FMA IA-58A Pucará ZD485, formerly A-515 with the Fuerza Aérea

Argentina, with which it served during the Falklands conflict,

up from Boscombe Down on June 17, 1983. The manœuvrable
ground-attack aircraft retained its Argentinian camouflage but had
RAF roundels and fin flashes applied for its A&AEE evaluation.
ADRIAN M. BALCH COLLECTION

flying the
the BOSCOMBE DOWN verdict

Argentina’s IA-58 Pucará is one of the more unusual aircraft to have flown in British
military markings during the post-war period, and the type’s evaluation at Boscombe
Down in the aftermath of the Falklands conflict offered fascinating insights into what
had initially been a feared adversary. BEN DUNNELL talks to the team tasked with
investigating the capabilities of this intriguing but ultimately disappointing war prize
20 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 8
E
VALUATING ENEMY AIRCRAFT:
something Britain did a lot of in World
War Two of course, but not so much
afterwards. One feels there might be
much still to emerge regarding potential
exploitation of Warsaw Pact types, but that is a
subject for another day. The last time it
happened with public knowledge was in 1983,
when, in the aftermath of the Falklands conflict,
a formerly feared weapon of the Fuerza Aérea
Argentina (FAA — Argentinian Air Force) was
put through its paces. The results, according to
one of the test pilots who flew it, forced some-
thing of a reassessment. The FMA IA-58 Pucará
(“Fortress” in the native South American
Quechuan langauage) wasn’t nearly the threat it
had initially been considered.
Why the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental
Establishment (A&AEE — Aircraft & Armament
Evaluation Establishment since 1992) at Bos-
combe Down came to fly an example of the
Argentinian-built twin-turboprop ground-attack
aircraft was, of course, related to the Falklands
campaign. The opportunity presented by the
capturing of an intact Pucará was deemed too
good to miss, especially given the risk of further
potential South Atlantic conflict. Finding a
suitable airframe was another matter.
For many years the Technical Intelligence (Air)
Department at the Ministry of Defence (MoD)
had busied itself investigating the latest in Soviet ABOVE A page detailing pre-take-off checks for the
military aircraft technology. In 1982 the Falklands Pucará from Sqn Ldr Russell Peart’s handwritten
conflict took its research down a different flight reference cards for the aircraft, prepared from
limited official technical information and fairly minimal
avenue. Wing Commander John Davis, whose experience in March 1983. The cards are now kept
RAF career had already seen him flying in the archives of the Royal Air Force Museum at
Canberras, graduating from the Empire Test Hendon, and the aircraft is at RAF Museum Cosford.
Pilots’ School and serving as deputy super-
intendent of the A&AEE, was at the time example the Exocets that were on the island —
working in Technical Intelligence — specifically, and send home as much kit as we thought
he says, “looking at new Soviet aeroplanes. But would be useful.”
with tension building up as far as the Falklands Getting there by RAF Hercules was itself an
were concerned we then became responsible for adventure. The small team from Technical
technical information on the Argentinian Air Intelligence (Air) went down on only the second
Force. In fact we produced a lot of the visual aids flight into Stanley after fighting had finished, the
that were used by the task force, and, in Governor of the Falkland Islands, Rex Hunt,
conjunction with our colleague branch at the having been on the first. “We did three lots of
MoD responsible for orders of battle, assessed [air-to-air] refuelling on the way down”, John
what the intelligence was”. recalls, “and there was no radar on the island, so
we had three goes at getting our Hercules in. If
ACQUIRING AN AIRFRAME not, we would have gone straight back to
The work that led to a Pucará flying in Britain Ascension. One or two aeroplanes did that, with
began after the Falklands conflict ceasefire on about a 24hr round trip. However, we got in”.
June 14, 1982. “My boss told me to go down to The scene that greeted them was hardly the most
the Falklands”, says John, “and I took with me welcoming: “It was very bleak, it was snowy, it
an armament specialist and a radar specialist. was the winter. And it was knee-deep in
Our idea was to look at all the technical intelli- Argentinian ammunition, exploded or
gence, look at as many of the crashed aeroplanes unexploded. The place was absolutely filthy.
as possible to see what kit they had, look at all There were mines everywhere.
the ground side, look at the armament side — for “When we initially arrived, we commandeered

