In March 1949 Emperor Bao Dai

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In March 1949 Emperor Bao Dai officially requested that the French help set up a Vietnamese military air arm. Pressure was maintained with the assistance of Lt. Col. Nguyen Van Hinh, who had flown the B-26 Marauder with the French Air Force in the second world war. In March 1952 a training school was set up at Nha Trang, and the following year two Army co-operation squadrons began missions flying the Morane-Saulnier MS.500 Criquet light aircraft. In 1954 the French allocated a number of Dassault MD.315 Flamant armed light transports to the inventory of this Vietnamese air arm. Vietnamese pilot trainees began to be sent to France for more advanced training. In May 1954, with the fall of Dien Bien Phu, the position of France changed, and on January 31 1955 the Vietnamese Air Force was officially inaugurated. French instructors for pilots and mechanics remained until late 1956, and transferred 69 F8F Bearcat aircraft to the VNAF, which throughout the late 1950s were the main strike aircraft


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