Embraer EMB 121 Xingu 51 of which were exported to countries outside Brazil. Currently, the French Air Force is the largest operator with 23 aircraft still in service. Embraer EMB 121 Xingu The Embraer EMB 121 Xingu (pronounced ""shingoo"") is a twin-turboprop fixed-wing aircraft built by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer. The design is based on the EMB 110 Bandeirante, using its wing and engine design merged with an all-new fuselage. The EMB 121 first flew on 10 October 1976. A modified form of the EMB 121, the EMB 121A1 Xingu II, was introduced on 4 September 1981 with a more powerful engine (PT6A-135),
Xingu peoples European slavers arrived in the Xingu region around 1750. Xinuguano population was estimated in the tens of thousands but was dramatically reduced by diseases and slavery by Europeans. In the centuries since the penetration of the Europeans into South America, the Xingu fled from different regions to escape modernization and cultural assimilation. Nonetheless settlers made it up as far as the upper run of the Rio Xingu. By the end of the 19th century, about 3,000 natives lived at the Alto Xingu, where their current political status has kept them protected against European intruders. By the mid twentieth century this