Peruvian aviation pioneers pose beside a Curtiss Jenny at the Curtiss Civil Aviation School in Lima in 1921. From left: Jose Romanet; Carlos Martinez de Pinillos, Elmer “Slim” Faucett and Lloyd Moore
Elmer Faucett was born in Savona, New York, on March 5, 1891, and after a spell with the Curtiss company at Hammondsport, arrived in Lima, Peru, in June 1920. He is seen here, aged 30, beside a Curtiss Jenny at the Peruvian Civil Aviation School at Bellavista in early 1921. Faucett went on to become something of a national hero in Peru.

Another interesting line-up, this time at San Ramon in July 1942. Nearest the camera is a CAP F-19, serial 24-1-4, with engine running. Next in line is a US Marine Corps Grumman J2F Duck, beyond which is a Barkley-Grow T8P-1 of the CAP’S No 29 Escuadron Comando. At the furthest end are a Beech C-45 of the Mision Americana de Aviacion (American Aviation Mission) anf F-19 OA-BBW/No 23.

Faucett’s first purely commercial aircraft was this Fairchild FC-2W, which flew three times a week from Las Palmas, Lima, to low-lying coastal locations, after the inauguration of scheduled services by Cia de Aviacion Faucett in September 1928.

Stinson-Faucett F-19 OB-R-147 has been preserved and restored in the vivid markings of the F-10 flown by Armando Revoredo Iglesias during his 1937 South American record-setting flight, and put on display at Jorge Chavez International Airport at Callao, west of Lima. Curiously, it appears that the team responsible for the aircraft’s latest restoration has mistaken the last letter of the original’s OA-BBQ registration for an “O”, although the number, 17, is correct.

Armando Revoredo Iglesias (seventh from right in white peaked cap) and his wife pose beside OA-BBQ/No 17 with a welcoming committee of Peruvian and Argentinian officers at El Palomar airfield after the F-10's arrival in Buenos Aires in March 1937.

The 27th Stinson-Faucett built, F-19 OB-R-143, was photographed in a hangar at Limatambo in the late 1960s, when the type was still very much in service. Peru’s civil registration system was originally prefixed with OA- until around 1940, when it was changed to OB-; in 1964 it then became OB-R- followed by three numbers.

The eighth production Stinson-Faucett F-10, OA-BBQ/No 17, flies over the San Isidro district of Lima in the hands of Lt-Col Armando Revoredo Iglesias on his return to the Peruvian capital after his record-setting flight from Lima to Santiago in Chile, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Montevideo in Uruguay and back to Lima in early 1937.

A Stinson-Faucett F-19 of the Cuerpo de Aviation del Peru (CAP - Peruvian Aviation Corps) performing invaluable transport service to a remote location on the Pachitea River deep in the Amazon rainforest in 1944.

A peaceful image of an unidentified float-equipped F-19 at the seaplane base at Ancon in northern Lima Province, where it underwent testing after its delivery to the CAP in 1943. The floatplane version was fitted with the more powerful Pratt & Whitney Hornet nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, in contrast to the landplane’s P&W Wasp.

Passengers await the loading of their luggage aboard F-10 OA-BBT/No 20 at Santa Cruz in 1942. By 1945 the privately-owned airfield had modern hangars, workshops, radio equipment and a car service that ran passengers to their destinations in Lima.

This close-up highlights the sturdy under­carriage and low-pressure tyres fitted to the F-19, as well as the hold in the fuselage, the door panels of which are seen open, the forward hold having a capacity of 250lb (115kg), the rear being capable of holding 200lb (92kg) of luggage and/or mail.

Passengers await the loading of their luggage aboard F-10 OA-BBT/No 20 at Santa Cruz in 1942. By 1945 the privately-owned airfield had modern hangars, workshops, radio equipment and a car service that ran passengers to their destinations in Lima.

An interesting collection of military and civil aircraft at Piura airfield in north-western Peru in early 1931. From left to right: a pair of Stearman C3Rs operated by the CAP’S Escuadrilla de Transporte (Transport Flight); Faucett’s Stinson SM-6B OA-BBE/ No 5; Travel Air 6000B OA-BBG/No 7, also operated by Faucett, and an unregistered civil Travel Air 2000.

With the distinctive Misti volcano at Arequipa rising in the background, Stinson SM-6B OA-BBE, company number “5”, is loaded in preparation for its next flight. The SM-6B was an enlarged version of the popular SM-1 Detroiter series, capable of carrying eight, although two of the places were often replaced with baggage or cargo.

A CAP Stinson SM-1F has its Wright engine run up before departing the primitive airstrip at San Ramon in the central highlands of the westernmost Amazon rainforest region. Beside it is a CAP Travel Air 6000B. The example of the latter sold by Faucett to the CAP, which was subsequently written-off, may also be seen in the background.