Spanish Civil War: Republican Air Force (FARE)

The Letov S-31 was a fighter aircraft produced in Czechoslovakia in the early 1930s in a number of variants. All of the aircraft had metal tubular framing and fabric covering with a metal engine cowling. The first flight of the definitive S-231 version was on March 17, 1933. After testing at the Czech flight facility at Prague-Lethany, modifications were undertaken to improve the machine's performance. It entered production the following year and began equipping Czech fighter units in June 1936. The machines remained in front line fighter status with the Czechoslovak Air Force until the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939.

The only recorded combat seen by any Letov S-231 fighter was in the service of the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. The sole S-331 and almost all of the S-231s were sold to representatives of the Spanish Republican government. During the winter of 1936/1937 the contract was signed to deliver 24 Letov S.231s to the Spanish Republicans via Lithuania. The first drawback was that before delivery 2 S-231s were lost due to accidents in Czechoslovakia, but agreement was made to replace these aircraft by the second of the three built S-131s and by the sole prototype of the S-331.The first batch of eight Letov S-231s left the port of Gdynia aboard the Dutch vessel SS Sarkani on the 9th of march 1937. This vessel reached the harbor of Santander on the 28th of March, unloading the S-231s together with 24 cannons, 15.000 guns and a lot of ammunition. After assembly, the S.231s were transferred to the Bilbao sector.

Two of these aircraft were almost immediately damaged during test flights. But this had nothing to do with lacking of the right blue prints or incorrect assembling of these aircraft, a myth that still can be found in a lot of publications. The aircraft were flown by Miguel Zambudio, Barbero and Juan Olmos among others and were involved mainly in some fighter, but mostly reconnaissance, coastal support and ground attack missions. The only recorded loss of a S-231 in aerial combat happened on the 6th of April when Juan Olmos was shot down by Gunther Lutzow of 2.J88.

The aircraft operated from the bases La Albericia, Pontejos and later from airport El Carreńo near Gijón but were step by step demolished by enemy air raids, combat damage, accidents and crashes until the last one was captured by the Nationalists on Carreño Aerodrome in October 1937. According to Spanish sources, the next batch of 9 S.231s arrived at Barcelona in May and June 1938. They were assembled at the airport of Celrá, coded CL-001 – CL-009 and formed into the 2a Escuadrilla of Grupo 71, led by Capitán José Bastida Porrán and assigned to coastal patrol and city defense duties. They operated mainly from the airfield of Bañolas. Little is known of their military operations. One was lost over sea near Valencia and CL-004 crashed near Perpignan (France) on the 10th of September 1938 during a mysterious mission. Five were destroyed on the ground by the Condor Legion during the Catalonian campaign at the aerodrome of Vilajuiga – Bañolas (Girona) during air raids and the surviving two aircraft were captured at that same airfield in February 1939. These two aircraft survived the Civil War and were pressed into service with the Ejercito del Aire with Grupo 3W, together with the S.321 that was captured at Carreño. One of them was still flying on the 1st of March 1940.

Concerning the S-331, it had to be repair before it could travel to Spain; during a demonstration in Turkey, the fuselage had suffered some damage after a full power dive in which the aircraft reached 670 km per hour. After repairs OK-VOD was shipped from Istanbul directly to Barcelona. In Spain it became the personal mount of the commander of 2a Escuadrilla of Grupo 71, Capitán José Bastida Porrán. The S.331 was a nice flying machine like the S.231-but was far more capable thanks to its powerful engine which gave it more speed, agility and nervousness. The plane was not only flown by Bastida but also by Vela Diaz who crashed this aircraft at the end of July because he ran out of fuel.

I had no idea so many different types of planes were used there, very cool!

Good job gekho.

But it's not because our readers pay nuts, thet they should have monkeys...

No disrespect to them, and no disrespect to you, of course but, first and foremost F.A.R.E or Fuerzas Aeras de la Republica Española, had never existed in fact.

Really, when the war occurs, Arma de Aviation remains Arma de Aviation for both sides, keeping in strange way their pre-war organisations and structure. It's why in press and news on that period if we could read sometimes la Gloriosa, for Republican side, everyone new that it was for Arma de Aviation de la Republica Espagnola.

Wiki is cool, but have its limits....

But once a first idiot used/inventend that word (FARE), a full explosure of authors and publications copied and pasted it without a single trace of verifications through the planet.

A lot of myths and legends were invented for recieved planes such a way. If numerous contacts were maid between spanish representatives and french govermement for the Blériot-Spad 510 sails, not a single plane was delivered. But you can find that planes in numerous (rotten) publications in service for Spanish Republic.

