RAF Linton On Ouse 5 February
2020, David Thomson
Another short visit to see the progress that Babcock were making
in preparing the Linton Tucano fleet for disposal by what I
originally thought was the 31 March 2020 but which in effect is
now the 29 February thereby leaving the last full month to
dispose of the Tucanos and their associated spares and to clear
all of the Babcock equipment from the hangars ready to be handed
back to the RAF when their contract officially ends on the 31
March .
Gate
ZF202/202 Tucano T1
The Tucano is due to depart to RAF Syerston to become a training
airframe at the air cadet STEM college being established there .
Flightline – flying
G-BYUD/UD Tutor T1 c/s UAX77
G-BYWA/WA
G-BYXT/XT
G-BYYB/YB c/s UAX75
1 Hangar
Empty !
2 Hangar
The gym .
3 Hangar
All 3 aircraft are minus props and parts but stood on their u/c
ZF137 Tucano T1 207 Sqdn
ZF143
ZF243
The following 14 aircraft are dismantled and mounted on
transportable bogies .
ZF135 Tucano T1
ZF145
ZF171
ZF172
ZF239
ZF269
ZF287 72 Sqdn
ZF292 207 Sqdn
ZF293 72 Sqdn
ZF342
ZF379
ZF407
ZF417
ZF489
4 Hangar
These are the last two complete Tucanos of the fleet . The last
of the line !
ZF139 Tucano T1
ZF317
Five airframes are ‘on the line’ to be dismantled .
ZF140 72 Sqdn
ZF142
ZF240
ZF347
ZF348
Dismantled and bogie mounted .
ZF144
ZF169 72 Sqdn , MAKESI
ZF170
ZF204
ZF205
ZF210
ZF244 72 Sqdn
ZF264
ZF290 72 Sqdn , RAF 100
ZF291
ZF294 207 Sqdn
ZF319
ZF338 76 Sqdn , last Tucano to carry this crest , WHIZZO
ZF341 207 Sqdn
ZF343 72 Sqdn
ZF374
ZF377
ZF378/RN-S 72 Sqn , ENNISKILLEN
ZF406 RAF Battle of Britain 70th
ZF448 ROYAL AIR FORCE TUCANO DISPLAY TEAM
ZF485
ZF491
ZF512 72 Sqdn , BASUTO
ZF515 72 Sqdn
The dismantled airframes are stored as pairs on specially made
transportable frames with their propellers , spinners and flying
control surfaces packaged separately and stored in 3 Hangar with
all of the other associated spares and support equipment in 1
Hangar .
Originally the Tucanos were to be dismantled minus engines but
to save time the engines have been left in situ which has lead
to problems with both the aircrafts weight and centre of gravity
which has meant that the bogies have had to be modified by their
manufacturer who has also carried out the same modification to
the bogies for the Tucanos in store at RAF Shawbury . The
stripped down weight of the Tucano in a bogie is around one
tonne with the new bogie mod bringing the weight of each bogie
pair up to 2.6T and with very small width margins getting the
loaded bogie into an industrial shipping container will be
challenging to say the least !
5 Hangar
Empty !
I believe that the following Tucanos are presently in store at
Linton ;
ZF135 ZF202 (Gate) ZF317
ZF137 ZF204 ZF319
ZF139 ZF205 ZF338
ZF140 ZF210 ZF341
ZF142 ZF239 ZF342
ZF143 ZF240 ZF343
ZF144 ZF243 ZF347
ZF145 ZF244 ZF348
ZF169 ZF264 ZF374
ZF170 ZF269 ZF377
ZF171 ZF287 ZF378
ZF172 ZF290 ZF379
(12) ZF291 (12)
ZF292
ZF293
ZF294
(16)
ZF406 ZF512
ZF407 ZF515
ZF417 (2)
ZF448
ZF485
ZF489
ZF491
(7)
Total = 49 aircraft .
Over the last 6 months I have been fortunate enough to be able
to make several visits to RAF Linton On Ouse to see the Tucano
at its last operational home and over the last 3 months in
particular , since its withdrawl from service on the 25 October
, I have been allowed full access to view and photograph the
fleet while they have been stripped down and made ready for sale
and export . This however could well be my penultimate visit to
Linton and whilst the retirement of the Tucano from RAF service
will be felt by the aviation enthusiast community , both spotter
and photographer , the human cost of its retirement should not
be underestimated with many of the Babcock workforce being made
redundant . Some of the workforce have found employment at RAF
Valley and others at RAF Leeming , several have retired but
there are others who face an uncertain future .
I would personally like to thank the individual , I will call
him Gordon to protect his identity as they might write in a red
top exposé ! , for his time in escorting me on endless hangar
tours and thanks too to all of the Babcock staff for their
patience , good humour and craic whilst I got in their way
taking countless photographs and noting down serial numbers for
the umpteenth time ! Thank you one and all and all the very best
whatever your future holds .
DET
27 February 2020