Hi,

I hope somebody is able to help.

I would be very interesting in the current exbihition of the Museo Aereo de la FAE.

My last infos (World - Military out of Service 2008) are:

0456 Fairchild PT-19
- Hanriot HD-1
53-3344 T-34A
506 Cessna 150L
835 Cessna T-41A
53602 PBY-5A
39-031 B-23
77164 C-47B
44691 DC-6B
509 Canberra B.6
FF-113 Meteor FR.9
738 HS748-2A/285
TD-945 T-33A
20310 AT-6A
44-86866 TB-25J
49-1545 T-28A
O-91647 T-28D
527536 UH-19B
NC731M Stinson V.77

I have also found on the internet, infos about the following planes:

Shell

53+00 N.2501D HC-BDO
53+31 N.2501D HC-BIE
- DHC-4A HC-BKI

Loya

?? AT-33A near bus station

Tulcan

?? AT-33A at terminal

Can anyone confirm the presence and maybe add the missing serials?

Thank you very much in advance!

Marcus

My friend Marcus!

Thank you for posting here, hope someone can help you with that information.

Regards!

Marcus,
I'm posting 2 links here that gives you very limited information. The first link is the actual museum, the second is a EU based site that list the museum as well.

http://www.fuerzaaereaecuatoriana.org/pages/museo.html

http://www.aviationmuseum.eu/World/Lati ... la_FAE.htm

I personally visited this museum last year, a beautiful collection as you posted above. Unfortunately, all aircraft (except 2) are not being preserved as they are in static display outdoors. Sadly to report, it was very obvious that the enviroment has taken a very serious toll on the airframes, with NO preservation programs in sight but still a must see if you ever visit UIO.

Rgds

Jorge Garcia
Houston, TX

My pleasure, Boris

Thank you for the links, Jorge!
Unfortunately, as you said, the information is a little bit limited ...

About the status of the planes. This is a problem, that all aviation museums in the world with outside exhibitions have. Very few museums have the money and the place to put all of the aircraft inside.

Take a look for example at the HAF Museum in Tatoi, Greece. One of the best collections you will ever see, but almost all aircrafts are outside. You can think, what the strong sun is doing to them in the summer ... It´s really sad ...

Well... all FAE aircraft stored in the Mariscal Sucre AFB are inoperable... mostly with no interiors and no instruments... some of the aircraft have broken cockpits so they are exposed to nature.... some aircraft are wearing deactivated machine guns and bombs, the actual state of painting is quite good. The HS-748 has a restored nose section but with no proper spare parts, just some hand molded metal plates to follow more or less the appearance... also it has "home made" propellers, not the original ones... access to any of them is impossible, all doors and windows are protected by locks and some others are welded shut. Mostly it seems these aircraft receive no maintenance whatsoever.

When a Air Force doesn´t have enough money for everything they want, the first thing were they stop to invest, is unfortunately the history

You are correct, and this excellent collection of aircraft for a country so small like Ecuador will eventually become HISTORY itself. I guess a long history of people in power with the analogy that money is better spent in the officers club and the wasted land golf course east of the SEQU runway than preserving some of the tools that made aviation history in Ecuador itself.

If this collection will enter in private hands of a foundation created by aviation enthusiasts (as how most museums are born), good lobbying for donations and enclosed installations, charge a small entrance fee to cover some of the costs, then and only then it just might spark public interest. I went there on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning, spent almost 6 hours going thru every inch of all displays yet sadly by the time I left there was only another couple from Germany...as in deserted! Its truly sad considering some of the aircraft will be considered "immaculate" condition for restoration, and valuable here in the states.

Jorge Garcia
Houston, TX

This is very sad to hear, Jorge ...

But that is a general problem with allmost all aviation museums. People are not very interested this times, in old planes ... They forget, the sacrifices of the people flying them in the past! Sacrifices, to ensure that all we now, can live in freedom and peace.

In Greece, the HAF-Museum is still considering a active Air Force unit. So, no problem to find people and money (well, that is a little bit of a problem ) to keep the planes and helicopters in a relatively good condition, under the current climatic conditions (strong sun)!

Maybe that would be a sollution also for Ecuador? To put the Museum under charge of the FAE, as a active unit?

I will pass that message on to the curator of the museum on my next visit in march.

cheers!