Speeking about Spads, the 51 model really was on spanish ground at the war outbreak, but was forbidden to fly since a long time. For precision, it was baught by the Real Aero-Club of Aragon for aerobatics, mainly for Ramirez Pascual, recieving even civil EC-BCC number. He went from France with a considerable amount of hours and at unsatisfactory general condition. So it's flight licence was retired since 1935, and it was just stocked in a RAC hangar. The poor plane was not able to play any rule for Republican Aviation, even if it had wanted so.

But probably finished it's carrier as a cinema actor, for propaganda films painted with republican colors supposingly shooted down by italian aces...

Actually, it's not very usefull to quote it in your posts. Even San Javier based 1922 year Martinsyde "Buzzards" did "much" more job.

And so on for the Fairey Phantome, baught by USSR in august 1936 for trials, that William Green see immadiatly in Spain, despite the fact that it was still flying in NII-VVS center in 1939....

And so on, and so on...

All from Juan Arraez Cerda and José Fernandez researches...

Regards

Many different planes took part in the spanish civil war and even today this matter is extremly polemic because experts are not able to reach an agreement about the participation or not of certain fighters and bombers in this war. For example, the site Spanish Civil War aircraft - Home Page has a section that reflects these doubts; the section´s name is "Aircraft that may have participated in the Spanish Civil War".

In this section you can see planes like the Farman F.430, a plane that nobody was sure about its participation in the SCW. However a couple of days ago the site AviationCorner.net - Fotografía aeronáutica - Punto de encuentro para spotters en español provided a picture of this plane next to a republican V-1 (a picture that you can see in this thread). Or for example the Adaro I.E.7 Chirta, taht can be seen at the "Spanish Military Enciclopedia" (Quiñon Ediciones). We can say the same of the Fokker D-XXI or the C.X; there are no pictures of the first one and a single photograph of the second was discovered two years ago. And what can we say of the Marcel Bloch MB-200? Experts were sure of its participation but today it seems they were wrong and it never came to Spain.

I have even heard rumors about the republican goverment were negotiating the purchase of Martin B-10 and B-17 bombers. Who knows? Perhaps in a future new pictures will confirm or deny the particiaption or this or that plane. With this, my dear friend Vg-33, I just want to say that nothing is certain when we are talking about this matter, and there are many sources, theorys, versions and opinions, and even Juan Arraez Cerda and José Fernandez are wrong sometimes.....

Anyway, your opinions are always welcome...

Airspeed AS.6 Envoy was a British light, twin-engined transport aircraft designed and built by Airspeed Ltd. at Portsmouth Aerodrome, Hampshire. The Envoy was designed by N.S. Norway and A. H. Tiltman as a twin-engined development of the Courier. Co-designer Norway also wrote novels under the pen name Nevil Shute. It used the same wooden construction, outer wing panels and aft-retracting main undercarriage legs. The prototype G-ACMT first flew on June 26, 1934 and in July 1934, the aircraft was presented to the public for the first time at an exhibition by the Society of British Aircraft Constructors (SBAC) at Hendon.

The first production Envoy I G-ACVH was used as a demonstrator, the second was delivered to Lord Nuffield. Lord Nuffield's aircraft was due to fly in the MacRobertson Air Race from England to Australia in 1934, but the aircraft was damaged and withdrawn from the race. Another aircraft, a specially modified version with long-range tanks (the AS 8 Viceroy) got as far as Athens before leaving the race due to damage. One Envoy took part in the Schlesinger Race to Johannesburg, but crashed, killing two of a crew. Orders soon came from the whole Commonwealth. Two aircraft went to the Ansett Airlines in Australia. North Eastern Airways and Olley Air Service in the UK also used the AS.6. In Czechoslovakia, the CSA ordered four AS.6 Envoy JC in 1937.

During the Spanish Civil War, ten AS.6 Envoys were obtained by the Spanish Republicans, with the Nationalist side using two, including one that defected from the Republicans, as transport, reconnaissance aircraft or light bombers. The Airspeed AS.8 Viceroy, that was a British racing version of the Airspeed AS.6 Envoy to compete in the England-Australia MacRobertson Air Race, was also sold to the Spanish Republic. The Airspeed Viceroy started the race from RAF Mildenhall, England, but after several reliability problems including with the mainwheel brakes, it was withdrawn from the race at Athens. The pilots concluded that it would be unsafe to proceed and they would probably be unable to finish the race. The aircraft returned to Portsmouth and was then stored until July 1936 when it was sold the following month by the French concern, SFTA and departed to France en route to the Spanish Civil War.

The Vickers Vildebeest was a land based biplane torpedo bomber, designed in the late 1920s to defend the British coast. At the outbreak of the Second World War it was the only torpedo bomber in use with RAF Coastal Command. Although it was soon phased out in Britain, the Vildebeest still equipped two squadrons at Singapore at the end of 1941, and was thus one of many types of Allied aircraft to be swept away in the initial Japanese assault.

