What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

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farnboroughrob
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What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by farnboroughrob »

Anybody got a idea of what is happerning with the Tucanos? Not seen any go to museums in the UK so far? Are they all still stored at Shawbury or Linton ? I heard some were going to the US but all of them? Any ideas?

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NAM Updater
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by NAM Updater »

Some information from last October - But I'm not sure of the outcome; lots of speculation of six figure sums being involved!

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Seahornet
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Seahornet »

Well ZF206 (N206PF) certainly went across the pond, it's the one film composer James Horner (Titanic, Apollo 13 etc.) killed himself in, back in 2015.... :frowning2:
And as the smart ship grew,
In stature, grace and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the iceberg too....

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jasonT1981
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by jasonT1981 »

I'm surprised none have gone into private hands for airshow displays. I thought they would be quite popular after retirement.

Age/airframes an issue?

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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Pen Pusher »

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farnboroughrob
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by farnboroughrob »

Thanks for the info. Obviously the US rules mean it is far easier to operate them there. Surprised none seem to have made it into preservation except the shorts prototype. Not even one at Hendon or Cosford.

Mike
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Mike »

farnboroughrob wrote:
Mon 31 Jan 2022, 8:03 pm
Not even one at Hendon or Cosford.
Do they still collect aeroplanes nowadays? I thought it was only hats.

Pima have a Red Arrows Hawk, there are ex-RAF Pumas in preservation, Tucanos have been flying in private hands in the US for well over a decade. Presumably the RAF Museum worthies have deigned all these types unworthy of preservation. Still, they did add a turban to the hat collection recently, and have a dedicated glass case with a nice display of RAF toilet rolls at Hendon, so all is not lost.

farnboroughrob
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by farnboroughrob »

Mike wrote:
Mon 31 Jan 2022, 8:16 pm
farnboroughrob wrote:
Mon 31 Jan 2022, 8:03 pm
Not even one at Hendon or Cosford.
Do they still collect aeroplanes nowadays? I thought it was only hats.

Pima have a Red Arrows Hawk, there are ex-RAF Pumas in preservation, Tucanos have been flying in private hands in the US for well over a decade. Presumably the RAF Museum worthies have deigned all these types unworthy of preservation. Still, they did add a turban to the hat collection recently, and have a dedicated glass case with a nice display of RAF toilet rolls at Hendon, so all is not lost.
LOL, maybe the B-25, FW190,EH101 etc are being replaced by a giant RAF hat themed bouncy castle! It does seem crazy that the ex Milestones hall , what ever it is called now, does not have a Hawk, Tucano and Puma in it. It is almost like saying we don't like people knowing that we still fly aircraft that can be used to kill people! Lets pretend that sort of thing never happened in the past either, the RAF is just a jolly flying club!

bizfreeq
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by bizfreeq »

Mike wrote:
Mon 31 Jan 2022, 8:16 pm
farnboroughrob wrote:
Mon 31 Jan 2022, 8:03 pm
Not even one at Hendon or Cosford.
Do they still collect aeroplanes nowadays? I thought it was only hats.

Pima have a Red Arrows Hawk, there are ex-RAF Pumas in preservation, Tucanos have been flying in private hands in the US for well over a decade. Presumably the RAF Museum worthies have deigned all these types unworthy of preservation. Still, they did add a turban to the hat collection recently, and have a dedicated glass case with a nice display of RAF toilet rolls at Hendon, so all is not lost.
Hang on a bit, both the Hawk and the Puma are still in service, you can't level that criticism at the RAFM unless both types finish and none end up in the collection. And as the bulk of the Tucanos are still in the UK, who's to say that some won't find their way into UK collections? I am of course not saying this will happen, and if it does, I'll be there with you in that criticism, but it is far too early to be slinging the muck around now

Adam216
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Adam216 »

bizfreeq wrote:
Tue 01 Feb 2022, 2:26 pm
Mike wrote:
Mon 31 Jan 2022, 8:16 pm
farnboroughrob wrote:
Mon 31 Jan 2022, 8:03 pm
Not even one at Hendon or Cosford.
Do they still collect aeroplanes nowadays? I thought it was only hats.

Pima have a Red Arrows Hawk, there are ex-RAF Pumas in preservation, Tucanos have been flying in private hands in the US for well over a decade. Presumably the RAF Museum worthies have deigned all these types unworthy of preservation. Still, they did add a turban to the hat collection recently, and have a dedicated glass case with a nice display of RAF toilet rolls at Hendon, so all is not lost.
Hang on a bit, both the Hawk and the Puma are still in service, you can't level that criticism at the RAFM unless both types finish and none end up in the collection. And as the bulk of the Tucanos are still in the UK, who's to say that some won't find their way into UK collections? I am of course not saying this will happen, and if it does, I'll be there with you in that criticism, but it is far too early to be slinging the muck around now
So what about other types that have been retired in the last 10 years? Tucano. Sentinel. Sentry. Tristar. Islander. Squirrel. Griffin. King Air. Tornado GR.4. Vigilant. BAe 146. BAE 125. Plenty of types are being overlooked by the RAFM. I know you can argue types such as Tristar and Sentry are too big for preservation but they are still important types. I imagine more Hawks have been retired or are in storage than are currently in active service.

Binbrook 01
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Binbrook 01 »

Adam216

The technical training school at Cosford has at least 6 Tornado GR.4s including MiG Eater ZA447.

They also have the oldest original Red Arrows Hawk XX227 now.

Sentinels have all been sold to the US Army. The last 3 of the airworthy E-3s now pretty much going to Chile. That leaves the 2 and a half spares none flyers.

