Tucano
ICAO TUCAThe Brazilian turboprop trainer that Britain built under licence. Live Tucano positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No Tucano is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Embraer
- Role
- Basic and advanced training
- Class
- L1T — Landplane, 1 turboprop engine
- Crew
- 2
- First flight
- 16 August 1980
- In service
- 1983
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the Tucano
The EMB-312 Tucano was Embraer's first big military success, and it did something unusual for a South American design: it won a Royal Air Force competition. Short Brothers built a substantially modified version in Belfast as the Tucano T1, which trained British pilots until 2019.
Brazil still flies it, as do Egypt, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, France, Iran and others. Its armed descendant, the A-29 Super Tucano, is a different and considerably larger aircraft.
Traffic on this page is sparse and mostly Brazilian, with occasional preserved and civil-operated examples in Europe.
Callsign prefixes
- BRS
- Brazilian Air Force
- RRR
- Ascot — historic Royal Air Force use
How to recognise it
- —A low-wing single turboprop with tandem seats under a long canopy.
- —A rounded nose and a fin that is upright rather than swept.
- —Smaller and rounder than a PC-9, with a distinctly 1980s look.
Common questions
+ Did the Royal Air Force fly the Tucano?
Yes, as the Tucano T1, built under licence by Short Brothers in Belfast with a different engine and a strengthened structure. It was retired in 2019 and replaced by the Texan T1.
+ Is the Tucano the same as the Super Tucano?
No. The A-29 Super Tucano is a larger, much more powerful armed aircraft designed for light attack and counter-insurgency. The EMB-312 is a trainer.
+ Who still flies the original Tucano?
Brazil, Egypt, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras and others, plus a number of civil examples.