The Vildebeest was designed to satisfy Air Ministry specification 24/25, for a defensive torpedo bomber to replace the Hawker Horsley. Vickers designed a large single-engine biplane, with un-staggered rectangular wings of equal size, and which resembled a larger version of the Vickers Vixen or Vendace. The Vickers design was submitted in June 1926, and the Air Ministry placed an order for a single experimental airframe. This prototype was completed at Weybridge in the spring of 1928, and made its first flight in April 1928 at Brooklands. On 14 Septembr 1928 the prototype went to Martlesham, for trials against the Blackburn Beagle.

The name Vildebeest was adopted by September 1926. Vickers had to find the name of a land mammal beginning with V for their new aircraft. Vicuna, Vulpes and Vildebeest were all suggested, the last by Sir Pierre Van Ryneveld, Vicker's South African consultant. An Afrikaans word, it was often misspelt – as Vildebeeste in some early official paperwork, and more often as Vildebeast. The development of the Vildebeest was hindered by engine problems. The original specification had been written around the Bristol Orion, a supercharged engine that never materialised. While the Orion was under development, the Bristol Jupiter VI was to be used. On 17 November 1927, with the Orion in trouble, Vickers were given permission to use a 460hp geared Jupiter VIII engine that they had on loan from the Air Ministry. This engine constantly overheated, as did the Jupiter XF that replaced it.

Vickers built a second prototype of the Vildebeest during 1930 as a private venture. This aircraft was powered by a geared Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIA air-cooled engine, but this too tended to over-heat, and also reduced the performance of the aircraft. The engine problem was finally solved in January 1931, when the first Vildebeest was equipped with a 600hp Jupiter XFBM engine and a mineral-based engine lubricant. The XFBM was soon renamed the Pegasus IM3,

Further engine changes followed. In 1931 the second Vildebeest was given a XFBM engine, and went to Donibristle for service tests, while the original prototype was given a French-built 600hp Hispano Suiza 12Lbr engine and Supermarine floats. In this format it impressed the Spanish government enough for them to negotiate for a licence to built 25 Vildebeests. In October 1931, with the engine problems solved, the Air Ministry placed an order for nine development machines (to specification 22/31). These aircraft would become the first nine Vildebeest Mk Is.

The Vildebeest was adopted by the Spanish Ministry of Marine as a standard torpedo-carrying seaplane and a batch of about 27 were ordered from the Spanish CASA firm, which had acquired a manufacturing licence. These were powered by 443kW Hispano-Suiza 12Nbr engines. Around 20 survived to fight on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War, some equipped with floats. A Vildebeest was the first victim of Francoist ace Joaquin Garcia-Morato.

In 1926, the British Air Ministry put forth a specification for a radial-piston engine fighter design that could operate in daytime and nighttime with armed with twin Vickers-type machine guns and capable of engaging the top enemy bombers of the day. Bristol responded with the Bulldog I (Mk.I or Mark I) which was used as a developmental model to ultimately become the Bulldog II. The type would become one of Britain's most recognized aircraft creations in the years between both world wars serving with the host nation for some seven years as a frontline fighter. Some 443 examples were produced. The aircraft would serve in the Royal Air Force, Spanish Air Force, Finnish Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force among others.

In configuration, the Bulldog II sported an all-metal fuselage with a fabric skin covering. The wings were arranged in a typical biplane fashion, equal spanning units with single bays and a single pair of parallel support struts. Power was supplied through the Bristol Jupiter VII series radial piston engine of 440 horsepower. Armament consisted of 2 x 7.7mm Vickers machine guns synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller via an interrupter gear. The undercarriage was fixed with a tail skid and both were designed with grass strip runways in mind. The pilot sat behind and underneath the upper wing assembly in an open air cockpit. The pilot was provided an oxygen supply for operations in high altitudes and even a short-wave two-way radio for communications. In many ways, these two additions were a glimpse into the future of military aviation and were noted collectively as quite the innovation. Optional armament included were 4 x 20lb bombs held under the wings. The Bulldog II entered service in June of 1929 and effectively replaced the aging Gloster Gamecock and Armstrong Whitworth Siskin fighters then in frontline use.

In 1936, Latvia (other sources say they came from Estonia) keen to replace its elderly Bulldogs with more modern aircraft, sold eleven (the number is different depending the sources) Bulldogs to Basque nationalist forces fighting with the Spanish Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, remaining in use until the Battle of Santander.These fighters were acquired with the help of Czechoslovakia acting as the "official" purchaser (a practice still common in matters of international arms trading). However, the Bristols being already obsolete in 1936/37, they were relegated to strafing duties along with other second-hand old planes, this ragtag assembly of vintage machines forming a unit nicknamed the "Krone Circus" (after a then-famous european Circus, which says a lot about their pilots' feelings !). Flown by foreign volunteers of the International Brigades, the Bulldogs fought the furious battles on the north-western front with no memorable success, however. Their eventual fate is unknown, except for one that was captured intact by Nationalist troops on Santander airfield.

