Spanish Civil War: Republican Air Force (FARE)

[gekho]

The Fokker F.XX was a 1930s Dutch three-engined airliner designed and built by Fokker. It was the first Fokker design to use an elliptical-section fuselage instead of the traditional square fuselage and the first Fokker aircraft with retractable landing gear. The F.XX was a high-wing thick-section cantilever monoplane with a retractable tailwheel landing gear. It was powered by three Wright Cyclone radial engines, one in the nose and one under each wing on struts. The main landing gear retracted into the engine nacelles. The F.XX registered PH-AIZ and named Zilvermeeuw (en: Silver Gull) first flew in 1933. It was delivered to KLM for services from Amsterdam to London and Berlin. Although the F.XX was a more advanced design both in aerodynamics and looks than earlier Fokkers, the arrival of the twin-engined low-wing Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 soon rendered it obsolete. Only one aircraft was built, and after service with KLM was sold to the Spanish Republican government to operate a liaison service between Madrid and Paris. The fate of the aircraft is not known.

 

[gekho]

De Havilland designer A. E. Hagg evolved the de Havilland D.H.83 Fox Moth in 1932 to meet a perceived need for a light transport aircraft with good performance, economical operations and low initial cost. To standard Tiger Moth components (including wings, tail unit, landing gear and engine mounting) he added a new plywood-covered wooden fuselage, locating the pilot in an open cockpit behind an enclosed cabin which accommodated up to four passengers. The prototype, powered by an 89kW de Havilland Gipsy III engine, was flown at Stag Lane in March 1932. It was later shipped to Canada for trials on floats and skis, undertaken in service with Canadian Airways Ltd. Eight of the 98 British-built Fox Moths were exported to Canada between 1932 and 1935, and two more examples were built by de Havilland Aircraft of Australia. Many of these were powered by the Gipsy Major engine and some had sliding hoods over the cockpit. A single Japanese-built copy, powered by a 112kW radial engine and known as the Chidorigo, was flown by the Japanese Aerial Transport Company. After the war, in 1946, de Havilland Canada built 52 examples of the D.H.83C, which had a number of small improvements including trim tab on the elevators, an enlarged clear-view hood over the cockpit and the installation of a 108kW Gipsy Major 1C engine. Another example of the D.H.83C (there were no D.H.83A or D.H.83B variants) was completed by Leavens Bros Ltd in 1948.

After the war, in Torrecica, where it was intended to link missions, was found in perfect condition the old EC-VVA, c / n 4087, which before the war had been equipped with floats and boarded to the ship "Artabro", for an scouting expedition to the Amazon River, and that the war finally frustrated. Of the six DH-83 acquired by the Republican goverment, only this one joined the Air Force as 30-147, later being given, the February 2, 1941, to Antonio Zúñiga Alvareda in compensation for his DH-83 EC-AVA, which had been requisitioned by the government. He received the civil registration EC-AEI, being low on February 25, 1973, some time after he left to fly.

 

[gekho]

The Hanriot H.43 was a military utility aircraft produced in France in the late 1920s and early 1930s which was primarily used by the Aéronautique Militaire as a trainer. While Hanriot had spent most of the 1920s manufacturing further and further developments of the HD.14 that had flown in 1920, the H.43 was an entirely new design. It was a conventional single-bay biplane with staggered wings of unequal span and a fuselage of fabric-covered metal tube. Accommodation for the pilot and passenger was in tandem, open cockpits and the main units of the fixed, tailskid undercarriage were linked by a cross-axle.

Two prototypes in 1927 were followed by the LH.431 in 1928, a much-modified version that dispensed with the sweepback used on both the upper and lower wings of the H.43, had a new tail fin and added metal covering to the sides of the fuselage. This was ordered into production by the Aéronautique Militaire, which ordered 50 examples. These were slightly different again from the LH.431 prototype, having divided main undercarriage units, wings of slightly greater area, and redesigned interplane struts. Over the next six years, the Army would purchase nearly 150 examples for a variety of support roles including training, liaison, observation, and as an air ambulance. At the Fall of France in 1940, 75 of these aircraft remained in service. H.43 variants were also operated by civil flying schools in France, as well as 12 examples purchased for the military of Peru. The H-437 version was a trainning aircraft that flew for thr first time in 1933. Six of these prototypes were sold to the Spanish Republic and used as trainers until the end of the war.

