Morane-Saulnier Ms.230, foreign users, part two

 

The Morane-Saulnier Ms.230 was a French two-seat single-engine trainer aircraft from the late 1920s that served, in many variants, with various countries all around the globe until World War 2. We already covered some of them in our previous post, so here are the remaining ones:

• Greece: Eighteen Ms.230 were ordered by the Royal Hellenic Air Force (RHAF) in October 1930 and were delivered in 1931. They were the main elementary trainer of the RHAF until 1936 when they were replaced by the Avro Tutor. The Ms.230s were not, however, written off, as they were kept as advanced trainers until the beginning of World War 2.
• Portugal: This Iberian country had its own version of the Ms.230; the Morane-Saulnier Ms.233 was powered by a Gnome-Rhône 5Ba or, in the latest versions, the Gnome-Rhône 5Bc which delivered, both of them, 230 hp of power. Six of them were built in France and 16 in Portugal by OGMA (Oficinas Gerais de Material Aeronáutico - General Workshops of Aeronautical Material). The were the main trainer of the Portuguese Aeronautical Corps during the 1930s and some of them were exported to Spain.
• Romania: In 1931 the Royal Romanian Air Force (RRAF) bought twenty Ms.230. They were used as their main trainer. As we couldn't find any graphical evidence of the Ms.230 serving in Romanian colours, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Switzerland: In 1931 the Swiss Flugwaffe (Swiss Air Force) bought two Ms.229 for basic training. These machines were identical to the Ms.230 but were powered by an Hispano-Suiza 8a V8 engine. This engine turned to be problematic as the engine failed in mid air various times, luckily, without any loss. After some investigations on the causes, it was found that the engine wasn't suitable for acrobatics, so one of them, numbered 643, was re-engined in 1932 with an American Wright 9Qa radial engine, licensed made in Switzerland as Hispano-Suiza 9Qa. Flight performance was improved, but only one machine was brought to that standard. They were kept in active until 1939 when they were withdrawn from active service.
• Slovak Republic: During late 1940 or early 1941, a single captured Ms.230 was given to the newly established Slovak Flying Corps. This single Ms.230 was kept at Vajnory airfield, as glider tug. It was probably destroyed in March 1945. Apparently there was a second machine which was given without its engine and was used for spare parts.
• Republican Spain: The Fuerza Aérea Republicana Española (FARE - Spanish Republican Air Force) bought six Ms.233 from Portugal at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. They were employed as elementary trainers at La Rivera flying school. 
• Venezuela: In 1930 Venezuela acquired three Ms.230 for their Regimiento Militar de Aviación Nº1 (No.1 Military Aviation Regiment - de facto the Venezuelan Air Force during the 1930s and part of the 1940s). They were kept in active until late 1930s when they were replaced by more modern types.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_MS.230

2. https://www.haf.gr/en/history/historical-aircraft/morane-saulnier-ms230/

3. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS229.html

4. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_morane_saulnier_MS233.html

5. https://www.valka.cz/Morane-Saulnier-MS-230-t167614 (translated)

6. http://wings-aviation.ch/51-Profiles/M/M-Basis-en.htm (translated)

7. https://www.oocities.org/slovakaf/lietadla/ms-230/ms-230.en.htm

8. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/forodemodelismo/morane-saulnier-ms-230-t4608.html (translated)

9. http://www.amigosdelmuseoarqueologicodelorca.com/alberca/pdf/alberca15/15_15.pdf (translated)

10. https://maquetas.mforos.com/353330/12935183-morane-saulnier-230-venezolano-esc-1-48-scratchbuilt/ (translated)

Junkers Ju.52/3m in Portugal

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German transport plane that also served in Portugal and its colonies, though this colonial usage we already covered it in a previous post.

The Ju.52/3m was used in metropolitan Portugal by Aero Portuguesa, which was the first official Portuguese airline with scheduled international flights. The airline was founded in 1934 and shortly later some Ju.52/3m were acquired. They covered various routes between Portugal and French Morocco and later a new link with Brazil was opened. The Ju.52/3m served until 1953 when Aero Portuguesa was merged with TAP (Transportes Aéreos Portugueses - Portuguese Air Transports - the main Portuguese airline nowadays) and the Ju.52/3m were replaced by more modern types.

