# South American Air Forces



## gekho (Dec 24, 2010)

This is a subjet I wanted to deal with for long time, but sadly it is being very difficult to find pictures and information about the planes that flew under the latin colours in america. That means I havent enough information for a single thread for each Air Force, so I have no chance but to put all them on the same post. Perhaps with the Argentinian and the Uruguayan Air Forces I could make an exception, but I have finally decided that for an homogeneous and deep treatment of these Air Forces it would be better to study them at the same time.

I hope you enjoy the thread


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## gekho (Dec 24, 2010)

On May 20, 1929, the aviation divisions of the Peruvian Army and Navy were merged into the Cuerpo de Aviación del Perú (Peruvian Aviation Corps, abbreviated CAP). During the Colombia-Peru War of 1933, its Vought O2U Corsair and Curtiss F11C Hawk planes fought in the Amazon region. The CAP lost three aircraft to the Colombian Air Force . The corps was renamed Cuerpo Aeronáutico del Perú (Peruvian Aeronautical Corps, also abbreviated CAP) on March 12, 1936. In 1941, the CAP participated in the Peruvian-Ecuadorian War. At that time, the CAP were equipped with Caproni Ca.114 and North American NA.50 Torito fighters, Douglas DB-8A-3P attack aircraft, and Caproni Ca.135 Tipo Peru and Caproni Ca.310 Libeccio bombers, among others.

During the presidency of Manuel A. Odría the corps was reorganized again and on July 18, 1950 it became the Fuerza Aérea del Perú (Air Force of Peru, abbreviated FAP). In the 1950s the FAP was modernized to the jet age with the arrival of the English Electric Canberra bombers and the Hawker Hunter, Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star and North American F-86 Sabre fighters. The service underwent a period of considerable expansion through out the 1970s and early 1980s which included the acquisition of French-made Dassault Mirage 5P and 5DP, U.S. made Cessna A-37B Dragonfly attack aircraft, Lockheed C-130 and L-100-20 Hercules transport aircraft, and the introduction of an important number of Soviet-made aircraft, including Sukhoi Su-22 bombers and Antonov An-26 and An-32 transport aircraft, as well as Mil Mi-8, Mi-17 and Mi-25 helicopters. In 1982, during the Falklands War, the Peruvian Air Force transferred ten of their Mirage 5P to the Argentine Air Force as a measure of solidarity. The economic crisis of the later 1980s forced reductions in the fleet size as well as cuts in training and general readiness.

Under those conditions the FAP fought the Cenepa War against Ecuador in 1995 and lost five planes and helicopters. After the war, in 1996 the FAP acquired MiG-29 fighters and in 1998 Su-25 attack fighters arrived, which along with Mirage 2000 fighters acquired in the late 1980s, are currently the main combat elements of the FAP.


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## gekho (Dec 24, 2010)

In 1932 the El Arma de Aviación del Ejército Nacional was formed as part of the Dominican Army. Until 1942 only about a dozen aircraft were purchased. The service was renamed Compañia de Aviación del Ejército Nacional on October 26, 1942. Whilst granting base facilities to the United States during World War II the Dominican Republic received limited quantities of Lend-Lease military equipment. In 1947 a group of Dominican Republic exiles from Cuba tried to invade the country. The government wanted to receive large quantities of bombers and fighters aircraft from the United States, but the government blocked these sales and prevented sales of the Canadian government to President Trujillo. But agents of the president managed to buy some Beaufighter and Mosquito aircraft from the United Kingdom. After signing the Rio Treaty 1947 the Dominican Republic received large quantities of aircraft, for example 25 P-47D fighter-bomber and 30 AT-6 trainers from the United States. With this influx of aircraft the Compañia de Aviación expanded and became an independent service on January 15, 1948, and was renamed Cuerpo de Aviación Militar Dominicana. It moved its headquarters to Base Aérea Presidente Trujillo, in the capital's suburb of San Isidro.

The Air Force underwent several name changes during the 1950s, being known as the Dominican Military Aviation during 1952-55 and 1957–62 and as the Dominican Air Force during 1955-57. In 1962 it again became known as the Dominican Air Force, the name is still in use today.


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## gekho (Dec 24, 2010)

In 1952, 25 Vampires and 32 North American P-51D were bought from Sweden but similar purchases from Canada and Japan were again blocked by the United States. By 1956 the Fuerza Aérea Dominicana had about 240 aircraft. During the next years most of the post-war equipment was at the end of its useful life. After the assassination of President Trujillo in 1961 funds for the Air Force decreased and in 1963 the Air Force had only 110 aircraft.

During the next 15 years the number of aircraft in the Air Force declined again and only second-line material, such as training aircraft or helicopters, were acquired. In the early 1980s the Fuerza Aérea Dominicana had about 80 aircraft in five operational squadrons with most of the aircraft and helicopters operating out of San Isidro Air Base in Santo Domingo.

On the 22nd of September 1998 Hurricane George striked San Isidro the main FAD base and destroyed one hangar and severely damaged another, destroying the aircraft in both hangars. The natural disaster saw the FAD new aircraft enter service such as eight ENAER T-35 Pilláns that were delivered in two batches, the first in November 1999 and the second in January 2000. During the same period two CASA 212-400 transport planes were ordered.


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## ccheese (Dec 24, 2010)

Good pic's, thanks for sharing...

Charles


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## Gnomey (Dec 24, 2010)

Nice shots!


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## gekho (Dec 25, 2010)

On December 31, 1919 the government of Colombia released funding for the formation of the Escuela Militar de Aviacion (military aviation school), marking the birth of Colombian military aviation. The school initially operated under the control of the Colombian army, and based at Flandes, it operated eleven aircraft supplied by France: three Caudron G3s, for Caudron G4s and four Nieuport 17s. Unfortunately the school closed within two years due to financial difficulties.

In 1925 the school made a restart at Madrid, near Bogotà, with three Wild WT-3s supplied by Switzerland. Full expansion came in 1932 after a Peruvian attempt to capture Colombia's southernmost town of Leticia, and in 1934 the military operated as many as 150 aircraft. The assistance of the Colombian-German airline of SCADTA was instrumental in these years, and could be traced back to several subtypes of Junkers and Dorniers, operated by the military. Later on, American aircraft, like Curtiss Hawk II biplanes, were obtained, and the school moved on to its current base at Calì. With the assistance of SCADTA a new base was developed at Palanquero near Puerto Salgar, on the banks of the Rio Magdalena, about 60 miles northwest of Bogotà. The Aviacion Militar received new American equipment when the USA became involved in World War Two in 1941, and the country benefited from various lend-lease deliveries of North American T-6 Texans and Boeing PT-17 Stearmans for pilot training. Soon after World War Two, the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana became an independent part of the armed forces.

After a period of relative peace, internal political struggle broke out in 1948 with La Violencia, the most destructive of Colombia's civil wars, which lasted almost ten years. Not surprisingly, the equipment obtained by the military at that time was optimised for counterinsurgency tasks, resulting in the acquisition of many B-26C Invaders. During these years, the FAC acquired its first jet aircraft in 1954 in the form of the legendary T-bird and a limited air defence force was built up with six Canadian Sabre 6s operated from Palanquero. Sixteen F-80 Shooting Stars were also delivered. Meanwhile, several types of training helicopters were taken on strength.


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## gekho (Dec 25, 2010)

Around 1960 the military transport element expanded, with vast numbers of the legendary Dakota being delivered, and the military airline of SATENA being formed at El Dorado, in order to service remote locations all over the country, displaying the social function of the air force in Colombia. More modern types like the C-130 Hercules, UH-1 Huey, T-37 Tweety Bird and T-41 Mescalero were obtained during the sixties. In 1972 Colombia joined the Mirage-family with the introduction of the Mirage 5 at Palanquero, eighteen of these entered service in three different versions.

Further expansion took place in the eighties with considerable deliveries of the OA-37B Dragonfly, which earned fame over Vietnam. At the end of the decade a batch of Kfir C2 fighters was delivered from Israel and subsequently upgraded to Kfir C7 by the Comando Aéreo de Mantenimiento (CAMAN) in Madrid in the nineties. The Mirages were upgraded to the same standard by CAMAN, with the installation of canards and improved fuel systems. Both types are also equipped for air-to-air refuelling from the FAC's sole Boeing 707 tanker and transport aircraft. The nineties saw the delivery of specialised COIN-aircraft like the OV-10A Bronco and Embraer Tucano trainers, some of the latter are able to carry bombs and unguided rockets. These aircraft operate mainly over the east of the country, where the Los Llanos region has a high level of guerrilla activity. They regularly deploy to Puerto Carreño under the commando of the Grupo Aéreo del Oriente formed in 2000. To deal with continuing guerrilla activity Escuadrones Aerotácticos (tactical squadrons) were formed at the main FAC bases in the late nineties, consisting of several types of helicopters and AC-47 gunships supplied by their respective Grupos.

The 1999 'Plan Colombia' emphasizes on technology, rather than on large numbers of new aircraft being procured, although several new Black Hawk-helicopters (dubbed Arpía in Colombian service) entered FAC service in recent years. Other recently acquired types include Schweizer SA2-37A Condors and Cessna 560 Citations equipped with cameras and sensors to monitor guerrilla and narcotic related activities. Technology upgrades are scheduled for the Bronco fleet, the venerable AC-47 gunships and Huey-helicopters.


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## evangilder (Dec 25, 2010)

The flying C-47 looks like a Basler conversion. Very cool stuff.


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## Gnomey (Dec 25, 2010)

Certainly they aren't original engines.

Nice shots!


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## Wayne Little (Dec 26, 2010)

Nice !


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## gekho (Dec 26, 2010)

The first step towards the current FACh was taken by Teniente Coronel Pedro Pablo Dartnell, when he founded the Servicio de Aviación Militar de Chile (Military Aviation Service of Chile) on December 20, 1910, being trained as a pilot in France. Although a school was included, the first officers were sent to France for their training as well. One of them, Captain Manuel Ávalos Prado, took command over the Chilean military aviation school that was officially instated 11 February 1913, and remained in command until 1915. The Escuela de Aviación Militar (Military Aviation School) was named in honor of him in 1944, and still carries that name today.

In those early years many aviation milestones were achieved; conquering the height of The Andes was one of the main targets as well as long distance flights. Typical aircraft of that era were Avro 504, Bleriot XI, Bristol M.1C, DH.9, and SE5a. In the following decade, the (Airmail Line of Chile) Línea Aeropostal de Chile was created on 5 March 1929 as a branch of the military aviation. This postal airline later developed into the airline Línea Aérea Nacional (National Airline) that is still the leading airline in Chile today. Shortly afterwards, on 21 March 1930, the existing aviation elements of the army and navy were amalgamated into a dedicated department: the Subsecretaria de Aviación (Department of the Air Force) effectively creating the current independent Air Force. It was initially named Fuerza Aérea Nacional(National Air Force). The international airport of Chile carries the name of Lan's founding father and first commander of the air force, Arturo Merino Benítez.

The first outlines of the organization of the current air force were visible in 1945 with the inception of Grupo de Transporte No.1 (First Transport Group), later renumbered Grupo 10, with two C-45s and a single T-6 Texan at Los Cerrillos. Two years later the first Fuerza Aérea flight to Antarctica was performed. The fifties meant entry into the jet age for the FACh, and Grupo 7 was the first unit to receive them in 1954. Chile got its aircraft from both the United States and Europe. The American supply consisted of Lockheed F-80, Lockheed T-33, Beech T-34 Mentor, Cessna T-37, Cessna A-37 Dragonfly and Northrop F-5E/F for example, whereas the British supplied Hawker Hunters and the French delivered various helicopters and Dassault Mirage 50 aircraft. The Chilean air force hosted the joint exercise Salitre with other friendly nations.


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## CharlesBronson (Dec 26, 2010)

Rare thing those Arados, first time ever I see the Ar-95 as landplane.

By the way if you want photos about argentina aircraft there are tons here:

Navy aircraft

AvNaval

AvNaval

General:

AviaciónArgentina.net - Potenciado por vBulletin


Fuerzas Aereas | SAORBATS


Arqueologia Aeronautica Argentina


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## gekho (Dec 26, 2010)

This Central-American country is widely known for the traces of the Mayan culture that can still be found. Therefore, it is no surprise that tourism is the most important source of income for Guatemala followed by agriculture. Its population numbering about 9,8 million can be roughly divided in Mayan and Spanish (arriving in 1524) roots, about 50% each. Physically, Mexico and Belize in the North and Honduras and El Salvador in the South border Guatemala. 

It has a long pacific coastline on the West and a tiny one to the Caribbean in the Southeast of the country. In the post War period, the republic saw its far share of internal turmoil. The October revolution in 1944 brought an end to a long history of dictatorship but the influence of the United Fruit Company was not subdued. Many reforms including a democratic constitution were made. This by no means meant a quiet political scene: the first president survived 20 military coups in his five-year incumbency! The government and United Fruit went head to head for some years and the United States backed a military coup because the government was alleged to be infiltrated by communists and the interests of US companies - like United Fruit -needed to be protected (or so it seemed). Shortly after the take over, in June 1954, a law suite was filed against United Fruit and its influence was broken.

The military rule lasted for three decades and this period saw guerrilla activities, suppression of left-wing sympathisers, war-atrocities and withdrawal of US support for a period of time. The civil war finally ended in 1984 and elections were held in 1985. Dialogue was started with the guerrillas. The early nineties went by against a backdrop of civil unrest and failing government policies. Finally, on December 29,1996 a peace treaty was signed.