 

[gekho]

The Hispano HS-43 was a Spanish single engine, tandem seat biplane, designed as a basic trainer. Twenty five were ordered by the Aeronáutica Naval but only five had been completed when the Spanish Civil War intervened. In 1934 the Aviación Militar called a competition for a Spanish designed and built basic trainer. Three companies responded, including La Hispana Suiza who had recently taken over the aircraft interests of La Hispana, which had been bought by Fiat. Their aircraft, the Hispano HS-34, is now sometimes referred to as the Hispano E-34, in the earlier company's style. The Hispano HS-34 was a single engine biplane, seating two in tandem. It had unswept single bay wings of the same span and constant chord, with some stagger. The wings were fabric covered wooden structures. Only the lower wing carried dihedral. The N-shaped interplane struts were assisted by flying wire bracing. The upper wing was supported over the fuselage by a pair of N-shaped struts to the upper fuselage longerons. The upper centre section had a large cut-out in its trailing edge for better upward visibility and also contained the fuel tank. Ailerons were fitted only on the lower wing. The HS-34 had its tailplane mounted on top of the fusealge, carrying split elevators. The rudder was horn balanced. The HS-34 had a rectangular cross section fuselage formed from steel tubing with internal wire bracing. Its cockpits were open. The undercarriage used a pair of internally sprung mainwheels with balloon tyres and a tailskid. A split axle was mounted on a short V-strut below the fuselage. On the prototype the undercarriage main legs were short, mounted on the lower fuselage longerons and assisted by short forward struts. The second prototype and production aircraft had longer legs fixed to the upper longerons. The prototype and production series aircraft were powered, as the rules of the competition required, by a 105 hp (78 kW) Walter Junior four cylinder inverted inline engine, though the second prototype was fitted with the more powerful 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major of the same configuration.

The HS-34 did not win the Aviación Militar competition and was therefore not ordered by them but the Aeronáutica Naval placed an order for twenty five in August 1935. Only five had been built before the Spanish Civil War put a end to production of non-combat aircraft. In 1941, after the war a final HS-34 was assembled using recovered parts and a Gipsy engine. Hispano had hopes of restarting production, suggesting the HS-34 might find a rôle as a glider tug. A successful test took place on 18 April 1942, flown by the usual Hispano test pilot Fernando Floes Solis but the type was not accepted by the military. Instead, it flew with the civil Aero Club of Seville. Lage suggests that this aircraft may be the HS-41 referred to in the 1942 Hispano catalogue. The second prototype, with its Gipsy engine, new undercarriage and Handley Page slots was displayed before the war at the International Exposition held at Montjuich in 1935.

 

[gekho]

The plane was a development of Potez 36. First of all it featured new, slimmer fuselage, with three seats, instead of two. A disadvantage were non-folding wings, with shorter slats. The original Potez 430 first flew in June 1932. It had 105 hp radial engine Potez 6Ас. 25 examples of this variant were completed, followed by other variants, differing with the last digit in designation. Other variants built in significant numbers were Potez 431 and Potez 438. 161 of Potez 43 family were built in total.

 

[Gnomey]

Good shots!

 

[gekho]

In the early 1930s, the French company Breguet Aviation started design of a twin-engined transport aircraft, sharing the wing design with the Breguet 460 military multi-purpose aircraft and the Breguet 462 bomber, a mock-up of the initial design, designated Breguet 46T, was displayed at the 1934 Paris Air Show.[4] The new design, named Fulgur, and re-designated Breguet 470 T12 before the prototype was completed, was a low-winged monoplane of all-metal construction, accommodating 12 passengers. It had a retractable tailwheel undercarriage and was powered by two Gnome-Rhône 14K radial engines. The Fulgur made its first flight on 5 March 1936, its two powerful engines giving a maximum speed of 385 km/h (239 mph), leading it to be described as the fastest commercial transport in the world.

