112 FLYPAST August 2018
MUSEUMS PHILIPPINE AIR FORCE MUSEUM
involved in an attempted coup
d’état against the government of
President Corazon Aquino. The
plot failed within a few days, but
not before some rebel-operated
T-28s were destroyed by loyalist
units of the air force, flying
Northrop F-5 jets.
Also at the museum is a military
version of the famed Cessna 172
four-seater, the T-41D Mescalero,
more than a dozen of which
still serve the PAF at Basilio
Fernando with the 101st Pilot
Training Squadron, part of the
100th Training Wing. A 1968-built
example that had previously
served in South Vietnam is on
show at Villamor.
Local produce
A pair of Italian SIAI-Marchetti
SF.260WP Warriors are among
the displays at the museum.
Introduced in 1966, initially as a
two-seat aerobatic sportsplane,
the sleek, piston-powered SF.260
was developed into a military
trainer and light strike aircraft, the
latter under the Warrior banner.
Later fitted with a turboprop,
this very successful type is still in
limited production.
The PAF was one of the largest
operators ordering 32 SF.260MP
and 16 SF.260WPs, with perhaps
20 still in use. At one time,
there was a plan for a Philippine
derivative to be built locally, but
this reportedly only reached the
prototype stage.
Visitors will spot a particularly
rare jet inside the museum, an
AJI T-610 Super Pinto primary
trainer. Developed by the Texas
Engineering and Manufacturing
Company (Temco) and first flown
in March 1956 as the TT-1 Pinto,
the type was evaluated by the US
Navy, but not adopted.
American Jet Industries (AJI)
re-engined the TT-1 in 1968 and
re-designated it the T-610. This
prototype, together with the
production rights, was sold to the
PAF, which planned to build it as
the T-610 Cali for trainer and COIN
missions. The scheme did not get
any further and the one-off joined
the museum.
Fighters
Displayed indoors, the attraction’s
1944-built North American P-51D
Mustang is an eye-catcher. This
example was originally built at
Inglewood, California. Mustangs
were founder members of the
post-war PAF from 1947. By the
early 1970s, the P-51D now on
show was a ‘gate guardian’ at Basa
Air Base, moving to Villamor by- It carries the name Shark of
Zambales on the cowling, after the
province in the centre of the island
of Luzon.
The PAF entered the jet age in
1955 when the first four Lockheed
T-33A advanced trainers were
delivered to the then USAF
Clark Air Force Base. The T-33As
operated from there until Basa
was equipped to take the type.
The museum’s machine carries the
badge of the 5th Fighter Wing’s
105th CCTS on the fin. The PAF
retired its fleet in 1996.
Two examples of the North
American F-86 Sabre are on
display, an F-model day fighter
and the radar-equipped F-86D
‘Sabre Dog’. The first F-86s
arrived in 1957, third-hand, having
served the USAF and the Chinese
Nationalist Air Force in Taiwan.
Three tactical fighter squadrons
of the PAF flew the F-86F until
the late 1970s. Twenty F-86Ds
were taken on in 1958, serving
until 1969.
Bedecked in the markings of
the lead aircraft of the ‘Blue
Diamonds’ aerobatic team is a
Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter.
The PAF was an early customer for
the F-5, accepting 19 single-seat
A-models and a trio of two-seat
F-5Bs. Over the years, more were
sourced from Korea and Taiwan,
the museum’s example coming
from the latter.
Formed in 1952, the ‘Blue
Diamonds’ initially flew Mustangs,
before graduating to F-86s in - Freedom Fighters took over
the mantle in 1968 with either four
or six-ship formations until 2005,
when the team performed for the
last time.
The PAF can claim to be the only
air force to have operated the
Vought F-8 Crusader as the type’s
American service was with the
navy and marines, and the French
with the Aeronavale. The museum
aircraft is an F-8H and it wears
the badge of the Basa-based 7th
Fighter Squadron. The H-models
were remanufactured F-8Ds with a
limited all-weather performance.
A total of 35 former US Navy
airframes were bought by the PAF
in the mid-1970s. Retired in late
1986, the Crusaders were put into
open store at Basa, but in June
1991 were covered in volcanic
ash from the eruption of Mount
Pinatubo. The museum’s example
is a superb centrepiece within an
unusual and interesting collection.
http://www.paf.mil.ph/aboutus/bases/
facilities/museum