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## gekho (Dec 26, 2010)

In November 1942, the Guatemalan government was interested in acquiring seven of the nine remaining P-26s. By the time there was a U.S. congressional prohibition on selling "lethal" armament to the Latin American Countries (except Brazil and Mexico), but the U.S. Army was very interested in getting rid of the obsolete planes, and reported them as Fairchild PT-26 "Trainers" on the sale documents. In the early 1943, finally, four P-26s were delivered to FAG, and two more in May. The planes were officially handed over by the end of that month. One last plane was delivered crated, for spares, but the FAG mechanics quickly made it airworthy.

The planes gained the serial numbers 42 to 49, and an unusual paint scheme was applied to all of them, including a badge on the fuselage showing a Mayan cacique. Shortly after the final delivery, one of the planes ( FAG 42 ) was damaged beyond repair while taxiing prior to take off. The P-26 stumbled into a small rut on the taxiway and the right landing gear collapsed. It was being piloted by Lt. Rene Sarmiento, who was one of the few qualified FAG pilots to fly the Peashooters.

The Peashooters became the FAG's "Pride and joy" and the classic line ups on La Aurora main ramp were usual upon arriving dignitaries. Although, the lack of qualified pilots increased and the planes were seldom flown. By 1945, only three FAG pilots were P-26 certified. During the Castillo Armas liberation forces invasion on June 1954, none of the P-26 were used to repel the CIA's F-47 attacks, mainly due to the lack of IFR capabilities of the type and bad weather over the attacked areas. It is worth mentioning that the only IFR capable planes in FAG service at that time were the T-6, but the navigation instruments of this planes were out of order due to the lack of spares. On June 19 1954, two P-26s were destroyed on the ground during an attack to La Aurora Air Base, and the next day, another P-26 crashed near San Pedro Pinula while conducting a surveillance flight around the Guatemala city. The pilot, Maj. Pedro Granados, survived the crash.

By July 1954, the surviving Peashooters went through another change in their painting schemes, and were re-serialled with a very strange numeration. (After the overthrown of the Arbenz government, all FAG aircraft were re-serialled, being used four digits on each serial number instead of two.) At this time, only five pilots were P-26 certified, but, somehow, they avoided to fly the planes, arguing that the P-26 was unsafe to fly, specially on landings. In the late 1956, only two P-26 remained airworthy, those being FAG 0672 and FAG 0816. Later one of them was acquired by the Planes of Fame museum of Chino, California, and the other by the Smithsonian Air Space museum. The one with the Planes of Fame Museum is flyable to this date.


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## gekho (Dec 26, 2010)

CharlesBronson said:


> Rare thing those Arados, first time ever I see the Ar-95 as landplane.



You can see another Ar-95 landplane in my thread about the nationalist air force. And thank you for these sites; they are great!!


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## gekho (Dec 27, 2010)

Military aviation in Nicaragua can be traced back as far as 1920 when four Curtiss JN-2s were acquired, although it was not until 1936 that the Cuerpo de Aviacion (aviation corps) of the National Guard was formed under Anastacio Tacho Somoza. Just two years later the name of the air corps was changed to Fuerza Aérea de la Guardia Nacional on 9 June 1938. By July 1942 lend-lease funds accounted for the delivery of more aircraft from the USA. After WW II more surplus US assets became available, enabling the air force to grow to maturity. After Nicaragua signed the Rio Treaty in 1947 it received its first combat aircraft, a batch of twelve P-47 Thunderbolts. By that time the force was known as Fuerza Aérea de Nicaragua (FAN). During the murky times which saw the CIA inspired invasion of Guatemala in 1954-1955 the FAN managed to obtain four more P-47N Thunderbolts. These were followed by 26 P-51D Mustangs and 15 T-6G Texans. In 1957, was broke out with Honduras over the Mesquita region. A cease-fire was reached and the Coco-river was recognized as the border between the two countries. The jet era started in 1962, when six T-33As were delivered, followed by one more in 1963.

>From 1978, full scale civil war broke out when FSLN-revolutionaries tried to overthrow the hated Somozo dynasty. The rebels were assisted by a fleet of various transports bringing in weapons and ammunitions. In the seventies, the FAN main additions were transport aircraft, like DHC-3 Otters and CASA 212 Aviocars. When Somoza finally fled the country in July 1979, five T-33As, one B-26, six T-28s, six Cessna 337s, two CASA 212s, three C-47s, two IAI201 Aravas, one Huey, three S-58Ts, four OH-6As and various Cessnas and Pipers were left behind. On 18 September 1979 the new Sandinist government set up the Fuerza Aérea Sandinista and took over the inventory.

As soon as 1980, the Sandinist government sent seventy cadets to Bulgaria for pilots training. Russian and Cuban advisors and construction teams were flown in to expand the military infrastructure, resulting in the construction and improvement of many airbases. One large new airbase was constructed just north of Nicaragua near Punte Huete, in order to receive MiG-21s. Large numbers of Mi-8 and Mi-25 assault and combat helicopters were delivered between 1981 and 1990, although many were lost to Contra fire. In April 1983, Libyan cargo aircraft were intercepted in Brazil, intended to deliver L-39 Albatros light attack aircraft to Nicaragua. The Contras also built up a considerable air force, containing C-47s, C-123s, Cessna 337s, Pipers and various helicopters. In 1990, elections were held bringing an end to the Sandinist rule and more important, to war. The air force was renamed Fuerza Aérea Nicaraguënse soon after.

In 1992, most surviving Mi-25 Hinds were sold to Peru, alongside about twelve Mi-8MT Hips. Only about fifteen Hips remain in service. The name of the air force changed again in 1995 to Fuerza Aérea - Ejército de Nicaragua, after it lost its independent status and became an integral branch of the Nicaraguan armed forces. The air force currently has only two operational squadrons, a fraction of its size in the eighties. No new aircraft were bought after the turnover of the Sandinistas. The Escuadrón de Transporte operates the remaining two An-26s, two An-2s and a single Cessna 404. The Escuadrón de Ala Rotativa is responsible for the operation of the Hips. Both squadrons are based at Managua's Cesar Sandino airport, although the Hips can also be found at Bluefields, Montelimar, Puerto Cabezas, Punta Huete, San Carlos, Juigalpa, Matagalpa and Siuna. Training is carried out with the Escuela de Aviacion, based at Los Brasiles.


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## gekho (Dec 27, 2010)

Military aviation started in 1913 with the purchase of an Deperdussin T. In 1914 an Escuela de Aviación Militar (EAM) was formed and operated under the control of the Paraguay Army, with one Henri Farman and two Bleriot aircraft and Teniente Silvio Pettrossi as first dircetor. Pettrossi died on October 17, 1916, when he crashed with the Deperdussin T in Buenos Aires. After three years without flight activity the EAM was reactivated with the acquisition of one each Macchi-Lohner L-3 flying boat and Macchi M-7.

At the beginning of 1922 there was no operational aircraft in Paraguay. From May 1922 army officers rebelled against the government of President Ayala. Both sides tried to buy aircraft and recrut pilots in Argentina. The first aircraft, which the government forces got, was an Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8, followed by a single SPAD S.XX, two Italian built S.A.M.L. A.3s, two Ansaldo SVA-5s and one SVA-10 operating out of Base Aérea Ñu-Guazú/ Asunción. The first operational mission to bomb rebel positions was flown on June 29, 1922. During August 1922 the rebel forces bought four Ansaldo aircraft in Argentina and started to fly combat operations. At the end the government forces were victorious.

Tension with Bolivia grow from 1927 about the Chaco region and on January 13, 1929 Paraguay commenced mobilisation. After some skirmished in 1932 the congress of Paraguay called up reservists. On September 9, 1932 the first major aerial combat of the war occured, when two Bolivian aircraft met two Paraguay aircraft at Fortín Boquerón and managed to shot down one Potez 25A of the Pagarguay Air Force. During the next months there were many additional engagements between the two Air Forces. During 1933 the war became more static, as both sides fortified their defensive positions. There were no air engagements from June 1933 till June 1934. The last air combat took place on January 10, 1935, almost 6 month before the cease fire. Paraguay lost 11 aircraft during this conflict. From 1935 the air force was called Arma Aérea Paraguay, still under Army control.

During World War Two Paraguay did not declare war on the Axis powers until February 1945. The Air Force did not receive large quantities of aircraft though the Lend-Lease Program, but only about 35 training and transport aircraft including BT-13A and PT-19A.

After a failed coup in December 1946 a full-scale civil war broke out with both sides operating aircraft. The rebels formed an Arma Aérea Revolucionaria with eight aircraft from defected pilots of the government air force on March 8, 1947. Some days later they attacked government positions at Belén-Cué and Paso Né, near San Pedro. During the next months, there were several operations by both air forces to support their respective ground forces. The revolution ended on August 20, 1947 and all rebel aircraft fled to Brazil and Argentina. They were later returned to Paraguay.

The Air Force entered the jet age, when they bought some EMB-326 Xavante in 1979. During the next years only small quantities of combat, liaison and transport aircraft were aquired. The Air Force became an independent service only on 26.7.1989 and renamed Fuerza Aérea Paraguay (FAP). Today the FAP is organised in the I Brigada Aérea, Brigada Aerotransportada "Silvio Pettirossi" and the Comando de Institutos Aeronauticos de Ensenanza, which were formed 1991.


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## Gnomey (Dec 27, 2010)

Good stuff, keep it coming.


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## gekho (Dec 28, 2010)

Military aviation in Bolivia began in 1917, with the training of three Army officers at the El Palomar aviation school in Argentina, but the Cuerpo de Aviadores Militares Bolivianos (Bolivian Military Aviators Corps) was not officially formed until 1924, during the celebrations of Bolivia's first centenary of independence. In the year 1932 the Gran Chaco dispute between Bolivia and Paraguay had evolved into a shooting war and by this period they changed the name into Cuerpo de Aviación (Aviation Corps). It was actually the first in the Latin Americas with air combat. The war ended in 1935. Bolivia was defeated and economically exhausted, and it was clearly impossible to carry on the long-delayed re-organisation of the Cuerpo, at least without outside help.

The Cuerpo de Aviación was further re-organised in 1944 along USAAF lines to become the Fuerza Aérea Boliviana (Bolivian Air Force), with most of its aircraft of US manufacture. The FAB was at first under partial Army control, but became totally independent in 1957. Bolivia signed the Rio Pact in 1947 and the usual Military Assistance Program deliveries followed - initially small numbers of North American AT-6 Texan armed trainers and B-25J Mithchell bombers, followed in mid-1956 by seven Boeing B-17G Fortress bomber/transports. Four years later the first real fighter aircraft arrived in the shape of Cavalier modified F-51D Mustangs and large numbers of aircraft from neighbour Brazil, including Brazilian built Fairchild PT-19 trainers and Fokker S-11 basic trainers. In 1973 the FAB entered the jet age with the first of fifteen Canadair T-33 Mk.3 Silver Stars. In December 1980 permission was granted for the acquisition of up to twenty-four fighters, the Mirage 5, Jaguar and Kfir C2 all being considered, but little seems to have come on this, and there were reports during late 1981 that ex Belgian Air Force Starfighters may be acquired, however in vain. In 1986 the FAB signed a US$52 miljon contract with FMA for the delivery of twelve IA.58 Pucará COIN aircraft, however the deal went off. The FAB saw in late 80's the delivery of a further eighteen former French Air Force Canadair built T-33SF to form a nother Grupo de Caza. The FAB is largely depending on US funds, and it is believed that in the coming years only a handful of modern aircraft will be bought. A possibility is that the FAB is to get some former Brazilian Air Force AT-26 Xavantes, now they become available after retirement. The only project today is the modernisation of eighteen T-33's by the Kelowna company in Canada, and most of the T-Birds have been returned to Bolivia.


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## gekho (Dec 28, 2010)

The FAB has its headquarters in La Paz and comprises about 4500 personnel. The Bolivian Air Force is divided into four Brigadas Aéreas. They are located at El Alto, near the capital city La Paz, Cochabamba, Tarija and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. In addition to these bases the air force uses a number of small airfields located throughout the country. Most of these, such as Ribaralta, Robore, Trinidad and Cobija, house small Grupo Aéreos, which are equipped with a few light transport and liaison aircraft.

Bolivia's landscape and infrastructure make transportation of goods and people one of the major tasks of the Bolivian Air Force. Therefore, nearly half of its inventory consists of (light) transport and liaison aircraft. The hub of transportation activities is concentrated on El Alto, where Grupo Aéreo de Transporte 71 is located. The greater part of GAT-71 is formed by the semi-military airline Transporte Aéreo Militar. TAM provides regular air services throughout the country and is a cheap alternative to Bolivia's national carriers Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano and Aero Sur. GAT-71 consist of three squadrons; Escuadrón Aéreo 710, Escuadrón Aéreo 711, Escuadrón Aéreo 712, respectively operating the Lockheed C-130, Fokker F.27 and Convair CV-580T.

At the moment a total of 18 T-33s are divided among two different units; Grupo Aéreo de Caza 31 at El Alto and Grupo Aéreo de Caza 32 at Santa Cruz de la Sierra. In May 2001 the FAB announced that an additional 8 T-33s had been bought from the Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana. The Ecuadorian T-33s have been in open storage at Manta Air Base since 1996. The first T-33s were expected to be ferried to Bolivia in June 2001. It is still not certain if a third unit, GAC-33 based at Tarija, will be equipped with the T-Bird again, once all updated T-33s and the additional aircraft arrived in the country.