Excellent!

The Hawker Fury was a British biplane fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the 1930s. It was originally named the Hornet and was the counterpart to the Hawker Hart light bomber. As RAF Fury squadroms wowed the crowds at the Hendon air displays of the early 1930s, foreign customers queued up to buy this aircraft, albeit in small numbers because of the relatively high unit cost and slow production of the Rolls Royce Kestrell engine. Spain received three aircrafts as Hawker Spanish Furies in 1935 wit a single-leg cantilever landing gear and a 700 hp Hispano Suiza 12Xbrs engines. It was planed to build 50 more units under licence, but the nationalist uprising frustrated their construction. At the begining of the war, all the Furies fell in the hands of the republican, receiving the military codes 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3. Garcia La Calle, the spanish republican ace, was the usual pilot of these fighters; during an emergency landing, the fighter suffered many damages and as a result of this accident, it was dismantled and its pieces, along with another wrecked Fury, used to built a new aircraft, the 4-4. The third Fury shot down itself when the synchronization mechanism of its machine-guns failed and destroyed its own propeller blades.

Hello

Many different planes took part in the spanish civil war and even today this matter is extremly polemic because experts are not able to reach an agreement about the participation or not of certain fighters and bombers in this war.

Click to expand...

Decently, i can't let you write that, only a small part is submitted to some uncertainlies, at least for the republican side.

We can say the same of the Fokker D-XXI or the C.X; there are no pictures of the first one and a single photograph of the second was discovered two years ago. And what can we say of the Marcel Bloch MB-200? Experts were sure of its participation but today it seems they were wrong and it never came to Spain.

Click to expand...

We'v got no pictures for D-XXI, but we have a lot of better other proofs as archive documents, custom accounts,contracts, reports, letters, memors, crew-members, ground personnel testimonies*...
From J Arraez C, first DXXI assemble by the SAF-15 factory made trials in August 1938, with Mariano Palacio Menendez on commands. A second plane was later tested. All recieved black CF-001 and CF-002 numbers and a Shvetsov M-25 engine.
From russian archive sources (RGAFD) a manufacturing licence was baught trough USSR in Holland to produce 60 of this planes, with help from soviet engeeners and consultants to establish the assembly line. (CF: Bergolts + Stolitsky + Sveshnikov respective reports maid on different periods). When nationalists occupied Alicante region, an assembly line was at full work at la Rabasa, with a lot of complete airframe just awainting for engines and some other details. All these elements were later used for the HS-42 design and construction. As you see, no secret and doubt about this plane, but a lot of detailed information.

About MB-200, not a single trace to establish if he was in Spain , except some "experts" rich imagination...
* All of that exist for other French planes fullfilled all that points from 60 to 100%, why isn't so for the MB-200 (0% proof)?

With this, my dear friend Vg-33, I just want to say that nothing is certain when we are talking about this matter, and there are many sources, theorys, versions and opinions, and even Juan Arraez Cerda and José Fernandez are wrong sometimes.....

Click to expand...

Nobody's perfect. At least José Fernandez never invented any Fairey Phantome delivery stories, from USSR to Spain as the Very honourable William Green did.

Anyway, your opinions are always welcome...

Click to expand...

Thank you. But, as i previously did, i still prefer to keep my opinions for me, just providing some facts.

Regards

The external similarity between the de Havilland D.H.90 Dragonfly and the D.H.89 Dragon Rapide belied its very different internal structure, the earlier design's spruce and plywood box fuselage being replaced by a pre-formed plywood monocoque shell strengthened with spruce stringers. The lower wing centresection was strengthened, making possible deletion of the nacelle/wing root bracing struts and inner bay rigging wires, and so providing easy access to the cabin, with its accommodation for a pilot and four passengers. Powered by two de Havilland Gipsy Major engines, the prototype made its first flight at Hatfield on 12 August 1935 and the first D.H.90A production aircraft, with Gipsy Major II engines, flew in February 1936. Production totalled 66 Dragonfiies, the type being popular initially with the prominent private owners of the time, both in the UK and abroad, but most were used eventually for commercial purposes. Military purchasers included Canada, Denmark and Sweden.

Another civilian type bought in France through SFTA (Societe Francaise des Transports Aeriens) was the DH.90 Dragonfly. Built as a lighter, faster version of the Dragon Rapide, these machines arrived to Spain in march of 1938. These aircrafts could have carried LY-001 to LY-003 codes. Three Dragonflys were used by the republicans as liaison aircrafts, being later transfered to the Multiengine School of Totana (Murcia) in december 1938. With the end of the conflict, two dragonflies are captured, joinning the new Spanish Air Force.

