Antecedents

In March 1933, The Military Aviation School (E.M.Av) received the offer of two scholarships from the British Air Ministry for Uruguayan students to attend an RAF Flying School. These were taken up by the instructor Captain Glauco Larre Borges and Second Lieutenant Raul Amighetti who returned home in December with around 90 flying hours in RAF Tiger Moths.

The last three Avro 504Ks were withdrawn from service in January 1934, successors to the Castaibert and Farman of 1917-18. It was the end of the second generation of instructional aeroplanes in the E.M.Av. which had begun in 1919 with ex RAF Avro 504K H2476 of Major Frank Scott. With her went for ever the era of rotary engines.

This only left the school with a Farman F-190 ambulance and the new fleet of ten Potez 25; aeroplanes of excellent quality, but not designed for primary instruction, which prevented new pilots from being trained at all that year.

It is impossible to establish exactly when negotiations for the purchase of Tiger Moths began, but in the Bulletin of the Ministry of Defence dated May 31 1934;…”the President of the Republic directs that:

1) The General Army Inspector authorizes the Director of the E.M.Av. to sign a contract with Mr. W.T.W. Ballantyne, representative of the English firm de Havilland Aircraft Co.Ltd. for the acquisition of five Tiger Moth aeroplanes…”.  Further on it states…”it is considered of utmost importance to acquire the aeroplanes in reference, since at present the E.M.Av. has no flying equipment appropriate for instruction”.

In the said contract it was established that the total price for the five Tiger Moths would be £7,527 to be paid in three installments as follows: 

• 1st installment upon signing the contract. $8,000.00 in local currency to the account prescribed in the Law of December 16, 1916 and the rest to the account of “Purchase of material, tools and munitions – Army”.

• 2nd installment upon presentation of shipping documents at the Uruguayan Embassy in London together with corresponding Airworthiness declaration.
  3rd installment of $17,052.00 upon receipt of the aircraft to the entire satisfaction of the E.M.Av Command.

These sums amount to approximately $10,000.00 in local currency for each aircraft. Later contracts were signed against similar terms, raising the total of Tiger Moths acquired to eighteen, which arrived in three batches during 1935, 1936 and 1937.