Falklands War - only captured Pucará aircraft to be flown in UK finds permanent Yorkshire home
It was one of the spoils of the Falklands War – an aircraft which took part in missions against British forces on the ground but ended up in UK hands after Argentina’s defeat.
The Pucará A-515 has now joined a display at South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum called “11 Weeks in 1982” – the UK’s largest permanent display dedicated to the conflict.
The 74-day conflict over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands began on April 2, 1982, when Argentina invaded. It ended on June 14, 1982, with the British recapture of the islands and the surrender of Argentine forces.
Flying with the Argentine Air Force from the Falkland Islands, the A-515 took part in a number of missions, including on June 10. During this sortie, the aircraft was lightly damaged by small arms fire and would not fly again before the Argentine surrender.
It was one of several Pucarás captured by British forces and shipped to the UK for evaluation with the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment at MOD Boscombe Down.
After repairs A-515 was flown for around 25 hours in the UK, the only captured Pucará to be flown in the UK. It then took part in trials before being flown to the RAF Museum at RAF Cosford in September 1983.
The aircraft remained part of its collection until its transfer to the South Yorkshire museum – which is all that remains of the original Doncaster Airport.
It is now displayed alongside a number of other veteran aircraft from both sides of the Falklands War and a memorial dedicated to the 255 British servicemen and three islanders killed during the war.
The Pucará has been rebuilt by a team of volunteers and is currently displayed outdoors pending future museum development when it will be moved indoors.
South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum curator Naylan Moore said: “The acquisition of the Pucará is a fantastic addition to our ‘11 Weeks in 1982’ display, joining a number of other aircraft that flew on both sides of the conflict.
"This will allow us to further share the story of the Falklands War with our visitors and honour those that made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Trustee Sam Scrimshaw said a number of museums mounted displays during the 40th anniversary commemorations of the Falklands War, but theirs is the only all-year round display, with artefacts including a fully-equipped Marine, an Argentinian flying suit and helmet, light guns and shrapnel from crashsites, plus stories from islanders who call the Falklands home.
They’d has a few Argentinian visitors visit who were “quite appreciative” of their efforts to tell both sides of the story.
The team hopes to bring the aircraft back under cover in the future.
He said: “We are looking into building a second hangar so we can reinterpret some of the displays and bring more under cover. We are at the fairly early stages of development. We are going for surveys and seeing what we can do and how we can do it, but being a voluntary organisation it is not the fastest process. It is something we hope to complete fairly soon.”