Junkers Ju 52/3m in Ecuador
Before WWII Ecuador's largest transport aircraft were Ju 52's.
As a part of the Deutsche Lufthansa network of South American airlines Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aereos, SEDTA, was formed in 1937 in Ecuador, using a Ju 34 on floats and 2 Ju 53/3m's. The first aircraft arrived in 1938, but operating from the high altitudes of Quito a Ju 52 was soon lost in a flight into terrain. Growing successfully the company leased another 2 Ju 52's from Condor Syndicate in Brazil, the largest of the German-backed airlines in South America.
However the war of 1941 was the downfall of the airline, with 1 aircraft being captured by advancing Peruvian troops. When a US brokered peace treaty was finally signed after Pearl Harbour, things turned even worse for the airline. With US influence purging German influence from South America the airline's German senior and technical staff were expelled, with some being interred in the US. Worse still as the US was making claims of Nazi bases in Columbia, SEDTA was alleged to be planning to bomb the Panama Canal with the Ju 52's. Both were paranoid fantasies and the US had to back-pedal and apologise to Columbia, but SEDTA was now doomed as a company. One of their aircraft was seized by the US as a war prize, and their remaining Ju 52's were confiscated for the Ecuadorian military.