By Joel Langton
The 830 Times
History was made when 7 T-6Cs from the Mexican Air Force touched down on Laughlin’s runway Thursday afternoon.
Right behind them was a Mexican Air Force C-295, packed with equipment and crewmembers ready to keep the planes flying for Saturday’s Fiesta of Flight Air Show. The Mexican Air Force unit was the 402nd Air Squadron, which flies T-6C+ Texan aircraft, and is based in Ixtepec, Oaxaca. Some of the members arrived earlier in the week for a total of 26 members here.
“We haven’t sent a unit to the United States since 1944,” said Group General (Brig. Gen.) Disraeli Gomez Herrera, who led the team here. Herrera is the President of the Mexican Aerospace Fair (FAMEX), a biennial air expo, aerospace trade show and air show.
He said they regularly send aircraft here for maintenance and logistical support, but never as a unit and they have never performed at an air show.
Their performance consisted primarily of formation flying with plenty of smoke.
“This is our acrobatic team, some of the most skilled pilots in the
Mexican Air Force,” Herrera said. “But we weren’t able to meet the Federal Aviation Administration’s requirements for them to do acrobatic flying due to the short timeline. However, it’s important that we do this so we have the opportunity in future years.”
It was no easy task for them to even get here as they had to navigate two nations’ governments’ bureaucracies. The invitation was sent to the Department of Defense (several layers there) then DoD sent the invite through the United States State Department, who sent it to their Mexican counterparts, and then it had to go to the Mexican Armed Forces channels. Finally, the Mexican Congress had to vote to approve for the unit to visit the US.
“We were so happy when we learned we had approval to be here,” Herrera said.
Laughlin personnel were pleased to have this role in history. “We are excited to share with you a bit of history that we are making here at Laughlin Air Force base today,” Col. Kevin Davidson, 47th Flying Training Wing commander, told the Fiesta of Flight audience Saturday morning. “We have the Fuerza Aerea Mexicana (Mexican Air Force) here to perform for you, which is the first time they (Mexican Air Force) have performed at an airshow in the United States. We are grateful to have General Disraeli Gomez Herrara’s team here to strengthen our partnership between our countries.”
In addition, the Laughlin Maintenance Directorate, the unit responsible for maintenance of the 47th Flying Training Wing’s aircraft, also took responsibility for providing breakfast for the team Friday and Saturday.
Herrera had one last message for people, “Tell everyone they’re invited to the Mexican Airspace Fair,” he said with a smile. The event is held in Mexico City, April 23 to 26.
The writer can be reached at JoelaLangton@gmail.com .
