List of aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force
Fin flash
(1931–1939)This is a list of aircraft used by the Spanish Republican Air Force during the Spanish Civil War.
Introduction
The Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed in 1931 and very soon the republican authorities set up to reform an antiquated military structure that was a financial burden for the Spanish state following the Great Depression.[1] The Spanish Republican Air Force inherited a great number of airplanes from the monarchy, most of which had been used in the
General Franco against the Spanish Republic in 1936 was more successful and marked the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.[2]
While more than half of the aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force remained on the loyalist side, most of the material was obsolete. In the summer of 1936 the beleaguered Spanish Republic found itself direly in need of modern weapons, but the governments of the
USSR would decide to openly assist the Spanish Republic.[6]
Documents
Information, both written and pictorial, regarding the identification of the aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force is found in a variety of sources. These include press reports of the time, official republican government documents, as well as documents and reports from the rebel side.[5]
Since republican aerodromes were restricted military areas, relatively few photographs are available. Most are pictures of aircraft taken with air force personnel posing near them in an informal way,[7][8] as well as photographs of crashed planes.[9][10] Except for the primary aircraft,[11] certain republican military plane types were never photographed, or if available, photographs have not been found, being only known from written documents or from pilot reports. This is often the case in the assorted —often obsolete and almost useless— aircraft of which only one or two units arrived in the first critical months at the beginning of the civil war.[12] There are also aircraft which had been known only from written documents, such as the Spanish Republican Air Force Farman F.430, of which a picture has surfaced only recently.[13]
Attack aircraft
- Beechcraft Staggerwing[14]
- Breguet XIX[15]
- Gourdou-Leseurre GL.32[15]
- Gourdou-Leseurre GL-633[14]
- Grumman G-23, nicknamed 'Delfín'[15]
- Hispano-Suiza E-30[15]
- Potez 25[15]
- Vickers Vildebeest[15]
Bombers
- Bloch MB.200, photographic data are lacking[15][16]
- Bloch MB.210[15]
- Breguet 413,[16]
- Breguet 460 Vultur[17]
- Fokker F.IX[14]
- Hawker Spanish Osprey[14]
- Latecoere 28[18]
- Macchi M.18[14]
- Polikarpov R-5, also known as 'Rasante'[19]
- Polikarpov R-Z, nicknamed 'Natacha'[19]
- Potez 540[15]
- Tupolev SB, nicknamed 'Katiuska'[15]
- Vultee V-1[15]
Fighters
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- AEKKEA-RAAB R-29[20]
- Avia BH-33[14]
- Bristol Bulldog[21] (1 only for evaluation)
- Blériot-SPAD S.51[14]
- Blériot-SPAD S.91[14]
- Boeing 281[21](1 example only)
- Dewoitine D.27[14]
- Dewoitine D.53[14]
- Dewoitine D.372[21]
- Dewoitine D.510[21]
- Fokker D.XXI[14]
- Hawker Hispano Fury[21]
- Letov Š-31[14]
- Letov Š-231[21]
- Letov Š-331[14](1 example only)
- Loire 46[21]
- Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard[12]
- Hispano-Nieuport Ni-52[21]
- Polikarpov I-15, nicknamed 'Chato'[21]
- Polikarpov I-16, nicknamed 'Mosca'[21]
Patrol and liaison aircraft
- Caudron C.600 Aiglon[18]
- Dornier Do J Wal[22]
- Fokker C.X[14]
- Lockheed Model 9 Orion[23]
- Macchi M.18[22]
- Miles Falcon[18]
- Potez 58[18]
- RWD 9[12]
- Sikorsky S-38B, one unit was used in the Northern Front. Shot down by friendly fire[22]
- Vickers Vildebeest[22]
Reconnaissance
- Aero A.101[15]
- Bellanca 28-70[14]
- Caudron C.59[12]
- Koolhoven F.K.51[18]
- Loring R-3, may have seen active service, but data are lacking[24]
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.62[22]
- Seversky SEV-3[18]
- Spartan Executive[18]
Trainers
- Avia BH-33[14]
- Aeronáutica Naval Avros may have been used as trainers[24]
- Avro 594[12]
- Avro 626[12]
- Avro 643 Cadet[12]
- BFW M.35[25]
- British Aircraft Swallow[14]
- Bücker Bü 133 Jungmeister[18]
- CASA III[14]
- Caudron C.270 Luciole[18]
- Comper Swift[12]
- de Havilland DH.60 Moth Major[18]
- de Havilland Tiger Moth[18]
- Farman F.354[14]
- Farman F.480 Alizé[14]
- Focke-Wulf Fw 56[14]
- General Aircraft Monospar ST-4[18]
- General Aircraft Monospar ST-12[18]
- González Gil-Pazó GP-1[18]
- González Gil-Pazó GP-4[14]
- Hanriot H.180[14]
- Hanriot H.437[25]
- Hispano-Suiza E-34[14]
- Loring E-2[24]
- Miles M.2 Hawk Trainer[18]
- Morane-Saulnier MS.181[14]
- Morane-Saulnier MS.230[14]
- Morane-Saulnier MS.341[25]
- Moreau JM.10[14] designer murdered while trying to sell single aircraft, use and fate unknown.[26]
- Romano R.82[18]
