Originally Posted by
pr00ne
Still doesn’t alter the fact that the RAF Tucano had no weapon system as it was a basic trainer with no weapons training role whatsoever.
Likewise its predecessor the JP; basic trainer with no weapons training role while in
RAF service although it was so equipped for other armed forces.
To my mind it was a retrograde step switching from jets back to turboprops (after the Balliol and the Athena) anyway.
Let's face it, the choice of a completely re-designed Tucano over the PC9 and the Firecracker was political so that jobs could be created in Northern Ireland.
Chatting to Des Norman in about '86 when he was demonstrating his Firecracker to the Ozzies at Fairoaks one day, he told me it was also for the sake of a few knots indicated extra. By the way the Firecracker was operating quite comfortably on/off the 813m runway at Fairoaks; don't know what length the Tucano needed.
Nice bloke Des; we discussed the comparison between the design of the ventral airbrake on the Firecracker compared to the aircraft I was flying at the time (a type which you lot will never have heard of)