Calquin I.Ae. 24
The Argentinian "Mosquito"

El Calquín was born after a requirement for a new bombing and attack aircraft to replace the Northrop 8A. The Aerotechnical Institute, directed then by Commodore Engineer Juan Ignacio San Martín, completed the design in 1946, this would bear the name of Calquín (Royal Eagle, in Araucanian).

First twin-engine, designed and mass-produced in Argentina, the medium-wing monoplane, Calquín, was made with national plywood and balsa wood, with a sandwich-type structure, fully covered, propelled by two 1200 hp radial engines each and a two-seater cabin. with seats side by side, it had a fully retractable landing gear with tailwheel and a weapons bay with hydraulically operated doors, the bow was made of transparent plastic, the glass of the cabin, sides and windshield were shatterproof.

Many historians agree that the Calquín was initially thought to be powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin linear engines, but given the impossibility of obtaining them, it was finally decided to equip it with Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp 14-cylinder radial engines.

After 14 months of manufacturing, the prototype (registered 000) took flight on June 5, 1946, commanded by Captain Edmundo Weiss.

8 pre-production copies were manufactured, the first of which, registered EX-01/Series 001, took flight on July 4, 1947, four days later, this copy is taken in flight by Captain Osvaldo Rovere to the Capital. , where it is presented to the national authorities, in May of that year the Experimental Flight Group was constituted that evaluated the pre-series specimens, the following year serial production for the Air Force began.

The Calquín was used in the Air Force as a light and attack bomber or in observation and reconnaissance tasks,

Technical specifications:

Two-seat bombing and observation monoplane

Power Plant : 2 Pratt & Whitney R-1830 S1C3G Twin Wasp 18-cylinder radial engines, 1,050 hp, Hamilton Standard 23-E-50 three-blade metal variable-pitch propellers

Dimensions: Wingspan 16.34 m, length 12 m, height 2.62 m, wing area 38 m2

Weights : empty 5,340 kg, maximum takeoff 8,164 kg

Performance: maximum speed 440 km/h, cruising speed 380 km/h, range 1,100 km, autonomy 3 hours, service ceiling 10,000 meters, rate of climb 12.50 meters/sec

Armament: 4 AN/M3 12.7mm machine guns with 1100 rounds, 750kg of bombs (those intended for bombing tasks) (in some examples) 10 75mm rockets in underwing mounts.

The I.Ae.-24 Calquín in the Air Force

For almost a decade of service, the Calquín were part, the first experimental specimens, of the 1st Bombardment Regiment (R1B) based in the Military Air Base (BAM) of Coronel Pringles, then these and the new ones (completing a total of 30 copies) were assigned to the 3 Attack Regiment (R3A) (later redesignated as of 02/09/1951 as Attack Group 1 (G1A)) based in the BAM El Plumerillo, Mendoza and to the Observation Group 2 (G2O ) (redesignated as Grupo 2 de Ataque (G2A)), based in the BAM Reconquista, Santa Fe. On 2/15/1952, this unit was dissolved and all the Calquín became part of the IV Air Brigade.

The G1A lined up in 1952 up to 74 IAe-24, these came from the previous R3A and the dissolved G2A, this figure was reduced to 63 the following year, by 1956, there were 47 units in service, another six copies, by then they were assigned to the Institute Airman.

By 1958, barely a quarter of the IAe-24 manufactured were still in service, it was already stipulated that these, as they entered inspection, would be discharged, and so it was, as of April of that year, the history of the Creole ¨mosquito¨ in the Argentine Air Force.

After the accident of the A-87 in September 1957, as a result of a crack in the upper part of the fuselage, the order was given so that any device that had some type of structural failure was not repaired and was proceeded to be decommissioned and subsequently scrapped. . Parts of this product of the national industry, ended up, as recounted by a veteran of Calquín, the then Lieutenant (later Commodore) Carlos Diana, as sentry boxes for guard soldiers or as wood for the kitchens of the IV troops' ranch. Brigade.

The Calquín in combat : During the serious events that shook the country in 1955, during the so-called Liberating Revolution, many I.Ae.-24 participated in combat, with the passing of the hours, several Calquín deserted from the official ranks and went on the side The Calquín and other aircraft enlisted in the revolutionary side were painted with the insignia of Cristo Vence.

On 9/17/1955 a section of Calquín that had landed that same day in the BAM Morón, coming from the BAM El Plumerillo, province of Mendoza to reinforce the loyal Air Force bombed the destroyer (revolutionary) of the Navy ARA Cervantes; the next day 5 loyal Calquín along with a section of Gloster MK.IV attack a section of rebel barges, from the Marine Infantry Battalion Nº11, that day the device piloted by Captain Valladares is hit by the 40mm artillery of the ARA King but Despite the damage suffered, they managed to return to Morón. On 9/19 a squad of six Calquín under the command of Captain Jorge Costa Peuser, deserted to the rebel ranks. This squadron was made up of captains Marcilese, Pérez, Abdala, Crespo and the aforementioned Valladares, they received the order to bombard Rio Santiago,

On 9/18 the Calquín A-70 (revolutionary) piloted by 1st Lieutenant Barcalá, bombards the train station of the city of Córdoba with Napalm, the device is hit on that occasion by anti-aircraft artillery.

The Calquíns earned a bad reputation, unfortunately more than 40 pilots died operating this aircraft in its few years of service, its main drawbacks were the lack of maneuverability and, on several occasions, the stoppage of one of its engines in flight. According to a later account by the Vice Commodore (R) of the Air Force and one of the pilots who flew the most hours aboard the Calquín, Jorge Conan-Doyle, the I.Ae.-24 was unstable in its three axes, but this was solved without inconvenience by veteran pilots. Another drawback was that the landing speed was high and when the landing gear was deployed the aircraft could easily stall, this was corrected by lowering the gear only when the aircraft was on the final approach to the runway.