Twin Pioneer © Jo McLure

Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer

Only 89 Twin Pioneers were ever built - and you can see one in the National Museum of Flight.

The rugged 'Twin Pin' was the second design from Prestwick based company Scottish Aviation to achieve production. A short take-off and landing (STOL) general purpose transport aircraft, it had a promising future until the second prototype crashed, putting off potential buyers.

Worldwide success

Only 89 examples were built, with the biggest customer being the RAF, though orders for limited numbers were received from various countries around the world that recognised the aircraft's capabilities.

Twin pioneer aircraft

Where did this one serve?

This example served with the RAF as XM961 in Borneo and was eventually bought by civilian company Flight One at Staverton Airport, which had a small fleet of Twin Pioneers for aerial survey work. It was sold to the Museum after another aircraft was blown into it when parked during a gale in 1982.

Twin Pioneer fact file

How many were built? Only 89 Twin Pioneers were built.
First flight: The prototype flew on 25 June 1955 at Prestwick Airport, Scotland.
Activity: From 1956-1968 the primary user was the Royal Air Force with operational service in The Persian Gulf, Malaysia and Borneo. 
Crew size: A crew of two consisting of a pilot and co-pilot.
Capacity: Up to 13 passengers or 900kg of cargo.
On display: National Museum of Flight

Twin Pin 3 in jungle

Build a Twin Pioneer 3

Have a go at building a Twin Pioneer yourself and pilot it in jungle of Borneo in our Plane Builder game.

Related pages

National Museums Scotland, Scottish Charity, No. SC 011130