The Ecuadorian Air Force (Spanish: Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana, FAE) is the Air arm of the Military of Ecuador which includes many fighter aircraft and is one of the most powerful air forces in South America with the Brazilian Air Force, Chilean Air Force, Peruvian Air Force and the Venezuela Air Force. Military branches: Army (Ejercito Ecuatoriano), Navy (Armada Ecuatoriana, includes Marines), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana), National Police (Policia Nacional) Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 3,468,678 (2002 est. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... The Brazilian Air Force (Portuguese: Força Aérea Brasileira, FAB) is the air force branch of the Brazilian armed forces. ... Roundel of the Chilean Air Force Image:Logo fach. ... The Peruvian Air Force (Spanish: Fuerza Aerea del Peru, or FAP) is the aviation branch of the armed forces of Peru. ... The Air Force of Venezuela (Fuerza Aérea Venezolana, FAV) is a professional armed body designed to defend Venezuelas sovereignty and airspace. ...

History

The FAE was officially created on October 27th 1920. However, like in many other countries, military flying activity started before the formal date of birth of the Air Force. The history of Ecuador is marked by many skirmishes with its neighbour Peru. As a direct result of the 1910 Ecuador-Peru crisis the members of Club de Tiro Guayaquil decided to expand their sporting activities to aviation as well. Renamed Club de Tiro y Aviación they started an aviation school. Cosme Renella, who gained his civil aviation license in Italy, was asked as an instructor and the first aircraft that arrived in November 1912 was a Farman. Surviving a crash during a demonstration flight, Capitán Renella went on to fight in Europe during the first World War. Renella was a true ace, as many as 17 combat victories are ascribed to him, and he received several distinctions in Europe. His efforts in the founding phase of Ecuadorian military aviation are still honoured today by naming the Escuela Superior Militar de Aviación after him.

Aviation did not start in earnest until the early forties when an Ecuadorian mission to the United States resulted in the delivery of an assortment of aircraft for the Aviation school at Salinas. Three Ryan PT-22 Recruit, six Curtiss-Wright CW.22 Falcon, six Fairchild PT-19A Cornell and three North American AT-6A Harvard arrived in March 1942, considerably boosting the capacity of the Escuela de Aviación at Salinas.

The fifties and sixties saw a further build up of the airforce, gaining more units and aircraft. Meanwhile efforts were made in enhancing the facilities at various airbases. In may 1961 the First Air Zone (I Zona Aérea) with its subordinate unit Ala de Transportes No.11 was founded. The Second Air Zone (II Zona Aérea) controls the units in the southern halve of Ecuador: Ala de Combate No.21 at Taura, Ala de Rescate No.22 at Guayaquil and Ala de Combate No.23 at Manta as well as the Escuela Superior Militar de Aviación (ESMA) at Salinas.

The airforce has a unique mixture of types on its inventory, mostly from Western origin. The prime fighters are the Mirage F.1, Kfir C2, CE, and Jaguar Mk.1 all based at Taura with Ala 21. For advanced training and light attack missions, Strikemaster Mk.89, 90, and A-37B are in use at Manta with Ala 23. These aircraft often operate from airfields in the amazon region.

The transport wing uses various marks of the C-130 Hercules, DHC-6, BAe.748 to transport passengers, haul cargo and support the units deployed to the secondary airfields dotted around the country. Ala 11 has its own 'commercial' branch, like in many other South-American countries, the Transporte Aérea Militar Ecuatoriana (TAME). Besides the military transport aircraft, they also use Boeing 727 and Fokker 28 aircraft. Flying to locations off the beaten track, mostly lacking service by a commercial airline, TAME provides an additional service to the people of Ecuador. Presidential transport is among the tasking of Ala 11 as well; several Sabreliners are in use for this mission.

The FAE saw action on several occasions. A history of border disputes with Peru over the south-eastern Cenepa area saw escalation in 1981 and 1995. The FAE managed to down nine Peruvian aircraft in this last conflict, among which were one A-37B, two Su-22 and several Mi-8.

Besides the threat of its southern neighbour, the conflict believed being subdued by the 26 October 1998 Brasilia peace treaty, the FAE faces the war on drugs as well as many humanitarian and logistic missions into the amazon region of the country. Being a small country, supporting the relatively large airforce with a variety of aircraft types, is a burden. Nevertheless, with the perils of the recent past and present War on Drugs acting as an incentive, the FAE is dedicated to maintain a high profile. The Ecuadorian Armed Forces have the President of the Republic as their Supreme Commander in Chief, the president is advised by the Minister of Defense (this was always an Active or Passive duty General or Admiral until January 15th 2007 when Guadalupe Larriva became Minister of Defense) and The N.S.C (National Security Council). Although the idea of founding a naval air arm dates back to 1952, the aviation branch of the navy only formed in 1967. In March 1968 it became a subordinate division resorting under the Primera Zona Naval. Starting off with fixed wing aircraft, the first helicopters followed in 1973. October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... Guadalupe Larriva (Born 1957 - died January 24, 2007) was an Ecuadorian politician. ...

