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At the time of the democratic municipal elections that led to the proclamation of the Spanish Republic, the Spanish Air Force (Aeronáutica Española), under the names Aeronáutica Militar and Aeronáutica Naval, the former being the air arm of the Spanish Republican Army and the latter the naval aviation of the Spanish Republican Navy, [10] included mainly French planes, some of which were ...
The single-seat GP-2 was flown by Lorenzo Richi in March 1936 from Madrid to Bata in what was then Spanish Guinea at an average speed of 187 km/h (116 mph). [ 1 ] About thirty of the forty GP-1s built at Alicante were captured by the Nationalist forces, given military serials and incorporated into Grupo 30.
However, the rebellion led by 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.
The unit then took part in operations against the remnants of the Republican Air Force through early 1939, with considerable success. The men of J/88 returned to Germany in May 1939. 365 aircraft were claimed destroyed by Jagdgruppe 88, and 26 pilots claimed 5 kills or more.
[3] The Spanish Air Force had no US-built planes; the main fighters used by the Republicans during the war were the Soviet-built Polikarpov I-15 and I-16. The latter was often mistaken for the Boeing P-26, but was not related to it. [11] [12] The flyers said both the socialist and fascist air forces in Spain were staffed almost entirely by ...
The Republican air arm was restructured again in May 1937, well into the Civil War. The new structure unified the Aeronáutica Militar and Aeronáutica Naval. Some sources give this date as the date of the creation of the Spanish Republican Air Force, although it had been previously operative already under its two branches. The Republican Air ...
The Spanish Republican Air Force, based at the El Prat airbase and commanded by Felipe Díaz Sandino, remained loyal to the Republic. [55] It had 3 squadrons, each with 5 Breguet planes, some of which were stolen by mutineering officers. [49] The loyalties of the city's 3,000 Civil Guards, led by José Aranguren, were initially uncertain. [56]
In September 1936, the five prototype Loire 46s were sent to the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. [ 1 ] By the beginning of World War II , the Loire 46's gull wing configuration was recognized as obsolete and most of these fighters had been relegated to Armée de l'Air training schools, where they were used as advanced trainers.