Widely considered to have been one of the best single-seat fighters to emerge during World War I, the Buzzard began life as a private venture design by G H Handasyde designated F.3. A single-bay staggered biplane of conventional wooden construction with fabric skinning and powered by a Rolls-Royce Falcon engine of 285hp, the F.3 appeared in the autumn of 1917. It underwent its first official trials on 3 October, six further prototypes being ordered and a decision to manufacture the F.3 in quantity being taken before the end of 1917. The, F.3 was powered by the 275hp Falcon III engine, but priorities in Falcon engine supplies enjoyed by the Bristol Fighter led to the reworking of the F.3 for the 300hp Hispano-Suiza 8Fb. With this it was redesignated F.4 and (from September 1918) officially named Buzzard.

It is uncertain just how many of the original batch of 150 aircraft were completed as Falcon-engined F.3s, but most were certainly finished as HS 8Fb-engined F.4s, the first of the latter being tested at Martlesham Heath in June 1918. Additional contracts for the F.4 were placed with the parent company (300), Boulton Paul (500), Hooper (200) and Standard Motor (300). Armed with two synchronised 7.7mm Vickers guns, the F.4 differed from the F.3, apart from power plant, in having revised fuselage decking contours and more extensive plywood skinning. Belated engine deliveries and other factors delayed production, only seven having been handed over by November 1918, and, in the event, no RAF squadron was to be equipped with the type. Production of the F.4 by the parent company continued for a time after the Armistice (no other contractor apparently producing any complete Buzzards) and more than 370 airframes were built, some being fitted with Falcon engines.

A two-seat variant, the F.4A, was produced in 1920, a much-modified derivative with two-bay wings of increased span appearing in the following year. This had a Lewis gun in the rear cockpit and several (around 20) were supplied to Spain in June 1921, both single- and two-seat Buzzards being referred to as F.4As in Spanish service. Seven of the Spanish Buzzards were still in service at the start of the Spanish Civil War. However these fighters were only used for a few months and for 1937 they had been all withdrawn from service.

The de Havilland DH 60 Moth was a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Although the DH 60T was aggressively marketed as a military trainer, response was rather lukewarm. In particular the RAF only purchased a handful of aircraft for testing and found that many aspects of the Moth did not suit their method of military flight training. Moth trainers were however ordered by a number of foreign air forces including those of Argentina, Australia (as noted above), Austria, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the flying arm of the Danish Navy. Finland licence-built 22 Moth trainers, but equipped them with the old Cirrus engine. Two Gipsy Moths were purchased by the Paraguayan government during the Chaco War. They were used as liaison aircraft. One was lost in a fatal accident at Ñu-Guazú Air Force Base and the other survived the war. It was transferred to the Paraguayan Aeroclub in 1936. The bulk of military Moths however were civilian sportplanes impressed by their countries air forces and used as trainers and liaison aircraft. Like this, civilian Moths ended up flying for both the Nationalist and Republican air forces during the Spanish Civil War.

The Koolhoven FK.51 was the winning design in a 1935 Dutch government contest for a new trainer. Designed by Frederick Koolhoven the prototype biplane trainer first flew on 25 May 1935. The aircraft was an equal-span biplane designed to use a variety of engines between 250hp (186kW) and 500hp (373kW). It was a two-seater and had a tailwheel undercarriage. The Royal Dutch air force (LVA) ordered 25 aircraft in 1936 and 1937, powered by a 270hp (201kW) Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah V radial engine. A further 29 aircraft were later bought with 350hp (261kW) Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX engine. The Dutch Naval Aviation Service ordered 29 aircraft each powered by a 450hp (335kW) Pratt Whitney radials. The Royal Dutch East Indies Army bought 38 aircraft between 1936 and 1938 each powered by a 420hp (313kW) Wright Whirlwind.

The Spanish Republican government ordered 22 FK.51s, 11 with 400hp (298kW) Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IVa radials and 17 aircraft (designated F.K.51bis) each powered by a 450hp (335kW) Wright Whirlwind R-975E radials. On the 29th of October 1936 the PH-AJV was sold to mister H.J. van der Velden (director of an Autogiro firm in the Netherlands with close connections with La Cierva) and the registration was changed into PH-XYZ. As soon as in November 1936 this aircraft left the Netherlands, flew to Toulouse with as its final destination Geneva. Due to a faulty compass needle this aircraft made a emergency landing in Spain and was confiscated by the Spanish government, according to Mr. van der Velden.

