebe” above is now on display in the Brussels Air Museum after being refurbished. Fitted with a Le Rhone rotary engine, it bears the markings of the Belgian "Comete” escadrille and carries the number 5024 on its rudder.
Sabena Caravelle OO-SRA has been donated to the Brussels Air Museum following the type’s replacement by a fleet of Boeing 737s. This aircraft entered service on February 8, 1961, and has logged 24,244 hr with over 40,000 take-offs and landings. OO-SRA will be the Museum’s largest aircraft, and to facilitate its transportation the wings and tail were removed and Belgian Air Force equipment was used to move the 32m fuselage to its new home.
Two Boeing B-52H Stratofortresses, 60-0054 of the 46th Bombing Squadron, 319th Bombing Wing, Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, and 60-0015 of the 644th Bombing Squadron, 410th BW, K. I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan, flew into RAF Marham on April 14, 1977 to participate in the RAF's Bombing and Navigation Competition. Two other B-52Hs, 60-0030 representing the 5th BW, and 60-0025 of the 449th BW, also flew in. The competition will take place during May 9-17, and 22 aircraft will compete, including Vulcans from. Waddington and Scampton.
The Strathallan Collection’s Fairey Battle I, R3950, is moved from storage to the Strathallan Museum on January 6, 1977. The fuselage has since been thoroughly cleaned, repaired and primed, and will be on display this year.
Sikorsky's new twin-turbine S-76 commercial helicopter was rolled out at Stratford, Connecticut, on January 11, 1977, and made its first flight on March 13. It is now well into its flight test programme at Palm Beach County, Florida. By the time of its maiden flight, 92 orders had been received for the type, which is powered by a pair of 650 s.h.p. Allison 250-C30 turboshafts.
The final stages of certification flying are now being completed by the prototype Partenavia P68R, a variant of the P68B with electro-hydraulically retractable undercarriage. First flown last December, production is scheduled to begin later this year, the first machine going to Partenavia’s North American distributor. It is structurally identical to the P68B.
Also moved into the Museum, on March 21, 1977, was the Short Scion VH-UUP, which will eventually be restored in its original marks as G-ACUX.