Thanks folks!
Evan: Yep, plenty of TS.11 Iskra DNA in the EACs
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Toothier Trainer - Hispano Aviación's HA-5101C AlcaudónThe Triana design office was justifiably proud of Hispano Aviación's domestic jet trainer family. Ejército del Aire trials had gauged the HA-5201E - their E.18
Vencejo 2-seat trainer - to be both under-powered and under-equipped. [1] Those were probably justified criticisms but, nevertheless, the Ministerio del Aire had already ordered the type into production. As previously mentioned, the prototype EAC-E had been modified to improve stability whilest simultaneously being converted into single-seat EAC-C ('C' for
Combate) configuration.
To Hispano Aviación, the EAC-C was its HA-5101C model (with the suffix again for
Combate). [2] For the EdA, this armed single-seater was the C.7
Alcaudón (Shrike). Despite that aircraft's modest performance, analysts in the Hispano Aviación sales office judged the HA-5101C to have some export potential. That assessment was based primarily on the aircraft's low unit. The sales focus would on Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. To that end, the prototype
Alcaudón was borrowed back from the EdA for a sales junket through Central and South America. Hispano Aviación redubbed this aircraft as the
Alcaudón-E (
Alcaudón Export). [3]
Top HA-5101C
Alcaudón-E in the markings of its Latin American sale tour
No export sales for the
Alcaudón-E resulted from the prototype's Latin American tour. Still, displaying the aircraft raised Hispano Aviación's international profile while playing a small role in normalizing world relations with Franco's Spain. In any case, the HA-5201E/E.18
Vencejo and HA-5101C/C.7
Alcaudón were proving to be successes in domestic service. The EdA adjusted to the performance restrictions of their modest charges and reaped the benefits of the economical operation of these little aircraft. With this success under his belt,
Dott. Ing. Mario Castoldi could at last retire. Castoldi returning to Italy to live out his days in comfort at Trezzano sul Naviglio.
'Turbo-Buchón' Redux - An Older Macchi Belatedly Enters the 'Jet Age'Some years after Castoldi's retirement, the '
Turbo-Buchón' concept was revisited. The EdA had been finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the aging
Merlin engines in their C-4M
Super Buchón strike aircraft. A turboprop replacement was the obvious solution for re-engining the HA-1216-M1L fleet. But by then, Hispano Aviación had ceased to exist. In yet another of its forced re-organizations, the Instituto Nacional de Industria had subsumed HA into an enlarged CASA, SA. It was CASA which instituted the revived C-4T programme.
Ironically, this time, the MdA accepted a proposal to install the Rolls-Royce
Dart as a
Merlin replacement - just as Mario Castoldi had originally recommended years earlier. Since both Rolls-Royce engines used similar firewall engine-mounting points, replacing the
Merlins with
Darts providing no great mechanical challenges. A key issue with a HA-1216-M1L re-engining programme lay with the low-set tailplane being bathed in the hot exhaust plume. The MdA rejected an entirely new raised tail on as old an airframe as the
Super Buchón. Instead, a replacement horizontal tailplane was designed by CASA's Triana office. This heavier-built stabilizer and its elevator were metal-covered. The leading edge of both stabilizers and elevators were covered in stainless steel to resist the turboprop's exhaust heat.
A prototype conversion to 'C-1216-D2L' standard was undertaken using a
Dart turboprop, engine mount, and cowling parts taken from a Vickers
Viscount. [4] Engine installation went smoothly but flight trials were another matter. That longer nose caused no end of stabilty problems. This had been anticipated and an extra dorsal fin had been added to the prototype conversion. This dorsal fin proved woefully inadequate - it was increased in size twice and a small ventral fin was also added. Eventually, the tail fin was also slightly extended and a new, enlarged rudder applied. These tweaks worked but the C-4T
Harpía (Harpy) would never regain the pleasant flight characteristics of the C-4M
Super Buchón.
Mario Castoldi's response to the HA-1216-D2L/C-4T [4] transformation was not recorded. Doubtless, he would have regarded the
Dart-powered C-4T conversions as abominations - the shapely lines of his original Macchi fighters were all but gone. But neither the MdA or EdA was interested in such aesthetic concerns. The 'new' CASA C-4Ts were filling a vital role and doing all that was expected of them. The rebuilt
Harpías had lost none of their predecessor's speed or load-carrying capability. [5] With a comparatively simple to execute modification programme, effectiveness had been added to aircraft which had otherwise reached the practical end of their service lives. As modified, the C-4Ts lasted another decade in Spanish service.
BottomA C-4T
Harpía at CASA's Triana facility for a rebuild. The replacement cowling demonstrates one of the CASA C-1216-D2L strike aircraft's weak points - a propensity for nosing over with hard braking. [6]
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[1] The key EdA equipment complaint was the lack of an ejector seat. Since the in-service
Sabre fighters were fitted with
asiento eyectable, this was a valid complaint. However, blame for this absence lay with MdA budget-wrangling not with Hispano Aviación.
[2] With Hispano Aviación internal designations, the first numeral indicated a major design type - in this case, '5' for the EAC series. The next numeral indicated crew number - so, '1' for the single-seat EAC-C but '2' for the 2-seat EAC-E. The final two numerals were reserved for sub-types (but infrequently used).
[3] In some sources, the 'E' in
Alcaudón-E is said to stand for España. Either way, with the EAC-C/EAC-E designation distinction, that 'E' suffix was bound to confuse potential customers for the export model
[4] The engine was taken from ex-KLM V.803 series
Viscount PH-VID (c/n 175). That aircraft had sat 'in the weeds' at the EdA's Base Aérea de Torrejón since being wrecked there in July 1958. Mistaking BA Torrejón for nearby Barajas (MAD), the KLM crew had over-shot on landing. Upon leaving the runway, PH-VID had swiped its nose gear and wrinkling the forward fuselage. Fortunately for the Spanish C-4T programme, neither the engines nor propellers were damaged. The first four
Harpía all received powerplants and cowling compenents from PH-VID.
[5] Adopting the wing tip fuel tanks from the EAC trainers actually increased the turboprop strike aircraft's usable range.
[6] This aircraft shows the scheme for
Harpía conversions. Note that squadron code markings have been erased (once repairs are completed, this aircraft will go into the
Harpía 'pool'.) Oddly, despite carrying a full under-wing practice weapons load, this aircraft has not yet had its gun sight refitted.