Peruvian Piper ENAER PA-21-8

[comrade harps]

Piper ENAER PA-21-8
a/c 928, Escuadrón Aéreo 712 (EA.712), Grupo Aéreo 7 (GA.7), Piura, Peru
28 January 1981
Pilot Lt. Edilberto Villar



The Chilean Air Force (ChAF) established the Maestranza Central de Aviación (Central Aviation Workshop) in 1930 as a dedicated maintenance wing. It was this organisation that was tasked with the assembly of 20 Piper J3L-65 Cubs in 1940 (15 of which were assigned to the ChAF for training duties and 5 for the Chilean Army for liaison and observation tasks). Further Cub orders followed during the 40s. In 1952 the Chilean government entered into a deal with Piper, creating ENAER (Empresa Nacional de Aeronáutica de Chile/National Aeronautical Company of Chile) as the commercial arm of the Central Aviation Workshop. With the Chilean state holding 51% of stock, Piper took 25% and American aero engine manufacturer Lycoming 24%. ENAER's job was to make, sell and support Piper aircraft and Lycoming engines throughout South America.

The USAF launched a search for a new jet trainer that same year. The Trainer Experimental (TX) competition received proposals from 9 manufacturers, including rivals Cessna and Piper. Both companies were major players in the production of general aviation types and neither had produced a jet type before. Despite this, Cessna won and went on to make thousands of T-37 Tweets. Piper, having invested in a prototype of its losing PA-21, looked to ENAER to help it find orders.



In 1956 the Chilean Air Force ordered 45 ENAER PA-21 Mapuche jet trainers. Several models of the PA-21 were built for Chile and export customers. All variants had underwing pylons for stores such as gun pods, bombs and rockets. Early versions lacked the wingtip fuel tanks that became a standard production feature from PA-21-7 onwards.

The PA-21 variant list is as follows:
- PA-21 Prototype for USAF TX competition
- PA-21-1 Prototype for ENAER production
- PA-21-2 45 Mapuche trainer/attack for Chile
- PA-21-3 6 Mapuche photo reconnaissance  for Chile
- PA-21-4 10 trainer/attack for Paraguay
- PA-21-5 2 photo reconnaissance for Paraguay
- PA-21-6 8 trainer/attack for Costa Rica
- PA-21-7 36 Mapuche trainer/attack for Chile
- PA-21-8 30 trainer/attack version for Peru
- PA-21-9 6 trainer/attack for Haiti, not delivered due to financial issues. Delivered to ChAF instead.

The PA-37 Aymara was a single seat model, armed with 2 30mm DEFA Yellow Flower cannon. This also served with the ChAF.



The origins of the Paquisha War of 1981 date back to the era of Spanish colonial rule. The resolution of the July 1941 war between Ecuador and Peru was meant to conclude the long running border dispute between the two nations. However, the Ecuadorian government believed that there was still a question of precise boundaries in the region of the Condor mountain range. In 1979 the Ecuadorian Army occupied long abandoned outposts within what was internationally recognised Peruvian territory. At the time the Peruvians were distracted by the ending of a military junta and its replacement with a democratically elected government.



On 11 January 1981, a Peruvian Air Force UH-1N Twin Huey was fired on by a .50 Quadmont machine gun position at a site named PV-1. Several skirmishes followed over the next few days. Peruvian reconnaissance discovered 3 Ecuadorian Army held outposts within Peruvian territory (codenamed PV-1, -2 and -3) with evidence of multiple Ecuadorian patrols moving through the disputed landscape. After several days of intense diplomatic activity failed to achieve an Ecuadorian withdrawal, the Peruvian government launched Operation Rechazo to retake its territory on 29 January.




The Peruvian Air Force fielded three fixed wing combat types in January 1981. Their wartime roles were defined according to a plan written to respond to an expected Ecuadorian invasion. The ENAER PA-21-8s of GA.7 were to provide close air support for the Peruvian Army. GA.11, flying Mexican built MF-5A Freedom Fighters, were tasked with bombing targets inside Ecuador, including airfields, radar sites and power stations. They stood armed, on standby for the political decision to mount these missions throughout the 1981 crisis. The MF-5E Tiger IIs of GA.6 were dedicated to air defence, providing top cover patrols over the disputed region and undertaking QRA duties.



Peru ordered 30 ENAER PA-21-8s in 1970. The PA-21-8s of GA.6 were issued to 2 squadrons: EA.711 focused on training duties with a secondary combat tasking and EA.712 was combat coded for CAS and COIN work. Built without internal armament, the ENAER jets carried armament on 4 underwing pylons. Escuadrón Aéreo 712 received its PA-21-8s in 1973, gladly relinquishing their old Lockheed AT-33As. Delivered in a desert scheme of sand and field drab upper surfaces and light gull grey undersurfaces, 712's aircraft were repainted in 1979 as it became apparent that a jungle border war with Ecuador was likely. Disruptive patterns of dark green were added to the sand and field drab. The light gull grey paint was obliterated as the upper surface scheme was extended to create a wrap-around camouflage.



