TLDR; This Suggestion is for an IA 58A Pucará based on the eleven aircraft captured at Port Stanley Airport on 14 June 1982, in particular ZD485 which between 28 Apr and 25 Jul 1983 completed around 25 flight hours during trials in the UK.
The Pucara is a mid Cold War twin-turboprop light ground attack, counterinsurgecy and reconnaissance aircraft, designed and manufactured in Argentina.
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Fig.1 Artist’s rendition of ZD485, the only Pucará to fly in UK service. This image depicts ZD485 on 18 Jul 1983 during its air-to-air combat trials against Sea Harrier FRS.1 XZ459.
Overview
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The IA 58A Pucará, or simply “Pucara A”, is a light ground attack aircraft manufactured by the Argentinian aircraft manufacturer Fábrica Militar de Aviones (Now Fábrica Argentina de Aviones “Brigadier San Martín” S.A.), known colloquially as “FMA”. The Pucara A is the original production variant which entered service with the Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Argentina or “FAA”) in 1975.
Deployed during the Falklands War, eleven Pucara As would be captured in various states of repair during the surrender of Port Stanley Airport on 14 June 1982. Six were transported to the UK for study, with A-515 repaired to an airworthy condition by cannibalising two of the other aircraft.
Designated RAF serial ZD485, from 28 April 1983 the former A-515 was flown by Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) pilots S/Ldr Russell Peart and S/Ldr Tony Banfield for some 25 hours before being retired to the Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford on 09 Sept 1983 (now Royal Air Force Museum Midlands).
Fig.2 Repainted in its original Argentine Air Force light camouflage scheme, ZD485 is preserved at Royal Air Force Museum Midlands.
Development
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In August 1966 the Argentine Air Force formally issued a requirement for a low-cost, light ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft. Argentine state aircraft factory, Fábrica Argentina de Aviones (FMA), then a division of Dirección Nacional de Fabricación e Investigación Aeronáutica (DINFIA), began development of a prototype. FMA set up two design teams to work in parallel towards the requirement, with one team working on a twin-boom design similar in layout to the American OV-10 Bronco. The opposing design was selected by FMA’s Board of Directors; a T-tailed, low-wing monoplane, powered by two turboprop engines mounted in wing-mounted nacelles.
In order to test the proposed layout, FMA built a full-scale, unpowered glider test vehicle, the A-X2. Construction of the glider was overseen by Dr Reimar Horten, then a consultant at DINFIA, and the A-X2 was flown for the first time by Commodoro Roberto Starc of the Flight Test Centre (Centro de Ensayos en Vuelo) on 26 December 1967. By the end of 1967 DINFIA had been renamed Área Material Córdoba (AMC), while the name FMA continued.
From January 1968 the design was refined, and a final requirement for was issued on 29 January. The glider flew again on 25 July 1968 and acquiring the unofficial name “Delfín” from the test crew after it’s slender profile and bottle-nose. Competition appeared as Rockwell organised a series of demonstrations of the OV-10 Bronco between November and December, which was offered for license production under FMA.
Instead the Argentine design was selected, and construction began on an all-metal powered prototype began. After eleven months of preparation, the “new” A-X2 made its first flight on 19 August 1969, was officially presented as “Pucará” (the Quechuan word for a hill fort, or fortress) on 10 October 1969. The earlier “old” wooden A-X2 was eventually scrapped.
Fig.3 A-X2, the all-metal prototype, being overflown by a Gloster Meteor during its presentation parade on 10 October 1969.
The prototype would be equipped with a pair of Garrett TPE331I/U-303 engines in an effort to bolster export potential, but vibrational issues with the engines led to alternatives being considered. Following lobbying from Turbomeca, a French engine manufacturer already producing under license in Argentina, the Astazou XVIG was selected. A-X2 was renumbered AX-01, and AX-02, the first Pucara with Turbomeca engines, first flew on 2 September 1970. In 1971 AX-02 was flown to France to undergo structural integrity tests, while AX-01 was eventually refitted with Astazou XVIG engines.
A third prototype, AX-03, incorporated a series of structural and aerodynamic refinements to form the production standard, being the first airframe to carry fuselage armament, external stores, and full IFR instruments. AX-03 completed the first Rocket-Assisted Take-Off (RATO) trials and achieved an 80 m take-off run.
Early Operational History
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Pucara saw limited service with Attack Squadron 1 in Operation Independence (Operativo Independencia) a 1975 Argentine military operation against the communist Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP) guerillas. Four early production aircraft were launched directly from the Córdoba Military Aviation School (Escuela de Aviación Militar), carrying out counter-insurgency operations against the ERP in Tucumán province.
On 5 December 1978 the Squadron was moved to Puerto Santa Cruz in support of Argentine force in the Beagle Channel, from where following the abortive Operation Sovereignty (Operación Soberanía) of 22 December 1978 it moved to Base Aérea Militar Reconquista (BAM Reconquista) on 10 January 1979. Around sixty Pucaras had been delivered to the Argentine Air Force by the beginning of the Falklands War.
Falklands War
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One of the few Argentine aircraft capable of operating from small airfields, four Pucarás were deployed to Port Stanley on 2 April 1982, with a further eight arriving on 9 April. Aircraft based on the Falklands fell under the Pucara Malvinas Mobile Air Squadron (Escuadrón Aeromóvil Pucará Malvinas) , performed daily reconnaissance flights in pairs from Port Stanley Airfield (BAM Malvinas), and the improvised runways at Goose Green/Darwin (BAM Cóndor), and Pebble Island (Estación Aeronaval Calderón). Aircraft in mainland Argentina were relocated to Puerto Santa Cruz or Comodoro Rivadavia, from where they performed coastal reconnaissance patrols.
