Colombian Air Force T-37

Colombian Air Force T-37 ‘Tango’ Tweets Colombia, together with ase Aérea Capitán Germán Olano T-41D Mescalero and the locally assembled Moreno at Palanquero, near Puerto Lancair/CIAC T-90 Calima. On concluding initial Pakistan, is one of the final B Salgar in the central department training, student pilots transfer to Palanquero military operators of the classic of Cundinamarca, is the domain of the last where they are assigned the legendary T-37B T-37. Cristobal Soto Pino and military-flown Cessna T-37s in the Americas. Tweet. This will be their final step before Cees-Jan van der Ende report It’s run by the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana flying a fighter or other frontline type. exclusively from Palanquero, (FAC, Colombian Air Force), one of the most active air arms in Latin America. History the last bastion of the Tweet in The country’s history includes some 50 The prototype of the famous Tweet was the the Americas. years of warfare against insurgents and Cessna XT-37 which made its maiden flight on narco-guerrillas, and the FAC has repeatedly October 12, 1954. Only two prototypes of the shown its worth during these internal new aircraft were manufactured. The side-by- campaigns. However, the current peace deal side two-seat trainer prototypes were equipped with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias with a pair of J69-T-9 engines each developing de Colombia (FARC, Revolutionary Armed 920lb (417kg) of thrust. After successful tests, Forces of Colombia) has reduced the the US Air Force ordered 1,500 T-37As. violence and the tempo of FAC combat During the early 1960s the FAC sought to operations has wound down accordingly. replace its Lockheed T-33 with a new, low-cost Meanwhile, military pilot training continues at training platform. Colombia’s search quickly led Base Aérea Marco Fidel Suárez, home of the to a US government offer for 15 T-37Cs. The Escuela Militar de Aviación (Military Aviation sale materialised in mid-1968 and Colombia School), in the city of Cali. During four years received serials FAC 2100 to FAC 2114 and of academic and practical study, future FAC the new jet trainers were shipped to Colombia aircrew make their first flights in the Cessna in two batches. From the start the Tweets 76 // JUNE 2018 #363 www.airforcesmonthly.com Above: The Colombian Air Force operates a total were based at the FAC’s Comando Aéreo de that of the US Air Force Academy. The new of 13 T-37s assigned to Escuadrón de Combate Combate No 1 (CACOM-1) at Palanquero, Tweets received the serials FAC 2115 to FAC 116 ‘Tango’. All photos Cristobal Soto Pino and Cees-Jan where they arrived in a bare metal scheme. 2117. These additional jets were delivered van der Ende Left: Squadron commander Captain Cristian The T-37C is an export-optimised basic jet to the Grupo Aéreo del Norte (Northern ‘Alacrán’ Cañon Castro at the controls of his trainer and light attack aircraft, fitted with one Air Group), today’s CACOM-3, which was Tweet during a local early morning mission. weapons pylon under each wing. In around established at Barranquilla air base on the Below: Tweets FAC 2127 and FAC 2132 over 1972, some of these lightly armed Tweets were Caribbean coast during the same year. the village of La Dorada, located on Colombia’s main river, the Río Magdalena. In this view, the deployed to Apiay air base (since designated Nowadays, Barranquilla is the sole operating aircraft’s home base of Palanquero is immediately as CACOM-21), in Villavicencio, south of the base of the FAC’s A-37B Dragonfly – a below the bridge. capital Bogotá. The T-37Cs at Apiay were used development of the T-37. The very first FAC to transition pilots to the Mirage 5. At the time, Dragonflies arrived from the US on December student pilots arrived at Apiay having completed 15, 1978. The Dragonflies of Escuadrón de basic flight training on the Beechcraft T-34 Combate 311 were recently supplemented by Mentor of the Escuela Militar de Aviación. two fully refurbished A-37Bs bought by the FAC In 1977, the Colombian government from the Dominican Republic by mid-2017. negotiated the acquisition of three additional On December 22, 1979, in compliance T-37s and they arrived in Colombia in a two- with orders from the Colombian Ministry of tone white and blue colour scheme, similar to National Defence, CACOM-1 deployed assets Tweets share the fl ight line with the J79-powered IAI Kfi r at Palanquero where students may fi nd themselves transferred to the latter after completing their T-37 course. www.airforcesmonthly.com #363 JUNE 2018 // 77 Colombian Air Force T-37 to the Caribbean island of San Andrés, near the coast of Nicaragua. Two T-37Cs and two A-37Bs were sent to patrol the maritime regions of Serranilla, Roncador and Quitasueños, after the Nicaraguan government challenged Colombian sovereignty in the area. San Andrés remains an outpost for the FAC: as of mid-March, last year, six Kfir C10s and the sole Boeing 767-200MMTT could be found there. In the early 1990s another 12 surplus USAF T-37Bs supplemented the C-models. Above: A Tweet resplendent in the late afternoon sun. A ‘sunset’ for the type in Colombia is still some A milestone in recent FAC history was years away, and the procurement process for a successor has yet to begin. Below: Five T-37s hold on the threshold before a practice flight to commemorate Colombia’s independence day. Despite its age, marked in March 2005, when Lieutenant the J69-powered T-37 is still a very capable trainer. Joana Ximena Herrera Cortes became the first woman in the service’s history to graduate as a combat pilot after flying the T-37. Change of course On July 20, 2006, T-37C FAC 2104 crashed on its return to base after a military parade, killing two pilots, instructor Lt Herman Ramirez and Lt Herrera Cortes. Post-accident studies revealed severe structural issues in the Tweet and the FAC’s investigative team concluded these problems caused one of the wings to become detached. The FAC General Command was forced to ground its entire fleet of T-37C and T-37B aircraft. However, the need to continue transitioning fighter pilots led the FAC to return four T-37Bs (FAC 2116 to FAC 2120) to service and it was later decided to purchase another 16 surplus trainers from USAF stocks. These jets arrived in Colombia in four separate batches between 2008 and 2010. Tweets today At the time of AFM’s visit, Escuadrón 116 208 Grand Caravan, a single IAI Arava and the Palanquero is host to some of the most had eight pilots – five men and two women FAC’s unique CASA ECN235 signals intelligence powerful military aviation assets in Latin – led by Captain Cristian ‘Alacrán’ Cañon (SIGINT) aircraft. All these assets are assigned America, including frontline Kfir fighters and Castro who received his primary training to CACOM-1, commanded by Brigadier AC-47T Fantasma gunships. Meanwhile, in the T-41 and T-90. All students are General Pablo Enrique García Valencia. Escuadron de Combate 116 ‘Tango’ currently required to pass six stages to successfully operates a fleet of 13 Tweets. Today’s T-37B complete their training with the unit: a ground Future students fly approximately 80 missions on operations course, pre-solo, transition/ For its age, the T-37 continues to offer the type, divided across six syllabi. Sorties aerobatics, instrument flight rules (IFR), a high rate of availability. The FAC’s range from solo to navigation flights and night flight training, and cruise flight. procurement office has yet to formally encompass around 130 hours on the twin-jet The noisy little Tweet shares the apron and begin the search for a new trainer to equip trainer. Around 24 student pilots are trained in runway at Palanquero with the J79-powered Escuadrón 116. It’s estimated the Tweet the Tweet’s fully analogue cockpit each year. Kfir C10/C12 and TC12, the AC-47T, Cessna will reach the end of its service life within ten years and the current operational status greatly depends on the availability of spare parts, together with structural fatigue. Before long, however, the FAC will have to search the market for a suitable replacement. The leading manufacturers of jet trainers have already begun to offer their products, and some have had talks with the FAC. Offers could include the Aero Vodochody L-39NG, BAE Systems Hawk Mk128, Leonardo M-345 and M-346 and the Textron AirLand Scorpion. A new jet trainer is likely to be required to replace both the T-37 and the A-37 of Escuadrón de Combate 311, providing dual-use training and attack capabilities. Colombia’s peace deal with the FARC, and the push for a similar treaty with the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN, National Liberation Army) guerrilla group might lead to a reduction in the defence budget, which would make any future military procurements uncertain. With no current replacement programme for the type, Colombia looks set The somewhat weathered FAC 2132 returns to a humid Palanquero after a local training mission. to fly the Tweet for some years to come. AFM 78 // JUNE 2018 #363 www.airforcesmonthly.com.

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