A French Pioneer â€˜South of the Borderâ€™ Part II

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bleriot-early-photo2 As with Argentina, several other South American nations ushered in the aviation age riding the back of the venerable Bleriot Type XI monoplane. Of all the nations that compose the Latin part of the Western Hemisphire, no one has the sheer mass, vast natural resources and commercial capabilities than Brazil.

By far, the largest nation in Latin America at the turn of the century, Brazil was just awakening to her vast potential-including its aeronautical future, which had been forecasted so brilliantly by Alberto Santos-Dumont in his now famous newspaper article in the early days of 1907. Santos-Dumont was one of the earliest prootors of the airplane as a transportation platform to solve the problem that had plagued his homeland since its independence from Portugal back in 1822.

Few nations have been faced with the geographical challenges that make up this extremely diverse region of South America. These obstacles made the lure of aviation and the hope for a means for overcoming them, very enticing to Brazilian leaders. By the time the Wright Brothers first took to the air, the bulk of the country’s commerce, wealth and culture were situated around two metropolitan areas: Rio de Janeiro, on the southeastern coast and Sao Paolo, located further south. The rest of the country laid almost out of reach from its two main commercial sections.

As elsewhere, all things coming out of France were highly regarded in the land of the samba, and local entrepreneurs waited little time after 1909 in jumping into the Bleriot XI bandwagon. The first unit imported to Brazil was acquired by Giulio Piccollo, a leading member of the nascent Italian colony in Sao Paolo. The self taught aviator used the monoplane for public demonstrations at the local Velodrome. He performed stunts and maneuvers for thousands of admirers from mid June until late December 1910. Then, on that’s year Christmas Eve, he suffered a fatal accident while giving landing tips to several high school students in the small town of Natal.

The XI in which Piccollo crashed was recovered and rebuilt by an aspiring aviation pioneer, Alaor Teles de Queiroz. Unfortunately, on June 3rd 1911 during a test flight at the Prado da Mooca soccer field, he suffered the same fate as that of the first owner and so this particular Bleriot gained the dubious distinction of having being responsible for the first fatality by a Brazilian aviatior.

As with many other countries, a group of young Brazilian enthusiasts organized an aero club, which at least initially, had more ambition than hardware. Named the Aero-Club Brasileiro, the organization was formed on October 11th 1911, and it soon became the rage amongst the leading figures of Carioca society. Indeed, the Club’s first president was no other than Santos-Dumont, while the effective president was Jose Carlos de Carvalho, an admiral in the country’s navy. By October 22nd, the first flight over Rio was made by French pilot Edmond Plauchut in a Bleriot XI powered by a 50hp engine. The local press issued special editions calling the daredevil act an “Um Espectaculo Sensacional” (A Sensational Spectacle). Plauchut celebrated the occasion by taxiing the XI down the length of the Avenida Central. A beautiful painting of the moment now hangs in the Brazilian Air Force Museum.

Not long afterwards, in July 1912, the goverment dispatched an Army Lieutenant, Ricardo Kirk, to France to investigate the necessary training and studies needed for the foundation of an Escola de Aviacao (School of Aviation). Not surprising, his first stop was the Bleriot school at Pau. His trip set the stage for the creation of the Aviacao Militar, which as soon will be seen, invested heavily on the Type XI.

Another Italian adventurer, Ernesto Darioli, also toured Brazil with an early Bleriot version X. In the spring of 1912 he gave several aerial demonstrations in Rio, Porto Algre and Sao Cristovao. Later that summer, he flew out of Petropolis representing the newly formed Queen Aviation Corporation. The New York-based company was deep in the process of mass producing the Bleriot for the French who were in the middle of a major rearmament effort. The corporation was also known for its deep ties with several leading aviators of the day, including Rene Barrier, Edmond Auddemars, Charles Voisin and Roland Garros. Amidst its inventory, there were one original Bleriot, three copies, a Nieuport monoplane and a copy of the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle.

These distinguish body of talent and hardware was assembling at the Jockey Club on January 17th 1912 as the institution mounted what was termed as the ‘grand parade of aviation’ in Latin America. Members of the troupe made appearances in Santa Cruz, Niteroi, Petropolis and Teresopolis. One of the highlights of the tour was an altitude attempt by Garros of 3,910 meters at Cancale, for which he was awarded the princely sum of 50 contos de reis by the Brazilian government.

While the activities of the Queen’s Company exhibitions were being enjoyed at home, the second Brazilian pilot to gain an FAI Brevet at the Escola de Bleriot (the first was Santos-Dumont) in France was Eduardo Pacheco Chaves, a native of Sao Paolo, who was issued his license on July 28th 1911.

Glowing in the aftermath of Queen’s success, Pacheco went on to establish the first flying school in Brazil at the Fazenda de Guapira, in the outskirt of Sao Paolo. No sooner than the young adventurer had began giving lessons, that the government issued a prize of 20 contos for the first pilot that completes the challenging flight from Sao Paolo to the city of Santos. Pacheco and Garros accepted the invitation and entered the contest. Using virtually identical Bleriot XI aircrafts, both aviators took off from Santermo baseball field on the morning of March 8th 1912. Despite several mechanical set backs, young Eduardo was able to defeat the more experience Garros in the race referred to as ‘The Race to Serra do Mar’. Beside path breaking races, Pacheco is also credited, in company with his friend Garros, with making the first air mail delivery in Brazil.

To be continued.