Originally Posted by
Evalu8ter
Ken,
Tucano VNE is 300kts IAS, max LL was about 270Kts (a few knots more if you turned the aircon off...). 300kts is about 345 mph, pretty well between the max speed of the Hurricane and early Spitfire. IIRC 1151 EShp (Garrett TP351) and approx 2000Kg plays 1175 hp (Merlin XII) and 2800 Kg fully loaded. Looks pretty comparable to me - and great fun as a 23 year old to be let loose in one.....
I remember chatting to Desmond Norman who was trying to 'sell' the Firecracker to the RAAF at Fairoaks the time. He told me ruefully that in order to get 250kt ias at low level, the Tucano had to be re-engined and hence almost re-designed whereas his aircraft almost made it in its original form.
The Firecracker by the way, was operating easily from the 813m runway at Fairoaks as could a Spitfire or Hurricane; could an RAF Tucano do that?