Air Enthusiast 2006-07
F.Willemsen - Iberian Classics /History on the wing/
A Hispano HA.200 Saeta accompanied by one of the T-6G Texans of the FIO. In the background, the snowy peaks of the Sierra de Guadarrama, North of Madrid.
The pride of the FIO: the Polikarpov I-16 'Rata'.
FIO operates no fewer than four two-seater Bucker 133 Jungmann biplanes, as welt as single Bucker 131 Jungmeister (foreground).
The AISA I-115s replaced the Buckers in Spanish service and were manufactured at the same site at Cuatro Vientos that the FIO now uses.
The Comper Swift had quite a few long-distance records to its name in the 1930s. A Swift in these colours flew from Madrid to Manila in only nine days.
FIO's Piper L-14 Army Cruiser, the only survivor of just 13 completed. In 1947 it was bought by the Marquis de Merito, who flew it until 1957. Only after a lengthy restoration did it get airborne again in 2003.