Scottish Aviation Bulldog

The history of the Bulldog began in the late 1960s, when the Beagle Company, builders of the then-popular, civilian Beagle B.121 Pup trainers, began developing a replacement for the RAFs fleet of aging DeHavilland Chipmunks. Their design, the B.125 Bulldog, was fitted with a more-powerful 200-hp engine; a constant-speed propeller; longer, strengthened wings; and a strengthened fuselage structure. Before the prototype could be delivered, however, Beagle's financial troubles led it to be liquidated in February 1970.

In May 1970, Scottish Aviation Limited (SAL) announced that it had acquired the development and manufacturing rights, and it resumed production of the Bulldog in 1971. The first customer was Sweden, with other nations following in rapid succession, including Malaysia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Venezuela and Botswana, among others. The Swedish designated the aircraft the SK 61.

The largest customer by far was the Royal Air Force (RAF), which placed an order for 130 Bulldogs in 1972 to be used as primary "flight-aptitude" trainers for their flying cadets in the University Air Squadrons (UASs). The Bulldog served in this role until at least 2000, when it began to be replaced by more modern Grob Tutor T1 trainers. Increasingly, surplus Bulldogs have been appearing at the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) auctions, where many eager bidders from around the world have bought them in anticipation of restoring and flying them as reasonably-priced warbirds.

Powerplant: one 149-kW (200-hp) Avco Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 flat-four piston engine driving a Hartzell propeller of 6' 2'' (1 m and 880 mm) diameter.
Length: 7.09 m
Span: 10.06 m
Height: 2.28 m

Specification
Bulldog Series 120
Performance: maximum speed at sea level 241 km/h;
economic cruising speed 195 km/h at 1220 m;
service ceiling 4875 m;
range with maximum fuel 999 km
Weights: empty equipped 649 kg;
maximum take-off 1066 kg

Source: www.sonsofdamien.co.uk