WesWorld

Since 1942, the Irish Air Corps has been collecting their pocket change and watching aviation trends elsewhere in Europe. Although few aircraft have been acquired, several very important developments have taken place during this period.

Bases
In the 1930s and early 1940s, the entire IAC's force of aircraft crowded into Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel. This proved... impractical. As a result, the IAC built a second base at Kilmacthomas, in southern Ireland. Kilmacthomas largely serves as a training base, although the Air Corps also moved some of their stored aircraft reserve there.

Another major development for the IAC is the construction of the Operations Bunker at Casement Aerodrome, which incorporates information from the three Irish radar stations (and other available sources) in order to conduct better air defense duties.

New Aircraft
Although the IAC did not purchase any new aircraft until 1948, pilots evaluated several different types for possible purchase. The Irish looked primarily at jet fighters, evaluating the de Havilland Vampire, Gloster Meteor, Focke-Wulf Fw340, and Dassault Ouragan. Although some of the aircraft significantly impressed the pilots who flew them, the Irish felt the pace of development between 1945 and 1947 was too high to justify purchasing an aircraft that would likely be obsolete (or second-rate) within a year or two. One other concern was the increased mechanical complexity demanded by the new turbojet engines, which the IAC felt they were unprepared to deal with.

This precise situation was addressed by the sales commission sent by French aircraft manufacturer Morane-Saulnier, which offered their MS.660 Aquilon light strike / trainer aircraft, which was designed from the start as an "introduction to jets" aircraft for air forces without the technical expertise or shops of a Great Power. The Irish thus decided to spend their pocket change to purchase sixteen Aquilons and a healthy stockpile of parts. The first aircraft were delivered in April 1949, becoming the first jets to wear the Irish roundel.

In December 1948, a single Martin Mariner was purchased secondhand in order to replace one of the Irish Short Sunderland flying boats.

Reorganization
In 1945, the Irish Air Corps undertook a modest reorganization. All of the aircraft were reorganized into four Air Wings, with new squadron numbers assigned to each of the constituent units.

Naval Aviation
The IAC's 4th Air Wing is responsible for the operating the four flying boats (Sunderlands and Mariner), which are used for fisheries patrol and lifesaving duties, as well as the four Grumman J2F Ducks assigned to the Irish cruiser LÉ Granuaile. There were plans to replace the Ducks with French-built LeO-400 floatplanes, but these were never purchased for a variety of reasons. When Granuaile is replaced by the Eire in 1950, the Ducks will be retired and sold on the civilian market. The Irish Naval Service is looking into buying a helicopter for inclusion aboard the cruiser. This will come out of the Naval budget, however, and the IAC will get out of the business of naval aviation.

Quoted

Irish Air Corps - Order of Battle, 1950
Air Corps General Staff
- Operations Office: In charge of all operations-related planning, command and control, etc.
- Office of Accounting and Personnel: In charge of overseeing financial reports
- Office of Maintenance and Procurement: Charged with overseeing all procurement (including but not limited to aircraft) and the maintenance of all equipment procured.
- Office of Intelligence: Composed of Air Corps officers attached to Irish G2 (military intelligence).
- Office of Security: handles security at Casement Aerodrome and other IAC facilities.
- School of Aeronautics

1st Air Wing - Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel
- 101 Squadron: 16 Morane-Saulnier MS.660 Aquilons
- 102 Squadron: 4 de Havilland Mosquitos

2nd Air Wing - Kilmacthomas Aerodrome, Kilmacthomas
- 201 Squadron: 18 de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunks
- 202 Squadron: 6 Westland Lysanders, 6 Avro Ansons

3rd Air Wing - Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel
- 301 Squadron: 12 Blohm-und-Voss Bv146s
- 302 Squadron: 4 Messerschmitt Bf-108s

4th Air Wing - Cobh and Foynes
- 401 Squadron: 3 Short Sunderlands, 1 Martin Mariner (Foynes)
- 402 Squadron: 4 Grumman J2F Ducks (Cobh, LÉ Granuaile)

Quoted

Aircraft in Service
- 16x Morane-Saulnier MS.660 Aquilons
- 4 de Havilland Mosquitos
- 4 Messerschmitt Bf-108s
- 18 de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunks
- 6 Westland Lysanders
- 6 Avro Ansons
- 12 Blohm-und-Voss Bv146s
- 4 Grumman J2F Ducks
- 3 Short Sunderlands
- 1 Martin Mariner

Aircraft in Reserve
- 4 de Havilland Mosquitos
- 12 Focke-Wulf Fw190s
- 9 Hawker Hurricanes (includes at least one hulk)
- 6 de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunks (excellent condition)
- 9 de Havilland Tiger Moths (in moderate condition; engines not installed in airframes)
- 8 Avro 504s (from Irish Civil War; maintained as secondary training aircraft)
- 18 Bristol F.2 Fighters (from Irish Civil War)

Very interesting. Expect to have some German salesmen knocking on your door soon. Can't win if you don't try... ;)

A nice round up.

The Percival Provost advanced trainer might be of interest to bridge the Chippie and Aqulion gap for new pilots.