Fuerza Aerea del Peru

  May 1929 to present

  Peru

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TYPE: Air force

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: Lima

OTHER NAMES: Cuerpo de Aviacion del Peru (1929-1936), Cuerpo Aeronautico del Peru (1936-1950), Fuerza Aerea del Peru (since 1950)

FATE: Active

The Cuerpo de Aviacion del Peru was formed on 20 May 1929 when the aviation branches of the Peruvian Army and Navy were merged into a separate entity. Its first operational involvement was the Colombia-Peru War of 1933, with a fleet of Vought O2U Corsair and Curtiss F11C Hawk.

After being renamed Cuerpo Aeronautico del Peru on 12 March 1936, it fought in the 1941 Ecuadorian-Peruvian War equipped with Italian and American aircraft. One its feats was the capture of Puerto Bolivar, Ecuador on 27 July 1941 in the earliest paratroop assault in history by a minor air force.

During the Cold War, Peru was initially an ally of the USA. Renamed Fuerza Aerea del Peru on 18 July 1950, it received American and British equipment in the form of Hawker Hunters, English Electric Canberras, Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars and North American F-86 Sabres. However, after the 3 October 1968 coup, Peru switched to a communist regime and its air force re-equipped with Russian aircraft.

Until 1961, all Fuerza Aerea del Peru aircraft bore an alpha-numeric registration in the FAP-XXX format. From 1961 onwards, they switched to a USAF Serial Number-style system in the YY-XXX format, where YY is the procurement year and XXX the procurement sequence number that year.

1957 to 1973

A total of 14 Commandos were supplied to the Peruvian Air Force by the USAF under the Military Assistance Program, in two batches:

• Four C-46F's in 1957.
• Ten C-46D's in May 1961, originating from the surplus at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

The aircraft served with the 41^st Transport Squadron, and later with SATCO (Servicio Aereo de Transportes Commerciales) as part of the 8^th Mixed Air Group. FAP Commandos participated in the airlift between Lima and Huaraz following the 1970 earthquake.

From the mid-1960's, Commandos were withdrawn from use and sold to local airlines. The type was completely withdrawn from service in 1973.

• Curtiss C-46D-5-CU Commando: 61-329
• Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando: 61-326, 61-331
• Curtiss C-46F Commando: 61-322

Note: all the above aircraft were also referred to by the prefix "FAP-" followed by their Peruvian serial number (e.g.: FAP-331 for 61-331).