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Service
history
1945
During January and February 1945, the holiday period was reflected
in a reduced use of the DH82A. It had been ten years of continuous
operation since the arrival of those first five aircraft; except for
No 1 lost in 1937, 600 ex No 4, 602 ex No 2, 605 ex No 3, and 606 ex
No 5 continued in service.
For the whole
of this year, the twelve surviving aircraft continued to be assigned
to the same flight units.
Between March
and July, the EMAer was responsible for organising various
simultaneous courses on the DH82A, which required a considerable
effort with the aeroplane which was available for only a limited
number of flying hours.
This training
was given to the twelve Junior Lieutenants who passed initial
training in December who were doing the Applied Course for Officers
and to 22 other ranks all of whom had received elementary training
in the PT-19. Parallel to this, four First Lieutenants who were
doing the Course in elementary formation flying were also assigned
to training in the Tiger Moths at the EMAer for their first semester.
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From April
1945 onwards, it was decided that all the Tiger Moths should be
painted green overall, even the wings and tail surfaces which up
to now had been aluminium. The order came from the General
Director of Military Aeronautics, Col. Oscar Gestido, as an
alternative to the proposal from the General Director of
Workshops, Stores and Services
Lieut.
Col. Conrado Saez,
who for
reasons of economy
and with a
large surplus
of green
dope, suggested
using it
to repaint all the
PT-19s as
and when they
came in
for overhaul.
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This was the
only major change in the colour scheme applied to the Tiger Moths
but as this order was carried out very gradually, it is very
probable that the change was not applied to all the machines before
they were withdrawn from service.
In May, No 603
of the EMAer was sent for overhaul at the DGTAG&S where it would
remain until March the following year before returning to flying
order.
For 25 August,
as in previous years, aeroplanes and pilots were concentrated at the
EMAer for several days beforehand in order to rehearse for formation
flights.
The air
display was commanded by the DEMAer Lieut. Col. Isaias Sanchez
flying E-620 heading a group of sixteen Fairchild PT-19 followed by
nine DH82As.
This was the
last time that the Tiger Moths took part in a formation display.
620
Tte. Cnel. Isaías Sánchez
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| |
|
No |
Pilot |
|
|
|
No |
Pilot |
609 |
May. Juan C. Aragón
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No |
Pilot |
| 600 |
Alf. Atilio Bonelli
|
601 |
Tte.1º Armando Mutter
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604 |
Tte.2º Guillermo Lauché
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| 605 |
Sgto.1º Víctor Luciano
|
606 |
Tte.2º Dante Paladíni
|
617 |
Tte.1º Juan Villanueva
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| 608 |
Sgto.1º Juan Borba
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|
|
611 |
Tte.2º Manuel Vilar
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de Havilland
Squadron airdisplay of 25/8/45
Soon after this date and having finished the courses which involved
the DH82A, the machines at the EMAer were put through different
degrees of maintenance based on the prospects of a similar programme
of activity for the following year.
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The
accumulated flying hours for 1945 continued the tendency for
a decline shown in the previous years, exemplified by the
three machines at A.B. No 2, which flew only 100 hours.
The
entire fleet flew 850 hours, 21% less than in 1944.
Nonetheless, the EMAer completed all the courses anticipated
and at A.B. No 1 their three Tiger Moths flew consistently
over the twelve months of the year.
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| B.A.Nº1 |
B.A.Nº2 |
E.M.Aer. |
|
No |
hours |
No |
hours |
No |
hours |
| 605 |
114 |
600 |
36 |
601 |
65 |
| 609 |
114 |
602 |
26 |
603 |
39 |
| 613 |
111 |
611 |
43 |
604 |
83 |
| |
|
|
|
606 |
70 |
| |
|
|
|
607 |
53 |
| |
|
|
|
608 |
106 |
| Total |
339 |
Total |
105 |
Total |
416 |
|
Avg. |
113 |
Avg. |
35 |
Avg. |
69 |
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