Abstract
The history of the transatlantic flights began in 1919 when Albert C. Read’s team flew between Newfoundland and Lisbon, with a stopover at Azores, for fuel and repairs. The flight was made following a chain of 60 U.S. warships in order to guide it along its route and to provide assistance if needed. Two weeks later, John Alcock and Sir Arthur Whitten Brown made the first nonstop transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to County Galway, Ireland, covering more than 3000 km in just 16 hours of flight. In 1922, Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral crossed the South Atlantic Ocean by air, for the first time using only internal means of navigation: a modified sextant and a course corrector; both devices proved its effectiveness. The Portuguese Aeronautics rejoiced auspicious days that time, with its aviation pioneers trying consecutively to reach more distant places along intercontinental flights. Several Around-the-World Flight Attempts were made in 1924: United States, England, France, Portugal, Argentina and Italy. However the circumnavigation purpose was only officially confirmed before the general public, when a considerable flying progress was achieved. In 1923, Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral were contemplating to perform an Around the World Flight, a dream pursued also by Sarmento de Beires in 1924 and 1927. In 1927 and by following the knowledge obtained by Coutinho and Cabral, four Portuguese Airmen started an Around the World Flight Attempt in a mission that ended with seaplane sunk at the Ocean; however this mission was renamed after the seaplane loss and became known in the World as the First Aerial South Atlantic Night Crossing. For the first time in history, during the night of 16 to 17 March 1927, a Portuguese crew flew 2595 km over the Atlantic Ocean from Guinea, Africa to Fernando de Noronha Island, Brazil. The flight was made only by astronomical processes navigation resources that proved again to be absolutely feasible and trustworthy, regardless day or night lighting conditions.
Highlights
The history of the transatlantic flights began in 1919 when Albert C
On 15 December 1924 Sarmento de Beires reread the report of its Lisbon-Macau air travel in 1924 and his memory revived the idea of participating in an Around World Flight Travel
In 1922, for the first time in the aviation history, the crossing of the South Atlantic was achieved by the Portuguese navigators Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral; this feat was achieved exclusively with the help of astronomical devices that allowed an accurate positioning of aircraft when flying over the ocean—with no reference points on the ground: a modified navy sextant and a course corrector; both devices were invented by those navigators
Summary
The pioneer of aeronautics in Portugal was a Jesuit monk, Bartolomeu de Gusmão, who interrupted his studies at Coimbra University to develop his flying machines (Figure 1(a)). From 30 March to 17 June 1922, Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral flew a Fairey hydroplane from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro in the first crossing of the South Atlantic (Albuquerque, 1989; Corrêa, 1964, 1969; Cardoso, 1981; Barata et al, 2009; Silva et al, 2009; Neves et al, 2010a, 2010b; Reis & Cortesão, 1969) This was the first flight conceived by astronomical and estimated navigation means, with the help two devices, namely, a modified Navy sextant and a course corrector (Cabral, 1921), both developed by Coutinho and Cabral. The desire of a circum navigating air travel was at Brito Pais and Sarmento de Beires imagination: with Manuel Gouveia mechanical attendance, these airmen flew more than half around the World distance, from Lisbon to Macau from 7 April to 20 June 1924 (Beires, 1953; Cardoso, 1981)
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