The Polish Air Force has a new VIP
transport. The Boeing 737-800, 737-86X
0110 (c/n 61358/6370, ex N893BA), arrived
at 1 Baza Lotnictwa Transportowego (1 BLTr,
1st Air Transport Base), Warsaw-Okecie
Airport on November 15. It was officially
named Marshal Józef Piłsudski during a
welcoming ceremony.
The aircraft was originally built for theChinese airline, 9 Air, and made its maiden
flight on April 13, 2017. Although painted in
full 9 Air colours, the initial sale fell through
and it was instead purchased by the Polish
government. It was ferried on October 23-
25 from Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington,
via Baltimore, Maryland, to Dinard, France,
to be repainted in Polish Air Force livery.
Dave AllportThe Westland Lynx performed its last
official flight in Flyvevåbnet (Danish Air
Force) service on December 17, when three
helicopters (serials S-134, -191 and -256)
performed a farewell flight at their Karup
home base.
The Lynx has served in Denmark for
37 years. Eight Mk.80s were originally
delivered to Søværnets Flyvetjeneste (Naval
Air Service) at Værløse air base during
1980-81. An additional pair of Mk.90s were
acquired in 1987-88 to replace lost airframes.
During 2000-2004 the helicopters were
upgraded to Super Lynx Mk.90B standard,
which among other things included a
completely new airframe to zero-hour
their service life. In January 2004 the unitrelocated from Værløse to Karup, and in
January 2011 operational control of the Lynx
fleet was passed to Eskadrille 723.The Lynx has been replaced by nine
Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters in
Eskadrille 723 service. Jan JørgensenPegasus Nears USAF Delivery
The maiden flight of the first Boeing KC-
46A Pegasus tanker for delivery to the US
Air Force was conducted at the Boeing’s
Paine Field facility in Everett, Washington,
on December 5. During the initial 3.5-
hour flight, the crew conducted operational
checks of the engines, flight controls andenvironmental systems as part of the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-
approved flight profile.
Six KC-46As are supporting the flight-test
and certification effort and the newest tanker
is the seventh KC-46A to fly.
The fleet has accumulated more than2,200 flight hours and carried out more than
1,600 contacts during refuelling flights with
seven types of aircraft.
Boeing’s contract with the USAF requires
it delivers 18 ‘full-up’ KC-46As by October
of this year and deliveries are expected to
begin around March.Fighting Falcon’s Fort Worth Swansong
Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas,
facility’s long relationship with the F-16 is
over. The final Fighting Falcon built at the
facility departed on November 14.
The aircraft was the last of 36 produced
for the Iraqi Air Force (IQAF). The formerGeneral Dynamics site, which is located
adjacent to Naval Air Station Fort Worth
Joint Reserve Base, produced 3,620 of
the single-engine fighters since the first
production aircraft rolled out in August
1978.The F-16 production line is being
relocated to another Lockheed Martin
facility in Greenville, South Carolina, where
the contractor also hopes to assemble
T-50 trainer jets for the US Air Force.
Tom Kaminskihttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 7Polish VIP 737-800 Arrives
Danish Lynx
Fleet Retired
The Polish Air Force's Boeing 737-800. Dowództwa Generalnego Rodzajów Sił ZbrojnychThe Danish Air Force retired the Lynx on December 17. Jan JørgensenMore 'Classic'
Hornets for
Canada
Eighteen former Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) ‘classic’ Hornets are to be bought
by Canada to fill its fighter capability gap.
Ottawa announced on December 13 that it
would buy the F/A-18A/Bs, plus a package
of spares, for an undisclosed sum.
Australian Defence Minister Marise
Payne confirmed the first two ‘classic’
Hornets will be delivered to Canada in
2019, as the RAAF transitions to the
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II.
The used F/A-18A/Bs from Australia
were selected in preference new Super
Hornets from Boeing. Acquisition will
allow Canada to retain its ‘legacy’ Hornets
until a new fighter is selected and fielded.06-08_military_newsDC.mfDC.mf.indd 7 08/01/2018 15: