Staverton Hero: Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer

Home	STAVERTON HERO SCOTTISH AVIATION TWIN PIONEER G-BCWF



	The latest Staverton Hero is gate guardian Gloster Javelin F (AW) 9 XH 903

	Gloucestershire Airport at Staverton - between Gloucester and Cheltenham - has been a controversial facility for much of its seventy year existence. Although it is the only airport in the north of the county - and has hosted Royal visitors and Cheltenham Gold Cup race horses alike as well as training thousands of pilots - many local residents still complain about the amount of land it occupies and aircraft noise. But even the most cynical sceptics sometimes find themselves gazing skyward for a glimpse of an aircraft that captures the imagination. And from the 1970s to the 1990s, one such aircraft type was Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer G-BCWF - then the only remaining flying example in the Northern Hemisphere. It is captured here by Malcolm Morgan of the Leigh Valley Light Railway at the start of the 1990s.



	The RAF's first Twin Pioneer XL966 visited the 1957 SBAC show at Farnborough.



	A Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer of the RAF rests in the Aden desert in the 1960s.

	SCOTTISH AVIATION BUILDS ON STRENGTH

	The Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer was capable of short field take off and landings - just like its predecessor the Scottish Aviation Pioneer, which had entered Royal Air Force service in 1953 with 267 Squadron based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya. With a take off run of 75 yards - and ability to land in just 66 yards - the jungle hopping Single Pioneer was used as a communications, supply and casualty evacuation aircraft and the 40 examples supplied by Scottish Aviation stayed in RAF service in the Far and Middle East until the end of the 1960s. By this time the Scottish Aviation company was equipping the RAF with its single piston engined side-by-side trainer the Bulldog. G-ANTP - the first civilian Twin Pioneer first flew from Prestwick on 25 June 1955 followed by the first RAF example - XL966 - on 29 August 1957. Military Twin Pioneers began delivery to the Royal Air Force in March 1958 and joined 78 Squadron at Khormaskar, Aden, later the same year - replacing their single engined forbears. The new "Twin Pin" ( or "Two Pin") was operated by a crew of three rather than two but could carry 16 rather than three passengers although its range of 400 miles was less than the 650 miles of the Pioneer. Despite this, the Twin Pin's 76' 6" wingspan and length of 45' 3" could operate effectively from a 900' x 100' cleared area and its Alvis Leonides radial engines were gradually uprated from the 550 bhp yield of the 514 variant ( the Single Pioneer used a 520 bhp 502/4 model ) to the 640 bhp offered by the final 531 type. Standing 12' 3" off the ground, the RAF Twin Pins saw active service in Kuwait, Kenya and Borneo as well as Aden with 78 Squadron even utilising the aircraft's slow flying capability for "skyshout" propaganda duties.



	G-BCWF had been known as G-APRS and XT 610 before her career at Staverton

	FROM PRESTWICK TO STAVERTON

	The aircraft first registered as G-APRS, meanwhile, first flew from the Scottish Aviation works at Prestwick on 13th September 1959 and went into service on aerial survey work with Fisons for six months. After that "Romeo Sierra" joined German air taxi operator Deutsche Taxylus before returned to Prestwick for overhaul and minor modifications in March 1961. The 165mph "Twin Pin" subsequently joined British United Airways - eventual operators of the Bristol Type 170 Mark 32 Superfreighter - initially operating for Sierra Leone Airlines under BUA for twelve months. On return from west Africa, G-APRS joined the RAF - at the Empire Test Pilots School at Boscombe Down - as XT610 in January 1962, returning to the UK civil register as G-BCWF in February 1975 at Staverton was used for mapping duties once again by Flight One on behalf of British Aerospace. Among the research flights of G-BCWF over the years were UK based heat seeking loss tests done over the UK, ultimately saving money from energy wasted in such diverse places as private homes to factories.



	G-BCWF in the distinctive colours of Flight One

	FROM STAVERTON TO BAGINGTON

	During the 1990s, Air Atlantique acquired the then "Whisky Foxtrot" and re-registered the triple tailed high wing monoplane to its original G-APRS identity. In 2006, this is the only flying example of a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer in the world and the reborn "Romeo Sierra" is currently painted back in the "raspberry ripple" colours of the Empire Test Pilots School at Boscombe Down. Indeed, the aircraft affectionately known as "Primrose" by Coventry Airport personnel continues to be used from time to time for the current test pilot courses, as it is unlikely that a contemporary candidate has experienced the unique flight characteristics of such an aeroplane.



	This view of G-BCWF emphasises the practical yet pleasing lines of the aircraft

	WALKING ROUND G-BCWF

	Writing in the 1955 Ian Allen Civil Aircraft Recognition Guide of 1955, esteemed aviation writer John W.R. Taylor revealed that there was a single civilian example ( G-ANRG ) of the Scottish Aviation Pioneer registered as a Prestwick Pioneer and also that the civilian version of the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer was being referred to as a "Prestwick" type - and due to fly in 1955.





	The starboard engine of Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer G-BCWF in its nacelle (two views above ) and a spare Alvis Leonides radial piston engine in the Flight One hangar ( below )



	Under the heading "Recognition Features" Mr Taylor continued "A spotter's gift! Twin engined high-wing monoplane with three fins and rudders and fixed undercarriage. Bracing struts from undercarriage to wings and engines with triangular fairings between wheels and fuselage. Unusual wing plan form caused by tapered centre section and parallel chord outer panels"



	Mr Taylor also remarked of the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer " Its wings are fitted with extensive slots, Fowler type flaps and slotted ailerons."