Ecuadorian Air Force

Ecuadorian Air Force
Seal of the Ecuadorian Air Force
Active	1920
Country	Ecuador
Branch	Air Force
Size	6,389 72 aircraft
Part of	Military of Ecuador
Engagements	Paquisha War 1981 Cenepa War 1995
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier General Raúl Banderas Dueñas, Comandante General de la Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana
Insignia
Identification symbol
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Atlas Cheetah, IAI Kfir
Helicopter	HAL Dhruv
Trainer	EMB 314 Super Tucano
Transport	Lockheed Martin C-130

Brigadier General Raúl Banderas Dueñas,

The Ecuadorian Air Force (Spanish: Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana, FAE) is the Air arm of the Military of Ecuador and responsible for the protection of the Ecuadorian airspace.

To develop the military air wing, in order to execute institutional objectives which guarantee sovereignty and contribute towards the nation's security and development.

To be a dissuasive Air Force, respected and accepted by society, pioneering within the nation's "air-space" development.

The FAE was officially created on October 27, 1920. However, like in many other countries, military flying activity started before the formal date of birth of the Air Force. The history of Ecuador is marked by many skirmishes with its neighbour Peru. As a direct result of the 1910 Ecuador-Peru crisis the members of Club de Tiro Guayaquil decided to expand their sporting activities into aviation as well. Renamed Club de Tiro y Aviación, they started an aviation school.Cosme Rennella Barbatto, an Italian living in Guayaquil, was one of the very first members of Club de Tiro y Aviación. In 1912 Cosme Rennella was sent to his native Italy for training where he successfully graduated as a pilot. He later returned to Europe a second time in 1915, where he participated in World War I. In 152 combat sorties he scored 18 victories, although only 7 were confirmed. When he returned to Ecuador, his experiences served as motivation for a reduced group of Ecuadorian pilots, who moves to the Aviation School in Turin, Italy, with the objective of graduating as the first Ecuadorian pilots of the nascent Ecuadorian Military Aviation.

By 1939 the Ecuadorian Air Force was still limited to about 30 aircraft and a staff of about 60, including 10 officers. Military aviation did not start in earnest until the early forties when an Ecuadorian mission to the United States resulted in the delivery of an assortment of aircraft for the Aviation school at Salinas. Three Ryan PT-22 Recruits, six Curtiss-Wright CW-22 Falcons, six Fairchild PT-19A Cornells and three North American AT-6A Harvards arrived in March 1942, considerably boosting the capacity of the Escuela de Aviación at Salinas.