Homebuilt/kit aircraft in military service?

[cluttonfred]

Here is one I stumbled across....

World of RVs - Nigerian Air Force

The Nigerian project was started by a company in Nigeria to provide a primary military trainer for the Nigerian Military Air Force, and helped establish an industrial base in the country. After an exhaustive search, the RV-6A was chosen as the aircraft best suited to their needs.

The program included establishing a manufacturing organization within Nigeria, utilizing local labor. A total of 60 aircraft were built and delivered to the Nigerian Air Force as trainers. The RV-6A was modified to include extensive electronics, and other minor aerodynamic changes to suit Nigerian flying conditions.

The original contract was for 60 kits to be delivered over a period of time to Nigeria, for assembly. These kits were delivered, assembled and delivered to the Nigerian Air Force, and are currently the military's primary trainers.

There have been lots of proposals, from the practical to the bizarre, to adapt a homebuilt/kit aircraft to military service, but are there any others that actually made it into service?

 

[mz]

Well, aren't most export fighters built from kits?

 

[walter]

The T-90 Calima is a version of the Lancair Legacy FG being built by CAIC (Colombian Aviation Industry Corporation) for the Colombian Air Force. The deliveries just started
Examples of the Lancair ES and Lancair ES were delivered to the Mexican Navy
Three Pazmany PL-1A aircraft were evaluated by the Rep. of China Air Force and this led to 55 examples of the PL-1B Chienshou version of the Pazmany PL-1 produced by AIDC (Aero Industry Development Center) for the Rep. of China Air Force. Several surplus aircraft later ended in the hands of new owners in the USA (in the homebuilt category!)
One PL-2 (named Tien Phong) was built by personnel of the Vietnamese Air Force in 1971 (evaluation?)
Examples of the PL-2 were also built by divisions/personnel of the Thai AF(2), Philippine AF and South Korean AF (4)
Small numbers of the PL-2 were operated by the Sri Lanka AF (built by the Aircraft Engineering Wing).
The LipnurLT-200 was a modified PL-2 built for evaluation by the Indonesian AF. Reports are conflicting on the number built (1 or 3), but one is at the Yogjakarta Air Museum.
One Pazmany PL-4 (the one with T-tail) was built by ENET 1 Technical School of the Argentina AF.
The Nigerian version of the Van RV-6 was named Air Beetle and was built as T-16 (3 aircraft) and T-18 (60 aircraft, differing in engine (160 resp. 180hp). It is reported that after a 10 year storage period some 20 of the T-18s are being readied to re-enter service in 2010/2011 as IFR trainers.

 

[cluttonfred]

Airliners.net has a lovely pic of the Lancair/CAIC T-90 and a couple of pics of the Pazmany/AIDC PL-1B.

 

[Nik]

Slightly OT, but weren't there reports that US Marines in 'Nam deployed flares tied to frisbees in lieu of star-shells ??