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are celebrated 100 years of the anniversary of the creation of the first military aviation school of the Ecuador, who gave life to Ecuadorian Air Force – FAE.
Photographs: personal file of Guido Chavez, thanks to the authors and Nicolás Larenas.
The glorious Ecuadorian Air Force celebrates its long-awaited hundredth anniversary of creation, that before being a defense force of the country "So that others can live", was born as a military aviation school in the city of Guayaquil.
In this special delivery, we will review part of its history, fleet, photographs and some additional information about this institution that meets 100 years.
History of the Ecuadorian Air Force
It all started a 27 October 1920 with the creation of the first military aviation school in Guayaquil and Quito, thanks to the newly elected President Dr. José Luis Tamayo inspired by the pioneers of Ecuadorian aviation.
Initially, the FAE was part of the Ecuadorian Army and at that time thanks to the collaboration between Ecuador and Italy, pilots from this European country like Elia Liut were the first instructors for Ecuadorian pilots, that for the war 1941 with Peru were not yet ready to have a significant interference in armed conflicts, which motivated the Ecuadorian authorities to give greater importance to military aviation.
With the construction of air bases in Galapagos and Salinas thanks to the support of the United States during World War II, Ecuador recognized the Air Force as an independent branch of the Armed Forces, so for 1947 the first 12F47D Thunderbolt arrived in the country, forming the first combat squad.
Inside the history of the Ecuadorian Air Force, important milestones are presented, one of them is the Aerial Victory of Cenepa of the 10 February 1995, when in the first air combat – air or dogfight of South America the first demolition in combat between supersonic planes is carried out during the Cenepa War, Ecuadorian pilots being victorious.
Important moments of the Ecuadorian Air Force
- 27 October 1920 – Birth of the Ecuadorian Air Force.
- 21 of January of 1943 – The modern AT-6 aircraft arrive in the country.
- February of 1955 – Ecuador enters the jet age with the Meteor FR.9 aircraft.
- 4 from December to 1962 – Ecuadorian Military Air Transport begins operations – TAME.
- 1975 – They arrive at base of taura 12 Cessna A-37 aircraft.
- 14 of January of 1977 – Creation of the first supersonic fighter squadron with Jaguar planes, later the Mirage F-1 and Kfir C-2 are incorporated.
- 15 June 1992 – The Aeronautical Industry Directorate is created – DIAF.
- 10 February 1995 – Air Victory at Cenepa.
- 2 april 2000 – The first promotion of female cadets start their career at the Cosme Rennella School.
- 27 of January of 2020 – First promotion of female soldiers enter the Air Infantry School.
- 6 May 2008 – First zero gravity flight.
- August of 2009 – First promotion of technical students.
- January of 2010 – The first Super Tucanos arrive as a replacement for the MK-89.
- June of 2011 – Cheetah supersonic aircraft are incorporated into the Fighter Wing 21.
- October 2011 – First female Brigadier Major.
- 2012 – The training Diamond DA-20C1 are incorporated.
- August of 2014 – are incorporated 3 aircraft House C-295M.
- 2016 – The Ecuadorian Air Force was essential during the Manabí Earthquake with the transfer of supplies, personnel and logistics.
- March of 2019 – are incorporated 4 Augusta Westland AW-119 Koala helicopters for search and rescue.
- November 2019 – The FAE announces the purchase of 6 Airbus H-145M helicopters that will arrive first at the end of 2020.
- December of 2019 – The first ones graduate 2 women Fighter Pilots from the country of promotion 65.
- 29 September 2020 – the first arrive 2 from 8 German training aircraft Grob G-120 TP to Salinas.
- 27 October 2020 – The Ecuadorian Air Force celebrates 100 years of creation as a military aviation school.
Historic fleet
The fleet over the past 4 years has been shaped by these aircraft, although some data might have log failures:
- 2 PBY-5A Catalina
- 20 Beechcraft T-34C Turbo Mentor
- 4 Beechcraft T-34A Mentor
- 10 Bell TH57-A
- 1 Bell 206
- 3 Bell 212
- 3 Bell 47G
- Piper PA-34
- 8 Cessna A-150
- 8 Cessna 177F
- 12 Cessna T-41D
- 6 Cessna CH-1C
- 28 Cessna A-37 Dragonfly – 3 were transferred to the Uruguayan Air Force
- 24 BAC Strikemaster Mk 89/89A
- 1 Beechcraft Super Kingair 200
- 12 Fairchaild PT-19
- 1 Beechcraft C-45A
- 1 Boeing 727-100 FAE-691.
- 1 Boeing 727-200 FAE-620.
- 5 DHC-6 Twin Otter
- 2 DHC-5 Bufalo
- 6 Avro HS 748
- C-130 Hercules B/H
- 6 CANBERRA B-6
- 12 METEOR FR-9
- 40 Lockheed AT-33
- 4 Lockheed L-188 Electra
- 30 AT-6 Texan
- 42 T-28D
- 19 Replublic Aviation F-47D
- 3 Ryan PT-2211 SA-319B
- ALOUETTE III
- 2 SA-330F Puma
- 12 BT-13 VALIANT
- Sabreliner 60
- Cessna 206H
- 1 Sabreliner 40A FAE-043
- Bell 212
- Bell 412
- HAL Dhruv
- Aerospatiale Alouette III
- 6 Mirage 50
- 12 IAI Kfir.CE
- 2 IAI Kfir T.C2 (training)
- 18 Mirage F1
- 15 SEPECAT Jaguar 2 Jaguar-B, 10 Jaguar-S intl., 3 Jaguar-GR.1
Current fleet of the Ecuadorian Air Force
When celebrating the 100 years of the FAE, This branch of national defense is made up of the following aircraft in its air fleet (data could be modified)
- Airbus Helicopters H-145M (late incorporation 2020)
- 10 Diamond DA-20C1
- 4 Grob G-120 TP
- 17 Embraer EMB314 Super Tucano FAE1012, FAE1011, FAE1010, FAE1014
- 1 Boeing 737-200 FAE-630
- 3 DHC-6 Twin Otter FAE-452 FAE-452
- 1 Hercules L-100 FAE-893
- 1 Beechcraft King Air B300/350 FAE-1141
- 3 Casa 295M FAE-1030, FAE-1031, FAE-1032
- 4 AgustaWestland AW119 Koala FAE-1201, FAE-1202, FAE-1203, FAE-1204.
- 1 Bell TH57-A
- 1 MD Helicopters MD 500
- 11 Atlas Cheetah C/D
- 1 Embraer 135-BJ Legacy FAE-051
- 1 Dassault Falcon 7X FAE-052
- 3 UAV-2 Hawk
- 1 UAV-2 Sparrowhawk
modernization
the future of the Ecuadorian Air Force revolves around modernizing its aircraft, work that has been done for some years, but that should be focused in the medium term on the fleet of supersonic combat aircraft.
Although we live in times of peace with neighboring countries, a very important earring, but given its investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, has postponed for several years the incorporation of new supersonic combat aircraft, that now joins the marked economic crisis of the country, will make it difficult for the FAE to complete this necessary modernization, that will allow us to remain at the forefront of technology within the region.
The incorporation of modern Casa 295M aircraft, super toucans, AW119, Grob G-120 and the next Airbus Helicopters H-145M have been the mainstay of modernization, always so necessary for the interests of the country.
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Excellent information, You are missing the first woman to fly helicopter and Combat Rescue Squad Leader.
do you have the dates? so i put it.