Boeing Stearman Model 75, part three. The Stearman in Asia.

 

The Boeing-Stearman Model 75 is an American biplane-two seater trainer of the 1930s that was employed all around the world in various countries, among the following Asiatic ones:

• China: In 1942 the United States sold China 150 Boeing-Stearman PT-17 primary trainer (Model A75L5) under the Lend-Lease programme. They were to serve in the trainer role at the Kuomintang Air Force School which was moved to the Lak River airport in Punjab, India (actually the closest military installation of the time that we could find there was RAF Lahore).
  After the end of World War 2, in 1946, the Chinese PT-17s flew over the so-called 'Hump Route' (the Himalayas) and returned to Chinese soil to serve as trainers for students at the Jiangqiao Aviation School. 
  In 1947 the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) bought twenty-two additional A75L5s, the first two of which were powered by the Lycoming O-435-11 engine which was considered unsuitable by Boeing due to their lack of horsepower. The ROCAF agreed that the remaining 20 aircraft would be powered by the Continental R-680-4 radial engine which yielded 220 hp of power. 
  Mister Yun Duo, who was the director of the Kuomintang Air Force's Third Aircraft Factory located at Taichung, Taiwan, copied the design of the PT-17 in 1947. 
  This copy was commonly known as CJ-1 (from Chinese 'Chū jiào' - meaning 'Primary Trainer-). These CJ-1s were made out of surplus American material left over by the Americans in Taiwan and they were powered by the Continental engine.
  The CJ-1 flew officially for the first time in February 1948 and was quickly followed by a rapid and steady mass production system, where production was supervised by ROCAF's officials.
  A total of 104 CJ-1s were manufactured and sent to various academies on Chinese mainland, most of which were sent back to Taiwan in 1949 when the Kuomintang evacuated to Taiwan and most of the CJ-1s -and surviving PT-17s- were assigned to the Gangshan Air Force Academy to serve as primary trainers. They remained there until 1958 when they were withdrawn from ROCAF's inventory.
  On the other side, it is known that at least one PT-17 was in service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force at Jiangqiao in 1950, but further details are unknown.
  
  
• Iran: According to some sources, the PT-17 was also employed by the Imperial Iranian Air Force in the 1950s, however we couldn't find any reliable source, so the drawing should be considered as speculative.
  
  
• Philippines: In 1937 (though some sources claim it was one year before or even later), the Philippine Army Air Corps (PAAC) acquired an unknown number of the Stearman Model 73L-1 and L-3 (of which a total of 10 machines were manufactured) and 27 Stearman Model 76D-1 and D-3s (AKA BT-1) which makes a total of 37 Stearmans serving with the PAAC.
  This version was armed, as it was equipped with a defensive machine gun at the observer's position and had provision to carry small bombs under the fuselage. In 1941 they were know to be in service with the 1st (School) Squadron at Zablán Field and the 7th Squadron, at Maniquis Field, of the PAAC, however, given the situation of the PAAC, they were very unlikely to have seen any action when Japan invaded the Philippines in December 1941.
  After World War 2, in 1947 with the creation of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), many PT-17s  were acquired to serve at the PAF's school and even some surviving Model 73s were put into service with that same school. They were kept in service until the mid-to-late 1950s.

Sources:

1st en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing-Stearman_Model_75

2nd http://cwlam2000.epizy.com/cafx82.htm (translated)

3rd http://www.stearman.at/boeing_stearman_technical_data.html

Boeing Stearman Model 75, part two. The Boeing-Stearman in Israel.

 

The Boeing Stearman Model 75, AKA PT-17, AKA Stearman Kaydet, is an American trainer biplane that served with many countries all around the world, among them, Israel.

At the end of the War of Independence, the Israel Air Force (IAF) received one hundred and twenty-one aircraft out of one hundred and forty-seven purchased. Of those one hundred and twenty-one, thirty-three were lost to combat or accidentes and forty-three others were grounded for various reasons. 

A total of twenty Stearman Kaydets arrived in Israel at the end of 1948, but their assembly process was very slow and it wasn't until December 1949 when the  PT-17 were ready. The Kaydets were initially painted in camofulage green/brown with underwing red bands for quick identification as a trainer aircraft. 

