Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Stratos

East Timor Air Force: the PZL Centelhas

Recommended Posts

Sparks of the Força Aérea Timoresa, the Centelhas.

 

 

When East Timor finally got his independence from Indonesia in 2002, the East Timor government with aproval from the United Nations, asked for help building his new military forces in order to have a force capable of keeping the hard earned peace. Several countries responded, some with light arms, others with APC and patrol vehicles and just one with some planes. 

 

Poland offered at least 14 refurbished TS-11 Iskras plus spares, enough to create a dual role training/fighter squadron. 

 

Dili authorities soon accepted the deal, but requested If possible to make the planes compatible with some kind of air to air missile. Poland wired the TS-11 to make them compatible with the R-60 missile, so the new "Centelhas" (portuguese for Spark) were able to act as a poor man interceptor. Polish air force also painted the planes in SEA style cammo very apropiatte for the Timorese jungle. 

 

Once in country the planes were based on the newly stablished military part of the Presidente Nicolau Lobato international airport and soon training began for the new pilots with the help of Polish advisors. The Centelhas proved a good plane, training the new generation of Timorese pilots and also keeping the border safe of drug dealer planes and smugglers from Indonesia, shooting down at least 4 of such low flying planes.

 

The hability of the Centelhas to carry some A-G ordinance was also used to pin down and help destroy the remnants of Indonesian baked militias and other terrorist groups.

 

The planes are kept operational with help of Polish and Indian ground crews, and Dili even recently purchased several just refurbished Indian Iskras to replace crashed planes and even form a second squadron based on Suai Air Force Base.

 

This is a kind of follow up of the Weaver article titled "Sparks in the Jungle Nicaragua's TS-11 Iskras", really liked this one, so here's my version. I would have liked a single seater variant, but Veltro lost the source files on a HD crash so I have to keep the trainer variant.

 

The plane for SF2 simulator is Veltro's work and PauloPanz skin, I made the template and cammo scheme based on the original Paulo polish metal skin. Is my first template ever, so is not the best job out there.

 

The markings come from this guy on Devianart.

 


 

Hope you like it.

 

Taking off from Dili, clrearly visible are the R60 missiles and the rocket pods.

 

index.php?app=gallery&module=images&sect

 

index.php?app=gallery&module=images&sect

 

Flying low, searching for a Intruder.

 

index.php?app=gallery&module=images&sect

 

Found it!

 

index.php?app=gallery&module=images&sect

 

Patrolling the North Coast.

 

index.php?app=gallery&module=images&sect

 

R60 missiles are clearly visible. Together with rocket pods...

 

index.php?app=gallery&module=images&sect

 

...used with great effect against terrorist hideouts.

 

index.php?app=gallery&module=images&sect

 

Over Dili Harbour.

 

index.php?app=gallery&module=images&sect

 

On short final.

 

index.php?app=gallery&module=images&sect

 

On the ground. Visible are the S-24 rockets used for anti ship attack.

 

index.php?app=gallery&module=images&sect
  • Like 6

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

that Iskra model is waaay stretched!!! Is is Veltro's? Real cockpit is much smaller (ie. room over one's head to the glass) than what it seems like based on the pictures -seems like the whole plane is scaled down by it's Y axis :dntknw: and then stretched upwards in Z axis

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

that Iskra model is waaay stretched!!! Is is Veltro's? Real cockpit is much smaller (ie. room over one's head to the glass) than what it seems like based on the pictures -seems like the whole plane is scaled down by it's Y axis :dntknw: and then stretched upwards in Z axis

 

Is the only Iskra we have, at least the only one I know. So I had to use this one, and yes is Veltro's work, and I agree with you about model inacuracies.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This one is great! Can you create a single seater variant too please?

 

9e3aa220-c6bb-4e6f-9507-c5db6e4f4a84_zps

 

3aa92935-69ff-47d9-a446-09b4839ed125_zps

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

yes much like this!!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That Fretlin/Timor Leste insignia, is that a decal or part of the skin itself?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That Fretlin/Timor Leste insignia, is that a decal or part of the skin itself?

 

On this case is part of the skin, but I have the decals too, courtesy of Valastur.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue..