Aeroplane Monthly 1978-05
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News Spotlight
Maiden flight of Dassault-Breguet's Mirage 2000 took place on March 10, 1978, chief test pilot Jean Coureau flying the aeroplane in the full fly-by-wire mode. The aircraft is reported to have reached Mach 1,7.
Delivery of the 1,500th Lockheed Hercules was made to the Sudan Air Force in March.
As we went to press Tom Storey’s beautiful Percival Mew Gull, G-AEXF was expected to make its first flight after protracted restoration work. 'EXF was originally supplied to Maj A. M. Miller of South Africa as ZS-AHM The Golden City. Owned and flown in England by Alex Henshaw, it won the 1937 Folkestone Trophy and the 1938 King's Cup Race. In 1939 it made a record return flight to the Cape in 4 days 10hr 16min.
Brazil's first production Embraer EMB-121 Xingu is one of five for the Brazilian Air Force. About 16 examples of this pressurised executive aircraft will be built this year. Much development flying has been carried out since the type's appearance at the 1977 Paris Salon. A pair of Pratt & Whitney of Canada PT6A-28 turboprops provide the power.
BAC TSR.2 XR222 is seen in transit from Cranfield to Duxford. It is hoped to display it at the Air Day on June 18, 1978
Seen at Flabob Airport near Riverside, California, early in March 1978, the reproduction Gee Bee Model Z has been built for Bill Turner by Ed Marquart, and should fly in a few months' time. Powerplant will be a Pratt & Whitney 985 radial. Resting on the wing is a radio controlled model “Z”- which has already flown! The original Model Z made its debut and first flight on August 22, 1931.
Mosquito FB.VI TA122 has been donated to the Mosquito Aircraft Museum by the Royal Netherlands Air Force Museum.