Issue No 8 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 21

JOHN DAVIS VIA AUTHOR

ABOVE Pucará A-515 was the best airframe found on the Falklands after the ceasefire in June 1982, and is seen
here being inspected at Stanley Airport by British forces including members of the Ministry of Defence’s Technical
Intelligence (Air) Department, sent over from London. Note that the serial number was not applied to the port side.

a helicopter to visit all the sites at which Pucarás reason for this was that major servicing was
and other Argentinian aeroplanes had been done on the mainland — all they did on the
based, to glean what intelligence we could. Islands was, if you like, the first-line work; filling
Because we were still officially at war with up with fuel and ammunition and flying.”
Argentina, our bosses wanted an assessment of The main cache of Pucarás was located at
the aeroplane with regard to how we would be Stanley Airport, renamed Base Aérea Militar
able to counter it. In that respect, one of the jobs (BAM) Malvinas by the Argentinians. When the
we had to try and do was find out all the aircraft were found, Argentinian soldiers were
technical details. We went to every base, and we found sleeping in some of the airframes, taking
discovered between us that we could find no advantage of the space inside the fuselage.
technical information at any of the sites at which Indeed, it was possible to carry an engineer in
Pucarás had been based [Stanley Airport plus there. It is said that some rather less pleasant
grass strips at Goose Green and Pebble Island]. remnants of these temporary living quarters
This surprised us. We looked carefully to see if were left behind, too . . .
things had been burned, shredded or otherwise, “In looking at all of them, we found only one
but we could find nothing. It transpired that the that was whole,” says John Davis. “All the rest

Royal Navy Sea Harrier pilot David Morgan strikes a pose at

the Pucará graveyard at Stanley Airport. Morgan was an RAF
Harrier pilot who was on an exchange programme to learn to
fly the Sea Harrier when the Falklands conflict began. He later
shot down four Argentinian aircraft and flew a Sea Harrier
against the Pucará during its evaluation in the UK.
DAVID MORGAN VIA AUTHOR

22 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 8

 PETER R. MARCH VIA AUTHOR
ABOVE With its British military serial ZD485 applied and wearing RAF roundels and fin-flashes, the Pucará was
demonstrated at the Empire Test Pilots’ School open-day held at Boscombe Down on June 11, 1983. Eagle-eyed
observers will notice that the nosewheel door carries the last two digits of its original Argentinian serial, A-515.

had been sabotaged by the SAS at some time Boscombe Down, ready for a return to the skies.
beforehand. We commandeered this one, plus Owing in part to the aforementioned lack of
two ‘Christmas tree’ aeroplanes”. The complete technical information, this was not the work of a
example was serialled A-515 (see panel below), moment. However, John Davis and his Technical
which still had underwing rocket pods fitted, Intelligence (Air) colleagues had much to offer.
while the airframes earmarked for spares use Several times in previous years FMA had
were A-533 and A-549. exhibited the Pucará at the Farnborough and
Paris airshows. From a Le Bourget visit had been
RETURN TO AIRWORTHINESS brought back to the MoD what John calls “a fair
On July 10, 1982, exactly a month after the last drawer-full of technical information, which we
Pucará mission of hostilities, RAF Chinook HC.1 gave to Boscombe Down. It certainly helped
ZA707 airlifted A-515 to the SS Atlantic Causeway them; I wouldn’t say it was the be-all and
conveyor ship, which took the airframe on a end-all, but it certainly assisted in getting the
15-day sea voyage from Port William to aeroplane serviceable.”
Devonport dockyard in Plymouth. There it “It needed a huge amount of restoration”,
arrived on July 27, soon to be moved by road to adds Sqn Ldr Tony Banfield, then a test pilot on

