Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer

The Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer is a British STOL transport aircraft built by Scottish Aviation Limited at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, during the 1950s. It was designed for both civil and military operators. It was conceived as a twin-engined version of the Pioneer light transport. Both aircraft required "an area only 30m (99ft) by 275m (902ft) in which to operate."

Design and development

Powered by two Alvis Leonides radial engines, the Twin Pioneer was a high-wing cabin monoplane with a triple fin and rudder assembly and fixed conventional undercarriage with a tailwheel. The prototype Twin Pioneer, registered G-ANTP, first flew at Prestwick Airport on 25 June 1955. Flight trials demonstrated that the aircraft had a very short landing run and the aircraft was displayed at the September 1955 Society of British Aircraft Constructors Show at Farnborough.

Three pre-production aircraft were built for trials, and sales and demonstrations.

Early in its operational life in 1957 the Twin Pioneer suffered two fatal accidents due to fatigue failure which caused the outer panel of the wing to detach from the aircraft in flight. This issue required significant re-design of the structure and adversely impacted sales.

Operational history

right|thumb|Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer at [[Labuan, Malaya, in 1963]]

thumb|right|RAF Twin Pioneer CC.1 wearing sand camouflage in service in 1968

The military version could carry external stores such as bombs under the stub wings. One aircraft became the first aircraft for the newly formed Royal Malaysian Air Force when it was delivered on 16 January 1962; the type served with the air force for 12 years.

The Royal Air Force ordered 39 aircraft, which were built between 1958 and 1959, deployed in Aden and the Far East. The Twin Pioneers were employed in moving troops and supplies around the wilderness and on occasions lending support to the Sultan of Oman. A series of double engine failures caused problems with the squadron losing two aircraft on the same day. Unsuitable soft and hard landing strips were also causes of failures during landings.

Other squadrons that operated the Twin Pioneers were No. 152 Squadron RAF based at Muharraq in Bahrain and No. 21 Squadron RAF,

Civil Aviation Club of Iran

Iraqi Airways

Fjellfly

Philippines Airlines

;

Royal Malaysian Air Force received 15 aircraft.

;

Sultan of Oman's Air Force

;

Royal Air Force
No. 21 Squadron RAF (RAF Eastleigh then RAF Khormaksar – May 1959 to September 1967)
No. 78 Squadron RAF (RAF Khormaksar – October 1958 to June 1965)
No. 152 Squadron RAF (RAF Muharraq – December 1958 to June 1965)
No. 209 Squadron RAF (RAF Seletar – March 1959 to December 1968)
No. 225 Squadron RAF
No. 230 Squadron RAF (RAF Odiham – January 1960 to December 1961)
No. 224 Group Support Flight
No. 1310 Flight RAF
RAF Katuanayake Station Flight operated one aircraft.
RAF Odiham Station Flight
Empire Test Pilots' School operated one aircraft from 1965 to 1974.
Short Range Conversion Unit (RAF Odiham)

Aircraft on display

Australia

Twin Pioneer Mk 3 VH-SYS is airworthy in the collection of the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society at Shellharbour Airport near Wollongong, New South Wales
Twin Pioneer Mk 3 VH-EVC at Walker's Aviation Museum, Barellan, New South Wales

A Mk 1 aircraft is privately owned and is in open storage on a private airfield in Queensland

Indonesia

Twin Pioneer Mk 1 PK-GTB (ex JZ-PPZ) was displayed at Manuhua Air Force Base, Biak Numfor Regency, Papua. In August 2025, the aircraft was lowered into the sea in Ruar Village, East Biak District to be used as artificial reef and diving spot.

Malaysia

thumb|right|Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer of the Royal Malaysian Air Force

;On display

Twin Pioneer Mk 3 FM1064 at the Melaka Transport Museum

Twin Pioneer Mk 3 FM1001 is in the collection of the Royal Malaysian Air Force Museum, located since 2021 at RMAF Sendayan, but the museum is closed

United Kingdom

;On display

Twin Pioneer CC.1 XL993 at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, Shropshire, England.
Twin Pioneer Mk 2 G-BBVF at the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, Scotland.

;Stored or under restoration

Twin Pioneer Mk 3 G-AZHJ has been acquired by the South Wales Aviation Museum at St Athan for restoration as a museum exhibit.

Twin Pioneer Mk 2 G-APRS (G-BCWF) was airworthy in the collection of the Classic Air Force, Coventry, England. It was transported to Stirling, Scotland in July 2018 to be converted to a 'glamping' home.

Incidents and accidents

Structural failure caused the first Twin Pioneer crash, of JZ-PPX operated by Kroonduif of Indonesia on 30 Aug 1957 about 8 miles off Japen Island, Papua New Guinea, both occupants died.
A recorded loss of a Twin Pioneer occurred on takeoff from Limbang Airport on 17 May 1967. The aircraft, operated by Malaysia-Singapore Airlines, carried the registration 9M-ANC. The cause was given as unknown.
In Royal Air Force service three aircraft had fatal accidents:
2 March 1961 – XL966 of 21 Squadron flew into rising ground at Mount Meru, Tanganyika, Tanzania, one killed.
14 February 1963 – XN318 of 209 Squadron flew into a wooded cliff in Borneo, all five onboard killed.
18 April 1963 – XL994 of 152 Squadron crashed near Bu Hafafa in Oman, resulting in eight deaths with one survivor. The cause of the crash remains unknown.
Two aircraft had accidents while being operated by Garuda Indonesian Airways:
On 14 May 1963, the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer 3, PK-GTC Garuda Indonesian Airways, damaged beyond repair. No one injuries.
On 20 September 1963, a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer 1, registration PK-GTB Garuda Indonesian Airways, crashed into terrain. Other reports say this Twin Pioneer was damaged on landing. Killed all 7 people on board.

Specifications (Twin Pioneer CC Mk.1)

thumb|right|Fixed undercarriage of [[Twin Pioneer]]

References

Bibliography

Ellis, Ken, Wrecks and Relics 25th Edition. Manchester, England. Crecy Publishing, 2016.
Green, William. Macdonald Aircraft Handbook. London. Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1964.
Donald, David, ed. The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. London: Aerospace Publishing, 1997. .
Hemming, Nick. "'Primrose' & Friends: The Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer". Air Enthusiast, Fifty-one, August to October 1983. pp. 21–31.
Jackson, A. J. British Civil Aircraft 1919-1972 Vol 3, 2nd Edition (reprint) 1988. London: Putnam
Stroud, John. "Post-war propliners: Pioneers". Aeroplane Monthly, February 1994, Vol. 22, No. 2. pp. 50–54. .
Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd, 1961.
Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918–57, 8th edition. London: Putnam, 1988.

External links

RAF Museum entry
"Twin Pioneer – Large Loads from Small Fields" a 1955 Flight article