Tristars at Bruntingthorpe are likely doomed. As for Cosford, and Hendon RAFM has gone on its crazy loan out stuff route, that and I suspect with the 146, they want to let other worthy collections in on the game. As for 125s, well the Dominie likely covers that.

Who knows what the plan is for the Tucanos yet, COVID probably stall attempts to sell them off.

Till RAFM gets over Operation Giant Hat.... Your stuck with it the way it is.

BK1

Binbrook 01
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Binbrook 01 »

Oh I forgot... The recent Hawk retirees are going to Valley for RTP. Supplies the little Display team for a while. Islanders.... What Islanders... They are still going 🙃

Mike
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Mike »

The Islanders have all been retired. Most were sold back to Britten-Norman.

cg_341
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by cg_341 »

The Islanders were sold to Britten-Norman who immediately sold them to someone else, who returned them to Northolt and Waddington to carry on doing exactly what they were doing before. 😂

Mike
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Mike »

TBF Middle Wallop now have an Islander on display, it’s probably more relevant there than at Cosford or Hendon.

bizfreeq
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by bizfreeq »

Adam216 wrote:
Tue 01 Feb 2022, 4:32 pm
bizfreeq wrote:
Tue 01 Feb 2022, 2:26 pm
Mike wrote:
Mon 31 Jan 2022, 8:16 pm
farnboroughrob wrote:
Mon 31 Jan 2022, 8:03 pm
Not even one at Hendon or Cosford.
Do they still collect aeroplanes nowadays? I thought it was only hats.

Pima have a Red Arrows Hawk, there are ex-RAF Pumas in preservation, Tucanos have been flying in private hands in the US for well over a decade. Presumably the RAF Museum worthies have deigned all these types unworthy of preservation. Still, they did add a turban to the hat collection recently, and have a dedicated glass case with a nice display of RAF toilet rolls at Hendon, so all is not lost.
Hang on a bit, both the Hawk and the Puma are still in service, you can't level that criticism at the RAFM unless both types finish and none end up in the collection. And as the bulk of the Tucanos are still in the UK, who's to say that some won't find their way into UK collections? I am of course not saying this will happen, and if it does, I'll be there with you in that criticism, but it is far too early to be slinging the muck around now
So what about other types that have been retired in the last 10 years? Tucano. Sentinel. Sentry. Tristar. Islander. Squirrel. Griffin. King Air. Tornado GR.4. Vigilant. BAe 146. BAE 125. Plenty of types are being overlooked by the RAFM. I know you can argue types such as Tristar and Sentry are too big for preservation but they are still important types. I imagine more Hawks have been retired or are in storage than are currently in active service.
Squirrel and Griffin were never owned by the RAF or Army. They were owned by Cobham who then sold off the lot. There was no way any were going to go into preservation. The Islanders ended up back in service with GAMA, the Army ones returned to BN at Lee on the Solent and are currently stored awaiting rework and onward sale

farnboroughrob
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by farnboroughrob »

It would be unfair to expect many of the more recient types to be preserved becuase of either their resale value or leasing arrangements. When I last visited Shawbury about 2014 there were probably 100+ Tucarnos and Hawks in store along with Pumas, Gazelles, Islanders and some odds and sods. Its not like they didn't have time to preserve one of these? In the old days the musuems would be awash with these types but its now totally about money. How many Hawks are likey to be preserved in the UK?

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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Wrexham Mackem »

Binbrook 01 wrote:
Tue 01 Feb 2022, 5:53 pm
Adam216

The technical training school at Cosford has at least 6 Tornado GR.4s including MiG Eater ZA447.

They also have the oldest original Red Arrows Hawk XX227 now.
Could you imagine how good it would have been if that Hawk had gone to the museum, and been displayed alongside the Gnat they have. The last of the Red Arrows veteran Gnats, still in its reds scheme. Put some Red Arrows memorabilia and ephemera in the display too, maybe a simulator. The families would absolutely pour in to the museum. But no, the Hawk is in the training school where any old Hawk would do, and they strung the Gnat from the ceiling at Hendon. Obviously they're the professionals and I'm a mere punter, but to me its very typical of missed opportunities.

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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Mike »

I guess the RAF Museum’s logic is that, if people really want to see a Red Arrows Hawk, they can go to Tucson.

nuuumannn
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by nuuumannn »

Looks like the armchair critics are attacking the RAF Museum again. You guys have no idea how fortunate y'all are with that resource. In one building you can see a Bf 109E, spitfire, Hurricane and Fiat CR.42 that took part in the Battle of Britain, a Bristol Bulldog, an Avro Lancaster, B-24 Liberator, Bf 110, Hawker Tempest etc... But all that's meaningless as long as you get to have your pound of flesh. For the record.

A Gazelle at Hendon.

ImageRAFM 140

A Dominie at Cosford.

ImageDSC_0348

There are Hawks on display at Boscombe Down and Brooklands and there was one at East Fortune, but there are gate guards outside RAF bases.

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EGL
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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by EGL »

Mike wrote:
Thu 03 Feb 2022, 10:04 am
I guess the RAF Museum’s logic is that, if people really want to see a Red Arrows Hawk, they can go to Tucson.
East Fortune's probably closer for most people here and no passport required (well not yet :wink: ).

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Re: What has happened to the RAF Tucanos?

Post by Berf »

Caption from a picture on a FB site: On last Saturday evening ( 26 Febr 2022) in the same hangar at Bowman Field, Louisville KY, we found this ex RAF Tucano, ZF-208. The plane now has completely updated to 2022 glass instrument panel.

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