Some interesting points raised here. A few thoughts from me ...
When I went through training on the JP, the Group 1/Phase 1 course was 60 hours for those going to the Gnat or Hunter and included 300 kt navexes. When the Hawk came in, the Valley course on it was 15 hours longer than for the Gnat or Hunter (due to the greater endurance) so the Group 1/Phase 1 course was reduced to 45 hours and the 300 kt navexes were taken out of the syllabus. However, the initial couple of navexes on the Hawk were then flown at 300 kts before moving on to 360 and 420 kts.
The reason why inverted spinning was cleared in the Release to Service was because if the Tucano did spin inadvertently during aerobatics (and it was not prone to do so) then it was considered to be about a 40% probability that it would be an inverted spin. During the R to S trials, the first inverted spin entered was actually by a navigator in the rear seat on a CT sortie when he attempted to fly a half Cuban 8! We then did the trial. It has to be said that this was the first RAF aircraft to be cleared for inverted spinning for a very long time. Anyone know what the previous one was - I think that it may have been the Vampire T11? On the spin trial we limited the number of spins flown per sortie to 25 for pilot fatigue reasons. The control forces in some modes tested were very high, especially full power erect spins to the left when the push force to centralise the stick after 4 turns was about 100 lbs. We flew 6 turn inverted spins as well within the 30 seconds available. It was fantastic fun on that trial! However, the Tucano did also acquire the nickname 'Shorts' Multi-Gym'.
We cleared it to fly in winds up to 40 kts and crosswinds of up to 30 kts. In fact, the highest crosswind during a landing on the trial was 42 kts; it was solid as a rock and would always have been my preferred aircraft in a strong crosswind.
The fatal accident was caused by the tail separating because the flutter analysis with the wing stores had only been done for the wings and the effect of the increased mass on the fuselage aft of the trailing and the tail had not been considered nor analysed; the relative frequencies of the flutter modes on these two parts of the airframe had changed dramatically.
Many of today's fast jet pilots have trained on the Tucano and learnt great flying skills. Therefore, it worked! As for the politics, when the competition for selection was still taking place, Margaret Thatcher visited a Farnborough Air Show and she was shown around the Shorts stand. When briefed on the Tucano she (allegedly) said "Ah yes, the aeroplane that is going to create jobs in Northern Island"!
I did not train on it, I did not instruct on it at BFTS but I have very fond memories of some fascinating flying in it over 30 years.