The prototype Breguet 470 was entered in the 1936 Paris–Saigon–Paris race, with the hope of winning a large cash prize (1,800,000 Francs), and with a promise that the winner would be purchased by the French Air Ministry, setting out on 25 October, reaching India before having to withdraw due to a mechanical fault. It was re-engined with more powerful, 937 hp (699 kW) Gnome-Rhône 14N radials in 1937 before being entered into that year's Istres–Damascus–Paris race, finishing fifth in a time of 21 hours 3 min, with de-militarised Savoia-Marchetti SM.79s bombers occupying the first three places and a de Havilland Comet racer finishing fourth. No further production followed, and the prototype was sold to the Spanish Republican government at the time of the Spanish Civil War. It was painted dark green, but the paint peeled in many places giving the plane a scruffy look. The aircraft was used mainly for LAPE[8] flights between Barcelona and Toulouse, although the Spanish Republican Air Force occasionally used it as a military transport as well. It escaped to France following the surrender of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, the aircraft then being scrapped.

Source: Breguet 470 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[gekho]

Harold Edward Dahl (29 June 1909 – 14 February 1956) was a mercenary American pilot who fought in the Spanish Republican Air Force during the Spanish Civil War. He was a member of the "American Patrol" of the Andres Garcia La Calle group. He was nicknamed "Whitey" due to his very blond hair. Born in Champaign, Illinois, he graduated from flying school at Kelly Field on 28 February 1933 and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as a Second Lieutenant. His commission ended in 1936 due to gambling and subsequent court convictions. He then became a commercial pilot, but again gambling forced him to escape to Mexico. He was flying charter and cargo flights carrying material for the Second Spanish Republic, as Mexico was one of the very few distant countries to support the Spanish government. He was told about the good salary paid for mercenary pilots and so he joined Spain under the name of Hernando Diaz Evans, Evans being his mother's maiden name. He reported nine kills in this unit, though only five were ever confirmed.

During the reorganization of the Fighter Squadrons in May 1937, Dahl was posted to a squadron with a large variety of nationalities. Frank Glasgow Tinker said that this made it very hard for a pilot to coordinate his place in the group during fighting. It seems that this was the case on June 13 of that year, where he was surprised by enemy planes and was shot down and taken prisoner. Initially sentenced to death, there were some diplomatic movements to free him. His first wife Edith Rogers, a known singer of impressive beauty, was said to have visited Francisco Franco himself to plead for his life. This story later became the basis of the 1940 movie Arise, My Love. He stayed in prison until 1940 and then returned to the U.S. After he and Edith Rogers divorced, he accepted another mercenary job, this time with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and served during World War II where he trained RCAF pilots for combat in Europe at an airfield near Belleville, Ontario. It was here that he met his second wife Eleanor Bowne, the daughter of the richest man in Belleville. After the war, he was accused of stealing equipment from the air force that had been decommissioned.

Around 1951, he joined Swissair and stayed in Switzerland but in 1953 he was caught smuggling gold with his girlfriend and was expelled from the country, an event that compelled his second wife to divorce him. Back in Canada, he became a cargo pilot flying DC-3s when on 14 February 1956 he was killed during a crash in bad weather.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice stuff!

 

[Madmax_]

Thank u for sharing Moscas and other Republican airplanes.

 

[gekho]

Albert Baumler was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on 17 April 1914. He did his primary and basic training at Randolph Field from June 1935 to February 1936, and then did his advanced training at Kelly Field from 19 February to 17 June 1936. He was however eliminated on the latter date, at which he had 205 hours and 30 minutes of training time and a total of 319 hours and 15 minutes flying time. On 15 October 1936 he received a commercial transport rating. He resigned his Army Air Corps commission and made his way to Spain.

In Spain he flew for the Spanish government from 27 December 1936 to 15 July 1937. He qualified on the I-15 on 7 February 1937 and was assigned to Kosokov's Escuadrilla, which was equipped with I-15 Chatos. At 11:30 on 16 March his patrol flew a sortie from Soto Madrid. In the Brihuega-Valdesor-Pajares sector the patrol met a formation of Fiat CR.32s. In the ensuing combat Baumler shared a CR.32 with A. N. Zeitsoff. It seems that totally two CR.32s were claimed in this combat for no losses. Four days later, on 20 March he attacked a group of three Italian SM.81 bombers escorted by five Fiat CR.32s. Baumler claimed a Fiat 10 kilometer southeast of Brihuega.