The major part of the flight and military training syllabus for aspirant pilots is conducted at the Colegio Militar de Aviación (COLMILAV) based at Base Aérea El Trompillo in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The primary flying course is flown on the Aerotec A.122 Uirapuru, locally designated T-23. Nineteen of these aircraft were bought in Brazil and the first one arrived in Bolivia in 1974. The primary course comprises a total of 120 hours. After this the cadet continues with the basic course, comprising a total of 130 hours divided among the Beech T-34 Mentor (80 hours) and the Cessna Ce.152 Aerobat (50 hours). The Aerobats are part of Grupo Aéreo de Entrenamiento 22 located at Robore. The cadets that finished the basic course successfully will be appointed to the different operational units to receive type conversion. Those who are selected to fly the T-Bird will move to Cochabamba to be trained on the Pilatus PC-7, that belongs to Grupo Aéreo de Caza 34.

The Fuerza de Tarea or Task Force, better known as the Diablos Rojos or Red Devils, is the FAB unit that is the most actively involved in the anti-narcotics policy of the Bolivian and American governments. The unit is paid for and under command by the Americans. Initally the unit operated 16 Bell UH-1 Huey helicopters which were officially owned by the U.S. Department of State. Nowadays the FAB have purchased 15 Hueys and these are completed with 6 US examples. All helo's wear Bolivian markings and are flown and maintained by FAB personnel. The five fixed winged aircraft are all confiscated during anti-narcotics operations and belong to the FAB. The unit works closely together with local police forces and DEA agents and is based in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Most of its operational missions are flown from an airstrip near Villa Tunari on the edge of the Chapare region, the centre of Bolivias coca production.


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## gekho (Dec 28, 2010)

The Chaco War (1932–1935) was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region (the Chaco Boreal) of South America, which was incorrectly thought to be rich in oil. It is also known as La Guerra de la Sed or "War of Thirst". It was the bloodiest military conflict fought in South America during the 20th century. Though the region was sparsely populated, control of the Paraguay River running through it would have given one of the two landlocked countries access to the Atlantic Ocean. This was especially important to Bolivia, which had lost its Pacific Ocean coast to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1883).

In international arbitration, Bolivia argued that the region had been part of the original Spanish colonial province of Moxos and Chiquitos to which Bolivia was heir. Meanwhile, Paraguay had begun to colonize the region. Indeed, both Paraguayan and Argentinian planters already bred cattle and exploited quebracho woods in the area, while the small indigenous population of Guaraní-speaking tribes was related to that country's own Guaraní heritage. Furthermore, the discovery of oil in the Andean foothills sparked speculation that the Chaco itself might be a rich source of petroleum. Foreign oil companies were involved in the exploration: companies mainly descended from Standard Oil backed Bolivia, while Shell Oil supported Paraguay. Standard was already producing oil from wells in the high hills of eastern Bolivia, around Villa Montes. Paraguay had lost almost half of its territory to Brazil and Argentina in the War of the Triple Alliance and was not prepared to see what it was perceived as its last chance for a viable economy fall victim to Bolivia.


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## gekho (Dec 28, 2010)

Border skirmishes throughout the late 1920s culminated in an all-out war in 1932, after the Bolivian army, following orders of President Daniel Salamanca, attacked a Paraguayan garrison at Lake Pitiantuta in June. They later occupied another garrison further south, called Fortín Boquerón. This stronghold would later become the scene of one of the bloodiest and protracted battles of this war, when some 600 Bolivian soldiers resisted a 22-day siege, against 14,000 Paraguayan troops before surrendering (7-29 September 1932). Paraguay had a population only a third as large as that of Bolivia (880,000 versus 2,150,000), but its guerrilla style of fighting, compared to Bolivia's more conventional strategy, enabled Paraguay to take the upper hand. In June 1932, the Paraguayan army totaled about 4,026 men (355 combat officers, 146 surgeons and noncombatant officers, 200 cadets, 690 NCOs, and 2,653 soldiers). Both racially and culturally, the Paraguayan army was practically homogeneous. Almost all of the soldiers were Spanish-Guarani mestizos. In Bolivia, however, most of the soldiers were Altiplano Indigenous Indians (90% of the infantry troops), the lower-ranking officers were of Spanish ancestry, and General Hans Kundt was German. In spite of the fact that the Bolivian army had many more soldiers, the Bolivian army never mobilized more than 60,000 men, and never more than two-thirds of the army were on the Chaco at one time, while Paraguay mobilized its entire army. City buses were confiscated, wedding rings were donated to buy rifles, by 1935 Paraguay had widened conscription to include 17 year-olds and policemen.

Paraguay received military supplies and intelligence from Argentina, and the Paraguayans took advantage of their ability to communicate over the radio in Guaraní, which was not intelligible to the typical Bolivian soldier. Paraguay had little trouble in mobilizing its troops in large barges on the Paraguay river right to the frontlines, whilst the majority of Bolivian soldiers came from the western highlands, some eight hundred kilometers away and with little or no logistic support. In fact, it took a typical Bolivian soldier about 14 days to traverse the distance, while a Paraguayan soldier only took about four. The heavy equipment of Bolivia's army made things worse. The supply of water, given the dry climate of the region, also played a key role during the conflict. There were thousands of non-combat casualties due to dehydration, mostly among Bolivian troops.


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## gekho (Dec 28, 2010)

A key battle of the Chaco war took place at Fortín Nanawa, about 60 miles (97 km) Southeast of Boquerón. This stronghold was considered by the Paraguayans to be the backbone of their defenses. Former Imperial Russia's officers Ivan Belaieff and Nicolas Ern (who were anti-communist Russians under the service of the Paraguayan army as the Head of the General Staff and frontline commander respectively) had focused greatly on the fortification of this fortín. It had zig-zag trenches, miles of barbed wire, and many machine-gun nests (some in the trees). On January 20, 1933, Kundt, in personal command of the Bolivian force, launched six to nine aircraft and 6,000 unhorsed cavalry, supported by twelve Vickers guns. The cavalry unit's horses had previously died because of dehydration. Under Kundt, three frontal assaults failed. The Bolivians succeeded in capturing a few of the outer trenches, but heavy rains forced them to abandon the attack, which allowed Paraguayans to reoccupy the entire complex. By the end of January the Bolivians suffered 2,000 casualties without making much progress. The Paraguayans lost only 248 men. The defeat seriously damaged Kundt's prestige. This fortín was later nicknamed the "Verdun of South America." Partly due to costly frontal assaults of this nature, partly to the loss of the southern area of the Chaco by the end of 1933, Kundt was taken out of command and replaced by General Peñaranda. Moreover, Bolivia deployed at least three Vickers 6-Ton tanks during the war, in what was the first time case of cross-border armoured warfare inside the Americas. These machines proved to be ill-suited to the terrain and climate of Gran Chaco, when compared with the lightly-armed Paraguayan forces.

The Chaco War is also important historically as the first instance of large scale aerial warfare to take place in the Americas. Both sides made use of obsolete single-engined biplane bombers; despite an international arms embargo imposed by the League of Nations, Bolivia in particular went to great lengths in trying to import a small number of Curtiss T-32 Condor II twin-engined bombers masqueraded as civil transports, only to be halted in Peru during deliveries. At Ballivian, the last ever dogfight between bi-planes took place. The limited deployment of these "advanced" weapons caused enormous strains on both countries' impoverished economies, already stretched to the limit by war expenses.

The Paraguayan navy played a key role in carrying thousand of troops and supplies to the frontlines through the Paraguay River, as well as in providing antiaircraft support to transport ships and port facilities. 2 Italian gunboats, the Humaita and Paraguay ferried troops to Puerto Casado though they didn't join the fighting. On 22 December 1932, three Bolivian Vickers Vespa attacked the riverine outpost of Bahía Negra, killing a Paraguayan army colonel, but losing one of the aircraft, shot down by the gunboat Tacuary. The two surviving Vespas met another gunboat, the Humaitá, while flying downriver. Paraguayan sources claim that one of them was damaged. The Paraguayan navy air service was also very active in the conflict, harassing Bolivian troops deployed along the northern front with flying boats. The aircraft were moored at Bahía Negra Naval Air Base, and consisted of two Macchi M.18. These seaplanes carried out the first night air attack in South America when they raided the Bolivian outposts of Vitriones and San Juan, on 22 December 1934. Every year since then, the Paraguayan navy celebrates the 'day of the Naval Air Service' on the anniversary of the action.

While the military conflict ended with a comprehensive Paraguayan victory, from a wider point of view it was a disaster for both sides. Bolivia's European elite forcibly enlisted the large indigenous population into the army, though they felt little connection to the nation-state, while Paraguay was able to foment nationalist fervour among its predominantly mixed population. On both sides, but more so in the case of Bolivia, soldiers were ill-prepared for the dearth of water or the harsh conditions of terrain and climate they encountered. The effects of the altitude had maimed the Bolivian army: most of the indigenous soldiers lived on the cold Altiplano at altitudes of over 12,000 feet (3,700 m). They found themselves at a physical disadvantage when called upon to fight in sub-tropical temperatures at almost sea level. In fact, of the war's 100,000 casualties (about 57,000 of the total were Bolivian), more died from diseases such as malaria and other infections than from the actual fighting. At the same time, the war brought both countries to the brink of economic disaster. On November 27, 1934, Bolivian generals, frustrated by the progress of the war, arrested President Salamanca while he was visiting their headquarters in Villa Montes and replaced him with the vice-president, José Luis Tejada.

The Gran Chaco War, 1928-1935


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## Gnomey (Dec 28, 2010)

Good stuff!


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## gekho (Dec 29, 2010)

Brazilian military aviation began on 13 January 1913, when the Brazilian School of Aviation was founded. On 2 February 1914, the school began operations at Campo dos Afonsos near Rio de Janeiro with three Farman biplanes and five Blériot monoplanes that it had purchased from Italy. Organized under the Minister of War, the school was to train aviators for the Army and Navy. The Brazilian Navy, apparently not happy with this attempt at joint operations, established the Naval School of Aviation in August 1916. No longer a "joint service school," the Brazilian School of Aviation became the Military School of Aviation on 11 July 1919. For the next two decades, Brazilian military aviation would follow an Army/Navy dual track.2

Military aviation in Brazil remained a rather low-key operation for several years. No aviation units were formed, and the majority of aeronautical activities centered around the school at Campo dos Afonsos. On 13 January 1927, the Directorate of Military Aviation was formed. The director reported to the Minister of War and the Chief of Staff, the Military School of Aviation came under his authority, and officers in the grades of lieutenant, captain, and major were transferred from other branches of the Army to the Aviation Directorate. It is interesting to note that this reorganization of Brazilian Army aviation came less than a year after the United States Air Corps Act of 1926 and contained several similarities; however, any direct correlation is only speculative. Organizationally, Brazilian Army aviation remained concentrated at the Campos dos Afonsos school. On 2l May 1931, the first operational unit was formed, drawing equipment and personnel from the aviation school. Designated the Mixed Aviation Group, its commander was Major Eduardo Gomes.

In early 1933, reorganization and expansion of military aviation was begun when the Mixed Aviation Group became the First Aviation Regiment. On 29 March 1933, three Military Aviation Zones were formed. The headquarters for the 1st Zone was located in Rio de Janeiro and consisted of the First Aviation Regiment at Rio, the Sixth at Recife, and the Seventh at Belém. The 2d Aviation Zone, with headquarters at São Paulo, contained the Second Aviation Regiment at São Paulo and the Fourth at Belo Horizonte. The 3rd Aviation Zone had its headquarters at Porto Alegre in the southern part of the country and included the Third Regiment at Porto Alegre and the Fifth at Curitiba. Through the 1930s, the Brazilian Army aviation units concentrated on training and expanding their capabilities. Like their U.S. Army counterparts, they also participated in the air mail service, but the results were decidedly different. In fact, carrying the mail became a principal function of Brazilian Army aviation, and the mission was accomplished safely, efficiently, and effectively.3

Brazil is a huge country, larger than the continental United States. At the beginning of the 1930s, transportation posed a real problem as Brazilians sought to tie together their large and diverse nation. Rail and ship transportation were available but inadequate: railways were few and not interconnected, and ships were slow and insufficient to the country’s needs. Especially vexing was the problem of communications with the interior. Major Eduardo Gomes, the Mixed Aviation Group commander, approached the War Minister in 1931 with a possible solution: use the military aircraft to link the various parts of the country with an air mail system. The first flight occurred on 12 June 1931, when a Curtiss "Fledgling" piloted by Lieutenants Casimiro Montenegro Filho and Nelson Freire Lavenére-Wanderley carried two letters from Campos dos Afonsos to São Paulo. By July, thrice-weekly service between Rio and São Paulo was established and the Military Air Postal Service was in business. Shortly thereafter, the name of the system was changed to the Military Air Mail.


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## gekho (Dec 29, 2010)

On 12 October 1911, an unsuccessful attempt was made to open service to Goiás in the interior when Lieutenant Montenegro crash-landed his Curtiss shortly after takeoff, due to bad weather. However, on 19 October, Lieutenant Lavenére-Wanderley launched the second attempt and successfully completed the mission on the twenty-first. Expansion of the aviation organization into the three air zones in the spring of 1933 provided the necessary infrastructure, and equipment began to be improved in 1934 with the arrival of several Waco EGC-7 aircraft in the inventory. Also, in 1934, the Brazilian Navy initiated an air mail route from Rio south to Florianópolis. Other routes were established by both the Army and Navy so that, by 1938, the services were delivering mail to more than seventy cities throughout the country. In January 1941, with the creation of the Air Ministry, the Army and Navy systems were combined into the National Air Mail––a system that exists to the present––utilizing military and civilian aircraft to provide mail and cargo service to every part of the country.

