Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer 3 VH-SYS
has reflown from Wedderburn, south of
Sydney, Australia, after a long period of
restoration. Yankee-Sierra is the world’s
only airworthy example of the type and is
now owned by Richard Thompson, who
has completed the work begun by previouskeeper Stephen ‘Sy’ Allsep, who died in- In recognition of the latter, the name
‘Sy’ will be painted below the cockpit. The
Twin Pioneer is now being preparing for
this year’s flying season, which is likely to
include appearances at several airshows
and other public events. Phil Buckley
12 Squadron
Stands Down
After more than 25 years of Panavia
Tornado operations by the unit, the
RAF’s 12 Squadron has disbanded and
it personnel have been reassigned to
the two remaining RAF Tornado units:
IX and 31 Squadrons. The unit lodged
its standard at RAF College Cranwell,
Lincolnshire, on February 14 – its 103rd
anniversary – after displaying it before the
Queen 12 days earlier. No.12 Squadron
isn’t expected to be inactive for long, as
its due to re-form as a Typhoon squadron
at RAF Coningsby later this year.DHFS Retires
Squirrels and
Griffins
The Defence Helicopter Flying School
(DHFS) has retired its fleet of Griffin HT
and Squirrel HT1/HT2 helicopters at
RAF Shawbury, Shropshire, after around
20 years of service. Students from the
final flying training courses taught on the
types graduated from the DHFS during
a ceremony at the base on March 28,
during which a farewell formation flypast
was made by a pair of both Griffins
and Squirrels. The last helicopters
were then flown to Cobham’s facility at
Bournemouth Airport, in Dorset, to be
decommissioned from the RAF.
These helicopters have been
replaced at Shawbury by a new fleet
of 29 Airbus Helicopters Juno HT1s
(H135s), which have been acquired
along with three Jupiter HT1s (H145s),
the latter being based at RAF Valley,
Wales. Dave AllportThe Shuttleworth Collection’s Supermarine
Spitfire V AR501 (G-AWII) returned to the air
on March 20, after a 12-year overhaul. Well-
known warbird pilot Stu Goldspink was at the
controls during the 15-minute flight from Old
Warden, Bedfordshire. Shuttleworth’s Chief
Engineer Jean-Michel Munn said: “This is a
very original aircraft, and one that served in
combat during the Second World War. It’s a
privilege for the collection to be able to return
it to airworthy status and have it back flying for
visitors to experience the sight and sound of
this iconic type.”
The Spitfire has emerged in different
markings to the 310 (Czech) Sqn codes it
carried for many years, and now wears the
fighter’s last frontline scheme before it moved
into secondary duties. These are 1943-era 312Sqn markings, with the code letters ‘DU-E’. It’s
planned to debut the fighter at a Shuttleworthairshow on May 6, which is being themed
towards 100 years of the RAF. Darren HarbarThe first Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning
II for the Republic of Korea was officially
rolled out during a special ceremony at Fort
Worth, Texas, on March 28. The event was
attended by more than 450 guests, including
five members of the Republic of Korea
National Assembly Defense Committee,
as well as Suh Choo-suk, Vice Minister of
National Defense and Lt Gen Lee Seong-
yong, Vice Chief of Staff of the ROKAF.The Republic of Korea is acquiring 40
F-35As through the US Government’s
Foreign Military Sales programme and
they are all to be built by Lockheed Martin
in Texas. The first aircraft will be delivered
to Luke AFB in Arizona, where ROKAF
pilots and maintainers will begin training.
The new fighters are due to be delivered to
the Republic of Korea’s base at Cheongju
in 2019.http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 5Debut for ROKAF’s First F-35A
The Republic of Korea Air Force’s first F-35A Lightning II in flight. Carl RichardsTwin Pioneer VH-SYS flying
from Wedderburn. Phil BuckleyShuttleworth’s Spitfire Reflies After Epic Rebuild
‘Twin Pin’ Airborne in Australia
Spitfire V AR501, in its new markings following a 12-year extensive overhaul. Darren Harbar04-05_headline_newsDC.mfDC.indd 5 06/04/2018 17: