The last flight of the RAF Tucano: 25 years of engine MRO

The official withdrawal of the ” legendary ” Tucano T1 aircraft of the RAF – Royal Air Force – British fleet has taken place in 2020. For the last 25 years, ITP Aero has been providing maintenance services for the engine of the Tucano T1 aircraft. Since the first contract in 1994, the British Ministry of Defence has continuously entrusted the repair of these engines to ITP Aero, totalling more than 300,000 hours of maintenance work over the years.

The Tucano T1, fitted with a Honeywell TPE331-12B engine, is an advanced training aircraft, a variant of the Tucano, which has been used for decades by Royal Air Force and Royal Navy pilots.

The work for the Tucano 1 during these years, has been developed in the plants of Ajalvir (Spain) and York (UK). More than 200 ITP Aero employees have been involved in supporting a fleet of 148 TPE331-12B engines, to which 11 of the TPE331-10UG variant, corresponding to the Jetstream T Mk 3 aircraft (Royal Navy), have been added.

For Alvaro Santodomingo, Executive Director of Defence at ITP Aero: “After 444,570 hours of flight, the Tucano T1 closes a success story in terms of aeronautical safety, reflecting a close and longstanding collaboration with the British Ministry of Defence, in which quality and safety in flight have been the priorities“.