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| Gabriel chose the Italeri 1/72 scale kit to portray FAV2716. He used Aztecmodels’ multi-scale decal sheet with all the stenciling necessary for any Venezuelan Armed Forces aircraft in 1/72 or 1/48 scale. |
BASE AEREA EL LIBERTADOR (El Libertador Air Base) - State of ARAGUA- Palo Negro, outskirts of the city of Maracay November 27, 1992
Brigadier General (FAV) Francisco E. Visconti knew that his cause was lost. His coup attempt (the second one that year), sympathetic to the ideals of imprisoned and cashiered Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez (due to his own failed coup attempt of February 4th, 1992), had failed to achieve many of its military objectives. Many Venezuelans had died during this short lived (approximately 24 hours) insurrection. History shows 300 dead, both civilian and military. Dispatches told of the Armored Battalions from nearby Valencia rapidly advancing on EL LIBERTADOR Air Base, intent on retaking Venezuela’s most powerful Air Base from the grasp of the rebels. There was no way General Visconti could hold the Air Base against the onslaught of AMX-30Vs, AMX-13C90s, AMX-13M51s, and the FV101 Scorpion 90s wielded by the armored battalions.
Discretion is the better part of valor. General Visconti felt that enough blood had been shed on this day, and that nothing further would be gained by allowing his rebel troops to be cut down by loyalist soldiers. He gave orders for his troops to escape by any means at their disposal. Those that had aircraft were to fly away and, if possible, declare themselves political exiles. Ground troops that couldn’t find a ride were to give up and lay down their weapons as soon as the armored battalion arrived. The General himself along with 92 other rebels (41 officers, 37 enlisted and 15 military academy cadets) climbed on board a C-130H Hercules (FAV 2716).
The props on the Hercules started to spin, and the plane soon became airborne. The pilots queried the General as to their destination. General Visconti replied that they were to head south. As the C-130H approached the border with Colombia, the pilots again queried the General as to their final destination. He quietly replied “Peru”. The pilots protested that they had not filed a flight plan, and for that matter they did not have charts to navigate to that destination. General Visconti knew a lot of the Venezuelan territory by sight. He then personally took over command of the Hercules and used dead reckoning to point FAV2716 toward Peru. With General Visconti at the controls, FAV2716 skillfully skirted and avoided Colombian Air Defense Radar on the way to Peru.
Peru was one of the best destinations for the rebels. Venezuela and Peru had severed diplomatic relations that year. Peru had become a dictatorship when President Alberto Fujimori performed a self-coup and suspended constitutional guarantees. FAV2716 crossed into Peruvian Airspace and was instantly detected by their Air Defense Radar. Peruvian Air Force queried FAV2716 as to its intentions and then ordered it to depart Peruvian airspace.
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| The unit patch for the C-130H FAV 6th Air Transport Group. |
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General Visconti thought quickly and replied that they hey were a flight of Political Refugees whose lives would be in danger if returned to their native country and requested asylum. The request was tersely denied by Peruvian air traffic control. The General then repeated his request and added that he was declaring an in-flight emergency due to mechanical failure of the landing gear. Actually the C-130H was not suffering any difficulties of any kind. General Visconti knew that according to international law he had to be allowed to land after such a declaration. Peruvian Air Traffic controllers then vectored the Hercules to land at Francisco Secada de Iquitos airport. FAV2716 landed at Iquitos airport without incident.
General Visconti was greeted by General Tomas Castillo Meza, a former Peruvian Defense Minister and the area’s military chief. Visconti again requested political asylum. After much consideration it was granted. A secret fund was set up by the Peruvian Government for the exiles’ living expenses.
Venezuela then demanded through diplomatic channels that C-130H FAV2716 as well as any small arms the rebels were carrying, be returned to Venezuela- since they were Venezuelan Government property. Some of the rebels did not find that exile suited them and returned with the plane to Venezuela where they were promptly imprisoned upon landing. The Venezuelan Air Force then nicknamed FAV2716-IQUITOS EXPRESS- unofficially of course. This is an example of Venezuelan Humor.
