Service history

1947

For 1947 the state of the Tiger Moth fleet did not permit ambitious plans to be made and it was foreseen that there would only be training for seven Jr. Lieutenants on the Application Course starting in May.

Until then, only 611 of A.B. No 2 remained operational. No 613 of A.B. No 1 only flew four hours in the first four months before she was sent for overhaul.

On April 30, once the maintenance works were finished, the DGTAG&S returned four Tiger Moths, 603, 604, 606 and 608 to the EMAer in flying order. With these, 120 hours were flown during the Application Course, towards the end of which there was a serious accident.

On July 4th moments after take-off, 608 lost power and during her forced landing became entwined in electricity cables running alongside Route 8. Fortunately, the pilot, Lieut. Jr. Marcelino García, only suffered slight injuries, but the aeroplane was damaged to a state considered to be unserviceable. The aircraft had flown a total of 1,799.8 hours.

To compensate for this loss, the two machines from A.B. No 2 were loaned for a short time. No 600, which had been under repair since the previous September, was sent to Pando from the DGTAG&S, whilst in May 611 arrived, the only Tiger Moth which was still at Durazno. In fact, neither of these two was used and in August, once the Application Course finished, they were posted back to the DGTAG&S together with 603, 604 and 606.

The positioning flight of these five aircraft was the last operation of the Tiger Moths from Pando. Their take-off, destination Paso de Mendoza, was the very last movement of biplanes in the service of the Military School of Aeronautics.

Last flights of the Tiger Moths at the EMAer. 

As from September, the last nine surviving Tiger Moths were all at Boiso Lanza and of these, only 600, 603 and 613 were still in flying order.

With these three machines and 2nd Lieut. Humberto Bia as instructor, a brief refresher training was given to Corporals Washington Galarza, Carlos Ferraro, Felix Arroqui, Tabaré Galvez, Omar Garcia and Wilson Lorda.

To these six pilots a new mission was assigned flying the DH82A, that of aerial fumigation.

During those years the north east of the country was affected by great waves of locusts arriving from Brazil, which ruined vast areas of plantations during their passage.

In order to combat the plague, the “Aerial Service of the Fight against Locusts” was organized using a combined force of civil and military aircraft and pilots.

Having a break. Mixed crews pose together next to the Tiger Moth during the fumigation operations. Behind is a civilian aircraft assigned with the same task. Cerro Largo, 1947  -  Photo FAU Archive

The available Tiger Moths were adapted for their new function by the installation of a tank, made to measure and fixed inside the rear cockpit. The system was manually operated by the pilot occupying the front seat using a rudimentary mechanism which released the chemicals through a chute in the floor.

A shot of E-600 illustrating the tank for the agrochemicals in the rear cockpit and the rudimentary chute adapted below the fuselage.
Photo Aeronautical Museum

On October 14, during one of his training flights at the Capt. Boiso Lanza Military Aerodrome, Corporal W. Lorda had an accident with 613. Luck was on the pilot's side as he escaped unharmed, but the aeroplane was seriously damaged and was written off after logging 1,489.7 hours.

The condition of 613 after the accident on October 14 at the Capt. Boiso Lanza Military Aerodrome.
Photo FAU Archive

On the following day, we can record another significant flight in the life of the Tiger Moth by the now General Berisso, Aeronautical Arms Inspector. He did this when he flew 603 for 20 minutes and became an entry in the Flight Logs of the DGTAG&S.

Returning to the anti-Locust operation, between 25th and 26th October, Private Tabaré Galvez flew 16 hours combating the enemy “air-to-air” in 600, near the villages of Sarandi del Yi, Blanquillo, La Paloma (Durazno) and San Gregorio.

No 600 assigned to fumigation tasks still retained the ' E' in her serial, although the aeroplane no longer beloneds to the EMAer. Durazno, 1947  -  Photo Aeronautical Museum

In his turn, Private Omar García worked on the operation all through November, spraying for over 60 hours with No 603 in Melo, Yaguarón, Río Branco, Treinta y Tres, Santa Clara, Laguna Merín, Arrocera 33, Aceguá, Capilla Farruco, Arroyo Cardales, Fraile Muerto and Durazno.

On December 18, whilst performing this task, 600 was lost in an accident in Mazangano, a district of Cerro Largo. Her pilot, Corporal T. Galvez, fortunately was unharmed. The machine, still bearing the serial prefix “E”, was written off having recorded 1,804 hours, reducing the Tiger Moth fleet to seven.

Finale for 600 (c/n 3312). The sad scene reveals the pesticide tank fitted into the rear cockpit and the ingenious “toboggan” exit underneath the fuselage. Mazangano, Cerro Largo, December 18, 1947 -  Photo Aeronautical Museum

Towards the end of November, 605 was ready to emerge from the long overhaul begun 18 months beforehand. The aircraft also was modified for fumigation and was sent to Ombúes de Lavalle in the district of Colonia, where Corporal Omar Garcia flew for eleven hours, including the return to Boiso Lanza on 20th December. This was the aircraft's last recorded flight.

The deactivation of 605 was ordered, together with that of the other three which had suffered accidents in the same year; 600, 608 and 613, through the DGAM Order of February 18, 1948.

No 605 was the DH82A that had flown most, 2,129.7 hours, without major incidents up until the moment of her withdrawal.

The Tiger Moth fleet finished the year with 420 flying hours and only six aeroplanes on the inventory, regrouped at Boiso Lanza under the administration of the DGTAG&S.

No 605 photographed in September 1945, when she formed part of the equipment of Aerial Base No 1. It was this aeroplane that had flown the highest number of hours in the fleet.  -  Photo FAU Archive