Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana

Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana
Lineup	October 27, 1920
Country	Ecuador
Type	Armed forces ( air forces )
insignia
Aircraft cockade
National emblem ( vertical stabilizer )

Kfir CE 901 of the FAE

The Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana (FAE) are the air forces of the Ecuadorian army .

history

In 1910, Club Guayas de Tiro (Shooting Club ) changed its name to Club Guayas de Tiro y Aviación (Shooting and Aviation Club ) with the aim of promoting aviation activities in the country. Cosme Rennella Barbatto was the first Ecuadorian pilot , a co-founder of the club and an excellent athlete. He was to enter the Chiribiri & C. Aviation School in Mirafiori ( Turin , Italy ).

Between 1915 and 1918 he was a fighter pilot for the Italian Air Force in the First World War . He completed 250 sorties over enemy territory, where he fought 152 dogfights and shot down seven enemy aircraft . He received 14 awards from Belgium , France and Italy and is tenth in the roll of honor of the forty best Italian pilots of the First World War.

The FAE's first aircraft was a Chiribiri No. 5 with a 50 hp engine. On October 8, 1913, the PATRIA N ° 1 was ceremoniously baptized, the machine rose 120 meters and flew over the Guayas River .

1920-1936

A few years later, on August 8, 1920, Colonel Francisco Gómez de la Torre , Chief of the Guayaquil Zone, after completing a spectacular flight with the Italian pilot Elia Liut , sent a telegram to the President of the Republic and to the Commander-in-Chief in which he underlined the importance of aviation and called for support for all activities in this regard.

On October 27, 1920, the newly elected President José Luis Tamayo persuaded the National Congress to issue a decree establishing a flight school in Quito and one in Guayaquil . Two years later, the first sightseeing flight over Ecuador was carried out with a Ryan B-5 aircraft , which had been christened Ecuador I.

On November 21, 1927, the aviation section was renamed the Aviation Department and was immediately under the Ministry of War . In May 1929 the National Assembly authorized the executive to build an aerodrome in Guayaquil and at the end of the year the Durán Flying School was relocated to this new airfield. The military airmail service on the Latacunga - Quito - Otavalo - Ibarra and Tulcán route was introduced on January 1, 1932. Three years later, on July 3, 1935, the Guayaquil Military Aviation School was founded. She owned eight aircraft and a US flight instructor. At the beginning of 1936, the aviation department was renamed Air Inspection, which was now under the command of the army.

1942-2007

IAI Kfir , SEPECAT Jaguar and Mirage F1 of the Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana (from top to bottom)

On January 30, 1942, Captain Bayardo Tobar became chief of the air inspection of the Ecuadorian army and the military flight school, which moved to Salinas . A year later, by decree, the Army Air Inspectorate was renamed General Aviation Command. With this decree, the Ecuadorian Air Force was born. Major Bayardo Tobar became the first in command.

In December 1954 began in Ecuador the jet age when Meteor Fr.9 purchased airplanes. Canberra Mk.6 , F-80 and AT-33A were added on June 29, 1955 . On December 4, 1962, the TAME was founded, which is still in the hands of the air force today. During 1975 A-37B arrived at Taura Air Force Base , as did the Strikemaster Mk 89 .

On January 14, 1977, the first supersonic squadron with aircraft of the Jaguar type was introduced. Two and a half years later, on June 26, 1979, Taura flew a Mirage F1 for the first time . In 2009 it was decided to purchase South African Atlas Cheetahs . A total of twelve used machines were delivered to Ecuador in 2011 and 2012 and stationed at Taura airfield southeast of Guayaquil .

commitment

The first aerial combat with the participation of the FAE took place on January 28, 1981 during the so-called Paquisha incident ( Peruvian-Ecuadorian border war ). Two Cessna A-37B of the FAE fought an aerial battle with two A-37B of the Peruvian Air Force .

On February 10, 1995, an aerial combat was carried out during the Cenepa conflict , and three Peruvian aircraft are said to have been shot down, such as Ecuador: two Sukhoi Su-22s and one Cessna A-37B . According to Peruvian reports, no Peruvian aircraft are said to have been shot down by the enemy.

Rank badge

Rank
Officers	Generals	Brigadier General	Lieutenant General	General of the Aviators
	Staff officers	major	Lieutenant colonel	Colonel
	Captains and lieutenants	lieutenant	First lieutenant	Captain
Troop	sergeant	Second sergeant	First sergeant	Senior Sergeant
	Sergeants	Second sergeant	First sergeant
	Private	Second private	First private
	Aviator	Aviator