Brazilian Army aviators may have been proud of their achievements, but––like their U.S. counterparts––they believed aviation should be separate and independent from the surface components. A "campaign" for the creation of an air ministry and a separate air force began in the 1920s. On 11 November 1928, the Sunday edition of the Rio de Janeiro newspaper 0 Jornal published an article by Major Lysias that outlined the need for a new and separate Ministry of Aviation. Two weeks later, a follow-up article by Major Lysias expanded on the ideas presented. These articles launched what was to be a continuing, albeit low-level, campaign for component "independence." Never reaching the level of the furor in the United States, the advocacy for a separate Air Ministry continued until, on 20 January 1941, the Brazilian Air Ministry was created. Six years "senior" to the U.S. Air Force, the Brazilian Air Force incorporated not only Army aviation but Brazilian naval aviation as well. Indeed, the Decree-Law No. 2961 of 20 January 1941 specified that the Air Ministry would include the Military Air Army, the Fleet Air Arm, and the Department of Civil Aviation. Initially known as the National Air Forces, the Brazilian Air Force per se came into being on 22 May 1941.

No doubt internal "agitation" played a part in the creation of a separate and independent air arm, but external events (particularly U.S. moves linked to security concerns about hemispheric defense) certainly had an impact on the Brazilian government and military. By 1938, the United States, particularly within the Air Corps, had begun to look toward the defense of the nation in real and practical ways as the events in Europe became more ominous. In October of that year, the Air Corps Board produced a study titled "Air Corps Mission under the Monroe Doctrine."4 Primarily designed to show the importance of aviation in providing defense, the report nevertheless made it quite clear that hostile occupation and resultant operational capability from some Caribbean islands or the northeast area of Brazil would present a serious danger to the Panama Canal and the southern United States.

As early as January 1938, President Roosevelt, in making a request for additional money for the Army and Navy, included a warning that any potential enemy must be kept "many hundreds of miles from our continental limits."5 Subsequently, late in 1938, Secretary of State Cordell Hull pushed for a declaration of "hemispheric foreign policy" at the Inter-American Conference of Lima, Peru.6 In the United States during late 1938, the joint Planning Committee studied what the United States might do in case of a German or Italian attempt to secure bases in Latin America. In February 1939, General George C. Marshall, the Assistant Chief of Staff, directed the Army War College to examine in secret what force would be necessary to make Brazil (and Venezuela) safe against assumed German designs to take them over.7 Thus, by the spring of 1939, the United States not only was worried about possible hostile intentions but was taking the first steps in planning counter or preventive moves.

Meanwhile, in December 1938, the German Army had extended an invitation to the Brazilian Chief of Staff to visit Berlin. Given the U.S. concern over possible hostile moves in the area, this overture must surely have been "unwelcome" news in Washington. Apparently, there were those in Rio de Janeiro who felt the same way, for, in January 1939, in an effort to forestall the Berlin visit, Brazilian Foreign Minister Oswaldo Aranha proposed that the U.S. Chief of Staff come to Brazil and then reciprocate with an invitation for the Brazilian Chief of Staff to visit the United States.


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## gekho (Dec 29, 2010)

When General Marshall's appointment as the new Chief of Staff was announced at the end of April, it was decided that Marshall would make the trip.9 He and his party departed New York on 10 May 1939 aboard the USS Nashville and arrived in Rio on the twenty-fifth. Their itinerary for twelve days included visits, dinners, receptions, and discussions with the Brazilians. On 6 June, the Nashville departed for the United States with the Brazilian Chief of Staff General Góes Monteiro and his party aboard. General Góes Monteiro was given an extensive tour of the United States, which must have impressed him, for he never made the visit to Berlin. The process of bringing the Brazilians "into the fold" had begun. Beginning in 1940, the United States made military equipment and assistance available to the Brazilians. A United States Military Mission was established in Brazil, surplus coast defense material was sold to Brazil at bargain prices, and training aircraft, light tanks, scout cars, and various other types of vehicles were supplied.10 All of this generosity was designed not only to enhance Brazilian capability but also to draw the Brazilians into a confidential relationship and onto the "side" opposing the Axis powers. What the United States really needed was access to air bases in northeastern Brazil that would allow its forces to cover the South Atlantic shipping lanes and concurrently deny the area to the Germans or Italians.

Getting U.S. military personnel actually into Brazil and acquiring base rights were not easy matters. There was a large German and Italian population in Brazil, authority for stationing U.S. troops in Brazil did not exist unless "specifically requested" by the Brazilian government, 11 and Brazilian officials felt that their government would not survive if it did "invite" the Americans.12 In any event, stationing of significant U.S. combat forces did not become necessary, and the bases in the northeast were acquired by a bit of sleight of hand. Pan American Airways was operating throughout Latin America, and its subsidiary, Panair do Brasil, had been granted rights to construct and improve airfields in Brazil. A secret contract (W1097-eng-2321) between Pan American and the War Department provided funds for the facility construction. The War Department obtained the funds from the President's special fund and transferred them through the Export-Import Bank after certification of Pan American's vouchers by a representative of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army. In return, all privileges enjoyed by Panair do Brasil were extended to U.S. military aircraft––extended by Pan American, that is. The rights granted by the Brazilian government to Panair do Brasil contained no provisions for military use of the airfields. However, in July 1941, General Robert Olds and Brigadier Eduardo Gomes (the former commander of the Mixed Aviation Group at Campo dos Afonsos and then commander of the Northeast Air Zone) negotiated an agreement whereby the Brazilian government permitted military use of the airfields, construction of military housing, and occupancy by USAAF technicians.13 As a result, airfields and facilities were improved or enhanced at Arnapá, Belém, São Luis, Fortaleza, Natal, Recife, Maceió, Salvador, and Caravelas.14 Thus, the United States acquired air base facilities from which it could provide air cover over the South Atlantic. More important, access to this strategic region was effectively denied to the Axis. Additionally, the string of airfields from the northern Amazon basin to just north of Rio de Janeiro provided a vital link in the eventual South Atlantic air-routes between the United States, North Africa, and southern Europe. On 23 May 1941, a political-military agreement between the United States and Brazil was signed, but it was broad and general in nature: no specific permission was granted for any particular installations. Practically all negotiations and agreements continued to be verbal between USAAF/USN personnel and Brigadier Eduardo Gomes, the Northeast Air Zone commanders.15 Finally, in June 1941, a formal agreement for U.S. bases in Brazil was signed by the two nations.

Stationing of large contingents of U.S. forces never occurred, but in 1941 and early 1942 there was serious consideration to implement the idea. On 13 June 1941, the Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of War forwarded to the President a report of the Joint Planning Committee of the Joint Army and Navy Board recommending that immediate consent of the Brazilian government be obtained to move Army and Navy security forces to northeast Brazil. The Army contingent would consist of one "triangular division" and an air force of two bomb groups, one pursuit group, one transport group, one observation squadron, and two reconnaissance squadrons. This air force component would comprise some 10,000 personnel and 226 aircraft.17 On 7 January 1942, Air War Plans Division recommended to the Chief of the Air Staff that this force be sent––prepared, if not invited, to seize the installations "by force at once." The German Navy provided the impetus to preclude direct U.S. combat entry "by force" when it stepped up submarine activity in the South Atlantic and attacked several Brazilian ships. On 28 January 1942, Brazil broke diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy, and Japan. By the second half of 1942, U.S. Navy PBY-5 Catalinas and PV-1 Hudsons were operating from Brazilian bases, and Brazilian Air Force crews were actively training to take over the mission. In April 1944, the U.S. Navy began to withdraw, and by the end of that year the Brazilians assumed the mission. Until the end of the war, the Brazilians carried out maritime patrol and antisubmarine warfare operations, using B-25 bombers, PBYs, and Lockheed Hudsons and Venturas.

In the meantime, Brazil had declared war on the Axis. On 18 December 1943, its military established the First Fighter Group to accompany a Brazilian infantry division to Italy.20 Training initially on P-40s in Florida and Panama, the group moved in June 1944 to Suffolk Air Base, Long Island, New York, to transition into the P-47. On 10 September 1944, the First Fighter Group departed Newport, Virginia, on the French ship Colombie and traveled in convoy to Livorno, Italy, arriving 6 October 1944. Its first mission was flown eight days later. The Brazilian unit was assigned to the 350th Fighter Group, USAAF. Beginning combat operations on 31 October, the Brazilians flew initially with USAAF squadrons in order to gain combat experience. On 11 November, they began operating in formations that were exclusively Brazilian. Employed as fighter-bombers, the Brazilian P-47s provided close air support and flew interdiction missions. By the time the war ended in May 1945, the First Fighter Group had flown 2546 sorties and 5465 combat hours. The group destroyed 1304 motor vehicles of various types, 13 railway engines, 250 railcars, 8 armored cars, 25 rail and highway bridges, and 31 fuel and munitions depots, shooting down 2 aircraft and damaging 9 others en route.

The combat achievements of the Brazilians did not come without losses. Of the forty-eight pilots who flew with the First Fighter Group, there were twenty-two casualties. Five pilots were killed by antiaircraft fire, eight were shot down but bailed out successfully over enemy territory, three died in flying accidents not related directly to combat operations, and six were "grounded" due to "combat fatigue." Those killed were buried initially in the Brazilian cemetery at Pistoia, Italy. Subsequently, their remains were returned to Brazil and interned in a crypt in the Monument of the Dead of the Second World War, located in Rio de Janeiro. Two months after the war ended, the First Fighter Group returned to Brazil. Thus ended the Brazilian Air Force's combat operations. From its meager beginnings at Campo dos Afonsos in 1913, the Brazilian Air Force achieved independence from the Army (and Navy) and became an equal partner in its nation's defense organization. Born of the necessities of impending war in the early 1940s, the Brazilian Air Force "won its spurs" in World War II. It continues today as a well-organized, competent member of Brazil's armed forces.

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## Wayne Little (Dec 30, 2010)

Interesting reading....


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## Gnomey (Dec 30, 2010)

Good stuff!


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## CharlesBronson (Dec 31, 2010)

Very good work Gekho. the Bolivia Air Force has been historically lame, incompatibleif you realize the enourmous natural resources the country has.


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## imalko (Dec 31, 2010)

Interesting stuff here. Thanks for sharing.
Just wondering, is there some country in the world that _didn't_ operate C-47/DC-3?


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## gekho (Jan 2, 2011)

The Fuerza Aérea Mexicana was founed during the revolutionary period, when different revolutionary factions used aircraft for aerial reconnaissance and bombings on ships as well as enemy positions. The majority of the pilots being American mercenaries. The first naval air combat on the American continent occurred in 1914 in Mexico. The Air Service, later known as the Mexican Air Force, established its first airfield at Balbuena, just outside Mexico City. Aviation workshops producing aircraft of national design as well as engines were also established. The Air Force participated in many campaigns through the 1920's and 1930's in support of the army in putting down many rebel factions and armed bands, flying a number of Mexican, American, French, English general purpose aircraft (DH DH-4B, Douglas O-2M, Farman F-50, Bristol F2B, Chance Vought Corsairs O2U-2M, TNCA Serie B etc.) 

During WW II the FAM undertook anti-submarine patrols using armed AT-6 Texans and Vought Kingfishers. During the second half of the war the 201st Mexican Fighter Squadron of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force, fought in the liberation of the Philippines in 1945, flying Republic P-47D Thunderbolt fighterbombers, that would later serve in the post war air force as the sole pure fighter of the FAM. During the 1960s the FAM received its first jet aircraft in the form of the Lockheed T-33A and the DH Vampire Mk3, forming the first jet squadrons. The seventies saw the beginning of the phase out of the majority of the lend-lease aircraft that served the FAM.

In recent years the FAM has undergone a major reorganization to meet the needs in the war against drugs and in humanitarian roles. In the late nineties many Russian built helicopters were procured. A decision concerning the fate of the Northrop F-5E/F fighters and the surviving T-33s has yet to be taken. Recently six Hercules transport aircraft were bought and delivered from either the United Kingdom and Israel, boosting the FAM's heavylift capacities. Two additional Arava transports were also bought in 2002. On the helicopter front, four Bell 412EPs were delivered during the same year. A recent order for four ex-Israeli CH-53-2000 marks the switch from Russian to American equipment. With the arrival of three EMB145s the FAm now has a considerable airborne early warning capacity, demanded in its ongoing counternarcotics battle.


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## gekho (Jan 2, 2011)

More pics


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## Gnomey (Jan 2, 2011)

Nice stuff!


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## gekho (Jan 3, 2011)

The birth date of military aviation in Uruguay is 17 March 1913 when the Escuela de Aviación Militar was formed on a small airport 50 km from Montevideo. As with many other Latino countries the first instruction was performed by a European, a French instructor using Farman biplanes. Ten army officers formed the select group chosen to be the first Uruguayan military aviators. Among this first group were Juan Manuel Boiso Lanza (the first martyr of the FAU dying in a plane crash 10 August 1918) and Alférez Cesáreo L. Berisso (the future commander of the aviation school).

Along with two other young officers, Adhemar Saenz Lacueva and Esteban Cristi, they gained their military aviator status in Argentina and Chile and formed the Escuela Militar de Aviación (EMA) on 20 November 1916. This school exclusively performed military aviation in Uruguay until 1935. Several European aircraft types were used in fairly large numbers during the twenties, among which were about sixteen Avro 504K, up to thirteen Breguet XIV, at least five Castaibert 80, about 28 Nieuport 27, and various other aircraft in smaller quantities. These pioneering years saw many air routes opened and an overall increase in interest in flight and its military potential.


