I can boast (if that's the right word) just shy of 90 hours in XX699 between Dec 1979 and Aug 1986.

I can't say that I've ever been very impressed by the T67, having flown the A, C, M and M260. As a primary trainer, first choice for me has to be the Chippie followed by the Dog.

I thought the Bulldog was terribly unreliable - on my UAS FHT the engine failed 13 times, the radio failed for 10 minutes, then the control column was jammed for 5 minutes during an approach.:ok:

Other than that, I preferred it to the Chippie for visibility (though I've flown an ex-RCAF Chippie with a bubble canopy, which was great) and to the Tutor for aeros. It also had a more robust feel than the others, which I thought eased the transition to jets.

We shouldn't forget the unrecoverable flat spin though, which one way or another claimed a few.

Anyone flown the Siat Machetti SF260. The Belgian AF use it for initial training & very happy with it. Looks great with the Sharks Teeth!

Strictly speaking it wasn't unrecoverable, it would always come out if you held anti-spin control for long enough, it was just a matter of whether you had enough height left before min abandonment height!

I only had it the once, student put it high rotational and it didn't recover, I held anti-spin and was just about to jump when it recovered.

During summer camp one year one of our dog crews returned a little pale from going high rotational,i was volunteered to investigate...all i could find wrong with the a/c was that the elev tab was set lower than usual,but istr that the tab setting procedure was a little vague anyway.
After adjustment the a/c span (sic) a little slower than usual but the boss was happy with that,but i had some interesting conversations with various people who did not seem to realise that with the stick on the stop then the tab is just part of the trailing edge :cool:
As a fitter with some flying experience I found the dog very pleasant to fly,but it was easier for me to get rides in 6 AEF chippies and they were an absolute delight to fly (except you couldnt see where you were going :))
Never flown in a tutor but any offers gratefully received LOL

Lots hours in 'dog, quite a few in FF260 not very many at all in das Tutor (out of choice).

Going back some - re 'flicking':

I do! Fun it may be but if something has no appliaction in your chosen profession, they why do it? It could is 'negative training' of a most insidious kind - teach them the recovery from doing so unintentionally maybe. Otherwise, who knows what some daft idjut may do in the heat of the moment in a bigger, more expensive piece of military hardware?

just my tuppennies worth.

To be fair, the same can be said of the T67. Two good friends of mine both had very narrow escapes, particularly as neither they nor their respective students were wearing parachutes.

Thanks for that guys, any info is much appreciated. I have recently purchased XX699, its here in Australia and almost ready to fly. Wont be long before I have 90 hours in it also :) at the moment only 1.5 hours in her back in UK. Its the second one to hit our shores, the other being a Swedish version. Will keep XX699 in full RAF livery. Cant believe how much interest she has created already. Would also like to locate the FRC's if possible, maybe even a couple of suits from the day.
Steve
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Fox3WheresMyBanana was that xx699 or Bulldogs in general

Ahh...just checked and I've got at least 7:30 in XX699 during my EFT in '84!!

What on earth are you all talking about - bring back the JP for all-through jet training. A great many pilots of the 60's and 70's never saw anything like the Chippie or Bulldog before front line service.

Throws in and retires!