Following the story we did on the Super Tucano three days ago, I am reminded of just how long ago it was that when we were pursuing the issue in parliament. Notably, it got a mention on 20 April 2009 when Ann Winterton raised it in a procurement debate. She said:

I have consistently argued that we should use aircraft such as the Super Tucano two-seater light attack aircraft … It could assist in the creation of an Afghan air force. If such a force is not founded and developed, the international military force will be required to continue to give air cover virtually for ever. It is interesting to note that the United States has recently leased two such aircraft and they will be used in Afghanistan. It will also be interesting to see whether those aircraft will be procured directly when they have proved to be successful.

View full article here

The USAF never wanted the most effective CAS aircraft the A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog) until it proved itself in the first Gulf War. Up until then the Fighter Jock Union (every air force has one) wanted to replace it with the F-16

Off topic have you heard of The Real Dad's Army: The War Diaries of Colonel Rodney Foster

The extract below from the book review rang some The Many Not The Few Bells:

"What’s really wonderful about Foster’s diaries - lavishly illustrated with his drawings and colour paintings - is the nature of the man. His comments are pithy and amusing. He has no time for Churchill, whom he considers a windbag and blunderer, and is cynical about British propaganda and military ineptitude.
Above all, he shows great humanity. When a British 1,000 bomber-raid flattens the city of Cologne, he says: ‘Our savage attack on Cologne horrifies me. We make no pretence now that we are not out to kill women and children.’ Of Churchill’s betrayal of Poland at Yalta, leaving it to the Russians, he says: ‘We have sunk to a third-rate power without honour."

Hey, thanks for the nod. I'm sure we all appreciate it over here. It's nice to know we stumbled in the right direction for a moment, but it's very much a random walk. No telling where we will go from here. But I can tell you why we keep moving: it's desperation derived from a cultural climate that is fundamentally adversarial.

I haven't been to any part of Britain, much less spent any time there, so I don't know how it is. But I have spent time working in a number of countries in Europe and Asia. My impression is that the cultural climate in the U.S. is more tense, more prickly and more aggressive. In Sweden, for instance, people seem to expect, and receive, a good deal of pampering and swaddling like, when picking up their medications, having lengthy sit-down consultations with their pharmacist as to indications, possible side-effects and things to avoid. They actually have booths reserved for this purpose. In the U.S., you're expected to read the label (without being told). It seems that some cultures say to you that you are welcome and will be well cared for, in our culture it's more like, "Go find a stick and get busy fending off the wolves." I don't know how accurate or fair that is, but it is my impression. And if someone tried to swaddle us, well honestly, just don't try it. We wouldn't like it a bit. It would make us suspicious and get our hackles up.

Irritatingly - profoundly true.

To use a motoring analogy, the RAF need a delivery van but are obstinately tinkering with how to fit a towbar and roofrack to the Ferrari.

have a look at the P180 Avanti, this is a exotic, In can assure you that without the exhaust suppressors it will give all in range the need to go on bended knees ( like 5 F one engines being wound up in a garage.

HS2

Agreed. And the interests of those with vested interests who have paid lobbyists to give them democracyplus.

RE: Wind turbines article,

Some of the residents complained that the units were too close to the road. I hope they previously complained about the much bigger ones that are right next to Whitley Road just south of Windmill Lane. Royd Moor wind farm

RE: HS2

Not everyone is enamoured by the project. This FT article includes some vaguely combative words from a few politicians.
I never see much mention of the EU angle in the high speed rail project. It's a pissing contest playing catchup with France and Germany on the potty thinking that shaving half an hour or more off a few journeys will make the continent billions of pounds/euros more productive.

Who the XXXX is going to use it anyway?

From High Wycombe to Birmingham takes 1:55 on a direct train.
To get the HS2 you'd have to travel to London which takes the best part of an hour, depending which train you get, transfer, then by the time you've got the damned thing, you may as well have got the direct train!

Eyeballing he different angels of the wing and fuselage weaponry I can tell you this plane is a drag.

Why the Americans didn't take Burt Rutan's Aeres into mass production still is a big question to me. This design is superior to any turboprop on the market and what's more important, it's flying character is more or less "Idiot Proof".
You can't stall this plane.

Maybe the Aeres was too advanced and delivers too much performance for little money. Maybe it's the way it looks, many pilots have conservative views on aircraft design and too many dislike the canard concept although many successful fighters Like the Euro fighter come with the small wing.
Maybe it's because the Military Industrial Complex doesnt't want to look cheap by people who think out of the box.
Another reason why this plane isn't produced could be the fact that the US NAVY ordered the design development although Rutan developed the final prototype with internal funding from Scaled Composite.
The US NAVY and the US Air Force are two different entities. Infighting and competition define their relationship. What do a bunch of sailors know about aircraft?
But it could also be that Embraer, the producer of the Super Tucan has better lobbyists and more money to spend to satisfy the parasites in Government and the selection committee.

And don't come up with the argument they need a two seater for training purposes.
Rutan already had the two seater trainer version on on paper and relative cheap trainers and a cheap simulator concept in the pipeline.
What I think is highly annoying is the fact that private initiatives and privately financed projects obviously don't get a chance.
No room for true pioneers.

http://stargazer2006.online.fr/aircraft/ares.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG9LlHcX8lg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaled_Composites_ARES

I noticed that and wondered if the wing tanks were out of line due to landing flap??

Yes, you can see this in a picture published at Wikipedia.
Just google Super Tucan.

Just compare the specifications of the Tucan and the Aeres.
Just flabbergasting.

The Aeres is faster, comes with more range and endurance and is a much more stable and agile platform.

By the time you've put the same kit on the Aeres, the armour, two pilots and ejector seats, you might find things even out.

I am a little amused that this is the third winter in a row that has been more than a little trying for wind power. The first two had periods of bone chilling cold and sod all wind, the present one has been a milder winter so far but the wrong kind of wind has been a frequent presence. Still, if you're building infrastructure to deal with averages of temperature, demand, wind strength etc this is what you get - expensive crap that can't cope with natural variability.