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## gekho (Jan 3, 2011)

The first significant boost in capability occurred 21 December 1949 with the arrival of ten TBM-1C Avengers that were flown from Fort Worth to Laguna del Sauce by Aviación Naval personnel. Three SNJ-4 Texans and six more Avengers followed in April and May 1950. All aircraft were delivered through air, no mean feat for this fledgling air arm. This year also saw the first naval aviators trained in Uruguay graduate from the Escuela de Aviación Naval. Further aircraft that were taken on charge during the fifties include the PT-26, ten F6F Hellcats, two PA-18 and three Martin PBM Mariners. The first helicopter also arrived in this decade in the shape of two Bell 47G. This exciting period also had its bleak moments, for example on 20 June 1957 when a SNJ went missing during a search mission for an Argentinean ship and the PT-26 sent out to find it crashed also.

The sixties saw further development and the first of a long lasting string of international exercises called UNITAS was held in 1960 with participation of the Uruguayan Navy, the naval air arm participated with two Mariners. More aircraft arrived with three TC-45J, the first three S-2A Trackers, a single T-34B Mentor and two SH-34J (followed by two CH-34J later), and two TH-13T helicopters continuing the bonds with the United States. In 1971 the Uruguayan navy performed their first operation from an aircraft carrier when S-2A 851 flew from the Argentinean carrier 25 de Mayo. Neighboring Argentina also provided aircraft, for example some SNJ-4 Texans in the sixties and three TC-45H along with nine T-28S Fennec in 1979 were obtained from that source.


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## gekho (Jan 3, 2011)

From the eighties onward the current inventory of the Aviación Naval was incorporated. With the Beech 200T arriving in 1980, the three T-34C followed in 1981, and three S-2G in 1982 and 1983. Also a Bell 222 was used temporarily in the early eighties. They traded their two remaining Texans for a single air force T-34B (originally from Chile) in 1985, a single Bell 47G-5 arrived in 1988. Three Ce182 joined the force in 1990, a single PA-34-200T and two Wessex were taken on charge in 1992, followed by a single Bell 47G in the same year. Two more T-34A were obtained, again from the Air Force (this time former Spanish aircraft). More Wessex were to be incorporated, a series 60 example arrived in 1994 followed by five Wessex HC2 in 1998 that were included in a comprehensive deal with Great Britain. Under this deal the Uruguayan navy was also provided with two Jetstream aircraft in 1999. The nineties also saw the delivery of the second PA-34 in 1995 and another lone Bell 47G arrived in the same year. Laguna del Sauce remained the main operating base throughout this period and is still very much the focal point of Naval Aviation today. The wish list of the Aviation Naval includes a new patrol aircraft, Orions have been offered but proved to costly to operate.


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## gekho (Jan 3, 2011)

http://www.pilotoviejo.com/os2uhistoria.htm
http://www.pilotoviejo.com/hellcathistory.htm
http://www.pilotoviejo.com/images/avenger/avengerhistoria.htm
http://www.pilotoviejo.com/memoriasna1.htm


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## gekho (Jan 3, 2011)

More pics


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## gekho (Jan 3, 2011)

More pics


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## gekho (Jan 3, 2011)

Argentina was early in its development of a military air element. First usage of 'air power' took place in 1866 when balloons were used for aerial observation in the Guerra de la Triple Alianza (the war of triple alliance) against Paraguay. In those years the aerial demonstration scene was dominated by European daredevils never finding a big following by Argentineans until Christmas 1907 when the first take off was organised by Argentineans themselves. With a hot air balloon Aarón de Anchorena and Jorge Newbery managed to cross the River Plate to Uruguay, a feat that was never accomplished by Latin Americans before (although Americans had done it in 1887). This spurred aviation interest in Argentina. On 8 January 1908 the Aero Club Argentino was formed by a select group of enthusiasts putting Argentina in the forefront of Latin American aviation development. This led to the first motorised flight on 30 January 1910 (by Italian pilot Ricardo Ponzelli in a 50hp Voisin) and the inauguration of the first airfield on 23 March of the same year at Villa Lugano, Buenos Aires. The military showed increasing interest in aviation and the Aeroclub was tasked to integrate military aviation in the army. Eventually, the Escuela de Aviación Militar (military aviation school) was formed 10 August 1912 (later, in 1954, this became the official 'day of the air force'). 

El Palomar in the Campo de Mayo military area was adopted as the home base of military aviation. The early days saw a big influence from the Aeroclub, especially engineers Alberto Mascias and Jorge Newbery because the government simply lacked knowledge, funds and equipment. In honour of their achievements they were granted military aviator status before the first class of officers graduated. Jorge Newbery sadly died in a plane crash 1 March 1914, the Aeroparque airport of Buenos Aires is named after him. Involvement of the civil Aeroclub in military Aviation School ended in 1915 when the military was sufficiently trained to organise flight instruction and air operations renaming the school in Escuela Militar de Aviación in the process. The name reverted to Escuela de Aviación Militar again in 1944 and it is still known by that name today.

In 1919 the first Army air service was formed and after inception of the Grupo 1 de Observación in January 1922, the school was initially dissolved into this unit, but was re-instated in January 1925. After years of operating various small aircraft of European origin (Nieuports and Ansaldos for example), 1926 saw the arrival of about thirty Brequet XIV light bombers. Significant progress in Argentinean aviation was also achieved when on 10 October 1927 the Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA) was created at Cordoba. FMA started building Avro 504K, Dewoitine D21 and Curtiss 75 aircraft enabling the first international flight to Rio de Janeiro with FMA built aircraft in 1933. The military aviation school eventually relocated to Cordoba as well in 1937 and was re-equipped with the license built FW44J Stieglitz. Shortly after that a military passengers service was created with Ju-52 aircraft that eventually led to the formation of the air transport group in December 1941 at El Palomar. The first state airline was formed shortly after: Líneas Aéreas del Estado (LADE).


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## gekho (Jan 3, 2011)

As can be read in the general military aviation history part, the flying units were still part of the army in 1940. The quest for independence gained momentum in the forties. A revolution in 1943 brought a lieutenant colonel from the aviation branch to power among others and the formation of the independent air force was imminent. Subsequently, Air Force command was formed 11 February 1944 and the secretary of Aeronautics on 4 January 1945. The air force also adopted its own badges and ranks in the intervening period. Although the structure was in place, much of the necessary infrastructure still needed to be created. Paved runways and both military and civil airfields were introduced and the late forties and early fifties saw an influx of modern aircraft. The Gloster Meteor was the first jet aircraft adopted in any Latin American country. They arrived in 1947 and by December of that year the first unit, Regimiento 4 de Caza Interceptora (4th Fighter-Interceptor regiment) became operational at Tandil. Other typical aircraft of that era were Lincoln bombers and DC-3, 4 and DC-6 transports. Meanwhile the FMA produced some indigenous aircraft designs as well like the Pulqui and Calquin. The forces were no longer concentrated in the Buenos Aires province as other military aviation regions were formed from 15 March 1950 onward. These included six Brigadas Aéreas (I at El Palomar, II at Paraná, III at Reconquista, IV at Mendoza, V at Villa Reynolds and VI at Tandil). Moreover, other commands were formed at staff level further enhancing the professionalism of the fledgling air force. Many of these commands and brigades are still operational today.

The sixties saw the first Antarctic base, Base Aérea Vicecomodoro Marambio, being constructed and the first participation of the Air Force in an UN mission in Congo. This decade marked the last one in which American equipment could be obtained (the F-86 and A-4 for example) easily. The seventies saw some harsh internal struggles that demanded attention of government resources. It also led to the restriction of arms sales to Argentina. The FAA had to rely on indigenous manufactured aircraft from the mid-seventies like the IA-58 Pucara and fighter nonetheless received aircraft from several countries (like Daggers from Israel). Thus slowly but gradually modernising its forces the 1982 Malvinas campaign in which the Falkland Islands were captured from the British could be launched successfully. Although some heroic air-to-air and air-to-ship operations were executed, the Argentinean forces failed to ward off the British forces, which recaptured the islands destroying and capturing various Argentinean air assets in the process.

Aided by befriended countries the FAA reinforced itself again to make up for the encountered losses. Mirage 3C were obtained from Israel, Mirage 5 were provided by Peru. More modern trainers were obtained in Brazil (EMB312 Tucanos) to augment the venerable Beech B45 still performing that job at Cordoba. The Pampa project was started aimed at building an advanced trainer and light attack aircraft to replace the MS760 Paris that was still in service in that role. Due to several circumstances the programme was ill-fated and the Paris had to soldier on. More Tucanos were obtained to make up for the delay in Pampa deliveries as well. With a grim economic situation the prospects were not that good for the FAA in the late eighties and early nineties. Noteworthy light at the end of the tunnel was the arrival of the A-4AR Fightinghawk, an upgraded version of the Skyhawk, in the second halve of the nineties. The subsequent boost in the indigenous aircraft manufacturing plant (effectively taken over by Lockheed) meant another leash of life for the Pampa programme as well. Together with Mirage 5 aircraft brought up to 'Finger' standard, the A-4AR forms the backbone of the current FAA which still has a way to go with regard to force-wide modernisation.


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## Gnomey (Jan 3, 2011)

Nice shots!


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## bobbysocks (Jan 3, 2011)

man, the Uruguayan Air Force had a pretty nice and diversified fleet.


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## muggs (Jan 4, 2011)

Your National Air Forces are amazing gekho, please keep em coming, i am interested in Hungary/Romania/Croatia/Bulgaria/Ex-Yugo and more obscure european ones !


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## gekho (Jan 4, 2011)

muggs said:


> Your National Air Forces are amazing gekho, please keep em coming, i am interested in Hungary/Romania/Croatia/Bulgaria/Ex-Yugo and more obscure european ones !



Czechoslovakia Air Force comming as soon as I finish this one


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## gekho (Jan 4, 2011)

Built as a private venture by the Stearman Aircraft Company of Wichita (bought by Boeing in 1934), this two-seat biplane was of mixed construction. The wings were of wood with fabric covering while the fuselage had a tough, welded steel framework, also fabric covered. Either a Lycoming R-680 (PT-13) or Continental R-670 (PT-17) engine powered most models, at a top speed of 124 mph with a 505-mile range. An engine shortage in 1940-41 led to the installation of 225-hp Jacobs R-755 engines on some 150 airframes, and the new designation PT-18. The US Navy's early aircraft, designated NS-1, eventually evolved into the N2S series, and the Royal Canadian Air Force called their Lend-Lease aircraft PT-27s. (The Canadians were also responsible for the moniker "Kaydet," a name eventually adopted by air forces around the globe).

The plane was easy to fly, and relatively forgiving of new pilots. It gained a reputation as a rugged airplane and a good teacher. Officially named the Boeing Model 75, the plane was (and still is) persistently known as the "Stearman" by many who flew them. It was called the "PT" by the Army, "N2S" by the Navy and "Kaydet" by Canadian forces. By whatever name, more than 10,000 were built by the end of 1945 and at least 1,000 are still flying today worldwide.

After the WWII, there were many remainning planes available for foreigners customers, and that allowed Argentina to acquire 60 units of PT-17 version. At the beginning, they were assigned to the Aviation Naval School, being later transfered to the General Purpose Aeronaval Squadron, where they were used for very different tasks. In 1958 many were retired, although some examples were bought by sport association or sold to other neighbouring countries.


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## gekho (Jan 4, 2011)

The prototype of the Fairey III was the N.10 floatplane, which was designed and built in 1917 by Fairey Aviation (along with the smaller N.9) to meet Admiralty Specification N.2(a) for a carrier-based seaplane for the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War. N.10, also known by its constructer's number F.128 was a two-bay biplane with folding wings and powered by a 260 hp (190 kW) Sunbeam Maori engine. It first flew from the Port Victoria seaplane station on the Isle of Grain, Kent on 14 September 1917. Following tests both as a floatplane and with a conventional wheeled undercarriage, production orders were placed for two versions both powered by the Maori, the IIIA and IIIB, with 50 and 60 aircraft planned, respectively. The Fairey IIIA was a reconnaissance aircraft intended to operate from aircraft carriers, and as such was fitted with a wheeled or skid undercarriage, while the IIIB was intended as a floatplane bomber, with larger span (increased from 46 ft 2 in/14.19 m to 62 ft 9 in/19.13 m) upper wings and a bombload of three 230 lb (105 kg) bombs. While all 50 IIIAs were built, only 28 of the IIIBs were completed as intended, as a new improved bomber/reconnaissance floatplane, the Fairey IIIC was available, of which 36 were produced, which reverted to short equal-span wings like the IIIA but was powered by the much more powerful and reliable 375 hp (280 kW) Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII engine and could still carry a useful bombload. Many of the IIIBs were completed as IIICs.

The first major production model was the IIID, which was an improved IIIC, with provision for a third crewmember and capable of being fitted with either a floatplane or a conventional wheeled undercarriage. It first flew in August 1920, powered by a Rolls-Royce Eagle, and initial production for the Fleet Air Arm, together with aircraft produced for Australia and Portugal retained the Eagle, while later aircraft were powered by the more powerful Napier Lion. The naval variants were usually three-seaters; pilot, observer and gunner and the wings would could be folded back parallel to the fuselage for storage aboard ship. In floatplane configuration, carrier-borne Fairey IIIs would be launched from the deck using a trolley and would land on the water upon their return. The Fairey III floatplane could also be catapult-launched from a ship. The IIID had a wooden, fabric-covered fuselage and usually a wooden, two-blade, fixed-pitch propeller. One IIID was built with metal wings and floats. A total of 207 IIIDs were produced for the Fleet Air Arm and RAF, with a further 20 being built for export.