To replace the volunteers in the IAF, a training school was established at Kfar Sirkin on 1st January 1950. This school was equipped with North American Harvards and Boeing Stearman Kaydets for pilot training and with Airspeed Consuls and Avro Ansons for multi-engine and navigator training. 

The Stearman became the favourite trainer aircraft for pilot training, even over the more modern Fokker S-11 monoplane, which was assigned to other roles in 1953. By this time the Kaydets were painted in silver with red bands under the wings and fuselage. 

More Stearmans were acquired over the next years and by the time of Suez Crisis (1956), there were a total of sixty-three Kaydets serving with the IAF, twenty-five of them assigned to 147 Squadron, which was created expressly to flight the Boeing Stearman in the reserve liaison and surveillance unit. These Kaydets were detached from the Flying School which kept the remaining Stearmans.

The 147 Squadron was formed in January 1953 as a reserve unit to be activated in times of emergency. Operating from Ramleh, this unit was subordinated to 100 Squadron and was initially designated as 1000 Squadron, but their number was changed to 147 on 1st January 1955. 
It was activated on 27th October 1956 for the Suez Crisis under the command of Cpt. Meir Shefer, with 25 Stearmans but only 12 pilots, consisting on both reserves and qualified students, among them Rina Levinson, one of the few female pilots of the IAF.
During this short-lived conflict, the 147 flew 401 sorties, adding up to 233 flying hours. Operating from Ramleh, close to IAF's headquarters, the squadron flew in the communications, liaison, transport, patrol and reconnaissance missions both day and night. 
Once the conflict was over, on 7th November 1956, the Stearmans were sent back to the Flying School where they were employed in their original trainer role and the squadron was deactivated. 

The Stearman was IAF's primary trainer until 1960 when they were replaced by the French Fouga Magister jet trainer.

Sources:

1st Scale Aircraft Modelling - Camouflage & Markings - 03 - The Israeli Air Force (1) 1948-67

2nd Hellion & Company -  Middle East at War 28 75 Years of the Israeli Air Force Volume 1 The First Quarter Century 1948-1973 (e)

3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing-Stearman_Model_75

4th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/147_Squadron_(Israel)

Boeing Stearman Model 75, part one, European Users

 

The Boeing-Stearman Model 75 was one of the most widely produced American trainer biplanes of the 1930s and 1940s, with almost 11,000 machines being built and the type being exported to various countries around the globe, among them, the following ones:

• Greece: In 1945 the Royal Hellenic Air Force (RHAF) acquired 30 Stearman Kaydet PT-13/PT-17 trainer biplanes (the main difference between them was the engine). They were employed in anti-malaria dusting campaigns all over Greece, equipped with removable DDT gear. 
  The unit, aptly called 'Anti-Malaria Squadron' was based at Eleysis Air Base, in central Greece, being dependent of the RHAF, but also of the Agricultural and Health ministries. 
  Since the aircraft were a donation of the American Mission for Aid to Greece (AMAG), they had not Greek roundels painted. 
  The Stearmans were part of the RHAF until 1969 (although they were sent to supply depot units -IE, withdrawn from active service- years earlier) when they were sold to private aeroclubs. 
  It is known that at least one was employed during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) in reconnaissance duties.
• Yugoslavia: Jat Airways, the national airline of Yugoslavia, acquired six Stearman PT-17 machines in 1946/1947 for crop dusting duties. They received the following registrations: YU-AER, YU-AES, YU-AET, YU-AEU, YU-AEV and YU-AEW. 
  They were used for crop dusting duties, operated by Jat's pilots until the late 1950s. At least one (YU-AET) was reconverted into a two-seater trainer for civilian pilot training in the winter of 1970-1971. 
  During their career with Jat, they suffered numerous accidents and mishaps affecting to five out of six machines.
  One machine, YU-AEW is known to have been stored for the Belgrade Air Museum in 1984, however, it was destroyed during the Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001) and the ones showed nowadays there are two ex American machines registered as YU-BAD and YU-BAI.

Sources:

1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing-Stearman_Model_75

2ns https://www.haf.gr/en/history/historical-aircraft/stearman-kaydet-pt-13-17/

3rd https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_2010.pdf

Supermarine Spitfire. European Users, part nineteen. Yugoslav Spitfires.