The demonstration of the FK.51 at Quatro Vientos, Madrid was more succesfull. The Spanish government placed an order for some forty aircraft. At the time Koolhoven was ready to deliver these aircraft, the Spanish Civil War was started. As in many other countries, the Dutch Government had signed a non-intervention act, so Koolhoven had to find some sneaky ways to get sufficient engines and to deliver his planes to the Spanish authorities without getting trouble. 22 planes got civil registrations, one of the cockpits were covered with metal panels, "Post" or "Mail" was painted on these aircraft and they were flown to Paris and delivered to the French firm Société Anonyme des Transport Aériens. Here a Spanish crew stood stand-by to fly these aircraft along various routes to their homeland. Getting sufficient engines was one of the other problems, but Frits Koolhoven succeeded in buying the engines of outdated Argosy's of Imperial Airways. These Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IVA engines of some 400 hp needed bigger propellers, so the undercarriage of these aircraft were lengthened with 30 cm and were called FK.51bis in Spain. Still most of the Spanish Koolhovens were delivered with the Wright Whirlwind 975E3, the same engine as fitted in the F.K.51s for the M.L.D. They were used as night fighters, trying to shoot down the bombers that every night attacked Barcelona and Valencia.

As you probably know a Republican delegation had signed a secret agreement for building 25 airframes and 50 wings under licence in Spain. Anyway, when the Nationalists overran the factory in El Carmoli, San Vicente del Raspeig (Ribasa, Alicante), they found 50 sets of wings, 25 airframes and 25 landing gears according to Gerald Howson. Dutch sources claim that the prototype was flown by a pilot named Palacios under supervision of general Herrera. Some sources mention that the Dutch prototype of the D.XXI (FD-322), originally built for the Dutch East Indies and test-flown over there, was shipped to Spain as a pattern aircraft for the 25 aircraft to be built in Spain. In fact this aircraft was never shipped to Spain and was destroyed in February 1942 during a Japanese bombing raid on Kalidjati airfield.

The Fokker C.X was a biplane scout and light bomber designed in 1933. It had a crew of two (a pilot and an observer). It was originally designed for the Royal Dutch East Indies Army, in order to replace the Fokker C.V. Like all Fokker aircraft in that period, it was of mixed construction, with wooden wings and a welded frame covered with aluminium plates at the front of the aircraft and with linen at the back. The prototype was built in 1934 with a Rolls-Royce Kestrel V engine. The East Indies Army ordered 13 C.Xs, but they were soon replaced in the scout/light bomber role by the American Martin B-10s. Until the Japanese attack on the Dutch East Indies in 1941, the C.X remained in use as a trainer and target tug. The Dutch Air Force ordered 16 C.Xs, and four more C.Xs with Kestrel IIS engines. These four were later re-equipped with Kestrel V engines, because the Kestrel IIS was not very reliable.

Like the D.XXI, the C.X was set to be produced under license by the Republicans. A pattern example was flown in Spain, and a second was flown with a Soviet M-100 engine. This is the only picture that is known to exist of a Fokker C.X in Spain. You wont find any other.

Very interesting.

Just my five pence

Spanish Civil War: Republican Air Force (FARE)

Click to expand...

Not FARE, but Arma de Aviacion

In the years between the world wars, governments and military leaders theorized about the future of aerial warfare. But during this almost two-decade period, there was only one major military conflict--the Spanish Civil War. Although only a few countries officially participated, they found it invaluable preparation for World War II. The Spanish Civil War had its beginnings in Spain's elections of February 1936. The Republicans, consisting of the Communists, Socialists, and Basque and Catalonian separatists, won by a narrow margin. Under the leadership of Jose Calvo Sotelo, the right wing (monarchists, the military, and the Fascist Party) continued to oppose the elected government. In July, the Republicans arrested, then assassinated Sotelo, ostensibly in retaliation for the killing of a policeman by the Fascists.

Click to expand...

First you present the Republicans as a government, but those you called the Republicans again , that arrested Calvo Sotelo had stricly nothing to do with this institution. In fact, he was arrested by l-nt Castillo friends, that promissed to revenge him on his tomb, peviously killed by Falange Espanola (Facist) members only because he refused to open fire on workers on strike.

Now, the Republicans (government) were against such a method, opened an enquest for Sotelo's murder, but it was considered too smooth by opponents.

Just to avoid confusions...

The right wing, now united as Nationalists, used this as their justification for launching a revolution. On July 17, 1936, General Francisco Franco and soldiers loyal to him seized a Spanish Army outpost in Morocco. In Spain, other Nationalist troops quickly seized other garrisons. A junta of generals, led by Franco, declared themselves the legal government, and the war officially began.

