The Short Tucano is a two-seat turboprop basic trainer built by Short Brothers in
Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a licence-built version of the Brazilian
Embraer EMB-312 Tucano. The main operator is the Royal Air Force with
exports to Kenya and Kuwait. Design and development
= Origins = Development of the Tucano started in May
1984 after an agreement between Embraer and Short Brothers to meet a requirement
to replace the BAC Jet Provost as a basic trainer with the Royal Air Force.
The Royal Air Force issued Air Staff Target 412 to define the requirement for
a high-performance turboprop trainer. A short-list of designs competed for the
contract; the other types considered were the Pilatus PC-9, NDN-1T
Turbo-Firecracker and Australian Aircraft Consortium A.20 Wamira II.
In 1984 Embraer sent Shorts the seventh EMB-312 airframe off the production line
for modifications in order to meet AST-412 requirements. The type was
displayed in September 1984 at the Farnborough Airshow featuring an uprated
PT6A-25C2 engine and a ventral air-brake to meet required stall speed of 60kt.
However, tests undertaken at Boscombe Down later on that year indicated the
need to re-engine the aircraft and Garrett TPE331 was chosen.
On 21 March 1985, the Short Tucano proposal was declared winner of the
AST.412 contract worth £126 million for 130 aircraft and an option for further
15. First flight of the prototype EMB-312G2 which featured a four-bladed
Hartzell propeller with the Garrett TPE331-10 engine took place in Brazil on
14 February of the following year, the aircraft was then disassembled and
airlifted back to Belfast on 29 March 1986 to fly again just 10 days later. In
June, the TPE331-10 engine was replaced by the TPE331-12B, a major difference
being the integration of an Electronic Engine Controller system.
= Production = The first standard production model T.Mk
1 was flown on 30 December 1986 and the official roll-out took place in 20
January 1987. A second prototype flew on 10 March 1987, and, by April a third had
joined the test fleet for clearance and final testing at Boscombe Down. The
fourth build aircraft was the first delivered to the RAF on 16 June 1988 at
the Central Flying School, while the last delivery to RAF occurred 25 January
1993. In addition to the primary order from
the RAF, export customers emerged for the Shorts-produced Tucanos. The Kenyan
Air Force ordered a total of 12 units, a further 16 Tucanos were exported to
Kuwait as well. The Tucanos serving in the Kuwait Air Force were furnished to
be armed and combat-capable for the purposes of weapons training and light
attack duties; each aircraft features four pylons capable of mounting various
rocket pods, cannons, bombs, and auxiliary fuel tanks.
In addition to the revised engine, the major differences of the Shorts Tucano
are a strengthened airframe for an improved fatigue life, a cockpit layout
similar to the Hawk advanced trainer, a revised oxygen system, a flight data
recorder, a four-bladed propeller, ventral airbrake and restyled wingtips.
Two Martin-Baker MB 8LC ejection seats are used and the canopy was modified to
meet the RAF's bird strike requirements. During its production run, Shorts
commonly promoted the airframe as being "100% British-built". In order to meet
RAF requirements, the EMB-312 has some 900 modifications reducing commonality
with the original aircraft to only 50% Operational history
Since first deliveries to the RAF in 1989, the Tucano has been operated
primarily from No 1 Flying Training School at RAF Linton-on-Ouse to provide
basic fast-jet lead-in flying training to RAF and RN student pilots. The
deployment is officially to 72 Squadron, 207 Squadron and 76 Squadron. Student
pilots fly around 130 hours during their training course on the Tucano before
progressing to the Hawk T1 aircraft at RAF Valley.
The Short Tucano replaced the Jet Provost as the basic trainer for the
RAF, preparing the student pilots for progression to the Hawk T1 advanced
flying training. The aircraft proved to be 70% cheaper to operate than its
predecessor. The Tucano's accident record has also been remarkably better
than other ab-initio training aircraft, with only three aircraft written-off in
over 20 years. In March 2007, regarding experiences
from the War in Afghanistan, the British Parliament was debating the idea of
replacing Harriers and Tornados for armed Short Tucanos during close air
support missions. This would have required extensive modification as the
RAF aircraft were not fitted with wing hard points.
RAF has a contract with VT Group to support maintenance until April 2014,
with possible option to extend the deal for another two years. The aircraft is
scheduled to be withdrawn from service in 2015. It will be replaced by the
winner of the UK Military Flying Training System programme.
Accidents and incidents On 22 June 2015, two-time Academy
Award-winning composer James Horner died when the Tucano he was piloting crashed
in central California in a remote region of the Los Padres National Forest about
60 miles north of Santa Barbara. Horner was the sole occupant of the plane.
Variants Tucano T1
Two-seat basic trainer for the RAF – 130 delivered was severely damaged by an IRA
bomb blast whilst in final assembly and was never flown).
Tucano Mk.51 Export version for Kenya – 12 delivered.
Tucano Mk.52 Export version for Kuwait – 16
delivered. Operators
Kenya Kenya Air Force
Kuwait Kuwait Air Force 19th Training Sqd
United Kingdom Empire Test Pilots' School
Royal Air Force Central Flying School
Specifications Data from Jane's All the World's
Aircraft, 1988–1989 General characteristics
Crew: 1–2 Length: 32 ft 4 in
Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in Height: 11 ft 1¾ in
Wing area: 208 ft² Empty weight: 4,447 lb
Max. takeoff weight: 7,220 lb Powerplant: 1 × Garrett TPE331-12B
turboprop, 1,100 shp Performance
Never exceed speed: 300 kts Maximum speed: 274 kn
Cruise speed: 180/240(low level) knots Stall speed: 69 kn
Range: 900 nmi Service ceiling: 34,000 ft
Rate of climb: 3,510 ft/min Wing loading: 28.6 lb/ft²
Power/mass: 0.152 hp/lb Armament
Provision for 1,000 lb of stores on four underwing hardpoints, but not on UK
Tucanos See also
Related development Embraer EMB 312 Tucano
Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano Aircraft of comparable role,
configuration and era Pilatus PC-7
Pilatus PC-9 PZL-130 Orlik
T-6 Texan II Related lists
List of active United Kingdom military aircraft
References Notes
Bibliography Fricker, John. Green, William, ed. "RAF
Prepares for Tucano". Air International 32: 237–239. ISSN 0306-5634.
Sturtivant, Ray. Darlington, Ray, ed. The History of Britain's Military
Training Aircraft. Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 241–244. ISBN
0-85429-579-8. ; External links
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force Royal Air Force Tucano display team
Cutaway of Short Tucano from flightglobal.com