Good day all,
I was having dinner with my father and an old friend of his from his service as a Peru Naval Aviator and found out some very interesting information regarding my dad’s service history. Apparently he was a "guinea pig" for a lot of different missions. Granted the Peruvian Navy, at the time was not very advanced, so some of the accomplishments may not seem like a big deal but they are some damn cool stories.
For some quick history on the old man, he attended flight school in Pensacola graduated and flew the T-34's, Beech King Airs, P-3's, and then ultimately Helicopters. Maybe some of you can clear this up; if you fly a certain aircraft is there the possibility of changing during your service? It is odd sounding to me that he was able to fly so many different aircraft; both fix wing and then changing to helicopters. Just the switch from fixed to helicopters is a complete oddity in my mind but apparently the switch was handed down from up high and he was more or less forced into it, although I doubt he complained too much.
Back to the cool stuff...When he was flying the T-34's there was a conflict with Ecuador, which has yet to be resolved, and there was a need for a special mission to attack a military base just over the border. Since this was a fast moving conflict there was little time to prep the aircraft that were needed and a quick decision was made to send him and another pilot with new rocket pods on the plane. Since this had never been done the exact details were pure estimates on how the aircraft would perform. Under the cover of night, my dad and his mechanic got into the T-34 and flew to a Peruvian AF base where they were rushed into a hanger and the new rockets were installed. They were larger than the previous kind carried so the question was how it would work. In a rush he, minus the mechanic, then was pushed out onto the runway and barely took off, he said he was at the limit of the planes weight restrictions. He flew to a FOB that was blacked out and under strict radio silence but was guided in by some patrolling helicopters. The idea was to attack the base on the Ecuador side disabling their ability to respond to any attack made, which never happened. Pretty intense in my world and defiantly something I am very proud of him for.
Story two (and a lot shorter), when he flew helicopters, he was one of the first to drop a torpedo in war time, if I understood them correctly (speaking Spanish). Once again pretty damn cool.
How would I go about finding out more information about these accomplishments? Do any of you have contacts or know anyone that could help me out? I know that there is little chance considering it all happened in Peru but things like this are lifetime accomplishments that I would like to have remembered not only for me but for him as well. Rarely does my dad talk about anything like this and the few opportunities I do get to hear them I get trapped in the stories.
If any of you have good stories please share! If anyone knows how I can come by some information please feel free to contact me.
Thank you all for your service and for everything you have all done. I am sure, if you have kids even all grown up like me (24), they will look at you in the same light.
I was having dinner with my father and an old friend of his from his service as a Peru Naval Aviator and found out some very interesting information regarding my dad’s service history. Apparently he was a "guinea pig" for a lot of different missions. Granted the Peruvian Navy, at the time was not very advanced, so some of the accomplishments may not seem like a big deal but they are some damn cool stories.
For some quick history on the old man, he attended flight school in Pensacola graduated and flew the T-34's, Beech King Airs, P-3's, and then ultimately Helicopters. Maybe some of you can clear this up; if you fly a certain aircraft is there the possibility of changing during your service? It is odd sounding to me that he was able to fly so many different aircraft; both fix wing and then changing to helicopters. Just the switch from fixed to helicopters is a complete oddity in my mind but apparently the switch was handed down from up high and he was more or less forced into it, although I doubt he complained too much.
Back to the cool stuff...When he was flying the T-34's there was a conflict with Ecuador, which has yet to be resolved, and there was a need for a special mission to attack a military base just over the border. Since this was a fast moving conflict there was little time to prep the aircraft that were needed and a quick decision was made to send him and another pilot with new rocket pods on the plane. Since this had never been done the exact details were pure estimates on how the aircraft would perform. Under the cover of night, my dad and his mechanic got into the T-34 and flew to a Peruvian AF base where they were rushed into a hanger and the new rockets were installed. They were larger than the previous kind carried so the question was how it would work. In a rush he, minus the mechanic, then was pushed out onto the runway and barely took off, he said he was at the limit of the planes weight restrictions. He flew to a FOB that was blacked out and under strict radio silence but was guided in by some patrolling helicopters. The idea was to attack the base on the Ecuador side disabling their ability to respond to any attack made, which never happened. Pretty intense in my world and defiantly something I am very proud of him for.
Story two (and a lot shorter), when he flew helicopters, he was one of the first to drop a torpedo in war time, if I understood them correctly (speaking Spanish). Once again pretty damn cool.
How would I go about finding out more information about these accomplishments? Do any of you have contacts or know anyone that could help me out? I know that there is little chance considering it all happened in Peru but things like this are lifetime accomplishments that I would like to have remembered not only for me but for him as well. Rarely does my dad talk about anything like this and the few opportunities I do get to hear them I get trapped in the stories.
If any of you have good stories please share! If anyone knows how I can come by some information please feel free to contact me.
Thank you all for your service and for everything you have all done. I am sure, if you have kids even all grown up like me (24), they will look at you in the same light.
