Spanish Republican Air Force

Air Force of the Spanish Republic 1931-1939 Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española (FARE) 1936-1939
Popeye on the Spanish Republican Polikarpov I-16 of Antonio Arias Arias, commander of the 4th squadron. Museo del Aire, Cuatro Vientos, Madrid. Other characters on Spanish Republican planes included Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop.
Active	1931 - 1939
Country	Spanish Republic
Allegiance	Spain (1931-1939)
Branch	Spanish Republican Armed Forces
Type	Air Force
Engagements	Spanish Civil War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Ignacio Hidalgo de Cisneros Andrés García La Calle Leocadio Mendiola Antonio Camacho Benítez Carlos Núñez Mazas Ángel Pastor Velasco Miguel Núñez de Prado Virgilio Leret Ruiz Manuel Cascón Briega
Insignia
Emblem	(1931-1934) (1934-1936) (1936-1939)
Fin flash
Roundel (1931-1936)
Roundel (1936-1939)
Aircraft flown
Attack	Breguet XIX, Vickers Vildebeest, Beechcraft Staggerwing, Gourdou-Leseurre GL-633, Potez 25
Bomber	Potez 540, Tupolev SB, Bloch MB.200,Bloch MB.210, Polikarpov R-Z, Hawker Spanish Osprey, Macchi M.18, Breguet 413,Breguet 460
Fighter	Hawker Fury, Bristol Bulldog, Blériot-SPAD S.51, Blériot-SPAD S.91, Dewoitine D.510, Fokker D.XXI, Martinsyde Buzzard, Hispano-Nieuport Ni-52, Avia BH-33, Dewoitine D.372, Polikarpov I-15, Polikarpov I-16, Grumman G-23, Letov Š-31, Letov Š-231, Letov Š-331, Loire 46, Fw 56
Patrol	Latecoere 28, Spartan Zeus, Lockheed Orion, Fokker C.X, Miles Falcon, RWD 9, Macchi M.18, Potez 58
Reconnaissance	Polikarpov R-5, Bellanca CH-300, Savoia-Marchetti SM.62, Aero A.101, Koolhoven F.K.51
Trainer	Monospar ST-4, Monospar ST-12, Avro 594, Avro 626, Avro 643 Cadet, British Aircraft Swallow, Caudron C.270, Caudron C.282, González Gil-Pazó GP-1, Hanriot H.180, Hispano-Suiza E-30, Hispano-Suiza E-34, Miles M.2 Hawk Trainer, Morane-Saulnier MS.181, Morane-Saulnier MS.230, Romano R.82, Romano R.83, SAB-SEMA 10, RSV.32
Transport	Fokker F-VII.3m/M, Fokker F.XX, De Havilland DH-89M, Farman F 402, Douglas DC-1, Douglas DC-2, Junkers K 30, Airspeed Envoy, Airspeed Viceroy, Avia 51, Blériot 111, Blériot-SPAD S.56, Breguet 26T, Breguet 470, British Aircraft Eagle, Caudron C-440, Caudron Aiglon, Consolidated Fleetster, Couzinet 101, Ford Trimotor, General Aircraft ST-25, Hanriot LH.437, Latécoère 28, Lioré et Olivier 213, Northrop Delta, Northrop Gamma, Potez 560, Vultee V-1 See also List of aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force

The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939.

Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics (Aeronáutica Militar) and Naval Aeronautics (Aeronáutica Naval), the Republican Air Force became the Air Forces of the Spanish Republic, Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española (FARE), also known as Arma de Aviación, after it was reorganized following the restructuring of the Republican Armed Forces in September 1936, at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. This defunct Air Force is largely known for the intense action it saw during the Civil War, from July 1936 till its disbandment in 1939.

The Spanish Republican Air Force was popularly known as "La Gloriosa" (The Glorious One). But, according to some historians, the command structure of the Spanish loyalist forces was marred by ineptitude and lack of decision-making throughout the Civil War. Starting from the crucial first weeks of the conflict in July 1936, the rebel side was able to undertake a massive airlift of troops from Spanish Morocco using mostly the slow Ju 52, without any Spanish Republican interference. This was the world's first long-range combat airlift and the military planes on the Spanish Republican side failed to check it.

The Battle of Guadalajara and the defence of the skies over Madrid against Nationalist bombing raids during the capital's long siege would be the only scenarios where the loyalist air force took part in an effective manner. In other important republican military actions, such as the Segovia Offensive, the Battle of Teruel and the decisive Battle of the Ebro, where the Aviación Nacional was relentlessly strafing the loyalist positions with accurate low-level attacks, the republican military airplanes were practically absent from the skies. Moreover, when they appeared and attacked, they did so in an unorganized and inadequate manner that mostly failed to achieve positive effects.