A tour of the excellent Aerospace Museum of the Colombian Air Force in Briceño

@ElentirENG ES 3·25·2024 · 23:38 0

If you are asked about good aeronautical museums, you will probably think of those in the United States or in several European countries.

A tour of the spectacular Italian Air Force Museum after its renovation
A tour of the fabulous contents of the aeronautical museum at RAF Cosford

In Briceño, in central Colombia, there is a museum that deserves to appear on the lists of aeronautical museums that are worthy of mention: the Aerospace Museum of the Colombian Air Force.

Colombia has a long tradition in military aviation. Its first aeronautical museum was inaugurated in Bogotá in 1967, but due to lack of support it ended up closing its doors. The current museum of the Colombian Air Force was inaugurated in 2000 in a former facility of the Military Air Transport Command (CATAM).

This museum was renovated in 2019 and has dozens of aircraft, including some from before World War II, which would cause envy in some museums in Europe and the US. You can see some gems from this museum below.

A Junkers W-34. These German aircraft arrived in Colombia in 1929 and were used in the Colombia-Peru War (1932-1933), but retired from service in 1952. The W-34 in the museum is FAC 407.

An authentic Junkers Ju-52. It is one of the few Ju-52/3m left in the world. This plane arrived in Colombia in 1932, being acquired by the Colombian German Air Transport Society (SCADTA). Colombia operated six of these aircraft. The FAC 625 preserved in the museum was Enrique Olaya Herrera's presidential plane. The Colombian Ju-52s were in service until 1950.

A Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bomber. Colombia received 35 of these aircraft from the US, which began arriving in the country in 1946. The only one that remains is FAC 861 exhibited in this museum.

A four-engine Douglas C-54 Skymaster, the military version of the DC-4. This aircraft, the FAC 690, was purchased in 1954, and was used as a presidential aircraft, a mission it completed until 1972. The aircraft continued to be used by the Colombian Air Force in transport tasks until 1990.

An F-86 Saber fighter. Specifically, this, the FAC 2023, is one of the six Canadair CL-13 Sabers manufactured in Canada that Colombia received in 1956. In 1963, the Colombian Air Force received others four Sabres, of the F-86F variant, from the United States. These fighters were active until 1967.

A Dassault Mirage 5COA fighter, the FAC 3027. It was the export version made by Dassault for Colombia. The Colombian Air Force received 18 fighters of this type: 14 single-seat Mirage 5COA, 2 two-seat Mirage 5COD training and 2 Mirage 5COR reconnaissance. The first arrived in Colombia in 1972 and were active until 2010.

An IAI Kfir fighter. In 1989 Colombia purchased 13 IAI Kfir from Israel: 12 Kfir C.2 single-seaters and one Kfir TC.2 training two-seater. In 2008, Colombia purchased another 24 second-hand Kfir that came from the Israeli Air Force. Most of these aircraft are still in service.

The Boeing 707-373C FAC 1201, called KC-137 "Zeus" by the Colombian Air Force. It was purchased in 1983, being transformed into a tanker aircraft. It was retired from service in 2014 and today it is the largest aircraft in this museum.

If you have been wanting to see more, a few days ago the channel Mundo de Aviación published this video about this excellent museum:

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Photos: Museo Aeroespacial de la Fuerza Aérea Colombiana.