 

The No. 352 (Jugoslav) Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF), was designated in internal Yugoslav documents as '1 Lovacka Eskadrila Vazduhoplovstva NOVJ' (1st Fighter Squadron of NOVJ Aviation). It was formed at Benina (Libya) on 22nd April 1944 and was initially equipped with the Hawker Hurricane, however the unit quickly transitioned to the Spitfire and by June-July they were already fully equipped with the Mk. V/Trop. 
After their training was complete, they became part of No. 281 Wing RAF, which was subordinated to the Balkan Air Force (an Allied formation operating over the Balkans during World War 2). In that formation, they were joined in September by a second Yugoslav squadron, No. 351, equipped with Hurricanes. 

The Yugoslav No. 352 squadron operated from south-eastern Italy performing a wide variety of missions, such as fighter escort, fighter sweeps or ground attack. In October 1944 a detachment was sent to Vis airfield, a small Croatian island on the Adriatic Sea, which served as an advanced operating base, and since January 1945 the entire squadron was based there. 
In mid-April the entire squadron was rebased at the liberated airfield of Prkos, on the Yugoslav coast. In spite of Yugoslav efforts, the squadron was not re-equipped with the Spitfire Mk. IX or Mk. VIII, although it seems that they managed to acquire three Mk. IXs.

On 18th May 1945 (although some sources claim it was later, on 15th June), at Zemunik airfield, the squadron was officially deactivated from RAF's command, together with No. 351 Squadron (AKA 2 LEV NOVJ, the Hurricane-equipped Yugoslav squadron) and it was reformed into 1. Lovacki Puk (1st Fighter Regiment). 

The first squadron of this regiment took over all operational Spitfires they could find, a total of 17 Mk. V Trop and 3 Mk. IX.

Soon after, linked to the formation of a new bomber regiment equipped with the Soviet Petlyakov Pe-2 aircraft, all experienced personnel of the 1st Regiment was transferred to this new bomber unit, so 1. Lovacki Puk was disbanded and the Spitfires were sent to warehouses in Mostar. 

In early 1946 the Spitfires were re-registered according to the Yugoslav Air Force's system. The Mk. Vs received consecutive numbers, ranging from 9476 to 9493, and the few Mk. IX, from 9501 to 9503. 
During autumn/winter of 1946, the six Spitfire Mk. Vs which were in the best flying conditions, were assigned to the 3rd Fighter Division, receiving each of the two regiments that division was equipped with, (flying the Yakovlev Yak-3) three Spitfire Mk. V each.
The goal was to develop appropriate tactics to fight the Spitfires, as the Yugoslav aerial space was violated various times by Greek Spitfires. Those incidents took place regularly in the context of the Greek Civil War, as the Yugoslav authorities supported the local Greek communist rebels and even were allowed to take shelter and set up camps in the Yugoslav region of Macedonia. 
Oddly enough, the conclusions from those comparisons showed that the Yakovlev Yak-3 had no special advantage over the Spitfire Mk. V Trop in combat, apart from its greater maximum speed.

In May 1947 a regiment (named just as 'Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment') equipped entirely with Spitfires was formed again. This time this unit acted as a reconnaissance unit, and the planes were modified with Soviet photo-cameras installed in them.

In autumn 1948 some Spitfires Mk. IX bearing Yugoslav roundels appeared in Yugoslavia, but actually they were Czechoslovak Spitfires which were sold to Israel, as part of Operation Veletta. Those Mk. IXs were ferried from Czechoslovakia to Israel via Yugoslavia, and refuelling at Niksic (southern Yugoslavia) where they refuelled to continue the flight to Israel. They were temporarily painted in Yugoslav markings to avoid raising alerts among observers.

After Soviet-Yugoslav split, when Yugoslavia broke off 'brotherly relations' with the USSR in early 1949, the Yugoslav forces were reorganized. As part of this reorganization, the previous 'Reconnaissance Regiment' was given the number 103 and was rebased to Pancevo, in Serbia, due to the change in the expected direction of the aggression. 

Either way, by August 1952, the Spitfires were written off and replaced by more modern types.

