Curtiss P-36 Hawk/Hawk 75/Mohawk. Part Four. In Peruvian skies.

 

Before World War 2, Peru was South America's second-largest air power after Argentina, not in vain they were involved in one important armed conflict in the region such as Colombia-Peru War of 1932 and the previous Trujillan Revolution on that same year.
However the country's aeronautical corps had some remarkable weak points: the 104 aircraft that composed their aeronautical corps were outdated and they encompassed up to 31 types of different aircraft. Unification wasn't in their agenda, and virtually every aircraft required its own spare parts and different treatment. 
Meanwhile, the war in Europe, in spite of its distant future, could have far-reaching consequences for South American countries as well. Primarily they were divided in two sides: those supporting the Allies and those supporting the Axis. Therefore, a pretext for a war in South America could be found at any given moment. Peru, as an allied supporter, feared mainly its southern neighbour, Chile, which maintained a so-called "pro-German neutrality". However, when the United States announced its Lend-Lease programme, it also extended its scope to Peru, protecting this way the country from its traditional enemy. U.S. support for Peru also influenced Chile's stance, which in January 1943 abandoned its neutrality and severed diplomatic relations with the Axis powers.
Among the aircraft received from the US under the Lend-Lease, there were ex-Norwegian Hawk 75A-8 fighters. The first 18 of them, designated as RP-36G by the USAAC, arrived in Peru in late 1942 with additional 10 machines arriving in November 1943. The later batch completed a 15-day 5,900 Kilometer (3.666 miles) flight from Kelly Field, Texas to Las Palmas, Cañete province - Central Peru. The total duration of this flight was 29 hours and 45 minutes.
The Peruvian Hawks served with the Cuerpo Aeronáutico del Peru  (Peruvian Aeronautical Corps) first and the Fuerza Aérea del Peru (Peruvian Air Force) later until 1954, when the last one was retired. They operated with two squadrons: 11 & 21 Escuadrón de Caza (11th and 21st Fighter Squadrons). 
Since they arrived from the United States after being refurbished, they were armed with two 12,7mm Browning machine guns in the fuselage and two 7,62mm in the wings, making them more like the Hawk 75A-2 in terms of armament, than the six-gun Hawk 75A-8.

Sources:

1st AJ-Press - Monografie Lotnicze 61 - Curtiss P-36 Hawk Part 1 (translated)
2nd http://p40hawksnest.com/Curtiss/Types/P-36/Peru/P-36Peru.html

Boeing Stearman Model 75, part six. The Stearman in America, part three. Even more American users.

 

The Boeing Stearman Model 75 was an American double-winged two-seater trainer that was employed all around the globe. Among its users, we can count the following ones:

• Guatemala: In mid 1943 the Guatemalan Air Corps acquired two PT-17s as a planned expansion for their Air Force.
  
  
• Honduras: On 6th February 1946 the Honduran Air Force acquired ten PT-17 Kaydets (though some sources claim they were just six) for use at their Air School. They were followed by twelve additional PT-13 two years later, in 1948. Anyway, all twenty-two (or eighteen) of them served as trainers for the next fifteen years, until 1963, when they were written off and were gradually replaced by more modern types such as the North American T-28 Trojan.
  
  
• Mexico: In July 1951 the Mexican Navy bought some Boeing Stearman N2S-5 (a variant of the PT-13D designed for use with the US Navy) to replace their Fairchild PT-19 trainers. They were assigned to the Mexican Naval Aviation School, to train their naval aviators. Three years later, in 1954, two additional machines were acquired. The N2S served with the Mexican Navy until 1969 when they were replaced by three Beechcraft Model 45 Mentor.
  The Mexican Air Force (MAF) employed the PT-17 too, having a total of up to 35 units destined to basic training at the Military Aviation School.
  
  
• Paraguay: Allegedly the Paraguayan Air Force employed the Stearman Model 75, however, we couldn't find any graphical evidence or description and only text references, and both the drawing and its data should be considered as speculative.
  
  
• Peru: The Peruvian Aeronautical Corps acquired a total of eighteen Stearman Model A75N1 (a export version of the PT-17), known locally as PT-27 in 1942. They replaced the ageing Italian Caproni Ca. 113. 
  