Regarding its usage by armed forces, to write about the Ju.52/3m in Portugal, is to write about the history of Esquadra 502 (Squadron 502). This unit was founded in 1937 and since December was equipped with Ju.52/3m as it was intended to fulfil the role of night bomber. They were kept in that role until mid 1940s when, given their obsolescence as a bomber, they were redistributed to various units located in Sintra and Ota, all of them close to Lisbon, to serve as aerial transports.

Later, in 1952 the Portuguese paratrooper unit was created in Tancos, dependant on the Portuguese Air Force (PAF) with one Ju.52/3m being assigned to this unit to serve as a paratrooper transport.

On 12th April 1956 a mixed squadron was created with two subordinated flights (though they were flights in name only as they were over-strengthened),  one with 22 Piper L-21 mixed with Airspeed Oxfords intended to serve in the training and liaison role and another one with five Ju.52/3m to serve in the pure transport role. This squadron was disbanded in December 1959 in order to be reformed and create the Esquadra de Instruçao Complementar de Pilotagem e Navegaçao em Aviôes Pesados (EICPNAP - Complementary Instruction Squadron for Piloting and Navigation in Heavy Airplanes) whose purpose was to train pilots for paratroop drops. In order to keep the Ju.52/3m active for longer time, two of them were retrofitted with Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engines.

The EICPNAP was reinforced during November and December of 1960 with 15 additional AAC.1 Toucan machines bought directly from France in order to increase the amount of trained paratroopers to fight in the tumultuous Portuguese colonies of Angola, Guinea and Mozambique. In late 1963 the EICPNAP was disbanded only tu be succeded by the Esquadra de Treino e Transporte de Tropas Pára-quedistas (ETTP - Paratroop Training and Transport Squadron) which was a change in name only as their location, aircraft and mission was maintained. Shortly after this change, the old Ju.52/3m and Amiots were replaced by American Douglas Dakota C-47.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://esquadra.emfa.pt/link-502-005.002.001.002.001-junkers-ju-52 (translated)

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Portuguesa

4. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 186 - Junkers Ju-52 in Action

Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard - Part two

The Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard was exported after the war to various countries as the RAF rejected it for service.
Ireland was one of those buyer countries as the Irish Government bought one (out of just four in the world) Martinsyde Type A Mk.II which was a transport variant of the Buzzard, to escape from the Anglo-Irish negotiations in case they failed. It was written off on 11th October 1927.
The Buzzard served also with the Irish Air Corps as at least four of them (this time in their fighter variant). They were bought from the Aircraft Disposal Company in  1922 which was the company that bought most of the Buzzards after Martinsyde went bankrupt. They served with the No.1 "The Humming Bird" Squadron based at the Baldonnel Aerodrome. Most of them were written off from 1925 until 1929.
It seems that the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service bought one airplane with testing purposes in the early 1920s from the Aircraft Disposal Company. Apparently they weren't impressed and didn't buy more of them. As we couldn't find graphical evidence of the Buzzard under Japanese command, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
The Karinės Oro Pajėgos (Lithuanian Air Force) bought two Buzzards in 1922 from the Aircraft Disposal Company where they served under the denomination of "Amerikietis" and "Amerikiete".
Under the command of the Wojska Lotnicze (Polish Air Force) it was bought in January 1921 and it served as a fighter until June 1923 when it was assigned to the Experimental section of the Military Aviation Research Centre. One year later, in winter 1924 it was repaired and repainted in white and red horizontal stripes to be the personal airplane of the Polish Air Force Commander who kept the airplane as his personal one until March 1926. 
The Buzzard was also gifted to Portugal in October 1919 and was assigned to the Arma de Aeronáutica Militar (Military Aeronautics Arm) where it served with the Grupo de Esquadrilhas de Aviaçao República (Republican Aviation Flight Group) formed in Amadora and later they were transferred to the Esquadrilha Mista de Depósito in the city of Tancos. A second batch of Buzzards arrived in 1923 and they were also assigned to the Esquadrilha Mista de Depósito which existed until 1926 when it disbanded and replaced by the Esquadrilha de Caça Nº1 (Fighter Squadron No.1) and served together with the Spad S.VII. They served until 1933. 

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinsyde_Buzzard
2. http://www.ipmsireland.com/forms-downloads/aercorpsaircraft1922-1997.doc
3. http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2428
4. http://www.samolotypolskie.pl/samoloty/1807/126/Martinsyde-F-4-Buzzard (translated)
5. https://altimagem.blogspot.com.es/2012/04/16-martinsyde-f-4-buzzard.html (translated)
6. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters