joined Iran Petroleum in a survey role. In
September 1959 SAL leased G-APRS to
chemicals company Fisons in Nigeria, and
then to Sierra Leone Airways before selling
it to Empire Test Pilots’ School (ETPS) as
XT610. The final Series 1 aircraft was fitted
out for survey work for the Swiss government
and delivered as HB-HOX in May 1959.
The last pre-production Twin Pioneer,
G-AOER, was brought up to production
standard and delivered to the Rio Tinto Mining
Corporation, equipped for geophysical survey
duties. Prior to delivery it was exhibited at
the September 1959 Farnborough Air Show.
It differed from other Twin Pioneers as it had
a 9ft (2.75m) wider extended wing-span
carrying MAD (magnetic anomaly detector)
aerials. Meanwhile, G-AOEN forced-landed
in Mozambique in December 1959 and ’NTP
crashed in Assam, in northeastern India,
in March 1960, fortunately both without
casualties.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) ordered five Twin
Pioneers for local passenger services but
specified Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasps, each
providing 40hp more than the standard Alvis
Leonides 514s. This new engine installation
was trialled on G-APPW and became the Twin
Pioneer Series 2.
The American engines were heavier and
had a considerably larger drag-inducing frontal
area than the compact Leonides, prejudicing
aspects of the aircraft’s performance. As a
result, only five production Series 2s were
built.
Following trials ’PPW was stored and
eventually scrapped. The first three aircraft
(PI-C430-2) were handed over to PAL
together in December 1959, but only daysafter delivery PI-C340 crashed. The last
two aircraft lingered at the makers; PI-C
was delivered the following June and the
final aircraft ’434 (and the final Twin Pioneer
delivery) was sold to the Thai Aircraft and
Engineering Company in December 1963.
These four Twin Pioneers were sold on to Bird
and Sons, a CIA front company and used on
covert activities in Southeast Asia.MILITARY SALES
The first of 39 Twin Pioneers for the RAF,
XL966, flew on August 29, 1957, just in time
to be exhibited at the Farnborough Air Show.
The initial 32 were CC.1s (equivalent of the
Series 1) and the final seven were built to
Series 3 standard to become CC.2s.
In 1961, the complete fleet was upgraded
to Series 3 standard with Leonides 531/
piston engines developing 640hp each. The
RAF’s aircraft were registered XL966-970,
XL991-997, XM284-291, XM939-943, XM957-
963, XN318-321, XP923-5 and deliveries
were spread over three years. The first three
aircraft went to Boscombe Down for tests inthe various roles of bombing, supply dropping,
photo-reconnaissance, dropping paratroops,
freighting, ambulance and troop transport.
Bombs totalling 2,000lb (907kg) could be
loaded on panels on the stub wings. A bomb-
aiming window and controls were installed
in the floor panels, enabling the aimer to lie
prone on the cabin floor to use the sight.
The extreme ferry range, with two 100 gal
(455 lit) tanks in the cabin, was 1,890 miles
(3,042km). With 16 troops it was 190 miles
(306km); with nine paratroopers, 400 miles
(644km); with 3,400lb (1,542kg) of freight, 100
miles (161km); with 12 casualties, 500 miles
(805km); and with 2,000lb of bombs, 640
miles (1,030km).
Previously utilising Pioneers, 78 Sqn based
at RAF Khormaksar, Aden, was re-equipped
with its larger sibling in April 1958. The
Twin Pioneers had to operate in dangerous
conditions during the fighting in Yemen,
operating from short airstrips to transfer troops
or the injured. The aircraft were replaced by
Wessex HC.2s in June 1965, though another
Twin Pioneer squadron, No.21 (which firstThe RAF took on 39 Twin Pioneers between 1958 and 1961 including XL993 which is now
preserved at RAF Cosford. It saw action during hostilities in Aden with 78 Sqn from December
1958 to June 1965. BAE Systemshttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 19The Royal Malaysian Air Force bought nine Pioneers
and 15 Twin Pioneers. The first two RMAF Pioneers
and the first Twin Pioneer were used for a publicity
shot, prior to their long ferry flight to Malaysia in 1958.
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