DOWN BUT NOT OUT — FMA IA-58A PUCARÁ serial A-515

PUCARÁ A-515 (c/n 018) was delivered to the Fuerza Aérea Argentina by its manufacturer, Fabrica Militar de
Aviones (FMA), during 1975. It was built as part of an export batch intended for, but not delivered to,
Mauritania. Grupo 3 de Ataque, part of III Brigada Aérea, received the Pucará at Base Aérea Militar (BAM)
Reconquista in the province of Santa Fé, and used it on operations against guerrilla groups in north-west
Argentina. Further action was not long in coming.
In late May 1982 A-515 was deployed to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands as part of post-invasion
reinforcements and attrition replacements. It had been, says the RAF Museum, repainted “using Fiat car paint”
in a largely tan-and-light-green scheme. Before leaving for “las Malvinas” it had performed armed-
reconnaissance sorties over the Argentinian mainland coast as a deterrent to potential British special-forces
attacks. Now it would get to take on the British face-to-face.
Among the missions known to have been flown by A-515 is the final Pucará sortie of the war, a three-aircraft
effort against British artillery positions and troops on East Falkland, specifically the northern side of Mount Kent
and Murrell Ridge. Flown by Lt Morales, A-515 was hit by small-arms fire on June 10, 1982. Four days later,
Argentinian forces surrendered.
All 24 Pucarás operated in the Falklands had either been destroyed or were now captured by the British. For
A-515, it was the beginning of a new chapter. BD
THE HISTORY OF IA-58 Pucará A-515/ZD485 is covered in depth in a downloadable document by Andrew
Simpson, which is available on the RAF Museum website at www.rafmuseum.org.uk.

Issue No 8 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 23

RUSS PEART VIA RAF MUSEUM HENDON

ABOVE On April 28, 1983, Sqn Ldrs Russ Peart (front cockpit) and Tony Banfield took the Pucará for its first flight
after its reassembly in the UK. Despite the ground-attack and counter-insurgency aircraft’s reputation as an agile
and effective performer at low level, the evaluation team found the type to be something of an under-achiever.

B Squadron of the A&AEE. The multi-engine to a maximum speed of 350kt; for inverted flight
expertise of Banfield — a former Vickers Valiant 160kt was the limit, while 150kt with the
and Handley Page Victor captain, and a hugely undercarriage down and 140kt with flaps were
experienced RAF instructor — would be brought other speed restrictions.
to bear during the evaluation of the Pucará. First, A maximum of 3·5g was imposed for initial
though, came its return to airworthiness. “They flights, later increased to 5g, while the aircraft’s
brought it back as deck cargo”, Tony recalls, “so negative-g limit was -1·5. No more than 30sec of
it had got a lot of salt in it. The A&AEE trials continual negative-g flight were to be made. Stall
engineers, and there were some very clever entry was to take place no lower than 10,000ft
people there, virtually took it apart”. Some of (3,050m), and stalls discontinued by 7,000ft
what they found said little for the levels of (2,130m). Aerobatic manœuvres permitted were
maintenance undertaken by the aircraft’s rolls, loops, stall turns and Immelmanns, spins
original operator. It is reported that inspections being prohibited.
at Boscombe Down showed the Martin-Baker
ejection seats not to have been removed for INTO RAF ROUNDELS
servicing since the day they were installed. The Pucará A-515 was allocated the British military
drogue ’chutes had been rotted through by serial ZD485, this being applied, along with RAF
ultraviolet rays, rendering them unserviceable. roundels, atop the basic Argentinian camouflage
At least the Turboméca Astazou turboprop scheme in which it had been found at Stanley.
engines were well-known from use on the RAF’s Spares aircraft A-533 and A-549 were also given
Scottish Aviation Jetstreams, but much else was British serials, ZD487 and ZD486 respectively,
not. “One of the big problems was getting tyres although these were never worn by either
and wheels for it”, says Tony Banfield. Those on airframe. They provided several parts for the
the “Christmas tree” airframes had been left too restoration of A-515/ZD485, which progressed
badly damaged. “Eventually I think it was well enough in six months to allow taxying trials
Beagle Basset wheels that we used.” on February 22, 1983. The thought of an
While that work was ongoing, Sqn Ldr Russell unfamiliar aircraft going on to the UK military
Peart of the A&AEE’s A Squadron was — with, register, being put through an extensive
no doubt, substantial help from the manu- restoration and all but readied for flight in such a
facturer’s information provided by Technical short space of time would probably give the
Intelligence (Air) — making his own prep- airworthiness bureaucrats at today’s risk-averse
arations. In March 1983 he handwrote the Military Aviation Authority convulsions. Those
Pucará’s flight reference cards, which are today were very different times.
held by the RAF Museum. For the purposes of Russ Peart took the Pucará for its first test
the Boscombe trials, the aircraft would be limited flight from Boscombe Down on April 28, 1983,

