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Cover photos (main image): A 48th Tactical Fighter Wing F-111F. Jim Rotramel. Inset

(bottom left): One of Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380s. AirTeamImages.com/Andrew Hunt.

Inset (bottom right): British Midlands Airways Fokker F.27 Friendship, G-BDDH, in 1984.

AirTeamImages.com/Bob Robinson

p 14

p 78

p 64

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South Plainfi eld, NJ 007080. Aviation News incorporating Jets (ISSN: 2047-7198), is published monthly by Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 1XQ, UK and distributed in the USA by UKP Worldwide, 3390 RAND ROAD, SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ 07080.

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REGULARS

CONTENTS

3

p 06

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk

04 Headlines

06 Civil News

10 Military News

14 Preservation News

54 Flight Bag

56 Airshow News

58 Air Events Dates

62 Room with a View

68 Airport Movements

72 Air Base Movements

73 Register Review

FEATURES

p 42

16 Singapore Airlines: Small Nation,

Big Ambition

Singapore Airlines has grown to become one of the

world’s leading airlines. Kevan James charts its rise.

22 Enduring Friendship

Stephen Skinner tells the story of the Fokker

Friendship and the Fairchild F-27 and FH-227.

30 Voodoo: Alone, Unarmed

and Unafraid

Group Captain Nigel Walpole looks back at the RF-

Voodoo’s time at Upper Heyford.

36 Waddington’s A-7 Invasion

No fewer than 36 Air National Guard A-7 Corsair IIs

descended on RAF Waddington in 1985 for Coronet

Buffalo. Editor Dino Carrara spoke to two pilots who

took part in this memorable Cold War deployment.

42 Mildenhall Tanker Force

The Mildenhall-based 100th Air Refueling Wing is a

vital unit at the heart of today’s USAF. Nigel Price

examines its workloa d, from medevacs to supporting

major exercises.

48 Lakenheath’s F-111Fs

Doug Gordon details the F-111F’s time with 48th

Tactical Fighter Wing.

64 Return of the Avenger

Avenger T1s at RNAS Culdrose are proving to be ideal

‘ ying classrooms’ for training observers in myriad

tasks. Guy Warner reports from 750 NAS whose

training role has expanded.

78 Halifax to Hermes

Producing the Hermes propliner was a bold move

by Handley Page in war-torn 1940s Britain, but this

important aircraft has largely been overlooked by the

history books. Stephen Skinner gives an overview of

a type that was ahead of its time.

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