A Fairey III floatplane (G-EALQ) with a 450 hp Napier Lion was entered into the Air Ministry Commercial Amphibian Competition of September 1920. The most prolific and enduring of the Fairey IIIs was the final model, the IIIF, which was designed to meet Air Ministry Specification 19/24 for a three-seat spotter/reconnaissance aircraft for the Fleet Air Arm and a two-seat general purpose aircraft for the Royal Air Force. The IIIF, which first flew on 20 April 1926, had a more streamlined engine installation and initially a fuselage of mixed metal and wooden construction, with similar wings to the IIID, although later production aircraft were fitted with an all-metal fuselages and wings. Over 350 IIIFs were operated by the Fleet Air Arm, making it the most widely used type of aircraft in Fleet Air Arm service between the wars. In fact, of the British military aircraft in the inter-war years, only the Hawker Hart family was produced in greater numbers. Three IIIFs were modified as a radio-controlled gunnery trainer, known as the Fairey Queen. The Fairey IIIF was also the basis for development of the Gordon and Seal.


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## gekho (Jan 4, 2011)

Six units were bought at the UK in 1930. The floats were made of aluminum, with a weight of 100 kg, what made them lose the 10% of its speed and autonomy. They were sent to the Patrol Plane Squadron first, and later to the Reconnaissance Sea Fleet. In 1935 these planes were fitted with the new Armstrong Siddeley Panther IV engines, which improved its performance. One of them (R-54) was lost in an accident, and the goverment decided to acquire a new unit, this time a Fairey IV "Seal", with a better performance than the others. At the end of its life they were destinated to the "Punta Indio" Aeronaval Base, were they were used as light bombers. They were withdrawn from service in 1940.


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## gekho (Jan 5, 2011)

Junkers W 34 was a German-built, single-engine, passenger and transport aircraft. Developed in the 1920s, it was taken into service in 1926. The passenger version could take a pilot and five passengers. The aircraft was developed from the Junkers W 33. Further development led to the Junkers Ju 46. One Junkers W 34 be/b3e managed to break the then current altitude record on May 26, 1929 when it reached 12,739 meters (41,402 feet). That aircraft carried the markings D-1119 and it was equipped with a Bristol Jupiter VII engine. The airplane was flown by Friedrich W. Neuenhofen.

A single unit was bought by Argentina, that used it for trainning purposes, althought sometimes it was used for photograph and reconnaissance duties.


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## gekho (Jan 5, 2011)

The Vought O2U Corsair was a 1920s biplane scout and observation aircraft. Made by Vought Corporation, the O2U was ordered by the United States Navy (USN) in 1927. Powered by a 400 hp (298 kW) Pratt Whitney R-1340 Wasp engine, it incorporated a steel-tube fuselage structure and a wood wing structure with fabric covering. Many were seaplanes or amphibians. In 1927, a total of 291 O2Us were produced. The O2U-2, -3 and -4 were ordered in 1928 with minor changes. By 1930 they were being superseded by the O3U which was basically similar to the O2U-4, one of which was fitted with the Grumman float, and were manufactured until 1936. A total of 289 were built. Many of them had cowled engines and some had enclosed cockpits


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## gekho (Jan 5, 2011)

Export versions included the Corsair V-65F, V-66F and V-80Fp for the Argentine Navy. A total of 12 units were sent to Argentina in 1933. They were used for many different duties, like fighters, light bombers and as reconnaissance aircrafts for the navy.


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## Gnomey (Jan 5, 2011)

Good stuff!


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## gekho (Jan 6, 2011)

The Supermarine Walrus was a catapult-launched, biplane amphibian with pusher propeller, developed from the Seagull. The Prototype desigjnated the Segull V had one 635hp Pegasus IIM2 engine, it was initially built as a private venture, this then became a production model for RAAF. The first production models in 1935 were the Walrus Mk I, redesignated from the Seagull V for service with the RAF and FAA; some fitted with ASV radar. The Walrus was rather rectangular in outline, and did not show that it was built by the same manufacturer as the Spitfire. It was the standard catapult- launched reconnaissance and SAR (Search And Rescue) aircraft for some time. 740 were built between 1936 and 1944.


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## gekho (Jan 6, 2011)

The first two units, bought in 1940, were coded 2-0-1 and 2-0-2 and served until 1948. Eight more Walrus were acquired between 1946 and 1950, being transported by the cruiser "La Argentina". However, these new units were Mark.I; they were fitted with Bristol Pegasus IV engines and could reach a speed of 230 km/h.


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## gekho (Jan 6, 2011)

Designed to meet a requirement of the New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA) for an aircraft to serve the coastal routes in South America. Consolidated designed the Model 17 Fleetster. The Fleestster had a streamlined all-metal monocoque fuselage with a wooden wing. The powerplant was a 575 hp (429 kW) Pratt Whitney R-1860 Hornet B radial engine. It was available as a landplane or seaplane and could accommodate up to eight passengers, although the three NYRBA aircraft were fitted with two full-width seats each for three passengers. A parasol-wing version (the Model 20 Fleetster) was also developed with the wing supported by four short struts. The open cockpit was moved to behind the passenger cabin and the space used as a cargo compartment. In 1932 a carrier-borne dive bomber version (Model 18) was evaluated by the United States Navy as the XBY-1, it was not ordered but was the first stressed-skin aircraft, and the first aircraft with integral fuel tanks in the wings operated by the Navy.

A single unit served with the Argentinian Navy; acquired in 1932 and coded T-204 first, and later 2-GT-3, it was retired in 1936, when it was donated to the Agriculture Department.


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## gekho (Jan 7, 2011)

The Reliant is a three-place high-wing land monoplane powered with a Lycoming Model R-680-13 Engine. The engine is fitted with an 8'6" constant speed propeller and the conventional landing gear is equipped with hydraulically-operated brakes. Wing flaps are vacuum-operated." 1,327 were made from 1933 to 1941, in different models, from SR-1 to SR-10. The final model, the Stinson Reliant SR-10, was introduced in 1938. The SR-10 was used by the U.S. Army in World War II as a utility aircraft, designated UC-81, and as trainer designated AT-19. They were also used by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force for light transport and communication duties. After the war they were sold on the civilian market as the Vultee V-77. The V-77 was a spartan version of the SR-10 with the 300hp Lycoming R680-E3B, a single door on the left side and the traditional "Bump" cowl was replaced with a simpler smooth cowl.

Two units were bought in 1937 for the Argentinian Navy; the aircraft coded 1-E-67 was destroyed in an accident in 1941, while the other one flew with the Navy until 1944, when it was replaced by a Vultee BT-13 A. They were used as light transports, basic trainning and as reconnassaice aircrafts.


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## gekho (Jan 7, 2011)

The Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75, was an American designed and built fighter aircraft of the 1930s and 40s. A contemporary of the both the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, it was one of the first of a new generation of combat aircraft—a sleek monoplane design making extensive use of metal in its construction and powered by a powerful radial engine. Obsolete at the onset of World War II and best known as the predecessor of the Curtiss P-40, the P-36 saw only limited combat with the United States Army Air Forces, but it was used more extensively by the French Air Force, both during the Battle of France and by the Vichy France armed forces, and also by the British Commonwealth (where it was known as the Mohawk), and Chinese air units. Several dozen also fought in the Finnish Air Force against the Soviet Air Forces. With around 1,000 aircraft built, the P-36 was a major commercial success for Curtiss. This article also covers the YP-37 and the XP-42 prototypes based on the P-36.

Argentina bought a number of the simplified, fixed landing gear Hawk 75Os, (intended for rough-field operations and ease of maintenance) and purchased a manufacturing license for the type. These aircraft used the same engine, Wright Cyclone R-1820-G5 as the Martin 139WAA's (B-10) and Northrop 8A-2s used by the Argentine Army Aviation at the time. Usually armed with 1 x 11.35 mm Madsen machine gun and 3 x 7.65 mm Madsen light machine guns, there was provision for up to 10 bombs of 30 pounds each on underwing pylons. The last Argentinian Hawks remained in service until November 1954.


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## gekho (Jan 7, 2011)

More pics


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## Gnomey (Jan 7, 2011)

Interesting shots!


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## gekho (Jan 11, 2011)

A single unit was acquired for the Navy to be used as a photografic plane. It was coded F-1, being destroyed in an accident


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## gekho (Jan 11, 2011)

The Douglas DC-2 was a 14-seat, twin-propeller airliner produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Corporation starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935 Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which became one of the most successful aeroplanes in history. Five used units were bought in Venezuela. When the planes arrived to Argentina, they were in very bad conditions and it was decided to replace their engines, being fitted the Glen Martin B-139 WAN. They were destinated to the Naval transport Squadron, operating between 1946 and 1958. Four of them were sold in 1959.


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## gekho (Jan 11, 2011)

The Grumman J2F Duck (company designation G-15) was an American single-engine amphibious biplane. The J2F was an improved version of the earlier JF Duck, differing by having a longer float. The J2F-1 Duck first flew on 2 April 1936 powered by a 750 hp (559 kW) Wright R-1820 Cyclone, and was delivered to the US Navy on the same day. The J2F-2 had a Wright Cyclone engine but boosted to 790 hp (589 kW). 20 J2F-3 variants were built in 1939 for use as executive transports for the Navy with plush interiors. Due to pressure of work following the United States entry into the war in 1941, production of the J2F Duck was transferred to the Columbia Aircraft Corp of New York. They produced 330 aircraft for the Navy and US Coast Guard. Several surplus Navy Ducks were converted for use by the United States Air Force in the air-sea rescue role as the OA-12 in 1948.


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## gekho (Jan 11, 2011)

15 units were acquired between 1939 and 1940. The differences between the G-15 and G-20 were only on the propeller. They served on Observation Squadron of the Fleet and some of them were embarked in the argentinian navy cruisers between 1939 and 1947, when they were replaced by the J2F5 and 6.


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## fnqvmuch (Jan 11, 2011)

thinking aloud; ducks 4 and 6 - while probably different negs - possibly the same plane, just mirrored?
steven
ps please don't think i'm not appreciative and thankful for what you're doing, though ...


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## Gnomey (Jan 11, 2011)

Good stuff!


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## gekho (Jan 12, 2011)

15 units were acquired in cotober 1935, and armed at the BAPI workshop. Later 13 unit more were construted under license. Destinated to the ESAN squadron, they were nicknamed "Kelitos", due to its small size and yellow colour. When they were retired from service in 1957, many of them were donated to private Aeroclubsan to the Aeronautical Departament of the Argentinian goverment


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## gekho (Jan 12, 2011)

The Argentinian Navy acquired three units on 1937. By that time this magnificent product of the Curtiss was having a successful life, and the Navy used one of them as a transport and parachute aircraft, another one as VIP transport and the last one as flying ambulance. They were the pioneers of the Aeronaval Transport Command, and after many years of services, they were retired in 1947. These three Condors were the last ones built at the Curtiss´s St. Louis factory, and they were bought to transport the Wrights engines, due to their big deck.


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## Gnomey (Jan 12, 2011)

Nice shots!


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## TheMustangRider (Jan 12, 2011)

Great information coupled with great photographs.
I wonder if you have some photographs of the "Soccer War" between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969 in which, as far as I know was the last conflict where WWII era prop-driven fighters were utilized as weapons to achieve air supremacy and in which the last Corsair was shot down ironically by another Corsair.

Thanks for sharing this information with us.


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## CharlesBronson (Jan 12, 2011)

Nice work gekho, but most of the aircraft you ve posted under the tag "argentina air force" are in fact from the Armada, Navy.
The only proper air force (army air force to be more precise since the air force as independent arm was created in only 1947) is the P-36 Hawk.



> thinking aloud; ducks 4 and 6 - while probably different negs - possibly the same plane, just mirrored?



It is mirrored indeed, the caption is reversed in the 2nd photo.


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## gekho (Jan 13, 2011)

TheMustangRider said:


> I wonder if you have some photographs of the "Soccer War" between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969



Actually I am posting all the pictures I have of the South american Air Forces. As I said at the beggining of this thread, I dont have many photos and I would had prefered to face this matter in a better way. Perhaps in a future I will get more and better pictures, but right now this is all I have.


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## gekho (Jan 13, 2011)

CharlesBronson said:


> Nice work gekho, but most of the aircraft you ve posted under the tag "argentina air force" are in fact from the Armada, Navy.



Yes, I know, but this thread is about the Air Forces, and I prefered to put them all under the same title. In any case if you have seen the text translation I usually remark it. By the way, I have tried to find information about the Argentinian Air Force, but it is being quite difficult. It seems the Air Force was created later than the Navy Air Arm. First time I see this....


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## gekho (Jan 13, 2011)

During 1934, the Fairchild company designed a business or executive aircraft with five seats, designated the Model 45. It first flew on 31 May 1935. The Model 45 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional cantilever tail unit and a retractable tailwheel landing gear. The aircraft was powered by a 225 hp (168 kW) Jacobs L-4 radial engine and had a luxury five-seat interior as standard. Flight testing showed that the aircraft performed well although it was described as sedate. Fairchild upgraded the protoype with a larger engine, the Wright R-760 radial, for evaluation. In this configuration it was designated the Model 45-A. This configuration was placed in production, with about 16 units being completed. Argentina bought three units in 1937 for the Navy, to be used as VIP transport and photografic aircraft. They were retired in 1948.

In 1929-1930, Fairchild (Canada) designed an eight-seat transport known as the Model 81. The single prototype was powered by either a 575 hp Pratt Whitney Hornet or Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar. The design was a "one-off" and did not enter production. In 1934, the parent company had also developed the Super 71 variant of the Fairchild 71, but reception in the marketplace was lukewarm. Undaunted, the company continued to refine the design and produced the Model 82 the following year. This retained the stretched forward fuselage and separate flight deck that had been a feature of the Super 71, but increased passenger and load capacity. The resulting aircraft proved a modest success, with three sold to the government of Venezuela, one to the government of Mexico, and another seven going to various Canadian regional airlines. Variants with various powerplant changes followed, three of which were sold to the Argentine Navy. They were retired in 1947.