24 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 8

THE FMA IA-58 PUCARÁ was designed as a rugged, manœuvrable dedicated ground-attack and
counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft capable of operating from unprepared strips when required. The
prototype made its maiden flight, with Garrett turboprop engines, on August 20, 1969, the second prototype
switching to Astazou power and first flying on September 6, 1970. The type was put into production and
entered service with the Fuerza Aérea Argentina in May 1975.

Powerplant 2 x 1,022 e.s.h.p. Turboméca Astazou

XVIG turboprop engines, each driving a Hamilton
Standard 23LF/1015-0 three-bladed metal
propeller with spinner.

Armament
2 x 20mm Hispano HS-2804 cannon, each with
270 rounds, in underside of fuselage; 4 x 0·303in
(7·62mm) FN Browning machine-guns, each with
900 rounds in sides of fuselage abreast of cockpit;
1 x Aero 7A-1 pylon on centreline beneath fuselage,
capacity 1,000kg (2,205lb); 1 x Aero 20A-1 pylon,
capacity 500kg (1,100lb), beneath each wing out-
board of engine nacelle.

TAH ARCHIVE
with Tony Banfield in the back seat. Thus ensued
the A&AEE’s limited trials and handling
assessment. Being a ground-attack expert, Peart
PUCARÁ IN THE FALKLANDS:
led the way when it came to evaluating that THE ARGENTINIAN PERSPECTIVE
aspect of the aircraft’s performance, albeit
without it being heavily laden, while Banfield
examined its survivability. To that end, Tony IN NOVEMBER 1982, five months after the end of the
undertook his first sorties as the pilot of the Falklands conflict, MICHAEL O’LEARY visited
Pucará on May 9, performing asymmetric engine Argentina to conduct interviews with FAA veterans of
work and relights. With that, he reports, “there the Malvinas Campaign, including two Pucará pilots of
was no problem at all”, helped by the large, Grupo 3 de Ataque, part of III Brigada Aérea, based at
BAM Reconquista in north-eastern Argentina at the
power-assisted rudder. But what was his view of
time of the interviews.
how it would have fared in combat? “It wouldn’t
have stood a chance against a Rapier [surface-to- Premier Teniente Juan Luis Micheloud
air missile]”, Tony says. “The Pucará’s reputation “May 21, 1982 — Mayor Juan Carlos Tomba [in Pucará
was fearsome, but it was never put to the test”. serial A-511] and I were flying a two-aircraft sortie near
Such can be deduced from its underwhelming San Carlos strait when suddenly we saw three [Sea]
record in the Falklands campaign, during which Harriers flying above us. Two came down to attack —
significant numbers were destroyed on the we were very low at the time. Tomba and I broke left
ground: three at Goose Green by Sea Harriers, and right, hugging the earth, and both Harriers decided
and six at Pebble Island by the SAS. to come after me. I flew even lower and headed into a
Given the aircraft’s other limitations, Tony canyon. The two fighters tried to box me in but the
Banfield believes the pilots of those wrecked terrain prevented them from hitting me, so they pitched
machines were lucky to get taken out of the up out of the fight and the third Harrier had a go. By
fight. “We did a lot of radar simulation work”, this time both Tomba and I were flying around the
he told the author, “and we discovered that the terrain trying to give each other mutual support; it must
