Colombian T-37 serials explained
I was very glad to see the extremely versatile and longlived Cessna T-37 celebrated on p76-78 of the June issue, but I fear the authors rather confused the history of the T-37 in Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (FAC, Colombian Air Force) service and have introduced or perpetuated a number of inaccuracies.
On p76, the authors report that the first batch of T-37s acquired by the FAC consisted of 15 T-37Cs, serials FAC- 2100 to 2114 in “mid-1968”. The first batch actually comprised only ten aircraft, serials FAC- 2101 to 2110, and they arrived in two batches: the first five on November 26, 1969 and the second five in December that year.
On p77 they described a small follow-on batch of T-37s acquired in 1977, comprising three aircraft. In fact, there were four aircraft, all T-37Bs, and these were not serials FAC-2115 to 2117 as reported but serials FAC-2111 to 2114. These were followed, in June 1992, by eight more T-37Bs (FAC- 2115 to 2122) and in October 2008 by four more T-37Bs. Other small batches followed in January 2009, and around May 2009.
Readers might be interested to learn that the US first discussed the possibility of providing T-37s to Colombia – as replacements for the…
