On June 26th 2008, Airbus rolled out their new A400M Military Transport in Seville, Spain at an event presided by King Juan Carlos of Spain. This aircraft was produced by EADS CASA and in this project participated Alfonso Benites, Engineering Group Leader of the U.K. plant; he is ecuadorian and active member of IPMS Guayaqui.

We received news from Czech Model about the release in this coming Fall of their new F-80C Shooting star in 1/32 scale. The fuselage is in short run injection with finely engraved panels. It has a two piece canopy and detailed cockpit with resin and photo-etch parts and film instruments. Will come in three USAF versions used in the Korean War. We just have to wait a little longer to see who will release the tip tanks used by Ecuador and other Latin American countries. The suggested retail price is US$ 79.95.

Since last May 6th, Ecuador has the first zero-microgravity airplane in Latin America, positioning the country as regional aerospace leader. Ronnie nader, Director of Space Operations at ESAA (Ecuadorian Space Agency) explains that this aircraft is part of Dedalo scientific project, created by him and that will be developed in the coming ten years. The project, that was created with the help of the Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE), has been designed to capture flight parameters in microgravity with a device of his invention.

Ecuadorian Air Force Commander, Gen. Rodrigo Bohorquez informed in a press conference that the Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) will purchase 24 light strike turbo props Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano, along with fast response radars and a further upgrade of the existing Kfir C-2/CE fleet. The budget for the purchase is USD 270 mio and the decision was taken based in the price, versatility and for being the most adaptable aircraft to the country's needs, specially with border control and counter-insurgency. Also, President Rafael Correa made a public statement where the FAE will be modernized in a faster pace due to the recent intrusion of Colombian airplanes (Super Tucanos) on past March 1st where FARC leader Raul Reyes was killed in a night attack to a hidden camp in Ecuadorian soil.

With great success and a big affluence of spectators, we had our XXII Scale Model National Contest between the 13th and 14th of October 2007, as part of the Air Festival 2007 commemorating another anniversary of the Ecuadorian Air Force. This show was held as usual at the Simon Bolivar Air Force Base in Guayaquil nd we had the participation of numerous modelers from inside Ecuador and abroad and definitively the modeling skills went far beyond last year's results, showing great detail and enthusiasm.  

ACMA, our good friends and fellow modeler's association from Cuenca regret to announce that their National Contests and Scale Model Exhibition has been cancelled due to repairs at Mariscal Lamar Airport in Cuenca. They send their apologies for any expectation this may have created and will communicate any change in date and location.

Last March 20th, the Ecuadorian Navy decommissioned the BAE Eloy Alfaro frigate, in order to keep a more updated operative naval force in face of the new threats. This vessel is going to be scrapped and sold as metal scrap.

AMML, a group of Argentinean and Brazilian plastic modelers organized the first Virtual Model Contest between November and December 2007, where modelers from the region sent their best pictures of their plastic models as if it was a contest of the real models. Among the winners, we had our members Javier Johnson and Jimmy Galvez:

We have included again our Articles section, following many inquiries we have received in our e-mail box. We hope this will incentive our visitors to contribute with IPMS Guayaquil in sending their best articles for publication in our website. Some of the articles are already known, there one or two new articles and we have others in preparation. For more information about how to send your articles, please go to the section contributions.                                                      

This month photograph depicts our origins as IPMS Ecuador, before the name was taken from us. We proudly wear this first t-shirt in every contest or event we have participated. We very much thank our friend Julio Barreto for sending this unique photo that caused many smiles and one or two tears.