  
• Venezuela: In 1940 the Venezuelan Military Aviation signed a deal to buy three Stearman A75L3 and five A75B4 machines. The A75L3 being the export version of a regular PT-13A, while the A75B4 was the export variant of the PT-17 with some minor improvements such as an improved engine and provisions for light armament. 
  They also acquired five A76B4 (the export version of the Model 75 with cowled engine upgrade and light armament) in 1941. 
  According to some sources a total of 29 Stearmans served with the Venezuela Aviation, but other sources claim they were just 17. Anyway, they were employed as trainers and their ultimate fate is unknown.
  
  

Sources:

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

2nd https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Aeronaves_militares_históricas_de_Honduras#Década_de_1940_(1940-1949) (translated)

3rd https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuerza_Aérea_Guatemalteca (translated)

4th https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_de_la_Fuerza_Aérea_del_Perú (translated)

5th https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuerza_Aérea_Paraguaya (translated)

6th https://www.facebook.com/SentinelMexico1/photos/a.439533016150357/5214703231966621/?type=3&locale=es_LA (translated)

7th https://www.uswarplanes.net/pt13pt17.pdf (translated)

8th https://maquetas.mforos.com/353330/13018102-stearman-pt-17-venezolano-revell-1-48/ (translated)

9th https://iehap.pe/noticias/avion-stearman-pt-17-nuevo-atractivo-del-iehap/ (translated)

10th https://maquetas.mforos.com/353330/13018164-stearman-a76-b4-y-a75-l3-venezolanos-lindberg-1-48-2-aviones/ (translated)

Caproni Ca.310, foreign users, part two

 

The Caproni Ca.310 Libeccio, was an Italian twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft used during the World War II. It was mainly employed by Italy, but it also had many other foreign users, among them, those in the previous post, and the following ones:

• United Kingdom: The United Kingdom was going to be the most important foreign customer for the Ca.310, as the Royal Air Force (RAF) was undergoing major expansion programme after the Munich crisis in 1938. An element of that programme included enlarging the RAF's bomber force, which required an effective crew trainer aircraft. The RAF's high command decided that the Ca.310 could fit that role in late 1938 (albeit with some minor modifications, like for instance, replacing the 12,7 Breda-SAFAT defensive machine-gun with a British Vickers K gun). Negotiations continued well after the beginning of the World War II, when Italy was still neutral. The order wasn't cancelled even after 3rd September, when France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. However, Germany issued a formal protest to Italian government and, Caproni, which apparently was sympathetic to the Allied cause, tried to sell the aircraft through their Portuguese subsidiary. In December 1939 the British government, informed Caproni that they were going to buy 200 examples of the Ca.310 plus 300 of the Ca.313. Eventually, the order was changed to replace the Ca.310 with Ca.311, which was better. When Italy entered the War on 10th June 1940, all plans were scrapped.
• Peru: The Peruvian Cuerpo Aeronáutico del Perú (Peruvian Aeronautical Corps) bought 16 Ca.310s in 1938. Fifteen of them were shipped in May and the last one was ferried from Italy to Peru. The flight took place on 2nd August 1939, but the aircraft crashed on his way killing its pilot, Captain Pedro Canga Rodriguez. The Peruvian Ca.310s were employed during the Ecuadorian-Peruvian War of July 1941 as part of various bombing squadrons. They often flew bombing missions against Ecuadorian cities, escorted by the North American NA-50 "Torito" (Spanish for 'Little Bull') fighters. After that war ended, they were used as trainers.
• Nationalist Spain: It was during the Spanish Civil War that the Ca.310 was used in combat for the first time. A total of 16 Ca.310 were employed by the Aviación Nacional (Spanish Nationalist Air Force during the civil war) from July 1938 until the end of the conflict. They were assigned to Grupo 18 (Group 18) and were used in the reconnaissance-bomber role, and saw little action, mainly in the Catalonian front.
• Yugoslavia: This country was the first foreign customer of the type when, in 1938, they bought 12 Ca.310. While every other country bought the Ca.310 as a light bombers, Yugoslavia bought them as bomber trainers, as the Royal Yugoslav Air Force was undergoing a modernization process with more modern bombers such as the Bristol Blenheim, the Dornier Do.17k and the Savoia-Marchetti Sm.79, so they needed a multi-engined crew-trainer aircraft with retractable landing gear. 
  Apparently Yugoslavia was the only foreign customer satisfied with the Ca.310's performance, so they ordered a second batch of 12 Ca.310bis machines in 1939, which was a developed variant with an unstepped glazed cockpit (it would eventually serve as the prototype for the Ca.311) which was delivered at the end of the year. After the country was invaded by Axis forces, the Ca.310 were divided between the Independent State of Croatia, Italy and Germany. 
  During the late stages of the war, Yugoslav partisans seem to have re-captured some ex-Croatian machines and sent them to serve with the Yugoslav Partisan Air Force and its subsequent postwar air force. As we couldn't find graphical info about the Ca.310 serving with the SFR Yugoslav Air Force, the drawing should be regarded as speculative.