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1 May 1982 Three Pucaras were destroyed and a pilot killed at Goose Green by cluster bombs dropped by Sea Harriers from 800 Naval Air Squadron.
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15 May 1982 Six Pucaras were destroyed at Pebble Island during a night raid by the British Special Air Service.
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21 May 1982 One Pucara was lost to a FIM-92 Stinger fired by D Squadron SAS (the first Stinger launched in combat) and another to a Sea Harrier flow by Commander Nigel “Sharkey” Ward. Commander Ward observed that the Pucara was surprisingly tough, taking no fewer than twenty 30mm cannon hits before falling to earth. The pilot, Major Carlos Tomba, survived and was recovered by Argentine forces.
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28 May 1982 two aircraft were reputedly destroyed during shelling by HMS Arrow in support of the attack on Goose Green, while on the same day a Royal Marines Westland Scout helicopter was shot down by Pucaras while evacuating casualties. A third Pucara was shot down by small arms fire from 2PARA. The pilot, Lieutenant Miguel Cruzado, successfully ejected and was taken prisoner by British forces.
The Falklands War ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, and eleven Pucarás were captured at Port Stanley Airfield. A total of twenty-four Pucarás had been destroyed or captured during the conflict.
Capture
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Of the eleven Pucaras captured, only four were found to be in flying condition. Six aircraft (A-515, A-517, A-522, A-528, A-533, and A-549) were airlifted by Chinook to the SS Atlantic Causeway in Port William, where they were shipped to the United Kingdom, arriving at Devonport on 27 July 1982. A-515 was alotted RAF serial ZD485 and made airworthy by the cannibalisation of parts from A-549 (ZD486) and A-533 (ZD487), beginning flight trials on 28 August.
A total of 25 hours flight time was logged over the next six months in ZD485 by Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) pilots S/Ldr Russell Peart and S/Ldr Tony Banfield, before submission of the aircraft’s Performance Assessment on 21 July 1983. A final flight from Boscombe Down to RAF Cosford’s Aerospace Museum (now Royal Air Force Museum Midlands) occurred on 9 Sep 1983, where, following a repaint into its original Argentine light camouflage, ZD485 has since remained.
Specifications
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Country of Manufacture: Argentina
Wingspan: 14.50 m
Wing Area: 30.30 m2
Length: 13.9 m
Height: 5.24 m
Crew: 2
Weight (Empty): 4020 kg
Weight (Max. Takeoff): 6800 kg
Weight (Max. Landing): 5500 kg
Max. Fuel Load (Internal): 1000 kg
Max. Fuel Load (External): 1359 kg
Max. Payload: 2650 kg
Engine(s): 2x Turbomeca Astazou XVI G
Engine Max. Output: 1035 hp @ 43000 rpm
Engine Max. Cont. Output: 946 hp @ 43000 rpm
Propeller: 2.59 m RATIER FIGEAC
Never-Exceed Speed (Max. Takeoff): 750 km/h
Max. Cruise Speed (@6,000 m): 500 km/h
Max. Landing Gear Speed: 278 km/h
Stall Speed: 143 km/h
Max. Rate of Climb: 18 m/s
Max. Altitude: 10,000 m
Takeoff Run: 300 m (80m RATO, unladen)
Armament
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2x 20mm Hispano DCA-804 cannon (540 rds)
4x 7.62mm FN Browning M2-30 machine guns (3600 rds)
1x Alkan 115E Pylon (centreline, 1000 kg)
2x Alkan 105E Pylon (wing, 500kg)
- LAU-61/A (19x 70mm FFAR Rocket)
- ARM-657 Mamboretá (6x 57mm Áspid Rocket)
- PG-125 (125 kg Bomb)
- INC-220 (220 kg Napalm Bomb)
- INC-100 (100 kg Napalm Bomb)
- Drop Tank, 318 litre
- RATO Pods
- Unidentified rockets, small bombs
Gallery
Sources
[1] INDIVIDUAL HISTORY FMA 1A 58 PUCARA A-515/ZD485/9245M MUSEUM ACCESSION NUMBER 83/A/1159
[2] Jane’s Civil and Military Aircraft Upgrades, 1995-96, pages 3-4
[3] FMA IA-58A Pucará (Pucara) | Imperial War Museums
[4] FAMA IA 58 Pucara Series, Forecast International
[5] Jueves Retro, capítulo especial: el IA-58 Pucará en honor a todos los Veteranos y Caídos en la Guerra de Malvinas
[6] ANEXO IX. AVIÓN IA-58 PUCARÁ, MALVINAS Guerra en el Atlántico Sur, Alberto N. Manfredi
[7] La Fuerza Aérea en Malvinas, Comisión Batalla Aérea por Nuestras Islas Malvinas - BANIM
[8] Manual de Vuelo IA 58, FMA, 1986
[9] “Resumen de declaraciones tomadas al personal de la B.A.M.DARWIN
y primeros contingentes evacuados de PTO.ARGENTINO.” Buenos Aries, 2 de Julio 1982
[10] Bombas en la guerra de malvinas
[11] The Pucará Story, Dr. Ricardo Caballero & Phil Cater, 2013
See Also
IA-58 Pucará and variants (Old Forum) by @Battered_Walrus.
FMA IA-58B “Pucara Bravo” by @OsO73
FMA IA 58 Pucará, Wikipedia
Royal Air Force Museum Midlands
