Qualla: Brazilian Air Force Academy

Brazilian Air Force Academy: Introduction

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Palácio do Planalto from Brasilia, Brasil, CC BY 2.0. A cadet at the Brazilian Air Force Academy has about fifteen hours of flight time before being asked to fly solo. Second year. Fresh from ground school. Strapped into a Neiva T-25 Universal, a Brazilian-built trainer, and sent up alone over the runway at Pirassununga. About one third of the original cohort will not make it past this point. Most are eliminated during pre-solo training. Some wash out, transfer to the Quartermaster or Infantry tracks, and finish as non-flying officers. Others simply leave. The Academia da Forca Aerea - AFA - is the most selective flight training program among Brazilian military academies, and one of the more demanding anywhere in the world. Ten thousand young Brazilians apply each year. Six hundred and fifty are accepted. Four years later, the survivors graduate as officers of the Brazilian Air Force - pilots, quartermasters, infantry - ready to lead the largest air force in Latin America.

Image: Palácio do Planalto from Brasilia, Brasil | CC BY 2.0

Brazilian Air Force Academy: From Naval Aviation to a New Branch

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ministério da Defesa, CC BY 2.0. Brazilian military aviation began not in the Air Force - which did not yet exist - but in the Navy. On August 23, 1916, during the First World War, President Wenceslau Braz founded the Naval Aviation School. The Navy bought three Curtiss Model F seaplanes from the United States a...

Image: Ministério da Defesa | CC BY 2.0

Brazilian Air Force Academy: The Move to Pirassununga

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ministério da Defesa, CC BY 2.0. Afonsos was cramped - good for a school, bad for growth. On January 23, 1942, during the war itself, an official commission was formed to find a new site. Campinas, Pirassununga, Rio Claro, and Ribeirao Preto were shortlisted, all in Sao Paulo state. Pirassununga won on topograph...

Image: Ministério da Defesa | CC BY 2.0

Brazilian Air Force Academy: Three Tracks, One Code

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ministério da Defesa, CC BY 2.0. The Academy offers three officer formation courses: Aviator, Quartermaster, and Infantry. All three are four-year boarding programs; all three graduates earn a bachelor's degree in Public Administration recognized by the Ministry of Education. Cadets live by the five pillars of t...

Image: Ministério da Defesa | CC BY 2.0

Brazilian Air Force Academy: Flight Context

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit w:Brazilian Air Force, Public domain. Located at 21.99 S, 47.34 W east of the city of Pirassununga in north-central Sao Paulo state. The Academy itself has its own airfield (ICAO: SBYS, Academia da Forca Aerea Airport). The terrain sits at about 625 meters elevation on the Sao Paulo plateau, with the Rio Mogi Guacu flowing past to supply the academy's water. The city of Pirassununga is visible to the west. Ribeirao Preto Airport (SBRP) lies about 70 km north. The 215,246 square meter academy complex with its multiple runways is prominent from altitude. Best visibility May-October during the dry season.

Image: w:Brazilian Air Force | Public domain