Sources:

1. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235096763-caproni-ca310/

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caproni_Ca.310

Junkers Ju.52, more American users

 

Between 1931 and 1952 the Ju.52 was, one way or another, being mass produced. Many airlines all around the world employed it and was the main cargo plane of many Air Forces around the globe. In this post, we cover the following countries:

• Ecuador: The Ecuadorian airline SEDTA (Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aéreos - Ecuadorian Society for Aerial Transports) was a subsidiary of Lufthansa which bought, in 1938, four Ju.52/3m (named "Ecuador", "Guayas", "Aconcagua" and Azuay) together with a single Ju W-34. Oddly enough, during the initial period, their tails were painted with the nazi svastika, which were overpainted in red at the start of the World War 2.
  They served for long period of times until, eventually, all of them were lost to accidents, the last one being recorded in April 1958. During the Ecuadorian-Peruvian War of 1941, they were seized by the Ecuadorian Army to serve in evacuation and resupply missions. One of them, registered as HC-SAD, was captured in September 1941 by Peruvian forces and transferred to the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in May 1942. 
• Peru: In Peru Lufthansa created another subsidiary airline, called just "Deutsche Lufthansa AG Lima", which on 21st February 1938 received permission to begin operations. This company worked jointly with the Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano and the Condor Syndicate in Bolivia and Brazil respectively. A total of four Ju.52/3m were acquired to serve on a weekly route from Lima, La Paz, Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro and Europe. However, when the World War 2 started, this route was partially cancelled as the route reached only to Rio de Janeiro.
  Some of them were pressed into service with the Cuerpo Aeronáutico del Perú (Peruvian Aeronautical Corps) when this Corps was expanded. They were used mainly for supply purposes in the most remote Peruvian regions. When American material arrived, they were phased out.
• Uruguay: The Uruguayan company CAUSA (Compañía Aeronáutica Uruguaya S.A. - Uruguayan Aeronautical Company) was a private airline that operated between the years 1938 and 1967. This airline was founded on 29th December 1936 by an Uruguayan banker with the intention of establishing an aerial link between the capital city of Montevideo and the Argentinean capital of Buenos Aires. Aerial operations began on 12th March 1938 with two Ju.52/3m equipped with floats which were acquired from Germany, shipped to Brazil, where they were assembled, and flown to Uruguay. These seaplanes served until 1946 when they were replaced by the Short Sunderland.
• United States: In May 1942 an ex-Ecuadorian Ju.52/3m was transferred to the USAAF and assigned to the 20th Troop Carrier Squadron. This aircraft was based in Panama channel and was re-engined with three Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines fitted in modified Douglas DC-2 cowlings and driving three-bladed propellers. Aerial brakes were replaced with hydraulic ones and all instruments and radio were replaced with American equipment. 
  This aircraft was used for patrol duties in the Caribbean region where it was reportedly used in fake "supply drops" to German submarines, where, instead of supplies, ordnance (IE bombs) where dropped. 
  This aircraft served until December 1943 when she was written off, after suffering a taxiing accident on June that same year, and was transferred to the US Public Roads Administration in Costa Rica, where it was in use until, at most, 7th December 1944.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52

2. https://www.facebook.com/aviacionyaeronautica/posts/2247124815308730/ (translated)

3. https://www.nlarenas.com/en/10/2018/aerolineas-historical-sedta-subsidiary-of-lufthansa/ (translated)

4. https://www.facebook.com/114126392072968/posts/1178714095614187/ (translated)

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compañía_Aeronáutica_Uruguaya

6. http://www.geocities.ws/kwii62/ju52.htm (translated)

7. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/unusual-aircraft-in-usaac-service-pt-1.24195/