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| C-130H FAV2716 as it appears today. Note the yellow propeller tips. As luck would have it, these photos were not available until after Gabriel completed his model. |
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Aftermath: On March 26, 1994 President Rafael Caldera irresponsibly gave cashiered Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez (who had led the February 4th, 1992 failed coup attempt and inspired the November 27th, 1992 Coup attempt) amnesty and let him out of prison. Hugo Chavez then ran for the Venezuelan Presidency as a protest candidate against the two larger and established political parties and won, becoming President in 1996. Chavez then pardoned all rebels involved in the 1992 coup attempts and allowed them to join their old units if they so wished. General Visconti returned from exile on June 1st, 1994 and was promptly imprisoned. He was released on June 21st, 1994 under President Rafael Caldera’s amnesty program. General Visconti also went into politics, representing Hugo Chavez’s home state of Barinas as a Constituent during the approval process of the Bolivarian Constitution in late 1999. With the approval of the Bolivarian Constitution, the Fourth Republic ended and the Fifth Republic began. It is interesting to note that while Hugo Chavez was celebrating the birth of the Fifth republic, torrential rains were causing massive mud slides in the coastal state of Vargas, which in turn led to a massive human tragedy. The US sent help in the form of a battalion of SEABEES and their equipment on board a ship outbound from Norfolk, but it was turned away by Chavez’s government in favor of less able Cuban aid, almost within sight of the Venezuelan coastline. The reality of the situation later forced President Chavez to accept US help in the form of helicopters for ferrying the victims away from the disaster area and water purification units- things the Cubans did not have. With a massive loss of 40,000 lives and nearly 100,000 left homeless, it was an almost biblical warning of things to come. Venezuela has since gone into a steep decline, the people deeply polarized- many Venezuelans can’t even discuss opposing political views without getting into fist fights, regardless if they are related to each other or not. Meanwhile Venezuela grows poorer with rising crime rates and more chaotic by the day. The democratically elected government of Hugo Chavez becomes more and more authoritarian as time goes by, considered by many a democracy in name only- a dictatorship waiting for the right moment to let its mask of democracy fall to the ground. Each day brings Venezuela closer to Hugo Chavez’s ideal state, that one headed by his mentor/hero/role model- Fidel Castro of Cuba. Venezuela is the 5th largest supplier of crude oil to the US.
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| Gabriel chose the Italeri kit over the Airfix kit which he had built once before. He used standard Venezuelan camouflage colors of Dark Green, Medium Green, Dark Tan, and Camouflage Gray. |
To date Venezuela has owned eight C-130Hs. They were to replace the aging fleet of C-47As owned by the FAV. While in theory that was the plan, many of the flyable C-47s were maintained in service for as long as possible and flying to some of the smaller airports in the nation. This was done as late as 2000. The first Government of Rafael Caldera [note: before 2000 the Venezuelan constitution spelled out that the Venezuelan President would be in office for five years, after that they could not run for re-election for 15 years after holding office. Venezuela got a new constitution in the year 2000 and the start of the Fifth republic was declared] purchased the original C-130Hs which were delivered between 1971-1978. They were
- FAV3134: C-130H-2, Officially Nicknamed Salto Angel (Angel Falls- the World’s tallest waterfall)
- FAV3556: C-130H-2, Crashed 1980 due to engine failure [ 11 Dead]
- FAV4224: C-130H-2
- FAV4951: C-130H-2, Currently being upgraded to C-130H-3, Officially Nicknamed 24 de Julio (Birth day of Simon Bolivar- Venezuelan Liberator)
- FAV5320: C-130H-2, Upgraded to C-130H-3, Officially Nicknamed Rio Orinoco (Orinoco River)
- FAV7772: C-130H-2, Crashed 1976 due (officially) to Hurricane Emmy [68 Dead]
- FAV9508: C-130H-2, Currently being upgraded to C-130H-3
- FAV2716: C-130H-3, Purchased as replacement for FAV7772, Unofficially Nicknamed Iquitos Express.
The first loss of an FAV C-130H was in 1976 with the tragic crash of FAV7772 in the Azores Islands. In 1980 FAV3556 crashed, deeply cutting into the Venezuelan Military’s logistical capabilities. Because of this attrition, FAV2716 was purchased and delivered in 1988 as a replacement.
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| Even though it is not visible after final assembly, Gabriel went to great effort to paint the interior of his C-130 as accurately as possible. |
The C-130Hs are operated by Escuadron de Transporte No. 1 (First Transport Squadron) and are attached to Grupo Aereo de Transporte No. 6 (Sixth Air Transport Group). Usually they are based at EL LIBERTADOR Air Base in Palo Negro. However they are flown just about every day while performing some mission or another. Lately the opposition has charged that C-130Hs are being flown secretly to Cuba and back in order to return with indoctrinated/Cuban trained pro-regime guerilla fighters.
