Small Air Forces Thread #15

[gkozak]

Anybody know where this Aerospatiale Lama is from?

[Freehand]

Anybody know where this Aerospatiale Lama is from?

Chile? The chevron-style natl. insignia has me thinking that.

[KERVYN]

a Chilean Lama ??

maybe..

compare with these pics ;

http://www.alouettelama.com/photos/ejercitochileen.html

friendly yours, Etienne

[Cherry Ripe]

Anybody know where this Aerospatiale Lama is from?

I don't think that's a Lama; that's an Astazou engine on the deck, which would make it an SA.318 Alo II. The two-bladed tail rotor is the other identification factor for the 318.

Edit: I don't think that's a Chilean insignia either, it is showing a diagonal white stripe instead of a central white star.

[Gerard]

Anybody know where this Aerospatiale Lama is from?

a little bit of Photoshop:


not Chili!

[Cherry Ripe]

a little bit of Photoshop:

not Chili!

Thanks Gerard, that makes it clearer.

Belgian Police SA.318 looks like a good match.

[KERVYN]

the 'Gendarmerie' logo is better to see here ;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/egwu/4748938449/

but seems to be NOT the same as on the aircraftslides.com (photoshoped !) view !!

friendly, Etienne

[Cherry Ripe]

the 'Gendarmerie' logo is better to see here ;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/egwu/4748938449/

but seems to be NOT the same as on the aircraftslides.com (photoshoped !) view !!

friendly, Etienne

Hi Etienne,

That looks like a new logo. The original blue-red shield with white diagonal can be seen here and is a good match for the aircraftslides.com photo.

[Gerard]

No it looks different.
it is a shield with upper left part black (or dark blue) lower right part red
with from top right to bottom left a yellow strip (could also be a lightning flash)

[Cherry Ripe]

No it looks different.
it is a shield with upper left part black (or dark blue) lower right part red
with from top right to bottom left a yellow strip (could also be a lightning flash)

Did you look at the old Gendarmerie shield? Exactly as you described.

Plenty of examples here. For example:



The original picture posted by gkozak is of a Belgian Gendarmerie ( Police ) SA.318, no doubt whatsoever.

Edit: gkozak's image was taken prior to 2001, in which year the Gendarmerie Air Support Unit shield was replaced by the blue-and-red "flame" logo of the Belgian Federal Police.

Edit2: Ah, in post 397 I linked to an image showing the new logo. Sorry for any confusion.

[KERVYN]

see the first view in :http://www.belgian-wings.be/Webpages...%20G-92%20.htm


but let's wait THE conclusion of gkozak !!

friendly yours, Etienne

[KERVYN]

one can just read the title 'GENDARMERIE' on the logo ;

http://www.alouettelama.com/photos/002030.pdf

convinced ?

friendly yours, Etienne

[Flyer]

Also notice the registration number's positions under side window on G. Kozak's image and on other images - these are same. So, this is obviously Belgian.

[gkozak]

Well, Belgian Gendarmerie it is! Wow- I never expected my simple question would instigate such a fantastic and voluminous response! Thanks very much, everyone. This is such a great collection of threads.

[gkozak]

I don't think that's a Lama; that's an Astazou engine on the deck, which would make it an SA.318 Alo II. The two-bladed tail rotor is the other identification factor for the 318.

Edit: I don't think that's a Chilean insignia either, it is showing a diagonal white stripe instead of a central white star.

The reason I suspected it was a Lama was the landing skids. I may be wrong, but from all the evidence I have seen, Alouette II skids are much closer to the fuselage than Lama skids. See attached Cameroonian Lama and Belgian Alouette II.

[Cherry Ripe]

Well, Belgian Gendarmerie it is! Wow- I never expected my simple question would instigate such a fantastic and voluminous response! Thanks very much, everyone. This is such a great collection of threads.

Thanks for the challenge! It was good fun.

Re: Lama and Alo skids: the higher skids were a customer option on all airframes based on the Alo II and could also be retrofitted after-sale.

For example, here is an SA.318 with factory-fitted high skids:

SA.318 Alouette II high skids

The most reliable way of distinguishing any of the Alo family is the drivetrain and rotors.

[KERVYN]

Biafran Pilot Wing.
....................................
One of the casualties and war heroes is Biafran Air Force officer, Major Chude Sokei (from my hometown of Onitsha). Another key player in the Biafran Air Force is Count Von Ron.


>>>In fact, I'm still searching for a good view (i.e. with well-visible roundel/cocarde ) of any BiAF aircraft or helico...

On the site AirlineFan.com there is a 'good' view of a T-6 wreck...(but, was it really a BiAF one ?)
but it seems impossible to 'transmit' this pic (photo ID 1374262) till here !

Can you help ?
(not for this T-6, but for any other views..)

friendly yours,
Etienne

[KERVYN]

this was the BiAF roundel of then..

I suppose so, because I've never seen it on a fuselage or wing...

.............................



friendly yours, Etienne

[Gerard]

I suppose you know this picture. A glimpse of the roundel is vissible under the right wing. But if you say thats not enough I agree.



found some more:
pdf file: http://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&rct=j&...41524429,d.d2k

[KERVYN]

... were also called 'Biafran Babies' !

thanks, Gerard, for the pics..
indeed, I've already seen that one (with Google), but not the
-better- ones on page 2 of your url !

And, how to tell it...... indeed, it's a good beginning

friendly yours,
Etienne

[cthornburg]

Here's a T-6 view

Chris

[ha27]

two Iraqi air force presidential helicopters laid to the side of Tigris river in the Green Zone Baghdad..i can't take photos form the other side of the river because the spreading of iraqi security forces

[Cherry Ripe]

two Iraqi air force presidential helicopters laid to the side of Tigris river in the Green Zone Baghdad..i can't take photos form the other side of the river because the spreading of iraqi security forces

Well spotted! Per shadow, lower-right in the first picture is obviously one of the six or so AS-61-TS delivered from Agusta.

Upper-left seems to have port sponson visible, which would suggest another of the type.

I believe that the Iranians also operated a couple of the 'TS de luxe model as well, their leaders liked to travel in style too.

Edit: of course you'd already identified them as S-61s in the second photo!

Edit2: Splendid close-up of one of them here.

[mack8]

Myanmar MiG-29s. Are these (single-seaters) the newly delivered SEs?. They haven't operated 9.13 types until now, right ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=roXhVUmZ3vU#!

[KERVYN]

.... an Identified Flying Object

airship A40D from Thailand ;


http://thaiintelligentnews.files.wor...00skas10er.jpg

friendly, Etienne

[MSphere]

These are indeed 9.13s which we have not seen until today. Looks like Myanmar is not buying them new..

A great find, nevertheless...

[KERVYN]

a really-unknown 'Air Force' !

recently, when Googeling for something else, i found this ;

..........................

& remembered a former Gkozak's post, of 2 years ago, in thread # 14 (p1, post # 29)
& this ;
http://jetphotos.net/showphotos.php?regsearch=VH-DXC

but the logo on the tail of the aircraft seems to be different than the above one..

after searching a little bit, i think the right one is this ;

..................., i.e. at the end of the official RHRDF website ; www.principality-hutt-river.org/rhrdf

a better view & historical explanation ;http://afarmerinohio.blogspot.be/201...utt-river.html

that all for one poor Cessna 182

friendly , Etienne

[flightman]

Myanmar in December 2012 received its first MiG-29SE. 10 units are planned. It is about 9-13 with SMT standard, also known as 9-17. The conversions are the 9-13 and have nothing to do with the original 9-17 nothing.

[MSphere]

There is nothing like "original" 9.17. The SMT was an upgrade project from the very start, aimed at 9.12, 9.13 and 9.13S. The only reason why "new" SMTs were on offer were few dozens of finished old-stock zero-hours 9.12/9.13 airframes lying around at MIG-MAPO looking for a new home.

[belgrano1977]

Ex-Iraqi MIG-23BN