The world was forced to take sides. Many countries, including the United States and Great Britain, chose to stay neutral, believing that involvement would lead to war. However, individuals from neutral countries did volunteer with the Republican's International Brigade, feeling the cause was worth fighting for. A group of three Americans pilots formed the Patrolla Americana, which eventually grew into a unit of 20 pilots. The Soviet Union, recognizing a potential Communist nation threatened by fascism, was quick to offer aid, including equipment, soldiers, and senior advisors.

Click to expand...

Unfortunatly for Spanish Republic, not so quick. First attemps led by José Giral spanish prime-minister were maid sice july 1936, the 25 to buy soviet weapons, were brutally rejected. It's not before september the 29th after several diplomatic actions, then several ultimatums asking Italy and Germany to stop weapons deliveries to Franco, that Stalin finaly ordened the "X –( X for russian "Kh" letter)" operation ( militar deliveries to Spain). Moreover, Stalin's help was not free and had to be paid in gold.

Regards

1.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5263: F.VII PH-AFS "Specht" was operated by KLM for some 5 ½ years until it was officially sold to Crilly Airways in August 1936 together with c/n 5187 PH-AGR "Reiger". After delivery at Burgos it was coded 20-1 because the original 20-1 as operated by the Aviacion Militar was fallen into Republican hands. This aircraft was incorporated into the Grupo Mixto Fokker / Dragon and already lost before the 7th of October but its final fate is unrecorded.

2.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5350: By coincidence the last four Fokker F.VII-3ms built by the parent company in Amsterdam were all delivered to Spain (3 were destined for LAPE and the last one for the Aviación Militar: Of this quarter EC-AAU was the first in line of the LAPE aircraft which were delivered in November 1933. After the 19th of June 1937 all Republican Fokker trimotors appear to have been relegated to transport training tasks, fulfilling the latter at the Escuela de Polimotores at Totana, Murcia. No single Republican F.VII survived the war.

3.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5351:This one was delivered to LAPE at the end of November 1933 and was just like the other two F.VIIs more modern equipped than the F.VIIs already in the inventory of LAPE. For instance Lynx engines of 340 hp were fitted. And just like most of the other LAPE F.VIIs it is hard to determine in what actions this particular aircraft was involved (and if it was one of the F.VIIs that ended its days at the Escuela de Polimotores).

4.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5352:EC-UAA was the last built Fokker F.VIIb-3m built for a commercial airliner (after this one the parent company built only one more (militarized) F.VII which also found its way to Spain, c/n 5353 alias the 20-1 for the Aviacion Militar). For this aircraft too it is very difficult to trace down its service record with the Republicans during the GCE. According to Gerald Howson it was still flying in LAPE colours on the 16th of May 1937carrying gold bullion from Valencia to Paris to pay for arm purchases. On the 22nd of December 1937 EC-UAA suffered a undercarriage collapse in the south of France transporting gold and was written off.

5.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5353: This aircraft was soon delivered to Carabanchel Alto to serve as a pattern aircraft for the three additional F.VIIs built by the Loring company. By mid-1935 these aircraft were completed and all four were placed in colonial service and based at Cabo Juby and Villa Cisneros in Spanish West Africa. Early in July 1936 however, 20-1 was flown to Madrid by Capt Félix Sampil, carrying Capt Angel Salas and several other officers of the African escuadrilla on leave. This aircraft was directed to Getafe and joined the Republican side and was soon engaged in bombing missions. Early in September 20-1 was employed in the brief Republican attack on Huesca and was later ferried to Bilbao to reinforce the tiny Basque air arm.

6.- Fokker F.VIIb-3m OO-AIK, OO-AIR and OK_AIS, operated by Sabena, Belgium: Quoting Gerald Howson again: In July 1936 Antonio Bolanos, an agent for the Republicans was told by two Belgian Cabinet ministers that Sabena wished to sell three F.VIIb-3m's which were "declassés et complètement amortis". Bolanos duly purchased the aircraft, via a Dutch agent, fot Belgian Fr 600.000 on 13 August, only to be told that he could not remove the F.VII-3ms from their hangar at Haren airport until export licences had been granted. Six days later, King Leopold issued a proclamation announcing an embargo on the export of warlike material, including all aircraft, to Spain. Thus, the Fokker trimotors remained at Haren. When Bolanos tried to reclaim his money, Sabena informed him that they would only deal tgrough his agent, and when his agent asked to be recompensed, Sabena claimed that they were under no obligation since the contract stated that that responsibility for removing the aircraft was his! The Spanish Republicans had no recourse but to write off the purchase price, along with many millions of pesetas lost through similar attempts to get around obstacles imposed by "Non-Intervention".

