Aircraft of the Falkland Islands - Malvinas War      Picture Index. 

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   An Invitation
  If you were a Veteran of the Falklands - Malvinas War, from either the British Isles or Argentina, I would like to hear your story and see your pictures. Please send them to the Webmaster. Thank you very much 

   Mariano Velasco describes how his plane was hit and who shot him down. 

  A Special Letter from Mariano Velasco,   the pilot of the Argentinean A-4 Skyhawk 
  Inviting Neil Wilkinson to come and visit in 2009 

Dear Mr. Neil Wilkinson
First of all I want to greet him warmly and apologize for not having answered your e-mail promptly.
I would also like to thank your concepts and manifestarte has wholeheartedly despite the difficult times we live in, not going through my mind any restrictions that would prevent increasing dialogue with you, that would be good until one day we can meet in person. Now the doors of our house are open to welcome you and your family.

We combine bit like my life was going beyond the year 1982
Until 86 years A4 continued flying, make the School of Command and General Staff, Chief of Squadron and Chief of the Air Group IV Air Brigade (Mendoza), Assistant Commander in Chief of the Air Force and was in addition to the Deputy | Embassy of Bolivia (where I play a professor of various subjects at the School of Command and General Staff of the Bolivian Air Force).
In 2000 move to retirement status and I lie in a very quiet place on a mountain, Villa Las Rosas, Crdoba (where my family built a comfortable house rustic, which share a lot with family and friends .
Related to that May 27 will combine little that I lived and appreciated.
After getting around the small hill around San Carlos saw clearly ships landed and materials for your forces.
Before launching armaments (4 bombs braking parachute) land on the goal, I began to feel the impacts on the plane (on the left wing and fuselage), several lights were lit alarm system and hydraulic fuel and saw the jet smoke coming down the left wing through the rearview mirror. I turned west, crossing the channel of San Carlos and on land in Grand Island Malvina I ejected at 1000 feet tall and about two hundred knots.
Then on the ground, I felt at the sound of two planes that turned the plane in flames, and shortly after that left heading east. Prepare the elements for survival and began the march toward the interior of the island, to avoid falling prisoner. Walk slowly around. from 21:00 on 27 because I had an ankle esquinzado to reach land, approximately sixty kilometers left to a post, which arrives on June 29 in the early hours of the morning, where I stayed until three days I was rescued by Argentine troops. The day before I met my rescue three men (villagers) that passed near the shelter, which we exchanged different concepts without any drawbacks.
I was brought up in a car port where Howard spent a few days until I was transferred to the mainland on a hospital ship and then to my home with my family. The sprained my ankle I was a little complicated with tendonitis, so I enyesaron about 45 days. After doing a little physical therapy, I recovered well and here I am enjoying the outdoors, taking care of the park and doing maintenance on a system of trade in parts of my brother, a few hours a week.
In different ways aware that shooting down my plane had taken place by the firing of cannons HSM Fearless, which seems highly unlikely because the vessels were quite right in my career and the flying height was almost impossible shots of the ship that will impact on the left wing, where the fire occurred.
This is a very tight summary of events, I am at your disposal to share other details that serve to clarify the story that we were actors, I repeat again, there is no limitation on my part, each of us and our comrades fulfilled their duty and what happened to us does not establish a genuine friendship.
Possibly for the month of May is likely to have Internet in my house which accelerate the link.
I take this opportunity to welcome you and your family with my highest consideration, an affectionate hug for everyone.
MARIANO

  HMS Hermes 

   Royal Navy and Royal Marines  

  Royal Marines Helicopter 

    Harriers Landing for Refueling  

  Harrier on the HMS Intrepid 

    Harrier  

  Handley Page Victor Tankers 

Victor Tankers used for Air to Air Refueling Missions
The Handley Page Victor Tankers could carry 91,000 lbs of fuel which is equivalent to 41 Metric Tons.  The taker was withdrawn from service in October of 1993

  Briefing on the Hanger Deck of a Carrier 

  Mariano Velasco's Airplane 

Remains of Mariano Velasco's A-4 Skyhawk after Neil Wilkinson Shot it down. Photo taken in Jan, 2009

  1/48 Scale Model Reproduction of Mariano Velasco's 
  A-4 Skyhawk C-215 by Adam Coleman.  
  Adam actually visited the crash site of this airplane and
  took paint chip samples to ensure that the model that
  he built was painted exactly like the real airplane. 
  He even looked at the scratch marks that were made
  prior to the crash and added them to the model for realism. 

  This is the impact crater created by Mariano's aircraft.  The nose cone of the A-4 Skyhawk is visible in the center of the crater.  Photo by Adam Coleman. 

  Landing Gear of Mariano's A-4 Jet Fighter Aircraft after the plane crash.  Photo by Adam Coleman about 2004. 

  Click Here for Adam Coleman's Detail Page 

   Mariano's Crashed A-4 Skyhawk today, 2009  

This is an A-4 Skyhawk and Pilot Pablo Carballo from Argintina.
 Click Here to see the Falkland Islands War Exhibit. 

 This series of photos were supplied by Santiago Rivas from the Argentinean Air Force in 2009

  Information about the aircraft thanks to Javier Costa, Argentina.  I am 45 years old and I’m an enthusiastic of the combat air planes, and I’m a maker of airplanes in scale.

This is an Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk (is the most modern version of the Skyhawk), you can see the following link with information about this aircraft:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_A-4AR_Fightinghawk
 

FMA IA-63 Pampa (FMA means “Fbrica Militar de Aviones” and in English is “Factory of Military Airplanes” and the term “IA-63” means “Industria Argentina modelo 63” in English is “Argentinean Industry model 63”), this aircraft is an advanced trainer with a limited combat capability.

This helicopter is the BELL-212, and operate in the 7th Air Brigade (Moreno Military Air Base, Buenos Aires Province in the 1st Search and Rescue Squadron.

This aircraft is the Dassault Mirage IIIDA is the Two-seat trainer for the Argentine Air Force

Air War in the Falklands

Ships of the Falkland Islands War.