radar returns from those huge turboprop have worked as the third Harrier couldn’t hit me either.
propellers, together with the sound that they “The other two Harriers attacked Tomba, making two
made in warning of their approach, meant that passes at him. On the first pass Tomba could see the
against Rapiers it would have been like a impact of the 30mm cannon on his port wing — the
pheasant shoot”. This much was gleaned from rounds were punching holes in the skin. Tomba saw
numerous sorties in which the Argentinian the Harrier break away upwards and into a second
aircraft’s combat capabilities were put to the test, pass. This time, when the Pucará was hit, the
not least over the Larkhill ranges on Salisbury starboard wing was almost cut in half by the 30mm fire
Plain; and, on June 23, 1983, simulated attacks and Tomba ejected. He came down by parachute near
against a Rapier battery. Goose Green, which was in our hands, so he was
rescued by our own people.
“MORE OR LESS USELESS . . .” “We lost many Pucarás on the ground, and by the
In all, Tony flew 7hr 10min in the Pucará, 4hr end of the war had only eight intact, with maybe only
40min of that time as captain; it was an two of those really capable of flying combat sorties.
interesting diversion from the Hawker Siddeley One aircraft, flown by Teniente Miguel Angel Gimenez,
Nimrod AEW.3 testing he was doing at the same was lost on May 28 to a missile, but we have no idea
time. “It was a fun aircraft to fly — a splendid what happened. Regarding anti-aircraft fire, our worst
aerobatic aircraft”, he says of the IA-58. “If you threat was the [Shorts] Blowpipe [surface-to-air
were doing a stall-turn you could virtually do a missile], because we couldn’t see it, but it could see us
cartwheel if you chopped the inboard engine, owing to our heat signature, and we were very close to
like Jan Zurakowski used to do in the Meteor. I the troops firing them. Sometimes our aircraft would
could never get all the way round, though. return to base heavily punctured but still in one piece.
“In respect of carrying out its task, it was more The Pucará turned out to be quite resilient. Since we
or less useless. Although it was very heavily had two engines, we often returned with one shot out.
armed, and everyone feared it, when you put it But the Blowpipe would always destroy enough of the
in the dive the trim-change as speed increased controls to make the aircraft unflyable.
was enormous. In order to hold it you had to “We saw Harriers continually but we were always
trim, and you had to take your hand off the extremely low and in poor visibility at very high
throttle to do that, so you couldn’t do your speed. We would only see them briefly and that was it.
radar-ranging and things like that. In addition, Mayor Tomba was the only pilot downed by Harriers.
as speed increased the controls became heavier Personally I did not think it was difficult to see the
and heavier and heavier, and you virtually had Harriers because they were very dark against the
Continued on page 28 sky. The Sea Harriers, with their grey paint, were

26 Issue No 8
ABOVE Pucará A-567 photographed by MICHAEL O’LEARY while up from BAM Reconquista in November 1982.
This was one of 14 new Pucarás received by Grupo 3 de Ataque in 1982 as replacements for those lost in the Falk-
lands conflict, and remained in service until 2002. The long-serving Pucará still operates with the FAA today.

