The Cold War
On 15 October 1946, the Belgian military aviation was turned into an autonomous force, independent of the Belgian Army.
From September 1953 to 1960, the Ecole de Pilotage Avancé (Advanced Pilots' School) operated Harvards from the Kamina military base in the Belgian Congo. Seemingly about 60 Harvards were at the base.
During the Cold War, the Belgian Air Force operated the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Origin | Description | Variants | Operated | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aero Commander 560F | United States | Twin-engined light transport | 560F | 1 | 1961 to 1973 as royal transport |
| Airspeed Consul | United Kingdom | Twin-engined light transport | 4 | Used from 1948 in Belgian Congo. | |
| Airspeed Oxford | United Kingdom | Twin-engined light transport | 20 | Operated between 1947 and 1954. | |
| Auster AOP6 | United Kingdom | Single-engine light observation aircraft, | 22 | Operated between 1947 and 1955. | |
| Avro Anson | United Kingdom | Twin-engined light transport | 15 | Operated between 1946 and 1954. | |
| Avro-Canada CF-100 Canuck | Canada | Twin-jet interceptor | Mk 5 | 53 | Operated from 1957 into the mid 1960s. |
| Boeing 727-200 | United States | Three-engined jet airliner | 727-29C | 2 | Operated from 1975. |
| Dassault Mirage 5 | France Belgium | Jet fighter-bomber and reconnaissance | 5BA Read more about this topic: Belgian Air Component Famous quotes containing the words cold and/or war:“If the factory people outside the colleges live under the discipline of narrow means, the people inside live under almost every other kind of discipline except that of narrow means—from the fruity austerities of learning, through the iron rations of English gentlemanhood, down to the modest disadvantages of occupying cold stone buildings without central heating and having to cross two or three quadrangles to take a bath.” “Against war one might say that it makes the victor stupid and the vanquished malicious. In its favor, that in producing these two effects it barbarizes, and so makes the combatants more natural. For culture it is a sleep or a wintertime, and man emerges from it stronger for good and for evil.” |