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Immediate Post-WW2 Ethiopian Air Force

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apophenia:
Italian Aircraft in the Postwar Imperial Ethiopian Air Force

The Imperial Ethiopian Air Force (imiperiyali ye段tiyop段ya ayeri hayili was re-established in 1944 when African-American personnel set up a flying school at Lideta airfield outside of Addis Ababa. [1] Ethiopia acquired a handful of aircraft from the US and Britain but neither Allied country was prepared to offer much further aid. [2] Meanwhile, a peace treaty was being negotiated between postwar Italy and Ethiopia but compensation for the 1935 Fascist invasion and subsequent occupation was inevitable.

In anticipation of the peace treaty, Italy offered compensation in the form of military equipment. Ethiopia agreed to this gesture with the proviso that no Italian personnel would be permitted on Ethiopian soil. Under those conditions, Rome was to deliver equipment to the British military administration at Mogadiscio in former Italian Somaliland. From there, most equipment was shipped by rail to the Ethiopian border. Aircraft would be flown by contracted pilots to Kabri Dahar airfield for collection by the IEAF.

The first ex-Italian aircraft to arrive were all trainers. [2] The first combat aircraft was the Fiat G.55 Ch段lifiti (Hawk). These fighters, referred to by the Italians as the G.55Et, were standard wartime G.55/0 models armed with an MG 151/20 motor-cannon and four 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns. The fighters were given a brief overhaul by Fiat at Turin but were unchanged in their equipment fit.

The G.55Et is shown in the approved Sand-and-Stone (Sabbia e Pietra) camouflage. This camouflage was based on the RAF scheme of the same name but mixed from available, wartime Italian paint stocks. The camouflage pattern was applied by hand. The pattern on each airframe was similiar but not identical.

This Ch段lifiti was, however, delivered in wholely inappropriate markings. The fuselage roundels are correct but over-scale. The rudder stripes are completely wrong - tailplane markings should consist solely of the Imperial Ethiopian flag on either side of the fin. The individual aircraft number is also incorrect. Individual aircraft numbers were to positioned behind the fuselage roundel, rendered in black, using Ge'ez (Ethiopic) numerals (not Arabic).

'White 4' was the personal mount of IAA (Ila Ammist Aleqa, Sergeant) Hassan Omer. This G.55 was named 'Shifta' (Bandit) but, in standard IEAF practice, such names were never marked on airframes.

The Ethiopians had also been offered advanced trainers but rejected both a two-seat Ch段lifiti - the Fiat G.55B - and more economical, radial-engined equivalent - the Fiat G.62. Instead, the IEAF opted for a single-seat derivative of the G.62. The G.63Et was effectively a Fiat A.76-powered G.55. As the IEAF's Dinibit段 (Sparrowhawk), the G.63Et would act as an attack aircraft - without the G-55's belly radiator, the G.63 could accommodate a bomb rack on its centre section.

The Dinibit段 shown is in fully correct IEAF markings. In contrast with the G.55 (above), a small Imperial flag is displayed on the fin with the Ge'ez numeral '4' in black on the rear fuselage. Properly, this G.63 is 'T4' for the fourth tewagi awiropilani. The cowling has been painted in the yellow colour of Tefokakari 6 (Sqn 6) This Dinibit段 was the personal mount of Matoalaga (Captain) Isaias Ahmed and was named 'Deborah' (Bee).

(To be continued ...)

Added: Hmmm, these were Sand-and-Spinach at home, here at the Uni computer lab they look a bit bilious  :P
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[1] Heading this school was aviator John C. Robinson who had first helped establish the IEAF in 1935.

[2] After the Italians had been driven from the country, a British Military Mission to Ethiopia (BMME), under Major General Stephen Butler, was established to reorganise the Ethiopian Army.[19] The Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 1944 removed the BMME from the jurisdiction of East Africa Command at Nairobi and made it responsible to the Ethiopian Minister of War.

[3] This included 6 x Caproni Ca.100 basic trainers - Biguri (Partridge) in IEAF service; 6 x Nardi FN.506 intermediate trainers - IEAF Dirich段tochi (Quail); and 4 x Caproni-Bergmaschi Ca.309 utility transport/trainers - IEAF Rigibi (Dove).

elmayerle:
Beautiful!!  Looking forward to more.

Brian da Basher:
Most colorful, apophenia! They look a natural in those cool markings!

Brian da Basher

GTX_Admin:
Oh yeah!!! :smiley:  Any chance of some bombers or transports?

apophenia:
Thanks folks!


--- Quote from: GTX_Admin on August 10, 2019, 04:13:13 AM ---Oh yeah!!! :smiley:  Any chance of some bombers or transports?

--- End quote ---

Thinking on it. I've got some trainers in the works, but for now ...


Tranche Two - Italian Aircraft for the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force

As anticipated, Fiat G.55 Ch段lifiti (Hawk) fighters didn't last very long in Ethiopian service - a combination of aging airframes and engines with inexperienced (and perhaps undertrained) pilots. Fortunately, Italy was already offering updated Fiats with brand-new engines. [1] The first offering was for the impressive Fiat G.66Et powered by a big, 2,050 hp Rolls-Royce Griffon 61 V-12 engine. A prototype G.66 was built - albeit with the less-powerful Griffon IV - and demonstrated before the British Air Attache in Rome (who acted as a purchasing agent for the IEAF).

The prototype G.66Et was created using wartime airframe components but introduced some major changes beyond the new powerplant. The cockpit was fitted with a new sliding 'bubble' canopy [2] and the vertical tail was somewhat enlarged to cope with the combination of reduced side area and increased engine power. Fiat also resurrected the wing radiators used on the wartime G.55S torpedo-fighter conversion. The primary purpose was to increase radiator core size but, as on the radial-engined G.63, this change also permitted installation of a centre-line rack for a drop tank or bomb. Fixed armament was to comprise two British Hispano cannons and two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns.

British reports of the G.66Et 'Girifoni' were received with enthusiasm by the IEAF. However, the government of Ethiopia was concerned with the numbers on offer. Italy was offering the option of only six G.66Ets against a larger number of a less potent alternative - the Merlin-powered G.59A. In a back-and-forth, it was agreed that the IEAF would receive a dozen 'Ethiopianized' G.59s. These fighters were a hybrid of G.59 and G.66. Designated G.69 (originally G.59Et) by Fiat, the Merlin-powered fighter was dubbed Nisiri (Eagle) by the Ethiopians.

The G.69 Nisiri was basically a G.59A with the cut-down decking and sliding canopy from the G.66. [3] The example shown is 'A8' with the Ge'ez numeral '8' on its rear fuselage. Note that this G.69 has had its red spinner (indicating fighter squadron Tefokakari 3) overpainted to reduce visibility. 'A8' was the personal mount of AA (Amsa Aleqa, Senior Sergeant) Bayissa Tilaye and was named - rather grandly, 'Gedeyon' (The Annihilator).

(To be continued ...)
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[1] The airframes were to be a combination of refurbished wartime G.55 parts and newly-manufactured components.

[2] For the prototype G.66, this canopy was sourced from the UK where it had been intended for a cancelled Hawker Tempest fighter.

[3] In this, the G.69 anticipated the AMI's G.59-4A which did not appear until 1951 For the G.69s, canopies were also purchased in the UK - in this case, from scrap yards which were breaking up surplus Hawker Typhoon IIs.

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