Sources:

1st AJ-Press - Monografie Lotnicze 40 - Supermarine Spitfire Part 3 (translated)

2nd http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/352_wwII.html

3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Supermarine_Spitfire_operators#Yugoslavia

Supermarine Spitfire. European Users, part eighteen. Soviet Spitfires.

 

Since June 1941, when Germany invaded the USSR and the Soviets joined the Allies, the USSR showed interest in acquiring the Spitfire. In fact, as early as August 1941, a Soviet test pilot was sent to Great Britain to test the type.

The first Spitfires to fly with the Soviets were of the reconnaissance variant. As early as 1942 three Spitfires PR.IV (a recon variant of the Mk. V) from Royal Air Force's No. 1 Photo Reconnaissance Unit, were left in Vayenga airfield, in Murmansk. In 1943 and 1944, using the same delivery method, the Soviet Northern Fleet acquired five more operational Spitfires PR. IV plus two seriously damaged ones. They were then employed by the 118 ORAP (118th Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment) until 1946.

During early 1943, one hundred and forty-three Spitfire Mk. Vb were delivered to the USSR by road via the Iranian port of Abadan. These aircraft were first assigned to 25 ZAP (25th Reserve Air Regiment), from where they were transferred to at least two fighter regiments on the frontlines.

The first of those Air Regiments was 36 IAP (Fighter Aviation Regiment), which was awarded the title of 'Guards' and was renamed to 57 GIAP (Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment). After several months, however, the Spitfires were withdrawn from front-line regiments, onyl after three months of service, in the Kuban sector, as they were considered unsuitable for use in the front. 
Some Mk. Vs were sent to Moscow's anti-aircraft defence units, where they were employed against Luftwaffe's Junkers Ju.86R, the high-altitude bomber variant of the Junkers Ju.86.

From February 1944 the USSR began to receive the Spitfire Mk. IX. A total of 1.183 LF.IX and two HF.IX were delivered by the end of the war. Some Russian studies point that nine additional Mk. XVI were also delivered in the spring of 1945. 
As we said, after the first experiences in the battlefield with the Mk. V, the Soviet Air Command considered the Spitfire to be unsuitable for frontline use, so almost all those Mk. IXs were assigned to PVO (anti-aircraft defence) units. At the end of the war, twenty-six of eighty-one PVO's regiments were equipped with Spitfires. 
In 1944 out of 5.318 aircraft in PVO's inventory, there were 297 Spitfire Mk. IXs and in 1945 the number rose to 825, out of a total of 5.047 aircraft.

Not very much is known about the combat usage of the Spitfires in the USSR. The only known episode, is the shooting down of a late variant of a Junkers Ju.88 (probably either a Ju. 88S or a Ju. 88T) near Leningrad on 8th March 1945, achieved by two Spitfire Mk. IX pilots: V.  Rybin (from 11 GIAP) and A. Fedotov (from 102 GIAP).

Towards the end of the war, some Spitfires were employed to test a television-guidance system. This worked in such a way that the image of the situation from the ground radar was presented on a screen placed inside the cockpit. Two Mk. IXs from 26 GIAP, flown by Lt. Col. W. Macjewicz and Capt. N. Szczerbina were modified.

In the operational history of the Spitfire in the USSR, the official magazine of the PVO stated the following: "... Although the Spitfire did not leave a significant mark on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, at its end and during the first post-war years, it became irreplaceable in the role of a high-altitude interceptor of the PVO".

After the end of the war, Spitfires remained in PVO's fighter pool until 1947/1948, with the last being withdrawn in 1951. Towards the end of their career in the USSR, they served as a transition aircraft for retraining pilots for jet fighters. This was due to the excellent high-altitude characteristics of the Spitfire, incomparably better than any Soviet piston aircraft. 
An unknown number of Spitfire Mk. IXs were converted to two-seaters, following Soviet doctrine of retraining pilots in two-seater versions of front-line fighters. This conversion has been commonly known as Spitfire Mk. IXUTI.

After the war, several of those Mk. IXUTIs were used to break parachute jump altitude records. On 25th September 1945 V. Romaniuk set a new world altitude record by jumping from a Mk. IXUTI piloted by A. Proshakov, at an altitude of 13.105,5 m.

