Our little band of milbloggers reluctantly left the helo-hangar and proceeded into a Blackwater office complex. The office walls were lined with maps, invigorating posters, and a cool assortment of photos. Our hostess, Anne Tyrrell, introduced us to an all-American guy (with a distincly Irish name) who gave us a quick and fascinating course on the Super Tucano airplane.
I'm usually pretty good at identifying military aircraft, but this one had me stumped. The airplane itself was elsewhere, but Blackwater showed us a good assortment of photos and spec charts. To me, the plane was a shapeshifter. The overhead view reminded me of an A-10 forward section affixed to a glider, with just an echo of F-16 canopy configuration. The side view is distinctly P-51 Mustang-ish. The overall picture was... fresh.
Why had I not known of this plane? Well, it hasn't been around for very long. The prototype version, the plain Tucano, first took to the air in 1992. The spiffed-up Super Tucano came into service just over a year ago. And oh, yes; the plane hails from Brazil.
The Super Tucano serves two main functions: border patrol and counter-insurgency. As our eponymous Irishman explained, it's sturdy enough to handle rough airstrip and flight conditions, and is fairly easy to maintain and operate. Sort of like an old fashioned crop duster.
But this is not Farmer John's converted spray-craft. The Super Tucano can handle 7g's of flight force, and also can withstand 3.5 negative g's. It's fast and agile, and small enough that it's hard to spot on radar or via human eyeball. The plane has other attractive goodies, as well. These include a cockpit that allows the pilot to fly while wearing night vision goggles; Kevlar pilot armor; and five hardpoints for carrying weapons, such as wing-mounted machine guns and a couple of bomb and missile variations. The little plane holds nearly 700 litres of fuel, enabling it to remain airborne for some 6 1/2 hours.
The plane is in service with a number of foreign air forces... and oh, yes; a couple belong to Blackwater. I'd love to see one in person. At some point, I'm sure we'll see a display version at the Reno Air Races or the Paris Air Show. Meanwhile, I'm still marveling at that A-10/P-51/ shapeshifting thing. And also at the fact that the milbloggers really did listen attentively, and really did behave themselves. They did not even whine to be taken on a demo flight. Which is why we were rewarded, I think, with a milblogger version of recess.
NEXT UP: We become cowboys
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