Most aviation historians would be quick to assert that no other aircraft has been called an “Aardvark” other than the F-111. As is so often the case, though, the ‘Vark was nothing new under the sun. In fact, the name was carried by another bomber more than 35 years earlier.
In the last days of the Leticia conflict, the Colombian army air arm (Aviacion Militar) was energetically purchasing combat aircraft from the United States and elsewhere, but the conflict ended up being fought mostly with what aircraft were already on hand. Among those was the real “first ‘Vark.”
A single Ford 4-AT-B was transferred from SCADTA to the Aviacion Militar. Originally intended as a transport, it was soon realized that transport aircraft in the Leticia needed to be able to land on the river, so either seaplanes or flying boats were necessary. Thus the Ford was taken into the AM shops to be converted into a bomber. When she emerged, she had been re-engined with two 550 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340AN-2 wing engines in place of the previous three 220 hp Wright J-5 Whirlwinds (giving a 67% increase in total horsepower). The center engine was replaced by a long nose with a bomb-aimer’s position and a gun position. A second gun position was mounted in the dorsal position at mid-fuselage; each gun position carried a single .30 caliber machine gun. The new bomber carried its offensive load under the center fuselage - the forward rack carrying up to two 500 pound bombs, whilst the rear rack could carry six 50 pound anti-personnel bombs. Capitan Jose Alberto Ruiz Cazador gave the aircraft its new nickname before its first test flight when he remarked that it looked like the aardvarks he had seen while on safari in Africa. The name stuck and the plane was christened “El Cerdo Formiguero.” Because it lacked sufficient range, El Cerdo Formiguero only flew a few combat missions before the end of the conflict, but survived in Colombian service long enough to be used for anti-submarine patrol during the early days of the Second World War.
This model started out as the ancient Revell Ford Trimotor in 1/77 scale. The nose, gun bins and bomb racks were all scratch built from sheet styrene, spare parts and pen barrels. The engines are resin R-1340s from Radial Engines & Wheels 72, and the props and guns are white metal from Aeroclub. The decals were home-made – I am close to abandoning the idea of making my own decals because I cannot get them to stick to the models – they curl and will not adhere. I am using Testor’s paper and decal bonder – if anyone has any idea what I am doing wrong, I would appreciate the help.
Hope you enjoyed it!