In addition to unit service, all versions of the Spitfire delivered to the USSR underwent testing in research facilities. 

Also, according to unconfirmed reports, a number of Soviet Spitfires were transferred to Communist China in the early 1950s. This however, is most likely false.

Sources:

1st AJ-Press - Monografie Lotnicze 40 - Supermarine Spitfire Part 3 (translated)

2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Supermarine_Spitfire_operators#USSR

Supermarine Spitfire. European Users, part seventeen. The Spitfire in Portugal.

 

During late 1942 eighteen Spitfires, which were ordered before the beginning of the war, were delivered to Portugal, to form the bulk of their Aeronáutica Militar (Military Aeronautics - Portuguese Army's aerial branch). Those Spitfires were given the registration numbers of 370 to 387 and were assigned to equip Squadron XZ. Portuguese squadrons were marked with a set of letters that also served as a code painted on the aircraft. 
By virtue of the treaty that granted the Allies the right to use the bases in the Azores islands, Portugal was going to receive, for free, 36 Spitfire Mk. Vb, among many other aircraft. 
Those 36 Mk. Vb were shipped between October 1943 and January 1944.
Eventually thirty-three aircraft were delivered, were given the registration numbers of 1 to 33 and were assigned to aerial base of Ota (located in a civil parish close to Lisbon and officially called as 'Base Aérea Nr. 2'), where they were employed to form two new squadrons (Squadrons RL and MR) that were part of the Fighter Group stationed there.
In 1947 sixty more Spitfire Mk. Vb (mostly of the LF sub-variant) were bought from Royal Air Force's surplus. This new batch received the numbers of 34 to 92. 
Some were assigned to form a new squadron, Squadron ZE, while the rest were sent to supplement the numbers of the already existing ones. 

On 1st July 1952 the Portuguese Air Force (Força Aérea Portuguesa) was created and, as a result, the Aeronáutica Militar ceased to exist, resulting in a deep reorganization of every Portuguese aerial unit. 
Three Spitfire squadrons were merged into two (Squadrons 20 and 21), this time designated with numbers and still based at Ota. At the same time, the aircraft designation system was changed, with the Spitfires receiving a four digit code, in which the first digit indicated the category of the aircraft (in the case of the Spitfire it was the number 4 - 'fighter'), the second the type within the category (Spitfire - 3), while the other remaining two were the aircraft's own number. Example given, the previous Spitfire number 26, was now 4326. 
Anyway one year later, in 1953, the Spitfires were written off service.

Sources:

1st AJ-Press - Monografie Lotnicze 40 - Supermarine Spitfire Part 3 (translated)

2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Supermarine_Spitfire_operators#Portugal

Supermarine Spitfire. European Users, part sixteen. Polish Spitfire users, part four.

 

As we have written in earlier posts, eight Polish Fighter squadrons served with the Royal Air Force (RAF), composed of seven fighter squadrons operating on Great Britain and north-western European Theatre of operations, plus one reconnaissance squadron operating in Italy and one short-lived squadron operating in Tunisia, were equipped at some points of their careers with Spitfires. 

After the end of the war, due to political decisions made by the Allies, the Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain did not return to Polish soil and were disbanded in the United Kingdom. 

In late 1945 just three Spitfires were sent to Poland, from Polish Air Force in Exile's stocks, as a gift from the RAF. One of them, whose pilot got lost on his way to Warsaw, was sent back to the British Occupation Zone in Germany. The other remaining two were taken to the Polish Army Museum, from where they were taken and destroyed in 1947 during the Stalinist period. 

It is worth mentioning the last Polish ace to fly the Spitfire, Miroslaw Wojciechowski, who joined the RAF post war and, after undergoing a refresher course on Spitfires Mk. XVIs, he was assigned to No. 2 Squadron in Germany to fly the PR. XIX. From December 1949 to February 1951 he flew his PR. XIX (PM627 OI-X) more than 30 times until the PR. XIXs were replaced by the jet-powered Gloster Meteor FR.9.

Sources:

1st AJ Press - Monografie Lotnicze 40 - Supermarine Spitfire 3 (translated)

2nd Osprey Publishing - Aircraft of the Aces 127 - Polish Spitfire Aces