more difficult to see than the RAF Harriers. leave — easy pickings for the Harriers. We often used
“We usually operated over our own anti-aircraft the rockets of unserviceable aircraft as artillery. The
artillery in the Malvinas, which gave us a degree of 7·62mm [0·3in] machine-guns and 20mm cannon from
defensive cover. We lost all 24 of our Pucarás in the our unserviceable aircraft were used against the
Malvinas, five of these in aerial combat. They were lost Harriers that would come over the end of the runway
to the following: Blowpipe — 3; Harrier — 1; MIA — 1; — we are sure we hit one.
Take-off accident — 1. “We never attacked ships; the closest we got to them
was during reconnaissance missions. We made some
Capitán Ricardo A. Grünert attacks on artillery areas but we have no record of
“The dense concentration of automatic anti-aircraft fire what, if any, damage, was caused. We fired rockets at
was very hard for the Pucará to take, although it held about 1,500–2,000m [5,000–6,500ft]. This was at
together and got us home. We found that the electronic Mount Kent and we launched the rockets to hit the
firing system also gave us problems, with poor artillery over the hills. The Pucará turned out to have
micro-switches and the electrical system in general. exceptional qualities for low-level flight in combat. We
The humidity was too high and the cold weather was normally flew in the worst weather and under very low
very hard on the aircraft. We didn’t consider mounting ceilings, when the Harriers could not fly — this gave us
Sidewinders on the Pucará because our unit had never a much-needed extra margin for survival. I am sure the
really trained for air-to-air combat, which would have enemy felt the effects of this, and that this factor
meant equipping the aircraft with radar. An anti-ship determined, to some degree, their ability to move
missile would have been fine. against us.
“I would say that around 80 per cent of the opera- “The Pucará was able to take a great deal of
tional Pucará flying during the conflict was from damage. Of the total of 44 days that we were in
unprepared dirt or grass runways, and operating under combat, we only lost two pilots despite being under
very marginal weather conditions. These strips were continual bombardment. Practically all of the Pucarás
about 450m long [1,475ft] by 450m wide. With the were hit by small-arms fire in one way or another, but
constant bombardment, rain and landing of troops, we kept flying. One Pucará was hit in the canopy, aileron
were constantly on the go. The runway itself was and tail, yet still flew the next mission. Another came in
around 450m long and about 6–7m [20–23ft] wide, but with hits all over the engines, one of which had its prop
we could usually get in and out within 365m [1,200ft] feathered. A rudder had a big hole in it, so we repaired
fully loaded [1,360kg/3,000lb] with bombs and rockets. it by hand and then sent the aircraft on its next mission.
“One of our major problems was the wheels sinking “We had a sizeable store of parts, and we would strip
into soft ground. Goose Green was the only airfield the aircraft that could no longer fly of radio equipment,
where we could operate with no problems to speak of; everything that we could use. We found the Pucará
there was good drainage so the water could run off. At excellent against rotary-wing aircraft. Our four 7·62mm
times we could not take off and that helped the British. machine-guns and two 20mm cannon were very
TAH
Also, our aircraft were all lined up and often could not effective against the British helicopters.”

Issue No 8 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 27

A pair of Sea Harriers of No 899 Naval Air Squadron
bristle with AIM-9L Sidewinders while up from Yeovilton.
The nearest, XZ457, took part in the Falklands conflict
and accounted for four kills. In 1983 David Morgan flew
an 899 NAS Sea Harrier in trials against the Pucará.

TAH ARCHIVE

to use two hands on the stick to move the was put up against a variety of British military
ailerons, so actually aiming the thing was very aircraft types for simulated combat trials.
difficult. It wasn’t ‘fit for purpose’.” Records at the RAF Museum show that “1-v-1”
Keeping an eye on the flight assessment of the combats with Westland Puma and Sea King
Pucará, given that it was being conducted on helicopters took place on June 27–28, 1983,
behalf of Technical Intelligence (Air), was John followed by fighter affiliation versus two
Davis. On June 10, 1983, he flew in the aircraft McDonnell Douglas Phantoms on July 12. The
for a 40min trip with Russ Peart, focusing largely results have yet to be made publicly available.
on take-offs and landings, and naturally took the
stick himself. “Interesting aeroplane”, says John. AIR-TO-AIR COMBAT TRIALS
“Quite easy to fly, relatively good controls, but Testimony from another sortie is on hand thanks
got very, very heavy as the speed increased — it to Lt-Cdr David Morgan DSC, the RAF Harrier
was similar in that respect to an early-mark GR.3 pilot (then a flight lieutenant) who
Canberra. But, generally speaking, quite transferred on exchange to the Royal Navy’s Sea
pleasant, with lots of room in the cockpit. We did Harrier FRS.1 force shortly before the Falklands
both hard and grass runway operations at conflict, and went on to score two helicopter and
Boscombe; it’s very rugged.” two A-4 Skyhawk kills. On July 18, 1983, in an
Russ Peart was at the controls when the Pucará engagement decidedly reminiscent of some