7.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5127: This aircraft was newly bought by the Swiss airliner Balair (Basler Luftverkehr AG) and delivered by Fokker as CH-160 in the very beginning of 1929. As soon as in August of the same year this aircraft was bought by C.L.A.S.S.A. (Concesionaria Lineas Aereas Subvencionadas S.A.) and registered as M-CAHH (f/n/ 5) on the 16th of that very same month. In 1932 CLASSA was incorporated into L.A.P.E. (Lineas Aereas Postales Españolas) and registration changed into EC-AHH. According to Gerald Howson the two civilian LAPE aircraft (EC-AHH and EC-AKK) were renumbered 20-5 and 20-6 in Madrid. Initially disarmed installation of bomb-racks was initiated by Commander Jordana in March 1936. If Howsons statements are true it must has been lost somewhere between March and August 1936, because the F-XII G-ADZH arrived at Burgos at the 16th of August and became the matriculation 20-5 as well.

8.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5136: This particular F.VII was registered by Fokker as PH-GJ on the 31st of July 1929 and although the registration CH-193 can be found in the Swiss civil aircraft registry mentioning Ad Astra Aero AG as the owner, this aircraft was sold within 2 months to the French airliner CIDNA (Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne) and registered in France on the 24th of September 1929. After CIDNA was merged into Air France on the 30th of August 1933 it was baptised "La Radieuse" still wearing the same registration. This aircraft is said to be sold to S.F.T.A. Spain on the 25th of October 1937. Howson states however that the Republicans bought this F.VII (Air France - F-AJCH) in the spring of 1937.

9.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5211: M-CAKK was another one of the four F.VIIs originally operated by CLASSA and was bought from Fokker in March 1930. After CLASSA was dissolved in LAPE registration changed into EC-AKK but it retained its fleet number 6. According to Gerald Howson, at the moment the DC-2 was taken over the role as the mainstay of the LAPE fleet, this particular F.VII was relinquished in favour of the Aviación Militar for use as a multi-engine trainer by the Escuela de Vuelo at Alcalá de Henares, coded 20-6.

10.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5243: M-CAMA was another of the by CLASSA operated F.VIIs and owned fleet number 10. At the outbreak of hostilities it was still operated by LAPA as EC-AMA. No direct traceable records found of its service with the Republicans.

11.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5244: The last one of the original CLASSA owned F.VIIs (and the best documented one) was M-CPPA fleet number 11, the later Republican "Abuelo" (Grandfather). At the beginning of hostilities it escaped from Mallorca and reached Los Alcazares, near Cartagena, instead of Barcelona, where street fighting had erupted and it was feared that the airfield might fall into the hands of the Nationalists. EC-PPA, was quickly adapted for offensive missions under the supervision of Guillermo Xucia, a gun position being improvised on top of the fuselage, two Vickers K. guns being mounted to fire from the windows of the passenger salon, a bomb rack capable of carrying a 220-lb (100-kg) bomb being suspended on each side of the fuselage from steel tubes traversing the salon and protruding from the windows, and a Warleta bomb sight being mounted above a hole cut in the floor. In addition, flame-damping tubes were fitted to the engine exhausts for night flying. Before the end of July, EC-PPA — which, like the Nationalist F VIIb-3m 20-3, was to be nicknamed Abuelo (Grandad) — was flying bombing missions from Prat de Llobregat airfield, Barcelona, its first really noteworthy nocturnal attack taking place during the night of 2-3 August against Saragossa. Piloted by Manuel Gayoso and, on this occasion, carrying six 110-lb (50-kg) bombs, the F VIIb-3m caused comparatively little material damage, but the attack achieved some notoriety owing to the fact that three of the bombs struck the cathedral of La Virgen del Pilar, a venerated shrine, and failed to explode. This was proclaimed a miracle by the devout citizens of Saragossa; the pilot, Gayoso, subsequently remarking caustically that, since the bombs came from a stock of surplus World War I material, the miracle was that any at all had exploded!

Early in September, EC-PPA Abuelo, together with another (but unidentified) ex-LAPE FVIIb-3m and the only one of the quartet of F VIIb-3ms of the Aviacion Militar that had remained in government hands, the original 20-1, were employed in the brief Republican attack on Huesca, during which, on occasions, they came face to face with the similar aircraft of the Nationalist Escuadrilla Fokker which had been temporarily transferred from Olmedo to Saragossa. EC-PPA narrowly escaped destruction on 19 October when La Balumba was attacked by a number of He 51s over Almudevar, Aragon. The F VIIb-3m, which the unit regarded as its most valuable aircraft owing to the weight of bombs that it could carry, was saved by Luis Aguilera, who, flying the black-painted D.H.89M escort aircraft — popularly known as El Avion Negus — bravely interposed his cumbersome Dragon Rapide between the Fokker and two He 51s, which, in the melee, had turned to attack the lead aircraft. After a short combat, the D.H.89M was shot down and all but one of its crew killed, but, by this time, the F VIIb-3m had made good its escape.