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In September 1936 the Navy and Air Ministry (''Ministerio de Marina y Aire'') and the Air Undersecretariat, (''Subsecretaria del Aire''), both part of the National Defence Ministry ''(Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional)'' were established under the command of [[Indalecio Prieto]] as minister. For identification purposes the Republican tricolor roundel was replaced by red bands, an insignia that had previously been used on ''[[Aeronáutica Naval]]'' aircraft during the monarchy in the 1920s, before the time of the Republic.<ref>[http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/2355/pics/173_1.jpg Blackburn T.1/T.2 Swift/Dart with 1927 ''Aeronáutica Naval'' markings]</ref><ref>[http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/1831/pics/173_1.jpg Blackburn T.3 Velos with 1927 ''Aeronáutica Naval'' markings]</ref> In the same month the first serious air combat took place over Madrid when Italian bombers attacked the city in a massive bombing operation.<ref>[http://www.ejercitodelaire.mde.es/ea/pag?idDoc=EE5C6C5E496A45E8C125744800476806 Ejército del Aire - 1939] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220082750/http://www.ejercitodelaire.mde.es/ea/pag?idDoc=EE5C6C5E496A45E8C125744800476806 |date=20 December 2014 }}</ref>
The western democracies, like France, the United Kingdom and the United States didn't help the young Spanish Republic. Afraid of the "[[Communism|Communist]] threat" [[Neville Chamberlain]] and [[Léon Blum]] were ready to sacrifice Spain, as they later sacrificed [[Czechoslovakia]], in the belief that Hitler could be [[Appeasement|appeased]].<ref>Pierre Renouvin & [[René Rémond]], ''Léon Blum, chef de gouvernement. 1936-1937'', Presses de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, coll. 'Références', 1981</ref> In the void thus created, only the [[Soviet Union]] helped the Spanish government effectively.<ref>[http://www.gutenberg-e.org/kod01/kod15.html Stalin and the Spanish Civil War - Soviet Hardware Supplied to the Republic]</ref> At the end of October, four months after the rebels had been supplied with German and Italian aircraft by [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Benito Mussolini]], the first [[Tupolev SB]] bombers arrived from Russia. They were nicknamed ''"Katiuska"''. One month later the first [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] fighter planes arrived to alleviate the lack of operational planes in the loyalist side, the [[Polikarpov I-15]], nicknamed ''"Chato"'' (Snubnosed)<ref>[http://boozers.fortunecity.com/lolos/226/unidades.htm Unidades de la FARE que actuaron con I-15]</ref> and the [[Polikarpov I-16]], nicknamed ''"Mosca"'' (housefly) by the loyalists and ''"Rata"'' (rat) by the rebels. The [[Polikarpov R-5]] and the [[Polikarpov R-Z|R-Z]] reconnaissance bombers were known as ''"Natacha"'' in the Spanish Republican Air Force.<ref>[http://adar.es/index/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=88&Itemid= Polikarpov RZ Natacha]</ref>
The Republican air arm was restructured again in May 1937. The new structure included two branches, the ''Arma de Aviación'' and the ''Subsecretaría de Aviación'', but unified the ''Aeronáutica Militar'' and ''Aeronáutica Naval''. Some sources give this date as the date of the creation of the Spanish Republican Air Force, although it had been previously operative as an air force already. The Republican Air Force would keep this structure until this disbandment two years later.<ref name="Relación orgánica"/> Many planes belonging to the fleet of the [[Spanish Republican Airline]] LAPE (Líneas Aéreas Postales Españolas) were requisitioned by the Spanish Republican Air Force and used as military transports.<ref>[http://u1.ipernity.com/12/46/65/5974665.84b96921.560.jpg LAPE Poster with Airline Network]</ref>
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