On 17 April he was on his second mission of the day, operating from a base near Sarrion, Teruel, when his group intercepted a formation of Heinkel He51 pursuits. Giving chase to the enemy, Baumler crippled a Heinkel; as he did not see it crash, he was awarded with only a probable victory. He did, however, obtain credit for a subsequent "kill" in this same combat. Kosokov's Escuadrilla converted to Polikarpov I-16 Moscas in the end of May and Baumler qualified on the I-16 on 1 June 1937. On 2 June he claimed a CR.32 in flames over the San Ildefonso-Segovia area. Operating from Castejon on 14 June, he claimed another Fiat over Huesca. At 16:45 on 8 July he was part of a group out of Chozas Madrid to escort ten Rasante light bombers to Quejormas, when his group engaged an enemy force of bombers and fighter escorts. In the ensuing combat he claimed a probable Fiat CR.32. Baumler returned to the US in the end of July after having claimed 2 biplane victories and a total of 4. Totally during his time in Spain he flew 174 hours and 35 minutes. While flying for the Spanish government he earned $1,500 a month plus $1,000 for each aircraft shot down.

After his return to the US he rejoined the Army, being commissioned to Second Lieutenant and rated as a pilot on 30 September 1938. When the recruitment of pilots for the AVG in China started in March 1941, Baumler signed up for this unit as one of the 100 pilots recruited. However he ran afoul on Ruth Shipley at the State Department, who refused him a passport on the grounds that he had violated his previous travel documents by flying for a foreign government. Instead he was posted to AMISSCA (United States Military Mission to China) flying with spare parts for the AVG on the Pan Am Clipper, which left for Hawaii on the night of 3-4 December 1941. However his intent seems to have been to join the AVG when arriving in Burma.
He made as far as Wake Island, where he awoke to Japanese bombs, shells and bullets on 7 December. The Pan Am Clipper escaped with twenty-seven bullet holes, none in a vital spot. The cargo was dumped and the aircraft filled with refugees, including Baumler and a dozen of civilian workers, took of for the devastated Hawaii at noon.

In February 1942 he was serving with the 15th PG, 45th PS, and at the end of the month he had 725 hours and 30 minutes of training time and a total of 1750 hours and 20 minutes flying time. He was sent to the 10th AF in India, and attached to the Flying Tigers for experience. On 4 July 1942 he joined the 23rd FG, 75th FS. He was Commanding Officer of the 74th FS from 11 December 1942 to 18 February 1943. During the Second World War he claimed 5 more victories and he ended the war with 2 biplane victories and a total of 9. He was decorated with two DFCs and one AM. Baumler continued to serve after the war before retiring from the Air Force Reserve in September 1965. Post-war he was decorated with a BS and Commendation Ribbon. He passed away on 2 August 1973 in Denison, Texas.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice shot!

 

[gekho]

Frank Glasgow Tinker was a distinguished American mercenary pilot for forces of the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). A graduate of DeWitt High School and the Naval Academy, Tinker was the top American ace for the Republican Air Force during the Spanish Civil War. Frank Tinker was born on July 14, 1909, in Kaplan, Louisiana, the son of Frank Glasgow and Effie Tinker. He had two sisters. The family moved to DeWitt (Arkansas County) on July 3, 1924. Tinker graduated from high school in DeWitt in 1926 and, at the age of seventeen, joined the U.S. Navy. Tinker spent three years in the navy before receiving a prestigious appointment to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. After graduating from Annapolis in 1933, Tinker was sent to Randolph Field, Texas, for flight training. In six months, he graduated and was transferred to Pensacola, Florida, where he completed his training.

During 1934–1935, Tinker was stationed with the West Coast Fleet. He served as an observer for the navy and crashed with his pilot on May 15, 1935. Tinker's only grievance seems to be his prematurely gray hair, which he attributed to this crash. Tinker lasted only six months in the fleet. After a quarrel in Long Beach resulted in a court-martial, Tinker again got into a clash only a couple of months later and had his commission revoked. Later in 1935, Tinker joined the crew of a Standard Oil tanker running from New York to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as a third mate. By July 1936, Tinker left his job with Standard Oil. Tinker was never married and had no children. By December 16, 1936, Tinker left for Spain to fight with the Republican forces against the Nationalists, led by Francisco Franco, and the fascist nations of Italy and Germany. Earlier, Tinker attempted to join the Ethiopian government as a pilot for Addis Ababa against Benito Mussolini and his invading Italian forces. This failed, as the Ethiopian government had no air force of its own. Tinker believed that Adolf Hitler and Mussolini were involved in what amounted to a military invasion of Republican Spain, and he decided to offer his services as a fighter pilot for the Republican Air Force.

When Tinker joined the Republican Air Force, it was contrary to the United States' policy of non-intervention. To circumvent this policy, the Spanish ambassador to Mexico recruited Tinker in secret. This was in response to letters sent by Tinker to the Spanish ambassador in Washington DC and Mexico City, and the Spanish Consul-General in New York City. As Tinker began his clandestine voyage to Spain, he took the alias Francisco Gomez Trejo. During the war, Tinker became a squadron commander and was credited with eight enemy kills, making him an ace. By late August 1937, Tinker returned to the United States. During the Spanish Civil War, Tinker flew with other notable American mercenaries, including Harold Dahl, Orrin Dwight Bell, Derek Dickinson, Jim Allison, Charlie Koch, and Albert Baumler. Tinker has been placed in the American Fighter Aces Association for his eight confirmed kills and recorded compensation totaling $18,500 from his exploits in the Spanish Civil War. His eight confirmed enemy kills of the war placed him at the top among the American pilots.

After the war, Tinker was a guest speaker in New York on the radio program "We the People," discussing his feats in civil war Spain. Tinker also wrote a series of articles for the Saturday Evening Post titled "Some Still Live." The articles were published in book form with the same name in 1938. He wrote a number of other articles including a series for the Arkansas Gazette Magazine describing his voyage from St. Charles (Arkansas County) down the White and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans with his fox terrier. Tinker's death is reported as a suicide; however this has continued to be controversial. He was found in the Hotel Ben McGehee in Little Rock (Pulaski County) on June 13, 1939, with a .22 caliber weapon lying on a chair three feet from the bed. A bottle of scotch, relics of Tinker's career with La Patrulla Americana during the Spanish Civil War, and an acceptance letter from the Chinese Air Force were scattered across the room. The letter was the result of correspondence between Tinker and General Claire Chennault. His suicide has been attributed to shellshock from the war and even maltreatment from the U.S. government. Neither has been substantiated, and some even consider his apparent suicide as nonsense, since Tinker was known to carry a .45 Colt with him in his suitcase. Ernest Hemingway, an admirer of Tinker, after learning of Tinker's suicide, reportedly commented he would have tried to dissuade Tinker from taking his own life if he had known of Tinker's plight. Tinker was buried in DeWitt with "¿Quien Sabe?" ("Who knows?") engraved on his tombstone.

Sources:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk5ntW_Qwcc

 

[gekho]

Shadows of war; The Videogame


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHewZxwZBPY

 

[Johnny Curedents]

Thank you, Gehko, for the enormous effort you put into posting both Republican and Nationalist aircraft; I thought I had seen just about all the photos that existed, but you proved to me that I had a lot to learn. If it were ever possible, I would enjoy adding to these pictures some discussion of the colours and markings of aircraft, especially of Nationalist planes. De todos modos, me ha gustado mas de lo que te puedo decir y te lo agradezco de nuevo.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Excellent posts!

Welcome aboard Johnny.

 

[gekho]

Thank you, Gehko, for the enormous effort you put into posting both Republican and Nationalist aircraft; I thought I had seen just about all the photos that existed, but you proved to me that I had a lot to learn. If it were ever possible, I would enjoy adding to these pictures some discussion of the colours and markings of aircraft, especially of Nationalist planes. De todos modos, me ha gustado mas de lo que te puedo decir y te lo agradezco de nuevo.

Thank you for your words; I am happy to see people enjoy my threads. And please feel free to add all the pictures and information you have about the SCW. And of course welcome to our forum.

Y por cierto, felicidades por tu excelente español.

 

[Rafhart]

I have a question about the Tupolev I-4 (ANT-5) did not find any mention of this plane and reportedly took part in the war, as I understand the Republican side.

 

[Sagittario64]

How did the I-15/I-152 fare against its opponents later in the war? i understand some skilled pilots were still flying it during 1937-38. i know that the bf.109 was in force already, and the next year the italians introduced the fiat g.50

 

[kruaxi]

Fantastic data. Thanks a lot