The kit used to portray FAV2716 was Italeri’s C-130H (kit No. 015) in 1/72 scale. The box contains 156 parts on gray sprue. The kit has decals for C-130s from Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy and United States. Obviously these decals were not used, and instead Aztecmodels’ 48-022, which is a multi-scale decal sheet with just about every type of stenciling necessary for any Venezuelan Armed Forces aircraft in 1/72 or 1/48 scale. The Italeri Hercules was found superior to the Airfix C-130, which the author had attempted some time ago, and now sits proudly as an airbrush target. This by itself is a feat, since in the author’s opinion buying Italeri can be a gamble as some kits are very good and others are atrocious. In this case the gamble paid off.
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| FAV5320 in flight. This C-130H-2 was upgraded to a C-130H-3 and officially nicknamed Rio Orinoco (Orinoco River). |
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The kit itself was not intimidating, except, maybe in size. The cockpit panels were very nicely detailed. The author took the pains to paint them correctly and neatly and accurately until he realized much later that no one would be able to see the work involved. Part of the joys (masochism?) of model building, the author supposes. The same treatment went for the scale crewmen who would sit in the cockpit as did for the cockpit panels. Again the author realized much later that no one would be able to see the work involved. At first the author was going to display the Hercules with its bay open and the main ramp lowered. Then when the fuselage halves were test fitted prior to cementing, one of the pegs that functions as part of the hinge for the main ramp broke, and was hopelessly lost to the rug monster. Fine, the author didn’t want to display the aircraft with a lowered ramp anyway! The main ramp was then cemented in the closed position. The wings were then cemented to the fuselage, revealing gaps resembling the Grand Canyon. This was resolved with applications of putty and Zap-a-Gap. Seams would be a clear problem on this project. Some seams showed up after painting and weathering and would not disappear even after filling, sanding and spot repainting and weathering. Consulting with modelers more experienced in large fuselages, the author was informed that the reason for the seams could be stress from the wings and possibly not enough bulkhead-type support under the longitudinal fuselage seam.
Painting time at last! A standard painting scheme sheet for the FAV Hercules was available, and the author used this as a painting guide. After all, it is a military subject which usually means standardized for all aircraft in service, even in Venezuela- right? Stay tuned.
The standard colors were used: Dark Green, Medium Green, Dark Tan, and Camouflage Gray. Due to its size, the author decided to paint the model free hand after a previous coat was stripped off, there had been a masking problem of unknown nature.
The C-130 had always been an option for the author. Venezuela, along with many other nations of the world, operated the aircraft. The question really was “which one out of the eight?”.
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| C-130H-2 numbered FAV3134 was officially nicknamed Salto Angel (Angel Falls- the World’s tallest waterfall). |
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FAV7772 was a candidate. On September 2nd, 1976 it had been on its way to the International Festival of Choral Song in Barcelona, Spain. FAV7772 had first taken off from Maiquetia International Airport (near Caracas) then proceeded to El Libertador Air Base (near Maracay) before going towards the Azores. The story had started a few months before, with the invite and inquiry from Barcelona, as to how the Central University of Venezuela’s chorus was to make its way there. This by itself is considered by many Venezuelans as an X-files type mystery. Why was a civilian choir traveling on a military plane when it would have been cheaper, easier and, not to mention, more comfortable to use a chartered civilian airliner, especially the state owned airline? This was at a period of time that many Venezuelans jokingly refer to as Saudi Venezuela, where Venezuela was literally swimming in money from oil sales. On September 3rd, 1976 FAV7772 crashed into a hill just short of the Lajes Air Base in the Azores Island of Terceira while flying in Hurricane Emmy, killing the flight crew of 10 and the 58 members of the Central University Choir who were all between the ages of 17 and 21. Among them a young married couple of university students who had recently found out that they were expecting. The Hercules had attempted to land twice before crashing in the nearly zero visibility rain (called Hurricane Emmy) and into the nearby volcanic rocks that formed a hill (approximately 1 mile short from the runway). The first sign that something tragic had happened that night was when an insomniac priest heard the sounds of a crash near his home and proceeded to investigate in the driving rain. He stumbled across a landscape littered with sheet music with the title GLORIA AL BRAVO PUEBLO (Glory to the Brave people), Venezuela’s National Anthem, the first verses of the national anthem translating to “Glory to the Brave peoples that overthrew the yoke of tyranny.” He found the plane wreckage and inevitably the remains of the crash victims. There are still a number of unanswered questions about that flight.
