Sky Beetle

[Malcolm G O Payne]

About twelve years ago there was a move to replace the Nigerian Air Force Bulldogs with an indigenous design commonly known as the Sky Beetle. I don't know how many were built (at Kaduna I think) and the brochure performance figures were extremely optimistic. Anyone know what happened to it?

[wheels up]

Check out http://vansaircraft.com/public/nigerian.htm

World of RVs - Nigerian Air Force

The Nigerian project was started by a company in Nigeria to provide a primary military trainer for the Nigerian Military Air Force, and helped establish an industrial base in the country. After an exhaustive search, the RV-6A was chosen as the aircraft best suited to their needs.

The program included establishing a manufacturing organization within Nigeria, utilizing local labor. A total of 60 aircraft were built and delivered to the Nigerian Air Force as trainers. The RV-6A was modified to include extensive electronics, and other minor aerodynamic changes to suit Nigerian flying conditions.

The original contract was for 60 kits to be delivered over a period of time to Nigeria, for assembly. These kits were delivered, assembled and delivered to the Nigerian Air Force, and are currently the military's primary trainers.

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Well done to them. It's great to see some innovation and original thought and the RV6A is a great little aircraft.:ok:

Creating employment on the assembly line and generating trained individuals is an added bonus.

[Revnetwork]

More information here
http://www.dananig.com/air_betle.htm

[wheels up]

A rare case of common sense and pragmatism in Africa?