Aircraft inventory

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service[1]	Notes
Aérospatiale Alouette III	France	utility helicopter	SA 316B	2
Aérospatiale Gazelle	France	attack helicopter	SA 342K	10
Aérospatiale Lama	France	utility helicopter	SA 315B	3
Airbus A320	France	passenger transport	A320-200	2
Avro 748	United Kingdom	transport	HS.748	2
BAC Strikemaster	United Kingdom	attack	Mk 89A	6
Beechcraft T-34 Mentor	United States	trainer	T-34C-1	16
Bell 206	United States	training helicopter	TH-57 Sea Ranger	9
Boeing 727	United States	transport special mission	727-200	8
Cessna 150	United States	utility	A150L	5
Cessna A-37	United States	attack	A-37B	20
Dassault Mirage F1	France	fighter	F.1JA F.1JE	11 1	armed with R550 Magic air to air missile
de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo	Canada	tactical transport	DHC-5D	1
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter	Canada	utility transport	DHC-6-300	3
Fokker F28 Fellowship	Netherlands	passenger transport	F28-4000	1
IAI Arava	Israel	utility transport	Arava 101	2
IAI Kfir	Israel	fighter	Kfir C.2 Kfir TC.2	12 3
Lockheed C-130 Hercules	United States	tactical transport	C-130B C-130H L-100-30	1 1 1
North American Sabreliner	United States	VIP	Sabreliner 40 Sabreliner 60	1 1
SEPECAT Jaguar	United Kingdom	attack	Jaguar EB Jaguar ES	2 4

Types previously operated include: It has been suggested that IAR 316 be merged into this article or section. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ... This article is about the helicopter. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ... The Aérospatiale Lama is a light mono-engined utility helicopter originally manufactured by Aerospatiale of France. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ... The Airbus A320 is a short-to-medium range commercial passenger aircraft manufactured by Airbus. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ... The Avro 748 was a small short-range turboprop airliner designed by Avro in the late 1950s as a replacement for the now-aged DC-3s then in widespread service as feederliners. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The BAC 167 Strikemaster was a jet-powered training and light attack aircraft. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The Beechcraft T-34 Mentor is a propeller-driven, single-engined, military trainer aircraft derived from the Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... The Bell Helicopter Model 206 JetRanger is a two-bladed main rotor, turbine powered helicopter with a conventional, two-bladed tail rotor. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, single-aisle (narrow-body) commercial jet airliner. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Cessna 150s produced before 1964, such as this 1962 Cessna 150B, had square fins and no rear window A 1965 Cessna 150E. The 1964 model 150D and the 150E had an Omni-Vision rear window, but retained the square fin of the earlier 150 1965 Cessna 150E 1967 Cessna F150G... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... T-37s in formation One of the most prominent of the trainer-attack type aircraft is the Cessna T-37/A-37, known in various forms as the Tweety Bird, Tweet, Dragonfly, or Super Tweet. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... The Dassault Mirage F1 is a single-seat air-superiority fighter and attack aircraft built by Dassault Aviation of France. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo is a short takeoff and landing (STOL) utility transport, a turboprop version developed from the earlier piston-powered DHC-4 Caribou. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Canada_(bordered). ... The DHC-6 Twin Otter is a 20-passenger STOL feederliner and utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Canada_(bordered). ... Fokker F28 The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a short range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer, Fokker. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... fgfgfgfg --213. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Israel_(bordered). ... The Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir (Hebrew: כפיר, Lion Cub) is an Israeli-built all-weather, multi-role combat aircraft based on a modified Dassault Mirage 5 airframe, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-made version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Israel_(bordered). ... The Lockheed C-130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop aircraft, is the main tactical air transport aircraft of the United States and UK military forces. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... The North American Sabreliner (later sold as the Rockwell Sabreliner) was developed by North American Aviation in response to the U.S. Air Forces Utility Trainer Experimental (UTX) program. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French ground attack aircraft in service with the Royal Air Force and several export customers, notably the Indian Air Force. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ...

• AT-6 Harvard
• Boeing 707
• CASA CN-235
• Curtiss-Wright CW.22 Falcon
• Dassault Mirage III
• Fairchild PT-19 Cornell
• PT-22 Recruit

The T-6 Texan was a single-engine, advanced trainer aircraft designed by North American Aviation and used to train fighter pilots of the USAAF, US Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II. The Texan is known by a variety of... The Boeing 707 (most commonly spoken as Seven Oh Seven) is a four engined commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ... The CN-235 is a medium-range turbo-prop aircraft developed jointly between CASA in Spain and IPTN in Indonesia as a regional airliner and military transport. ... The Dassault Mirage III is a supersonic fighter aircraft designed in France by Dassault Aviation during the 1950s, and manufactured both in France and a number of other countries. ... Fairchild PT-19 Fairchild PT-19 Cornell The Fairchild PT-19 was a monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the USAAC, RAF and RCAF during World War II. It was a contemporary of the Kaydet biplane trainer. ...

References