Aeroplane Monthly 1979-10
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News Spotlight
This line-up at the US Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland, comprises three versions of the AV-8 attack aircraft. The two white aircraft are McDonnell Douglas AV-8B prototypes undergoing flight testing, at far left and in the centre are British Aerospace AV-8As, and on the right is a TAV-8A Harrier two-seater.
Handover of the first British Aerospace Nimrod Mk 2 for the Royal Air Force, XV236, took place at Woodford on August 23, 1979, and the aircraft was then flown to RAF Kinloss by a Service crew to join the Mk 2 conversion flight. A new NATO-approved camouflage scheme is to be applied to Mk 2s, which are fitted with new sensors and equipment and will also acquire wing-tip pods.
A Pilatus Britten-Norman BN2A-21 Maritime Defender during a test flight south of the Isle of Wight on August 20, 1979.
Strathallan’s 1942 Westland Lysander, G-AZWT, had its initial engine run on August 14, 1979, when it fired on the first press of the button. After eight years and 8,000 man-hours work, it is hoped to fly it later this year. The wings will be painted before fitment.
A Dassault Mirage 5P of the Pakistan Air Force. With four squadrons already equipped with the type for strike, intercept and reconnaissance work, another 32 Mirage III/5s have been ordered to equip two fighter-bomber squadrons.
Late in July 1979 the Fleet Air Arm Museum's Sopwith Baby seaplane, N2078 The Jabberwock, was lifted by crane into the new £360,000 extension to the Museum at RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset. The Baby will form the centrepiece of the main entrance, and it had to be positioned before completion of the structure. The only Sopwith Baby in existence, N2078 was built from the remains of two examples loaned to Italy in World War One and later part of the Nash Collection.
The prototype of Caproni's C-22J low-cost basic jet trainer was rolled out at the company's Vizzola factory in August 1979. In some respects it resembles the A.215 sailplane.
Short Sandringham N158J Excalibur, which last served with Antilles Air Boats, is now being refurbished at Isla Grande Airport, San Juan, prior to its return to the British Isles, and, reportedly, the British Register!