The Pucará at the International Air Tattoo at RAF Greenham Common on

July 23, 1983. Although the Argentinian machine flew in and out of the
show, it remained in the static aircraft park for the duration of the weekend.
MIKE STROUD

28 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 8

 PETER R. MARCH VIA AUTHOR
ABOVE Despite British curiosity about the Falklands war prize, the Pucará made only two appearances at public
airshows during its A&AEE evaluation; one was at RNAS Yeovilton on July 11, 1983, and the other was at the
International Air Tattoo at Greenham Common two weeks later, where it is seen here making a pass on arrival.

conducted during the previous year’s conflict

but this time staged between Boscombe Down
and Yeovilton, he flew his No 899 Naval Air
Squadron Sea Harrier, XZ459, against the
Argentinian aircraft.
“We got a call from Handling Squadron at
Boscombe Down, asking if we could spare a Sea
Harrier or two to come and do some work with
the Pucará”, David says. “Basically, we were
looking at pick-up ranges, manœuvrability and
what the missile would do against the turboprop
engines in manœuvre; that sort of thing. We
started with some intercepts to check the radar
cross-section — off the top of my head, we were
doing about 25–30-mile [40–50km] splits, and
then coming in from various angles: 180° out,
150° out and so on, just recording the maximum
pick-up ranges and the size of the radar contact,
which was actually quite huge, I suspect from
the big props. We were certainly getting very
good pick-up ranges, way outside the normal
fighter-size target.”
Then came some air combat manœuvring. “It
was set up so that the Pucará was evading and I
was trying to take as many shots as I could.
Initially I did what every good fighter pilot
should do — keep the energy up, keep the speed
up and just make slashing attacks, get a missile
lock and then break off, go high, reposition and
drop in for another one. I was actually pursuing
the attack further than I normally would have ABOVE Although of poor quality, this is a unique
done, because you’d normally take the missile photograph; it shows the ghostly image of the Pucará
through the head-up display of David Morgan’s Sea
shot and then pull off straight away, but I was Harrier, XZ459 (itself a veteran of Operation Corporate,
recording it in the HUD [head-up display] right the Falklands campaign), during the comprehensive
through to when I estimated missile impact air combat trial undertaken on July 18, 1983.

Issue No 8 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 29

 would be, to see how many angles the Pucará RAF open days and ‘At Home’ days to show the
could get on me. It was quite a lot — they were Harrier and the Pucará side by side. This was
getting about 150° out, so about 330° of turn by rejected at a very high level by the Ministry of
the time the missile would have hit, but it was Defence, on the basis that they couldn’t afford it.
staying locked the whole time, so there was no So, what we ended up doing was filling it up
problem with that. with every litre of fuel possible, planning a cross-
“Right at the end, when we were getting a little country round every unit in the south of
bit low on gas, I thought, ‘OK, I’ll do what I England, and dropping it off at Cosford.”
shouldn’t do’: drop the flaps, slow the aircraft
right down and try and match the turn and get a FROM EVALUATION TO EXHIBITION
guns kill. It became rapidly obvious that he was That took place on September 9, 1983. It became
out-turning me considerably, so I then slammed part of the then RAF Aerospace Museum collec-
the nozzles aft and pulled the nose up to try and tion, today Royal Air Force Museum Cosford,
get out of the way. From what I remember, he and remains there to this day. For a time it was
said he might just have got a guns shot at me, joined by the incomplete airframe of Pucará A-528,
because I couldn’t get out of the way quick which has since gone to the Norfolk & Suffolk
enough. It was a classic case: if you try and go Aviation Museum at Flixton. Of the two airframes
slow with a low-wing loading aircraft, he’s going used for spares, A-533 was scrapped after some
to be biting your arse fairly quickly.” years on display at Middle Wallop’s Museum of
That flight was almost the last of the Pucará Army Flying, only the nose being kept by the
evaluation. Three days later, a performance Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old
assessment was carried out en route to RAF Sarum, while A-549 may be seen at IWM Duxford.
Greenham Common, where ZD485 appeared on Visitors to Cosford will note that A-515 has been
static display at the following weekend’s put back into its original camouflage scheme, as
International Air Tattoo. It then flew back to worn during pre-Falklands service. While authen-
Boscombe. About 25 flying hours had been tic, it is, to some extent, a pity that no outward
expended on the trial, but the aircraft had been trace remains of its British military colours.
serviced on the basis of a 50-flying-hour Now an ageing design but subject to upgrades,
programme, the original estimate made by the Pucará remains in service with the air forces
Technical Intelligence (Air). “We had an of Argentina and Uruguay. Despite occasional
aeroplane there, serviceable, and pilots who bouts of Argentinian sabre-rattling over the
could fly it”, says John Davis. “My thought was Falklands, it must be said that the capabilities of
to offer it to the RAF so that, in the summer of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina in terms of equip-
1983, it and a Harrier could fly around all the ment have increased little since the 1982 conflict.
ANDREW MARCH VIA AUTHOR