EA.712 was in the thick of the fighting in the first few days of the campaign. Loadouts featured SUU-11 Minigun pods, BLU-79 munitions and LM-70-7 rocket pods. Flying in pairs, the PA-21s attacked Ecuadorian positions inside Peru under the watchful eye of F-5E Tiger IIs flying CAP. Despite this, an inconclusive 2 on 2 dogfight occurred on 2 February when Ecuadorian EMB.326GPs carrying pod mounted .50 machine guns engaged EA.712 PA-21-8s, one of which was armed with Miniguns. All the Ecuadorian outposts were captured by the 6th day of Operation Rechazo. Skirmishes continued until a peace deal was reached on 16 February.



This aircraft, serial 928, was flown by Lt. Edilberto Villar throughout the conflict. It is modelled here as photographed prior to the bombing of the Escuadrón occupied PV-1 outpost on 28 January. It is armed with 4 550 lb BLU-79 cluster bombs. Designed (along with the 260 lb BLU-78) to produce a low collateral damage anti-personnel/anti-material bomb, the BLU-79 used a combination of explosive effects, fragmentation (the steel casing was internally grooved) and high velocity steel balls to produce non-persistent kinetic effects. A nose mounted proximity fuze was used to create an air burst. The explosive effects were compressed by a tail fuze to produce a horizontal or a downward shaped blast area, dialled in as required (as was the detonation height above ground). The munition was designed to fall vertically into the target area. When delivered in multiples, the airburst heights and blast shapes were selected on each bomb so as to create maximum damage over the target area.



Although dual seaters, the PA-21-8s tended to be flown solo on combat missions. Lt. Villar flew 928 on sorties against all 3 PV sites. On each occasion he was escorted by Captain César Morales, whose jet was armed with two Minigun pods and a pair of AVIBRAS SBAT-70 armed LM-70-7 7 round rocket pods. Capt. Morales' task was to suppress ground fire for Villar.



PV-1 was hit by 6 PA-21-8s on the morning of 28 January. The Quadmount was silenced and casualties inflicted. A FAC aboard a Twin Huey orchestrated the operation, calling in a helicopter attack force when he was satisfied the enemy had been adequately suppressed. A pair of CH-47C Chinooks brought in troops and were escorted by 2 UH-1N gunships armed with rockets and machine guns. PV-1 was retaken after a brief fire fight. It was a scenario repeated over the next few days as PV-2 and PV-3 were reclaimed by the Peruvians. The initial attack on PV-2 was aborted due to low cloud and fog, but was concluded later in the day with the Ecuadorians fleeing. The landing at PV-3 was unopposed, but a counter attack an hour later had to be rebuffed before victory was confirmed.



Lt. Villar rose to the rank of Major before retirement. The PA-21-8s were retired in 1987-89, replaced by FMA IA-63P Pampa jets. The Pampa would see combat in the 1995 Cenepa War when Ecuador again infringed upon Peruvian territory.

[zenrat]

 

[comrade harps]

I predicted your response 😉

[Captain Canada]

Very nice ! I really like the camo pattern and the subtle colour differences. I recognize those tip tanks 

[NARSES2]

I do like that scheme    and the history lesson   

[comrade harps]

Very nice ! I really like the camo pattern and the subtle colour differences. I recognize those tip tanks 

Academy A-37B drop tanks.

Some people like longer wings. I like tip tanks..

[chrisonord]

Very nice Comrade. 

[PR19_Kit]

Some people like longer wings. I like tip tanks..

Thank goodness we're all different.   

[Charlie_c67]

 

So who's going to admit to liking Sabrina's?

Trying to place the base model, looks a little like across between an L-29 and an Aermacchi MB-326.

[comrade harps]

So who's going to admit to liking Sabrina's?

Trying to place the base model, looks a little like across between an L-29 and an Aermacchi MB-326.

L-29.

[NARSES2]

So who's going to admit to liking Sabrina's?

Depends on how old you are and what your memories like   

[su27rules]

 

[Rick Lowe]

So who's going to admit to liking Sabrina's?

Depends on how old you are and what your memories like   

Now, now... impressionable minds and goggle searches, and all that...   

[NARSES2]

So who's going to admit to liking Sabrina's?

Depends on how old you are and what your memories like   

Now, now... impressionable minds and goggle searches, and all that...   

I'll take it that "goggle" rather than "google" is deliberate ?    Or should it be "oggle" ? 

[Charlie_c67]

I'll take it that "goggle" rather than "google" is deliberate ?    Or should it be "oggle" ? 

Certainly  would be when Sabrina was around, or Margaret Nolan. But I digress....