South American Air Forces

[CharlesBronson]

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.

 

[gekho]

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

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[CharlesBronson]

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

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff!

 

[Wayne Little]

Interesting...

 

[CharlesBronson]

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

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

More pics

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[CharlesBronson]

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

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

More pics

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

More pics

 

[gekho]

More pics

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff!

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[gekho]

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.

 

[pbfoot]

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