ABOVE The Pucará at the RAF Cosford Aerospace Museum (now RAF Museum Cosford), where it was delivered in
September 1983. It retained its RAF roundels and fin flashes for some time, but was later repainted in its original
Argentinian markings and pre-Falklands light camouflage. In 1995 it was allocated Maintenance Serial 9245M.

30 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 8

 CHRIS LOFTING
ABOVE The Pucará continues to soldier on with the Argentinian and Uruguayan air forces, and there are plans to
modernise those still on the former’s inventory with 950 s.h.p. Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprops, to create
the IA-58D “Super Pucará”. The Sri Lankan Air Force also used the type in the nation’s civil war during 1993–99.

Tony Banfield offers a postscript: “Russ Peart

and I were at Farnborough [for the SBAC show] FMA IA-58A PUCARÁ data
some years later — we were all friends with the
Argentinians again, more or less, and they had a Dimensions
stand there. We started chatting to them, and of Span 47ft 6¾in (14·5m)
Length 46ft 9in (14·25m)
course told them we’d flown the Pucará. They
Height 17ft 7in (5·36m)
were delighted to talk to us because they wanted Wing area 326·1ft² (30·3m²)
to get the RAF test pilots’ impressions, which Wing chord
we gave them”. at root 7ft 4¼in (2·24m)
Whether those faults have been acted upon, Wing chord
one can only speculate. The idea of turboprop- at tip 5ft 3in (1·6m)
powered aircraft being used for counter- Wing aspect
insurgency missions has enjoyed a new vogue in ratio 6·95:1
recent times, yet no direct successor to the Wheel track 13ft 9¼in (4·2m)
Wheelbase 11ft 5in (3·48m)
Pucará appears in sight. Argentina’s remaining
30 in-service examples are set to be updated, Weights
according to a November 2011 contract, with Empty, equipped 8,900lb (4,037kg)
new Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-62 engines Maximum
to replace the old Astazous, so it remains take-off 14,991lb (6,800kg)
committed to the indigenous design. Uruguay, Maximum
which has made its Pucarás compatible with the landing 12,800lb (5,806kg)
use of night-vision equipment, may do likewise.
Never has the RAF sought to acquire a similar Performance
Max level speed
type of aircraft, preferring such work to be done
at 9,850ft (3,000m) 310 m.p.h. (500km/h)
by fast jets. But the experience gained with the Cruise speed
Pucará in 1983 was of technical value, and an at 19,680ft (6,000m) 298 m.p.h. (480km/h)
interesting footnote in the A&AEE’s history Stall speed with
TAH
and the careers of those who got to fly it. flaps and under-
carriage down 89 m.p.h. (143km/h)
Climb at sea level 3,540ft/min (1,080m/min)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As well as those Service ceiling 33,000ft (10,000m)
interviewed, the author would like to thank Denis J. Range with max
Calvert and Santiago Rivas for their assistance. fuel at 16,400ft
The Aviation Historian would like to thank Michael (5,000m) 1,890 miles (3,042km)
O’Leary and the RAF Museum’s Peter Elliott.

Issue No 8 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 31