Why was the radar site on the island of Lajes, a NATO Air Base and the radar installation itself operated by the USAF, working erratically and not getting fixed?
Why was no disciplinary action for negligence brought up against the USAF officer in charge of the radar that night? Subsequent investigations found that the USAF Officer was not at his duty station and was instead playing pool, leaving an untrained Portuguese soldier who spoke no English in charge. English is the international language of Aviation communication. It was found in these investigations that FAV7772 had communicated a need to land to get out of Hurricane Emmy and into safety, not to mention that they were also getting low on fuel. The Portuguese soldier couldn’t give FAV7772 landing instructions.
A tragic story to be sure, but not as interesting as other Hercules’ stories in the FAV.
Then there was FAV5320. Stories had circulated that the upgrading of this aircraft had nearly wiped out all the funds set aside for the upgrade program. As the story itself is told, the upgrades, which were performed in France, cost nearly 2/3 of the money set aside for the entire Hercules upgrade program. The opposition charges that officialists are lining their pockets, are corrupt, and are covering up the story so that the extent of corruption is not discovered. The officialists or Chavistas claim that the story is nothing more than propaganda spread by fascist and coup mongering elements of the oligarchy that composes the opposition and therefore are against the revolutionary struggle of the peoples [note: the author sides with the opposition]. This particular story is much more recent and because of the current political situation in Venezuela, it is difficult to unearth whether it is political propaganda or not.
FAV2716 had by far the most interesting story: used to transport Venezuelan Peacekeepers to various points across the world, used in the final stages of Search And Rescue (in this case having the sad duty of bringing the 3 bodies of the occupants of Piper PA-34 Seneca II YV-2030P from the crash site to the main morgue located in Caracas), and used as a getaway vehicle for a bunch of military rebels.
On April 10th, 1990 Venezuela’s 42nd Airborne Battalion (which Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez would command two years later and use in his own coup attempt on February 4th, 1992) shipped out for UN Peacekeeping duty in Nicaragua on board several C-130Hs, one of them being FAV2716. This was an honorable mission. FAV2716 served as a workhorse from then until the incident described at the beginning of the article. Even though depicting the airplane that was used in that incident by people that the author personally finds beyond despicable, and could be construed as glorifying the Chavistas, such was not the case. FAV2716 leads an interesting life, and is the most interesting among the eight C-130s that the Venezuelans have to date owned. After it was returned by the Peruvian Government FAV2716 continued performing its yeoman service to the FAV. Therefore “Iquitos Express” was a viable choice. More recently it participated in the International Flood Relief Operations in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where it delivered humanitarian aid to the flood stricken nations. This was done in spite of the tens of thousands of people starving in Venezuela. So much for the “efficiency” of Marxist inspired governments.
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| Gabriel chose FAV2716 as the subject mater for this kit because he felt it had the most interesting career of the eight Venezuelans C-130s. |
It was after painting, decaling and weathering that the maxim on Latin American subjects reared its head: In Latin America, the exception is the rule. The author had used the painting guide and images of other FAV C-130Hs as a template for the model. Images of FAV2716 were not available at that time. Good images of FAV2716 became available after the author had finished building, painting, decaling, and weathering the model. Surprise! Not only was FAV2716 the only Hercules in Venezuelan Air Force service with a scalloped demarcation line between the belly camouflage gray and the rest of the camouflage, but FAV2716 also had the only set of yellow tips on the propellers. All other propellers are white and black. This by itself was a recent development and not on the particular aircraft as of 1992.
FAV2716 was the exception to the standard painting scheme. Eventually the real FAV2716 will likely be repainted in the standard scheme when it gets overhauled in the near future. Until then my model will be considered slightly inaccurate. Again, in Latin America, the exception is the rule!
What will FAV2716 do next? Only time will tell. Until then it will serve proudly, and yet unacknowledged in its continuing service, since it is not as glamorous as its F-16A brethren. Hopefully it will again serve a real democracy and not a Cuban-wannabe regime. GLORIA AL BRAVO PUEBLO QUE EL YUGO LANZO (Glory to the Brave peoples that overthrew the yoke of tyranny)!
Gabriel Lee has been building plastic models since 1997. His interests include 1/72 scale Latin American & Venezuelan Air Forces, ships, sci-fi, hypotheticals and occasionally 1/35 Tanks. He has been a member of SVSM since 2001.