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## gekho (Jan 13, 2011)

The Douglas Dolphin was an amphibious flying boat. While fewer than 60 were built, they served a wide variety of roles: private ” air yacht”, airliner, military transport, and search and rescue. It began in 1930 as the twin-engine “Sinbad,” intended as a luxury aircraft. It was a high-wing monoplane, with two radial engines mounted above the wing. Its six to eight passengers looked out picture windows, and their baggage was stored in a 30-cubic-foot area. The Depression curtailed demand for such extravagance, so the Sinbad was sold to the United States Coast Guard. 58 of the next version, the Dolphin, were built between 1931 and 1934. The Dolphin retracted its landing gear for water landings and evolved into 17 variants to meet military or civilian needs. It . Among the first purchasers were the Wilmington – Catalina Airline and Standard Oil of New Jersey.

A sigle unit was sold to Argentina in 1933. It served with the Navy Departament and also as a transport aircraft and giving logistic support to the operative squadrons. It was retired in 1948.


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## gekho (Jan 13, 2011)

The Fleet Model 1 (originally the Consolidated Model 14 Husky Junior) and its derivatives were a family of two-seat trainer and sports plane produced in the United States and Canada in the 1920s and 30s. They all shared the same basic design and varied mainly in their powerplants. They were all orthodox biplanes with staggered, single-bay wings of equal span and fixed tailskid undercarriage. The model 11 was a version with Kinner R-5 engine. Ten units were sold to Argentina in 1931 and used as advanced trainers. They were retired in 1940.


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## gekho (Jan 13, 2011)

Originally designed as a two-seat civilian biplane for pilot training and sport flying, the Stieglitz (German for Goldfinch) prototype first flew in 1932. After test and modifications to increase the plane's strength and improve its flight characteristics, the final Fw 44 design proved to have excellent maneuverability and aerobatics capabilities. Famous German pilots of the 1930s including Ernst Udet, Gerd Achgelis and Emil Kopf all flew the Stieglitz in aerobatic displays and air shows in Germany, and flight schools and flying clubs placed orders for the new plane in large numbers. The demand was so great that Focke-Wulf opened a new factory just to build the Stieglitz. Orders also came from a dozen other countries and in some, Fw 44s were produced under license.

A second version of the design was the Fw 44B, which used an Argus As 8 four-cylinder inverted inline air-cooled engine of 120 horsepower. This gave the plane a more slender, aerodynamic nose that the bulkier Siemens radial engine. This model was produced in limited numbers and followed by the Fw 44C. The final C model was powered by the Siemens radial engine and was produced in the largest numbers. With a fuselage of welded steel-tube and wings of wooden spars and ribs, the Stieglitz design was fabric covered with metal panels behind the engine. The two cockpits were open, with the pilot or student pilot flying from the rear cockpit and a passenger or instructor in front.

In 1940 four units were acquired and delivered to Argentina, being used mainly for trainning and acrobatic duties. They were later used as a general purpose aircrafts until 1958. By that time they were stored and in 1967 the last survivor was donated to the Veronica Aeroclub.


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## gekho (Jan 13, 2011)

The "Fabrica Militar de Aviones" (FMA) AeMB.2 Bombi was a bomber aircraft developed in Argentina in the mid 1930s. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of conventional configuration. It was fitted with fixed tailwheel undercarriage, the main units of which were covered by long, "trouser"-style fairings. The initial AeMB.1 configuration was fitted with a dorsal machine gun turret, later removed from the AeMB.2 to improve stability. Fifteen production examples saw service with the Argentine Air Force between 1936 and 1945. Only two were lost to air accidents.


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## TheMustangRider (Jan 13, 2011)

gekho said:


> Actually I am posting all the pictures I have of the South american Air Forces. As I said at the beggining of this thread, I dont have many photos and I would had prefered to face this matter in a better way. Perhaps in a future I will get more and better pictures, but right now this is all I have.


Understood mate, thanks again for taking your time posting all this information and pictures about these less known Air Forces which certainly deserve their place in history.


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## CharlesBronson (Jan 13, 2011)

> Yes, I know, but this thread is about the Air Forces, and I prefered to put them all under the same title. In any case if you have seen the text translation I usually remark it. By the way, I have tried to find information about the Argentinian Air Force, but it is being quite difficult. It seems the Air Force was created later than the Navy Air Arm. First time I see this....



Okay ill help you a bit with the old AAF.

More on the FMA A.E MB 1 and 2 light bomber/bomber trainer, 1935. This aircraft had 2 x 7,65mm Madsen and a 11,35 mm as defensive armament and 500 kg bombs.


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## gekho (Jan 14, 2011)

When the United Kingdom's Bomber Command was given the difficult missions of destroying German dams in the Ruhr valley and sinking the Bismarck-class battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord, their aircraft of choice was the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. With four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines giving a top speed of 287 mph and a range of 1,660 miles, the Lancaster’s’ seven-man crew could provide a knockout punch with a typical load of 18,000 pounds of high explosive over the target. Along with the Handley Page Halifax, the Lancaster gave the UK the offensive striking power needed to penetrate German air defenses during World War II. As Winston Churchill instructed the Air Ministry in 1942, the UK must "…make sure that the maximum weight of the best type of bombs is dropped on [Germany] by the aircraft placed at their disposal."

Entering service at the beginning of 1942, the Lancaster’s design grew out of a failed predecessor, the Avro Manchester. While its’ airframe offered a stable platform for heavy bombing assignments, the Manchester’s twin engine design was inadequate to the task. By upgrading to four Merlins, the resulting aircraft met the nation’s needs and 7,366 Avro Lancasters were built during the war, the most of any British bomber. Armament included eight to ten Browning machine guns for fighter defense (depending on model variant) mounted in the nose, upper dorsal turret and the tail. Experience with a variety of bomb loads eventually led to adoption of the ‘Grand Slam’ 22,000-pound bomb, the largest carried by any aircraft in the war. For the dam-busting strike in May 1943, the Lancaster dropped British designer Barnes Wallis’s ‘bouncing bombs’ which skipped on the surface before impact. Wartime Lancaster sorties totaled about 156,000 during which roughly 608,000 tons of ordnance were dropped on the enemy.

As the war in Europe drew to a close, the Lancaster was readied for service against Japan as part of Bomber Command’s ‘Tiger Force’, but the war’s end put a halt to this plan. Apart from its primary bombing tasks, the versatile Lancaster was also used for maritime surveillance, photo reconnaissance missions and, later, as an engine test bed platform. The final airframe was delivered in February 1946, but the plane flew for many years in civilian guise and as a warplane when sold to other nations. A number of Lancasters were preserved and still can be viewed at museums, but only two still fly under their own power to airshows -- one in Canada and one in the UK


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## gekho (Jan 14, 2011)

Immediately after the end of World War II, the Argentinean Air Force began a process of modernization, incorporating aircraft such as the Gloster Meteor jet fighter, thus becoming the first air force in Latin America equipped with jet-propelled aircraft. In addition, a number of Avro Lincoln and Avro Lancaster bombers were acquired, creating a powerful strategic force in the region. Although the acquisition of the Lancaster’s may have also been seen as a stopgap solution until the Lincolns arrived. They were received in June 1947, 15 Lancasters (registered B-031 to B-045) previously operated by RAF.


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## CharlesBronson (Jan 14, 2011)

Muy lindo, what an aircraft the Lancaster was, what an Air force Argentina was. 8)


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## Gnomey (Jan 15, 2011)

Good stuff!


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## Wayne Little (Jan 16, 2011)

Interesting...


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## CharlesBronson (Jan 16, 2011)

The Gloster Meteor F.mk IV. 100 were bought in 1947 and used until 1969.


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## gekho (Jan 17, 2011)

When the B-10 design was released for export in 1936, several countries purchased the export version of the bomber, the 139W, for their armed forces. Argentina bought 35 Martin 139Ws, including 12 for the Argentine Navy. After many years of service, the obsolete bombers were used for various types of training. The B-10 displayed at the USAF Museum was the last used as a ground-training tool for Argentine engineering students at the "Jorge Newberry" National School of Technical Education, No. 1, in Buenos Aires.


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## gekho (Jan 17, 2011)

More pics


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## gekho (Jan 17, 2011)

Like its forerunner, the Super Universal was a conventional, high-wing cantilever monoplane with a fully enclosed flight deck and cabin. Standard undercarriage consisted of fixed tailskid type with divided main units, but it was also available as a twin-pontoon seaplane. The Super Universal was received enthusiastically in the marketplace, selling better than any other of Fokker-America's designs (some 80 aircraft), and required the company to expand its factory space to keep up with demand. A further 15 aircraft were built by Canadian Vickers, and around 100 by Nakajima with some of these Japanese aircraft seeing military service as the Ki-6. The United States Navy also evaluated the Super Universal for military service, under the designation XJA-1, but decided not to purchase the type (the JA designation was later re-used for the Noorduyn Norseman).

A single unit was bought in 1931 for the Navy. It was used for logistic support, reconnaissance and photografic duties. This aircraft operated in the south of the country, under a very bad climatological circumstances. It was retired in 1942.


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## CharlesBronson (Jan 17, 2011)

First photo of post 89: very funny, the aircraft is wasted tough so I woulndt be making jokes about it


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## gekho (Jan 17, 2011)

An initial acquisition of 13 airplanes were made in 1947, but later more units were bought to replace old units or to be used as spare parts. The lasT C-47 arrived to Argentina in 1970; a readapted C-47 with DC-4 engines. Destinated to the 2º Squadron of the Aeronaval Transport Command, they were the main aircraft of the naval logistic. The last unit on service was the C-47 coded 5-T-22, that flew for the last time to Ushuaia in spetember 1979, remaining there as a relic.


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## gekho (Jan 17, 2011)

More pics


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## gekho (Jan 17, 2011)

Concerning the Beechcraft 18, at least 4 units were bought in 1948 for general porpouses. The AT-11s were acquired in 1946; at the begining they also were used for general porpouses, but in 1950 they formed a bomber squadron. In 1965 all of them were withdrawn from service, being replaced by the C-45H.


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## gekho (Jan 17, 2011)

More pics


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## gekho (Jan 17, 2011)

More pics


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## Gnomey (Jan 17, 2011)

Good stuff!


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## gekho (Jan 18, 2011)

he Avro Type 694, better known as the Avro Lincoln, was a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were known initially as the Lancaster IV and V, but were renamed Lincoln I and II. It was the last piston-engined bomber used by the Royal Air Force. The Lincoln became operational in August 1945, too late to see action in the Second World War. It was assigned to units of Tiger Force, a British Commonwealth heavy bomber force, intended to take part in Allied operations against the Japanese mainland. However, the Lincoln did see action with the RAF during the 1950s, in the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya and with the RAF and RAAF during the Malayan Emergency. In all 604 Lincolns were built. The type also saw significant service with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Fuerza Aérea Argentina (Argentine Air Force), as well as some civil aviation usage.


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## gekho (Jan 18, 2011)

The Lincoln served with the Fuerza Aerea Argentina from 1947: 30 aircraft were acquired (together with 15 Lancasters), giving Argentina the most powerful bombing force in South America. The Argentine aircraft were used in bombing missions against rebels during the attempted military coup of September 1951 and by both the government and rebel forces during the 1955 Revolución Libertadora coup that deposed Juan Perón. Lincolns were also used to drop supplies in support of Argentinean operations in the Antarctic.


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## pbfoot (Jan 18, 2011)

I think the Lincoln was ugly almost like french pre war IMHO the only thing lacking on that nose are curtains


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## gekho (Jan 18, 2011)

More pics


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## gekho (Jan 18, 2011)

More pics


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## gekho (Jan 18, 2011)

At least 17 Catalinas were bought at Canada between 1946 and 1948, entering of service only 12 of them, being the rest used as spare parts. They were coded 2-P-2, with the exception of one unit, that was used as a trainer and was coded 1-G-1. These aircrafts had a great importance at the argentinian navy, since they were the first aircrafts to conect the Antarctic and Buenos Aires, they took part in many war actions in 1955, they searched lost ships, they patroled the south of the Patagonia etc.....


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## gekho (Jan 18, 2011)

More pics


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## gekho (Jan 18, 2011)

More pics


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## gekho (Jan 18, 2011)

Argentina purchased 30 Model 8A-2s in 1937 and received them between February and March 1938. Their serial numbers were between 348 and 377. These remained in front line service until replaced by the I.Ae. 24 Calquin, continuing in service as trainers and reconnaissance aircraft until their last flight in 1954. They served at the Grupo "A" de la Escuela de Aplicación de Aviación based at BAM El Palomar and at the Regimiento Aéreo Nº3 (Air Regiment No.3) de Bombardeo Liviano (Light Bombing) based at BAM El Plumerillo. This version was fitted with fixed undercarriage, ventral gun position and powered by 840 hp (626 kW) Wright R-1820-G3 Cyclone.


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## Gnomey (Jan 18, 2011)

Nice shots!



pbfoot said:


> I think the Lincoln was ugly almost like french pre war IMHO the only thing lacking on that nose are curtains



In a way but personally I don't think very many aircraft come close to the French interwar bombers in terms of ugliness, although the British interwar bombers of the late 20's early 30's are close. Lincoln not so much, not a good looking as the Lancaster but not as ugly as the Frenchies.


