20 http://www.airforcesmonthly.comNEWS
// JULY 2018 #Special
he Força Aérea
Brasileira’s (FAB’s)
Esquadrão de
Demonstração Aérea
(EDA), better known as the
Esquadrilha da Fumaça
(Smoke Squadron), was
established in 1952 but only
became the service’s official
demonstration team in 1963.
Disbanded in 1976, after
1,318 demonstration flights
with the T- 6 Texan and
Magister, it was revived four
years later with the Neiva
T-25 and designated as the
EDA in 1982. In September
the following year the first
six T-27 Tucanos were
delivered and the type
made its debut in Fumaça
colours in December.
With a new requirement
to market the Tucano
to potential customers,
the EDA made a debut
appearance at Chile’s
biennial Feria Internacional
del Aire (FIDA, now Feria
Internacional del Aire y del
Espacio, FIDAE) show in- It was the beginning
of a lasting relationship with
the event and the Fuerza
Aérea de Chile’s (Chilean Air
Force’s) own demonstration
team, Los Halcones. Since
then, Fumaça has flown 93
displays at 15 FIDAE shows.
Preparations
Taking the team abroad
is a huge undertaking.
It requires selection ofmaintenance tools, spare
parts, oil drums for the
smoke, flyover and landing
authorisations, passport
handling, medicine, ground
support at each location, a
lot of luggage, hotel rooms,
US dollars and more. The
FAB always wants to get
the maximum benefit from
these efforts, and so the
team’s six-day participation
at FIDAE 2018 (from April
3 to 8), became a month-
long round-trip through
southern Brazil, Argentina,
Chile and Uruguay.
The mission began on
the morning of March 24
at Fumaça’s Pirassununga
home base, some 124
miles (200km) north of São
Paulo. The EDA departed
for Canoas air base, near
Porto Alegre, capital of
the southern state of
Rio Grande do Sul. The
team comprised eight
A-29 Super Tucanos – the
team’s workhorse since
2015 – and 31 personnel,
including ten pilots, two
PR officers and a doctor.
The support aircraft was
a C-105 Amazonas from
the FAB’s 1°/15° Grupo de
Aviação (GAv). Some cargo,
including several oil drums,
was flown to Santiago in
KC-390 prototype PT-ZNF
that also attended the show.
On the 25th, Fumaça
performed during
celebrations for Porto‘Smokers’ on the road
Carlos Filipe Operti joined the Brazilian
Air Force’s demonstration team during a
30-day tour around South America.T
Posing for the camera
over Mendoza, Argentina,
close to the home of the
Argentine Air Force’s IV
Brigada Aérea.