- Romano R.83[14]
- Romano R.92[14]
- S.F.C.A. Maillet 21[16]
- SAB-SEMA 12[14]
- Spartan Zeus, purchased but not delivered[27]
- Stampe et Vertongen RSV.32[14]
Transport aircraft
Many of the aircraft used for transport and liaison by the Republican Air Force had been requisitioned from LAPE, the Spanish Republican airline.[28]
- Airspeed Envoy[23]
- Airspeed Viceroy[23]
- Avia 51[14]
- Blériot 111[14]
- Blériot-SPAD S.56[14]
- Breguet 26T[14]
- Breguet 470Fulgur, from LAPE
- British Aircraft Eagle[12]
- Caudron C.440 Goéland[23]
- Consolidated Fleetster[14]
- Couzinet 101[16]
- De Havilland DH-80 Puss Moth[14]
- De Havilland DH-84[18]
- De Havilland DH-89M[18]
- De Havilland DH-90[18]
- Douglas DC-1[23]
- Douglas DC-2[23]
- Farman F.190[12]
- Farman F 402[14]
- Farman F.430[14]
- Fokker F.XVIII[14]
- Fokker F.XX[23]
- Ford Trimotor[23]
- General Aircraft ST-25, from LAPE[14]
- General Aviation GA-43, from LAPE[18]
- Junkers K 30[14]
- Koolhoven F.K.40[25]
- Latécoère 28[18]
- Lioré et Olivier 213[14]
- Lockheed Model 10 Electra[23]
- Lockheed Model 8 Sirius[14]
- Lockheed Vega[14]
- Northrop Delta, from LAPE[23]
- Northrop Gamma[18]
- Potez 560 from LAPE[14]
Autogyros
Captured aircraft
Planes of the
Nationalist Spanish Air Force
that fell into the hands of the Republicans.
- Fiat CR.32, a number of these biplanes were captured and incorporated into the Republican Air Force. One of them was sent to the training facility at El Carmolí.[25]
- Heinkel He 111B-1, one unit of the Condor Legion captured after a forced landing in Cuenca ended up being sent to the Soviet Union.[25]
- Messerschmitt Bf 109B, another Condor Legion plane that was captured intact near Bujaraloz, Aragon, also ended up being sent to the USSR.[25]
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.81A, a bomber of the Aviazione Legionaria, was incorporated into the Republican Air Force.[25]
See also
- List of Interwar military aircraft
- Spanish Republican Navy
- Yankee Squadron
Further reading
- ISBN 9780851778426
References
- ^ Ignacio Hidalgo de Cisneros, Cambio de Rumbo, Ed. Ikusager, Vitoria 2001, pg. 273
- ISBN 8408058835p. 9-12
- ISBN 978-0-7538-2165-7
- ^ A.D.A.R. - El desarrollo aeronáutico de los años treinta y su influencia en la Guerra Civil Española Archived 2015-01-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Armas en acción. Aviones de las Fuerzas Aéreas republicanas
- Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War; New revised edition (2011)
- ^ Imágenes de la Guerra Civil española - FARE
- ^ Imágenes de personal de las Fuerzas Aéreas republicanas
- ^ Na španělském nebi - Blériot-SPAD S 51 a S 91
- ^ Aviation Corner - Potez 540 (N)
- ^ ADAR - Los Aviones
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j SBHAC - Aviones de la Fuerza Aérea de la República Española/Otros
- ^ Aviation Corner - Farman F.430
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av "Aircraft that took part in the Spanish Civil War". Archived from the original on 2015-02-05. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l SBHAC - Aviones de la Fuerza Aérea de la República Española/Bombarderos
- ^ ISBN 978-2350731360
- ^ "Br.460 B4". Archived from the original on 2020-01-08. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w SBHAC - Aviones de la Fuerza Aérea de la República Española/Aviones de Escuela y Enlace
- ^ ISBN 9781107028739, p. 250
- ^ Skartsis, L.S.; Avramidis, G.A (2003). Made in Greece. Patras: University of Patras Technology Park.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j SBHAC - Aviones de la Fuerza Aérea de la República Española/Cazas
- ^ a b c d e f SBHAC - Aviones de la Fuerza Aérea de la República Española/Hidroaviones
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k SBHAC - Aviones de la Fuerza Aérea de la República Española/Aviones de Transporte
- ^ a b c Aircraft that may have participated in the Spanish Civil War
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Rafael Ángel Permuy López, La identificación y denominación de los aviones militares españoles (1911 - 1936)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-02-05.
- ^ [1] accessdate:June 2015
- ^ "Aircraft that didn't participate in the Spanish Civil war". Archived from the original on 2012-12-03. Retrieved 2015-01-19.
- ^ El Transporte Comercial en España[permanent dead link]
- ^ "La guerra en el aire en Asturias durante los tres primeros meses de la Guerra Civil". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
External links
Media related to Aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force at Wikimedia Commons- ADAR Asociación de Aviadores de la República
- La ayuda material a la República
- Spanish Civil War: Republican Air Force
- AC - Hilo sobre las aviadoras y los aviadores del socialismo
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