Does anyone know what these prop jobbies are, zipping around the skies of North Yorkshire? I can't see roundels on them. They're "low wing" if that's the correct technical term, they sound a bit wicked and certainly zip around faster than a Cessna. Oh, and they're flying low, which makes me think they may be RAF, despite the lack of roundels. They're a dark blue with a yellow flash on the wings. Sorry to be so vague but it's the best I can do.
Has the MoD decide that 20 of these things represent good value v one Typhoon when you're fighting a 13th century country? :-)
Speaking of which I've seen very few fast jets going around in pairs. That used to be the norm. And just one Typhoon, all on it's lonesome.
JH
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Would it have been one of these:
www.military-aircraft.org.uk/trainers/shorts-tucano-t-mk1-trainer-plane.htm
Nearly as fast a training level jet (think Provost) and much cheaper to run.
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Might be. Square wing tip matches what I saw. I don't think the canopy was as distinctive but I'm not sure. Does the RAF have them? Argentinians had them in the Falklands I remember.
Thanks A.
JH
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>> Argentinians had them in
>> the Falklands I remember.
>>
Thats when we found out how good they are.
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IIRC entire Argentinian air force hopped it before our Harriers turned up? After Belgrano? Or maybe the Vulcan?
JH
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Nope.
Flying Etandards and Pucaras, they did a fair amount of damage.
BUT etandard was a jet, and Pucara was a centre-wing twin, IIRC. (Consults the Janes)
Last edited by: Ian (Cape Town) on Fri 9 Jul 10 at 18:28
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Look up Pilatus as well. pretty damn quick and manouevrable
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I thought that was an exercise? :-)
Thanks Ian. I'm currently on a bit of wet string. Some web sites load, eventually, some don't. I have a tab whirring away on Pilatus but it may have to wait until I get back from hol. Does the RAF have them?
Got it! Could be. Very similar. Odd winglets on the tail plane though. The Tucano shot was the right colour and had the right wing markings. My money is on them for now.
I'm obviously not Observation Corps material :-(
Thanks,
JH
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_United_Kingdom_military_aircraft shows RAF has 93 Tucanos, made by Short in UK (Hurray!!). Apparently they have about 1,112 aircraft! No Pilates though, so it looks like the answer is Tucano. Thanks A!
JH
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Thnx TooSlow.
Glad to hear the UK aviation industry isn't dead. Yet.
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Tucanos originated in Brazil if my memory serves me right, made under licence by Shorts'. One of my many odd claims is that I was an ROC member in the late 70s - good money for a broke student, not much in the way of plane spotting but there were silhouette quizzes on meeting nights in the local RAFA - cheap beer and getting paid for it !
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Any plane spotters? - Alastairw
