- Yes
- No
Hello! and Welcome to my suggestion for the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer, one of the lesser known transport aircraft of the RAF from the mid 20th century, I feel this could come to game as a unique bomber/ Strike aircraft and as the Title suggests, an air to ground missile carrier…
History
Spoiler
The Twin Pioneer (often abbreviated to ‘Twin Pin’) is a STOL transport aircraft from the late 1950s, and at first glance it is fairly unremarkable, Low speed, 2 engines, 1.5 Tonnes of cargo, nothing really unique or interesting, and if you read slightly more in the wikipedia you may notice its bomb load on the very last line, however there is far more to this aircraft than first meets the eye.
First However let’s add some backstory, The Twin Pioneer was built and designed by Scottish Aviation Limited at Prestwick airport, Glasgow and was developed from their earlier Scottish Aviation Pioneer from the Late 40s, both aircraft had been designed to be capable of operating from extremely short stretches of land (as short as 300m) and carrying a fair amount of cargo, the twin Pioneer was an overall improvement over its predecessor and was designed with Military roles in mind.
The first orders came from the RAF who ordered 39 Aircraft in 1958, these aircraft saw extensive use in the Malayan emergency in which the Pioneers were used in moving troops and supplies, and on occasion was employed in combat, however these were not standard and were often last minute decisions due to some sort of emergency (having no other aircraft available to stop an enemy advance for example).
Where the Twin Pioneers Truly excelled though, was in the Middle east, where they were deployed to Oman, Bahrain and other areas around Aden and the Persian Gulf. This is where things get interesting, as whilst there had already been minor attempts of arming the Pioneers with Brens being fitted to rear doors or Brownings being fitted under the Gear, the most powerful addition was approved for modification. A French team from Sud aviation experimentally fitted SS.10 and SS.11 Missiles to the Underside of the wings of the Twin pioneer, initially they were not cleared for firing however during an emergency the ‘Twin Pin’ was called upon.
During the Radfan Campaign in Yemen rebel solders had taken cover in a series of cave networks in a Valley, with Hunters launching rocket attacks on them, however the Hunters were too fast to get down into the Valley to accurately take out the Rebels, and thus a Twin Pioneer from Khormaksar was loaded up with four SS.11s and took off to engage the rebels, the slower speed of the Twin Pioneer allowed it to descend right down into the Valley where it fired two SS.11s at rebel positions, destroying them returning to base with two missiles left to spare.
This instance also happens to have been the First case of the Royal Air force ever firing a Guided weapon in anger, around 20 years earlier than when the Royal Navy is credited with during the Falklands War. Aside from this, SS.11 Trials were undertaken by the ETPS back in britain, where so far the only picture of a Twin Pioneer equipped with Missiles comes from (see images).
Outside of the RAF service, the Twin Pioneer was used by several air forces, such as Malaysia, of Whom the Twin Pioneer was the First aircraft to ever be used by their are force. slightly lesser known as well is that a Twin Pioneer was also covertly operated by the CIA under the Guise of the Philippines Air Lines and other cover airlines before being irreparably damaged in a thunderstorm in 1968.
Images
Spoiler
Twin Pioneer in service with the Royal Malaysian air force, note where the Fuel tanks are placed under the gear, the Bombs in RAF service were mounted in the same place
3 View Drawing of the Twin Pioneer, showing two 1000 lbs bombs mounted under the Gear
Cockpit of a ‘Twin Pin’
A Twin Pioneer in ETPS colours equipped with 4 SS.11 Wire Guided Missiles
One of the Most famous Twin Pioneers, was operated by the Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS)
A Twin pioneer at Prestwick where she was built
A Twin pioneer during Supply drop exercises, 1960
Leading edge slats of a Twin Pioneer
A Twin pioneer in Philippines Air lines livery, it was however used by the CIA before being irreparably damaged in a thunderstorm
Specs/ Armament
Spoiler
General characteristics
- Crew: 2 (pilot and co-pilot)
- Capacity: 16 passengers / 12 fully equipped troops / 10 paratroopers / 12 patient litters / 3,400 lb (1,542 kg) of air-droppable cargo
- Length: 45 ft 3 in (13.79 m)
- Wingspan: 76 ft 6 in (23.32 m)
- Height: 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m)
- Aspect ratio: 8.74
- Airfoil: NACA 4415
- Empty weight: 9,600 lb (4,354 kg)
- Gross weight: 14,000 lb (6,350 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 14,600 lb (6,622 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 371 imp gal (446 US gal; 1,687 L) in military versions + 1 or 2 100 imp gal (120 US gal; 455 L) cabin auxiliary tanks; (247 imp gal (297 US gal; 1,123 L) in civil versions); 9 imp gal (11 US gal; 41 L) oil tank in each engine nacelle
- Powerplant: × Alvis Leonides 514/8 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 540 hp (400 kW) for take-off 520 hp (388 kW) maximum continuous
- Propellers: 3-bladed de Havilland Propellers DH PD 205/323/1 constant-speed feathering propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed: 165 mph (266 km/h, 143 kn) at 1,450 ft (442 m)
- Maximum continuous cruise: 163 mph (142 kn; 262 km/h) at 3,400 ft (1,036 m)
- Cruise speed: 119 mph (192 km/h, 103 kn) at 5,000 ft (1,524 m)
- Stall speed: 60 mph (97 km/h, 52 kn)
- Range: 791 mi (1,273 km, 687 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 17,000 ft (5,200 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,250 ft/min (6.4 m/s)
- Wing loading: 20 lb/sq ft (98 kg/m2)
- Take-off distance to 50 ft (15 m): 1,120 ft (341 m)
- Landing distance from 50 ft (15 m): 1,170 ft (357 m)
Armament
Guns
- 2 x Browning 7.7mm machine guns on gear pintles(ammo unknown, More info greatly appreciated)
- 1 x Bren Light Machine gun in the rear door (up to 100 rounds)
Bombs
-
4 x 250 or 500 lbs bombs
OR
-
2 x 1000 lbs bombs
Missiles
- up to 4 x SS.10/11 Missiles (Mounted under wings)
Other
- Rockets (mentioned but no position, type or quantity stated)
- Loudspeakers (for propaganda missions)
- up to 1.5 Tonnes of Cargo
Place in game
Spoiler
Personally I feel this would be an incredibly interesting addition to the British Tech Tree in game and would be a unique and capable ground attack aircraft to fill out the Mid ranks of the Tree, I feel this would work well at around 6.7/7.0 as despite it having 4 capable ATGMs and 2 1000 lb bombs it is very slow and a rather large target so can be picked of easily by enemy fighters or SPAA.
This aircraft would also serve as a testament to the rather unknown Aviation industry in Scotland and given that this is one of the Most capable military aircraft to come out of it I feel it is worth being added to the game, possibly alongside the Bulldog as well.
Sources
Spoiler
https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/heritage/scottish-aviation-twin-pioneer
Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/69-A-217-Twin-Pioneer.pdf
ETPS on LinkedIn: #tbt #etps80
https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/284160-twin-pioneer-3.html