Adiós Turbo Tracker
Last Friday, 16 July 2021, the Comando de Aviación Naval Argentina (Argentine Naval Aviation) waved farewell to the already venerable Grumman Turbo Tracker. During a ceremony at its homebase, Base Aeronaval Comandante Espora, Bahía Blanca (BACE), the last operational S-2T, serial 0703/2-AS-24 , made its final flight.
After the last flight, the squadron (2 Escuadra Aeronaval, EA2S) transferred the machine to the Arsenal Aeronaval (ARCE, former TAC) for its preservation.
A couple of days before, on 14 July, the Turbo Tracker had made a deployment to Mar del Plata (one of the historical bases of the squadron), as a farewell, where he also made the last night flights. These flights will be remembered by many when they made low passages and illuminated the night with the powerful searchlight.
The crew of the last flight consisted of: Frigate Captain Fernando Sebastián Gigena, Lieutenant Commander Norberto Baungartner, Cabo Principal Aeronautico Milton Leguizamón, and Cabo Primero Aeronautico Belen Dorado.
The good news is that EA2S is only temporarily without aircraft: the circle of almost 60 years of Grumman S-2 in the Navy seems only broken up for a short time. According to comments, another S-2T, 0702/2-AS-23 would come out of major inspection in September and the "Buhos" (nickname of the squadron) would fly again.
Until recently, the Argentine Naval Aviation was the last military service in the world to operate the Grumman Tracker, and hopefully it will soon be again!
Credits: Linea ALA blog, photos by Sebas Solis