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Editorial Second prototype of the Gazette finds its sources from some prints and slides of a report done early 1975. When I did my enquiry near the Staff of the French Armée de l'Air I had few, to not tell no, hope to have an agreement. Finally, all went very quickly and they offered me to put in the air a just overhauled AD-4 piloted by a very typical french man with a moustache and, rather to give some Fouga Magister as a photo chase aircraft, they affected me a whole twin-boom SNCAN Noratlas military medium transport with a crew of 4 in the cockpit and 2 with me in the cargo part deprived of its large rear doors and with just a little net to prevent me to fall from A/C as I had decided to not wear a parachute!!!! I only had a harness linked by a very long strap to the rear wall of the cockpit... In the February cold, even at a medium altitude, I had the fingers half frozen and cameras were as ice pieces; the open doors increased the fantastic sound and noise and smell of the two 4200 hp Brisol Hercules engines, preventing me to hear the ones of the also fantastic 3000 hp Cyclone powering the Skyraider which seemed gliding a few feet behind us...It was a real play between pilot and I while in the radio enough things were told between two aircraft to decide the two Chateaudun Commanding Officers to take a Dassault Mystère IVA and a Super Mystere B2 to be fixed for posterity!!! Things were easy with Mystère IV capable to correctly fly around the 210 Kts cruising speed of Noratlas but it was not the same with SMB2 which could only fly away relatively to Noratlas but offered me a belly turn I am happy to use for the Gazette cover due to the mysterious atmosphere emanating from it in an uncertain light and darknessit... During the normal future publication of the Gazette, when arriving to this report, they are 5 plates of B&W 135 negs, some 36 6x6 negs and an unknown number of slides, my colour archives being not with me except a few exceptions.... The editorial picture 00 is a testimony of this great and fun flight with its tortured colours and copyrighted name written with "Wingdings "police, otherly said translated in french while playing with words: " Ailes dingues " this giving, reverting to english: MAD WINGS !!!!!! Have a fascinating flight as was mine... JMJ Lefebvre
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