The I.A. 50 Guaraní II is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

utility aircraft A utility aircraft is a general-purpose light airplane or helicopter, usually used for transporting people, freight, or other supplies, but also used for other duties when more specialized aircraft are not required or available. The term can al ...

designed at the DINFIA (successor to the "Instituto Aerotecnico" - AeroTechnical Institute) in the early 1960s.

Design and development

In the early 1960s, the Argentine state aviation conglomerate, DINFIA, realised that its IA 35 Huanquero twin-

piston engine A reciprocating engine, more often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more Reciprocating motion, reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a Circular motion, rotating motion. This article ...

d light transport was becoming outdated, and it was decided to develop a

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

-engined derivative. While of similar layout to the Huanquero, with both aircraft being twin-engined low-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

of all metal construction with a

twin tail A twin tail is a type of vertical stabilizer arrangement found on the empennage of some aircraft. Two vertical stabilizers—often smaller on their own than a single conventional tail would be—are mounted at the outside of the aircraft's ho ...

, the new aircraft, the Guaraní, shared only 20% of the structure of the Huanquero. It was powered by two

Turbomeca Bastan The Turbomeca Bastan was a turboprop engine developed in France in 1957. Early models developed 650 shp (485 kW), but by 1965 this had been increased to 1,048 shp (780 kW) with the Bastan VII. Flight tests of some Bastan models were ca ...

III engines each rated at .Magnusson 2010, p. 5.Taylor 1962, pp. 4–5. It first flew on 6 February 1962.Taylor 1965, p.3. The aircraft was further developed as the Guaruani II; the main difference being a single swept

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

and a shortened rear

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

. It also used more powerful () Bastan VIA engines. The fuselage was semi-

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

with a squared cross-section, having unswept wings and swept tailplanes. The prototype Guaraní was rebuilt to this standard and flew in this form on 26 April 1963.Magnusson 2010, p. 6.

Operational history

In June 1965 the Guarani II prototype (serial number TX-01) was exhibited and flown at the

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (, ''Salon du Bourget'') is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in France. Organized by the French aerospace industry's primary representative body, the ''Groupement des industries frança ...

at Le Bourget Airport,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

). TX-01 was later flown to the CEV (“Centre d’Essays en Vol”, Air Test Centre) at

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location I ...

, for technical evaluation, where it was tested for a total of 200 flying hours. It was flown back to the FMA, Argentina in February 1966, being the first

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n-built aircraft to fly across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The last flying example was retired on 7 January 2007 at the II Brigada Aérea (IInd Air Brigade), at

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

, Entre Rios, Argentina and made its last flight to the National Aeronautics Museum ("Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica") of the

Argentine Air Force The Argentine Air Force (, or simply ''FAA'') is the air force of Argentina and one of three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. In 2018, it had 13,837 military and 6,900 civilian personnel. FAA commander in chief is Brigadie ...

(''Fuerza Aérea Argentina''), at

Morón, Buenos Aires Morón () is a city in the Argentine province of Buenos Aires, capital of the Morón ''partido'', located in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, at . Located 20 km (13 mi) west of Downtown Buenos Aires, Morón i ...

, Argentina where it was placed on display.Magnusson 2010, p. 12.

Operators

Argentine Federal Police The Argentine Federal Police ( or PFA) is the national civil police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country. Until January 1, 2017, it also acted as the local law enforcement agency in the cap ...

- One operated 1970–1981.Rivas 2020, p. 80. *

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...

Argentine Naval Aviation The Argentine Naval Aviation (', COAN) is the naval aviation branch of the Argentine Navy and one of its four operational commands. Argentina, along with Brazilian Navy, Brazil is one of two South American countries to have operated two aircraft c ...

* ''

Servicio Penitenciario Federal The Argentine Federal Penitentiary Service (Spanish: , SPF) is an Argentine federal agency responsible for the administration of the national prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, corre ...

'' * ''Líneas Aéreas Provinciales de Entre Ríos'' * Government of

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

* Government of

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...

* Ministry of National Welfare

Surviving aircraft

* Last operational G-II, retired in 2006, at the

Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina The National Aeronautics Museum "Brigadier Edmundo Civati Bernasconi" () is an Argentine museum located in the city of Morón, Buenos Aires. Established in 1960, the museum is dedicated to the history of aviation, in particular the Argentine Air ...

("National Aeronautics Museum")

Specifications (IA 50)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography
Article on the 50th anniversary of the "Fabrica Militar de Aviones"
- listing all the aircraft developed and manufactured there since 1927, ''Aerospacio'', Buenos Aires, 1977. (in Spanish) * * * * *

External links

Individual aircraft histories

Newspaper article about the G-II

FMA IA 50 Guaraní II at Flickr

FMA IA 50 Guaraní II at Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:FMA IA 50 Guarani II 1960s Argentine military transport aircraft IA 50 Aircraft first flown in 1963 Low-wing aircraft Twin-turboprop tractor aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear