Museo Aeronautico, Aeropuerto Carrasco, Montevideo.

[nuuumannn]

Hi Guys, A few images from the neat Museo Aeronautico in Montevideo, Uruguay. Outside the entrance are these two airframes; a Lockheed T-33 and a rather beat up Pluna DC-3. Pluna used to be Uruguay's national airline, and established South American routes in 1936, but after serious financial losses, in 2012 the government pulled the plug on the nationalised airline and its assets were sold off. It's sad to see this DC-3 in this state as the airline had a proud history and when it was moved to its current location it was intact and in good external condition. Now it just looks sad.

It's odd that although the exterior paint on this T-33 is fading away in the sun, its national markings have been freshly coated.

Inside a new purpose built building there are a number of well kept aircraft on the cleanest expanse of concrete I think I saw in Montevideo; the streets are littered with rubbish and dog sh*t and pavements are broken and chipped, causing unwary pedestrians to trip up and twist their ankles!

Stinson Voyager;

T-6D Texan;

The mainstay of the Fuerza Aerea Uruguaya's fighter force for many years, an F-80C Shooting Star of which 17 were bought;

Another T-33, one of eight AT-33As supplied;

Beech T-34; the first example of these was sought from the US civilian market to replace T-6s, but a batch was acquired from Davis Monthan, Arizona and the Spanish Air Force;

Former RAF Wessex HC.2 XR497 was one of 11 Wessexes operated by the FAU from 1997 to 2003.

Two Hueys, a UH-1H and short fuselage UH-1B;

One of 11 A-37Bs supplied to Uruguay and its last combat jet, of which a few are still in service;

And finally, Chipmunk G-ANOW 'Urutau' was the first Chipmunk operated in Uruguay and conducted a tour of South America to encourage sales of the type. It was named 'Urutau' on arrival and became the property of the Director General of Civil Aviation and was registered as CX-BGH. The museum also holds CX-AVA, a former FAU airframe.

At another site undergoing restoration is a B-25 Mitchell, AT-11 Kansan, Lodestar and a rare Curtiss SNC-1 Falcon, which I was keen to photograph, but they are not able to be viewed by the public, unfortunately.

Thanks for looking.

Edited June 24, 2016 by nuuumannn

[tonyot]

Love the Wessex,....... but they all look great too,......thanks for sharing.

[F-32]

Nice, you don't see many F-80's!

[Ignacio]

Very nice coverage of our new museum here in Uruguay. About 20 years ago it caught fire and most of the aircraft were burnt to ashes, and thanks to volunteer work it is now reborn.

Sadly it´s true what you say about our concrete, but I hope you like my country anyway!

The volunteer group working at the museum is the AAMA and they have an incredible group of enthusiast people working on the history of uruguayan aviation.

This is their forum http://ratonesdehangar.org/ and also a website http://www.pilotoviejo.com/

Best regards!

Ignacio

[nuuumannn]

Hi Ignacio, yes, I did enjoy visiting Uruguay; particularly the fabulous Fortaleza del Cerro, which I enjoyed the views immensely. The museo was very enjoyable and the woman who was looking after the hangar was very friendly and helpful and enabled me to get a closer look at the F-80 and T-33 inside. I was intrigued by the Curtiss Falcon, which I knew about before I went, but was not on site, so sadly I did not get to see it. nevertheless, a great wee museo.

[Ignacio]

Hi Ignacio, yes, I did enjoy visiting Uruguay; particularly the fabulous Fortaleza del Cerro, which I enjoyed the views immensely. The museo was very enjoyable and the woman who was looking after the hangar was very friendly and helpful and enabled me to get a closer look at the F-80 and T-33 inside. I was intrigued by the Curtiss Falcon, which I knew about before I went, but was not on site, so sadly I did not get to see it. nevertheless, a great wee museo.

The Curtiss Falcon caught fire and the rear fuselage was severely damaged. Right now it´s restored and about to be put in display at the museum.

Here are some photos I could find in http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=55447&sid=f74427274efec24467f407c1a2c27ff7&start=0 and http://aamameregalli.blogspot.com.uy/

This one will be joined by a B-25 and a Pucará in short time.

Best regards!

Ignacio