The Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) received on Tuesday (21) an Embraer A-1B AMX fighter-bomber, donated by the Brazilian Air Force. The decommissioned aircraft is the first to occupy the university's new hangar and will be used for studies by students studying aerospace, electrical, mechanical, telecommunications, computing and other engineering courses.
Received by the FAB in 2000, the A-1B has registration number 5655 and throughout its operational period it operated from the Santa Maria Air Base (BASM), neighboring the UFSM campus, with the Poker and Centauro squadrons.
The direction of UFSM had already been negotiating the planes with the Air Force Command since last year, when construction of the hangar began. With the structure ready, the jet was partially dismantled (with wings and vertical and horizontal stabilizers removed) and transported by truck to the campus, with from military personnel from the Santa Maria Logistics Group (GLOG-SM).
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The aircraft was not selected for modernization and was stored at BASM, where it also served as a source of parts for the A-1s that are still in service. As detailed by the university, the A-1B is without a canopy and the engine is a Rolls-Royce Spey. Thus, the FAB also donated a J85-GE-21 turbojet engine, used by the F-5 Tiger II fighters, as well as other parts and electronic components from the São Paulo Aeronautical Material Park.
According to professor Marcelo Zanetti, the university continues to negotiate with the FAB to donate other disused aircraft, including a C-95 Bandeirante transport turboprop, also manufactured by Embraer.
The hangar will also house the wind tunnel from UFSM, which currently occupies the facilities of the Electrical Engineering Research and Development Center (Nupedee). The main reason for this transfer is the noise produced by this equipment, which can exceed 100 decibels, disrupting other research and work carried out in the Technology Center's Laboratory Pavilion. It is also planned to install two laboratories in the hangar: one of them more focused on electronics and the other on mechanics. These laboratories will be used, for example, for the design and construction of experimental aircraft, communication and radar systems.
With the deactivation of the Adelphi Squadron in 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, BASM was responsible for operating the remainder of the FAB's A-1 AMX fleet. The jets, which celebrate 35 years of activity next year, operate in ground attack and tactical reconnaissance missions, and were recently modernized. Like the F-5s, they will also be replaced by the F-39 Gripen.
