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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 0304.PDF
FLIGHT February ijth, 1949 Argentina's Industry Centre of Aviation Activity in South America 'i; By William G^een DURING the last decade, aviation has made verynotable strides in South America and several modemair forces and independent aircraft industries have been developed. Argentina can now be considered as the leading light in South American aviation, and the substan- tial orders for Prentice trainers recently placed by Argen- tina have drawn attention to that country's aeronautical activities. The Argentine Air Force, Fuerza A4rea Argentina, has, of late, acquired considerable quantities of modern equip- ment from abroad and can now be considered the strongest air arm in the southern half of the American Continent. Among recent purchases have been Meteor 4 and Fiat G.55 Centaura fighters, Lancaster and Lincoln bombers, and Bristol Type 170, Vickers Viking and de Havilland Dove transports. Deliveries are awaited of a further quantity of Meteors, substantial numbers of Prentices, and batches of Fiat G.46 and Ambrosini S.1001 Grifo trainers, in addition to the aircraft produced by Argentina's competent and growing aircraft industry. "'•'•••*. The largest aircraft and aircraft engine factory in Argen- tina—in fact the largest manufacturing establishment in South America—is the Institute Aerot6cnico, of Cordoba, which employs over 6,000 workers. The plant was for- merly known as the Fabrica Militar de Aviones and was established at Cordoba in 1926, primarily for the manu- facture of foreign aircraft and aircraft engines. /. Ae.-24 Calquin attack bomber. I.M.-3\ Colibri trainer. Its first production, in 1928, was the Avro Gosport, and further machines were delivered shortly afterwards to the "El Palomar" Military Flying School. During the fol- lowing year, licences were acquired for the construction of the Bristol Fighter F.2B (for the observation and recon- naissance squadrons), and the Dewoitine D-21 single-seat fighter monoplane. At that time, the Air Force was grow- ing rapidly and the production capacity of the Cordoba factory likewise grew apace. In 1930 the first series of Dewoitine D-2is was on the production lines and the manu- facture of engines was inaugurated with the construction of Lorraine-Dietrich of 450 h.p., for the D-21. X Between 1932 and 1937 a variety of nationally designed military and civil aircraft types was produced. Original design activity began with the Ae.C-i three-seat, low-wing, cabin monoplane and the Ae.C-2 two-seat, low-wiDg, trainer. In 1933, the prototype Ae.T-i was produced. This —the first commercial transport to be built in Argentina— was a seven-seat low-wing monoplane powered by a 450 h.p. Lorraine-Dietrich "W" water-cooled engine. De- liveries of this type were completed in 1934 and T-is were employed for some years by the Aero-Argentina Airline which operated services between Cordoba and Buenos Aires. The Ae.M.E-i and the A6.C-3 two-seat tandem training monoplanes were produced in 1933 ard 1934 respectively, and both types were manufactured in small quantities, the former for the military training units and lie latter for the civil flying schools and clubs. German Trainer and American Fighter In 1937 the Ae.M.B-i single-engined attack bomber was produced for Air Force bomber units, and some examples of this type were still in service in 1945. Production of foreign military aircraft under licence was resumed in 1938 and a year later a first series of sixty Focke-Wulf Fw 44J Stieglitz training biplanes was delivered. The 150 h.p. Siemens Sh 14A radial engines for the Stieglitz were also built at Cordoba. The Stieglitz was followed in 19^0 by the Curtiss Hawk 75-O single-seat fighter monoplane, fore- runner of the Curtiss P-36 (Mohawk) from which it differed primarily in having a fixed and spatted undercarriage. This was powered by a 840 h.p. Wright Cyclone and was Argen- tina's first all-metal aircraft. Considerable quantities oi 75-Os were supplied to the fighter squadrons, and some are still in service as operational trainers. On October 20th, 1943, the Fabrica Militar de Avione;. came under the jurisdiction of the Secretaria <Je AeronautiQa. /. Ae. D.L-22.C trainer.
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