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## gekho (Jan 19, 2011)

Initially created to compete for a United States Navy contract dated February 28, 1928, the prototype Model 9, XPY-1, was designed by Captain Dick Richardson and Isaac M. 'Mac' Laddon. Beginning construction in March 1928, the aircraft was ready for its first flight by the end of the year. Lieutenant A. W. Gorton made the first flight out of Anacostia NAS, Washington, D.C.. The production contract was opened to other bidders, and the Glenn L. Martin Company undercut and was awarded the contract to construct the plane as the Martin P3M-1 and P3M-2.

A new contract was placed by the US Navy on May 26, 1931, for a prototype of a developed version of the Model 9, XPY-1, designated the Model 22 Ranger by Consolidated. Incorporating features of the Model 16 Commodore such as the enclosed flight deck, designated the XP2Y-1 by the Navy, this new prototype had the same 100 ft parasol wing, but became a sesquiplane with a smaller wing mounted lower, at the top of the hull, replacing the booms that had supported the stabilizing pontoons on the XPY-1. Two Wright R-1820-E1 Cyclone engines, were located close below the top wing and had narrow-chord cowlings. A third similar engine was mounted on a strut along the centerline above the wing, but removed after the first test in April 1932. The Navy ordered 23 P2Y-3s as production models similar to the P2Y-2s that were modified from the original batch of P2Y-1.

The Argentinian Navy bought six units in 1936. They were armed at the BAPB workshop and joined the Patrol Boat School, replacing the Southamptons. They took part in very important misions, travelling to the Falkland islands. In 1946/47 they were transfered to the ESAN, being replace two years later by the Catalinas.


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## gekho (Jan 19, 2011)

Six units were bought in 1946. They joined the Patrol Boat Squadron, being coded 3-P-25 first and later .-P-50. They flew for at least four years to the Antartic and they were finally donated to Paraguay.


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## gekho (Jan 19, 2011)

The Argentinian Navy acquired several aircrafts; a total of 94 units of the BC-1A, AT-6 and SNJ-4/5 versions that were modified to operate from carriers. The first T-6s arrived in 1947, joining the Aeronaval Fighter Squadrons, General Porpouses units and Naval Air Arm Schools, where the T-6s were until 1969, when they were retired, the main trainers of Argentina.


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## gekho (Jan 19, 2011)

The I.Ae. 30 "Ñancú" was an Argentine twin piston engined fighter designed by the Instituto Aerotécnico (AeroTechnical Institute) in the late 1940s, similar to the de Havilland Hornet, but made of metal rather than wood. Only one prototype was completed; the project was abandoned in favour of a jet aircraft.The I.Ae. 30 "Ñancú", named after an indigenous eagle of Patagonia, was designed by Italian engineer Cesare Pallavecino, who had come to Argentina in 1946. Pallavecino led a team of Argentine technicians and engineers in developing the concept of a high-speed escort fighter, intended to be operated in conjunction with the Avro Lincoln bombers used in the Argentine Air Force.

The I.Ae. 30 had a metal structure, its powerplants consisted of two Rolls-Royce Merlin 604 engines, each developing 1,800 hp at 3,000 RPM, and four-bladed propellers. The armament would consist of six 20 mm Oerlikon automatic cannons mounted in the nose, although later plans called for 20 mm Hispano-Suiza cannons as well as a 250 kg bomb under the fuselage and two batteries of five 83 mm rockets fitted underneath the wings. Nevertheless, the prototypes were unarmed. By the end of 1947, a contract was received for the first of three projected prototypes. On 9 June 1948 the first prototype was ready for ground tests and on 17 July 1948, the I.Ae. 30 took to the air for the first time, piloted by Captain Edmundo Osvaldo Weiss.

The test results proved that the aircraft possessed good flying characteristics as well as meeting performance specifications. During a cross country flight, from Córdoba to Buenos Aires, the Ñancú reached a level speed of 780 km/h, setting a new piston engined speed record in South America, an achievement that has not been surpassed. Although the prototype was achieving design goals, the Fuerza Aérea Argentina was already considering the jet I.Ae. 27 Pulqui I as their future fighter program. With official interest diminishing, in early 1949, the sole flying prototype was badly damaged in a landing accident when test pilot Carlos Fermín Bergaglio misjudged a landing and crashed. Although the pilot was uninjured and the aircraft could have been repaired, the Fabrica Militar de Aviones made a decision to abandon the project with the wrecked prototype, as well as the two unfinished prototypes still at the factory, being scrapped.


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## gekho (Jan 19, 2011)

The FMA I.Ae.24 Calquin was a 2 seat light attack bomber. It had two 1,050 hp Pratt Whitney R-1830-SC-G Twin Wasp radial piston engines. The max speed was was 273 mph (440 km/h) at optimum altitude with an initial climb rate of 2,460 ft/minute. It was armed with four 20mm cannons and up to 1,764 lb (800kg) of bombs. Its design was influenced by the de Havilland Mosquito. The prototype first flew in June 1946 and was later ordered into production. The first production plane flew in July 1947 and eventually 200 aircraft were made as the Argentine air force's standard light bomber. 

Despite the lower performance obtained in testing, the I.Ae.24 Calquin was able to undertake an attack and light bombing role, replacing the Northrop A-17 in the Argentine Air Force inventory. A total of 100 aircraft were ordered, with the first production example flying on 4 July 1947. Fifty pilots and crew members were killed in accidents related to Calquín operational service and trials. Test pilots considered the aircraft unstable "on all three axis" and required careful handling. Series production was completed by 1950, with operational service continuing until 1957 although a small number of aircraft were still in squadron use until 1960. Several I.Ae.24s took part of a series of air-to-ground attack missions during the 1955 Revolución Libertadora.


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## gekho (Jan 20, 2011)

During the WWII Argentina stood neutral, and because of that the country suffered a lack of raw materials necesary for aviation, especially duralumin. Due to the situation and the need of continuing with the advanced trainning of the argentinian pilots, the goverment requested to the Aeronautical Institute (Instituto Aeronautico or I.A.e) the development of an advanced trainer that could be made with the raw materials available at the country. The result was an aircraft very similar to the NA T-6 Texan, but made entirely of wood, and fitted with a Whirlwind engine built under licence. The proyect was baptized I.A.e. 22, and nicknamed "Diente de Leon" (Lion´s tooth).

The 29 of may 1944 was introduced by Juan Domingo Peron, by that time War Minister of Argentina. The Aviation Command oredered two series of 100 units each one, being delivered 201 aircrafts for 1950. The last examples were fitted with the new Armstrong Siddeley "Cheetah" engine, increasing slightly their performance. The first units were delivered to the Military Aviation School (EAM), being used as armed advanced trainers. However, these aircrafts saw real combat during the 1955´s coup d'état, when the EAM rise up against the goverment of Juan Domingo Perón, being used as ground attack fighters and reconnaissance aircrafts. They were retired from service short after, since the wood wasnt suitable for Argentinian weather.


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## gekho (Jan 20, 2011)

Eight Valiants arrived to Argentina in 1947, being followed by another 28 more examples, and one more aircraft by exchange. They were used as advanced trainers amd in operational attack squadrons. They were withdrawn from service in 1960 and in 1963 some were donated to Paraguay.


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## gekho (Jan 20, 2011)

Used as the personal transport of the Navy Minister, it was also used as aerial navigator trainer. It was destroyed due to an accident in 1944, when the brakes failed and the aircraft went to stop over the railway tracks, being run over by a train.


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## gekho (Jan 21, 2011)

The last prototype airplane North American built at the General Aviation plant in Dundalk, Md., was for the NA-16 trainer series, later produced in California. The low-wing monoplane had open cockpits in tandem and a fixed, unfaired undercarriage. Made mostly of metal, but with some fabric on the rear fuselage, it was submitted to the Army Air Corps for evaluation within a month of its first flight. The design was selected for production as a basic trainer, although the Air Corps requested the cockpits be enclosed, fairing installed on the undercarriage and the engine changed to a 600-horsepower P&W R1340 engine. With these modifications, and a new designation of NA-18, the prototype was eventually sold to Argentina. The production versions launched North American as a manufacturer of training aircraft, starting with 267 BT-9s and 330 BC-1 "basic combat" trainers. In all, more than 17,000 derivatives of the NA-16 were built in North American's Los Angeles, Calif., and Dallas, Texas, plants during the 1930s and 1940s.


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## gekho (Jan 21, 2011)

The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was a carrier-capable fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought's manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and Brewster-built aircraft F3A. From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured by Vought, in 16 separate models, in the longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in U.S. history (1942–1953). The Corsair served in with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, Fleet Air Arm and the Royal New Zealand Air Force, as well as the French Navy Aeronavale and other, smaller, air forces until the 1960s. It quickly became the most capable carrier-based fighter-bomber of World War II. Some Japanese pilots regarded it as the most formidable American fighter of World War II, and the U.S. Navy counted an 11:1 kill ratio with the F4U Corsair.


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## gekho (Jan 21, 2011)

In 1957 the Argentinian Navy acquired the Corsair night and day fighter version, being destinated to Combat Aeronaval Squadron based at Punta del Indio. Some months later theses fighters were destinated to the Major Espora Aeronaval Base, operating from the carrier "Independencia", that joined the Argentinian Navy in 1959. The Corsairs also operated from secondary airfields, performing diverse tasks, thanks to their wide weapon capacity. These fighters had a very important role during the 1963 revolution, and also in 1965 during the border incidents with Chile. However during this campaign it became obvious that the Corsair was getting older, and they were finally withdrawn that year.


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## gekho (Jan 21, 2011)

Five C-54 were bought in 1947, being one of these aircrafts the first airplane which flew from the continent to the Antarctic, as well as the first airplane which crossed the Artic Cicle on the same flight. They took part in many rescue misions over the Antarctic, flying more than 100.000 hours. All of them were lost in accidents.


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## gekho (Jan 21, 2011)

Some aviation experts consider the FIAT G55 Centauro the best single seat fighter produced for the Italian air force in World War Two. The Fiat G55 Centauro was a redesigned version of the G50 Freccia. Differences included a DB 605 A-1 engine, an improved fineness ratio of the fuselage and a redesigned wing, built in 2 sections ,bolted together at the centerline for greater efficiency. Metal stressed skin was used and the metal framed airlerone was fabric covered. The first prototype was flown on April 30, 1942 and production started in the beginning of 1943. The initial model was the G55/0 which held a 20mm MG 151 cannon and (4) 12.7mm Breda SAFAT machine guns.

The “O” model was succeeded by the “I” model which held three 20mm MG151′s and two Breda SAFAT machine guns. Deliveries of the G55 to the 53rd Stormo and the 353rd Squadriglia of the 20th Gruppo just started when Italy surrendered to the Allies on September 8, 1943. Because of Italy’s surrender, the G55 did not see combat with the Regia Aeronautica. However, factories which were building the G55′s were still under the control of the Republica Sociale Italiana (Salo Republic) in northern Italy, and several thousand were ordered. The G55 became the RSI’s standard aircraft for their air force. Shortages began to develope as the DB 605 A-1 engines became scarce and only 105 FIAT G55′s were produced by the time the Allies overran all of Italy. Other models developed based on the G55 which were the G55/II with 5 20mm cannons and the G55/S Torpedo Fighter, which carried one 2,176 lb Whitehead fiume torpedo beneath the fuselage. Both of these variations of the G55 flew in 1944.

After the war, production of the G55 resumed for foreign export and the newer G55/A’s and G55/B’s were built. Fiat reinstalled the production lines to produce the G.55A armed with either 2 wing-mounted 12.7mm machine guns or 2 20mm canon plus the 2 12.7mm machine guns in the cowling. 19 went to the Italian air force and 30 were supplied to Argentina. Argentina returned 17 that were then sold to Egypt in 1948, being armed with 4 12.7mm machine guns. A 2-seat trainer version, the G.55B was built in 1946 with 10 going to the Italian air force and 15 to Argentina in 1948.


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## gekho (Jan 24, 2011)

Argentine Navy purchased nine PBMs during the 1950s for the Argentine Naval Aviation, retiring its last Mariner in May 1962. In the first three that were purchased, 2-P-22 came out of New Orleans on January 20, 1955, commanded by Cap. J. Acha Martinez and co-pilot Lt. G. Sylvester. The 2-P-22 had problems with the left engine probably near Georgetown, British Guiana, so return to the NAS Trinidad. The engine was changed to Fleet Aircraft Service Squadron 115. On February 10, while the new engine ran, there was a flashback to what started a fire of fuel. The fire truck on the empty stage their foam before the fire had been contained and the plane was damaged beyond repair.


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## gekho (Jan 24, 2011)

More pics


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## Gnomey (Jan 24, 2011)

Good stuff!


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## muscogeemike (Apr 1, 2011)

Often overlooked is the Mexican Air Force 201st Fighter Squadron, flying with the USAAF in the Philippines in WWII.

There is a web site for the M.A.F. which give their history and has several photo’s.

Of special interest to me is a photo of Sr. Sgt. Manuel Alcantar. I’ve read that prior to his M.A.F. service he made two WW II combat jumps with the US Army.

His seems to be a very impressive story and I would like to know more about him. If anyone provide more information I would appreciate it.


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## Wayne Little (Apr 3, 2011)

Some nice pics there...


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## DFM+BB (Jun 26, 2012)

Hi Everybody !

I am currently in Brazil (SP) for work purpose.
I'll stay here for one year, and I was wondering if any of you got some good adress to see WWII aircraft in Brazil.
I already booked the TAM museum and a smaller one.
But I was looking for place with planes used as runabout ( not sure if this is the right word for french : "rond point" ) decoration on roads or so.
A police guy told me about a T-6 exposed in a park in south of SP.

If any of you got a suggestion, I'll post pictures on rhe forum 

thanks !


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