Have I mentioned that I was once a professional photographer? Good, then. Forget I said it.
Took off for the beach with the dog, and saw several squadrons of three prop planes (apparently the Aermacchi SF.260s I mentioned yesterday).
I remembered from yesterday’s Wikipedia check that the Fuerza Aéria Uruguaya has two C-130s, cargo planes I’ve always thought are kind of cool, and lo and behold, they flew overhead, the first of many many times. All two of them.
Then a screaming approach, and I could barely get my camera out fast enough to catch these guys:
… coming and going …
… which appear to be Northup F-5s, though according to Wikipedia the UY Air Force doesn’t have any. Oh my, Wikipedia not true? Who knew?
Then these guys, the Cessna A-37 Dragonflies I mentioned yesterday.
And the C-130s kept doing their circles.
I met my neighbor riding her 3-wheeled cargo bike to exercise her dogs. She asked about our big dog, and I asked her about the planes, and she said today is the aniversario of the Air Force. Lo and behold, from Wikipedia: Military aviation in Uruguay was born on 17 March 1913 when the Military Aviation Academy (Escuela de Aviación Militar) was formed at a small airport 50 km from Montevideo. The first aircraft were a Farman Longhorn biplane and a Blériot XI monoplane.So let’s put this in perspective: the planes flying overhead today, the current inventory of the Uruguayan Air Force, are all designs about 50 years old (C-130 a bit older). 50 years before that, the Air Force was started with this:
and this:
And the current technology? 100 years. You don’t have to be into planes, but they illustrate it well.
