page_title: Portuguese Air Force
section_title: Beginnings
hierarchical_section_title: Portuguese Air Force / History / Beginnings
caption_attribution_description: English: Farman F.40, French surveillance aircraft in the WWI, 1916. Image shows a Portuguese Farman F.40 1916.
context_page_description: The Portuguese Air Force is the aerial warfare force of Portugal. Locally it’s referred to by the acronym FAP but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PoAF. It’s the youngest of the three branches of the Portuguese Armed Forces.
  The Portuguese Air Force was formed on July 1, 1952, when the former Aeronáutica Militar and Aviação Naval were united and formed an independent air branch of the Armed Forces.
  However, the remote origins of the FAP go back to the early 20th century with the establishment of the first military air unit in 1911, the Military Aeronautics School in 1914, the participation of Portuguese pilots in World War I, the establishment of the Army, and the Navy aviation services.
  The FAP is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, a subordinate of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for operational matters and a direct subordinate of the Minister of National Defense for all other matters. The CEMFA is the only officer in the Air Force with the rank of general.
  Presently, the FAP is an entirely professional force made of career personnel and of volunteer personnel.
context_section_description: The remote origins of the Portuguese Air Force lie in the origins of the Portuguese military aeronautics.
  Portugal was directly linked with the history of aeronautics since its early beginnings. In 1709, the Portuguese priest Bartolomeu de Gusmão requested a patent for a device to move through the air, which consisted of a kind of hot air balloon. The patent was granted on 19 April 1709 and small scale models of this device were tested with success on several occasions, including before the court of King John V of Portugal. Accordingly, with some opinions, a real scale device would have performed a crewed flight over the city of Lisbon, taking off from the São Jorge Castle and landing at the Cotovia Hill. This may have been the first manned flight in history.
  In 1876, General Augusto Bon de Sousa proposed the use of aerostats as means of observation and communication. This proposal was implemented in 1886, with the beginning of the use of Lachambre balloons by the Army Engineering School at Tancos.
  The history of the Portuguese military aviation proper is deeply connected with the foundation of the Air Club of Portugal (AeCP) on 11 December 1909, by 30 aviation enthusiasts, the majority of them being Army officers. The AeCP became one of the major boosters of the development of aviation in Portugal in the early 20th century, including its military use. The AeCP sponsored Abeillard Gomes da Silva in the design and building of the first Portuguese airplane, financed by the War Ministry and tested at the Army School of Engineering, Tancos on 13 January 1910.
  Despite the previous use of balloons by the Portuguese Army, its first air unit was only created in 1911, in the scope of the military reorganisation that occurred that year. This unit was the Aerostation Company (Companhia de Aerosteiros), which was part of the Army Telegraphic Service and was intended to operate observation aerostats. This unit would later receive a handful of airplanes.
  In 1912, the Portuguese Government received its first airplane, a Deperdussin B, offered by the Portuguese-born Colonel Albino Costa of the Brazilian Army. The Government further received a Maurice Farman MF4 offered by the O Comércio do Porto newspaper and an Avro 500 offered by the Portuguese Republican Party. These aircraft would be integrated in the Aerostation Company, but remained for years without use because of the non-existence of pilots.
  Still in 1912, midshipman Miguel Freitas Homem of the naval purser branch applied for admission to any course that would qualify him as an aviator. He was the first member of the Portuguese Military to formally request to be an aircraft pilot.
  In the same year, by request of the AeCP, the legislator António José de Almeida presented a bill to the Portuguese Parliament for the creation of a Military Aviation Institute. Despite the non-approval of the bill, the War Ministry appointed an ad hoc commission, made up of officers of the Army and Navy (including some members of the AeCP), intended to study the basis for the creation of aviation, balloon and airship schools. By the Army Order of 12 February 1913, this became the permanent Military Aeronautics Commission, attached to the Army Telegraphic Service.
  Finally, the Parliament issued Law 162 of 14 May 1914, which created the Military Aeronautics School (EMA, Escola Militar de Aeronáutica), including aviation and aerostation services. The EMA would include a Staff, aeronautical troops (including the Aerostation Company and a Navy Section), and technical and support staff. The Law foresaw the existence of a Military Aeronautical Service from which the EMA would be dependent. However, while the Aeronautical Service was still not organized, the EMA would be under the inspection of the chairman of the Military Aeronautics Commission. After the formal creation of the EMA, the next steps were to implement it. One of the first steps was to train aviators to serve as the future instructors, with 11 officers being selected for that (nine from the Army and two from the Navy) and sent to several U.S., F
caption: Portuguese Farman F.40 in Mozambique, during the East African Campaign of World War I
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