Eduardo Barrón (full name Eduardo Barrón y Ramos de Sotomayor; b. 7 September 1888 - d. 13 January 1949) was a Spanish

aeronautical Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and military pilot who led the design department at ''

Talleres Loring Talleres Loring (Loring Workshops) was a Spanish aeronautical company founded by engineer and entrepreneur Jorge Loring after moving to Madrid. History A predecessor company, Loring Pujol y Cia, had been founded in Barcelona by Jorge Lorin ...

'' from 1923 to 1930.

Biography

Eduardo Barrón was born in a village in Colonial Cuba and his family moved to Spain towards the turn of the century, settling in Madrid. He studied at the Academy of Military Engineering of Guadalajara in 1902, becoming an apprentice lieutenant in 1907. Barrón was posted to the ''Compañía de Aeroestación y Alumbrado en Campaña''

aerostat An aerostat (, via French) is a lifting gas, lighter-than-air aircraft that gains its lift through the use of a buoyant gas. Aerostats include unpowered balloon (aircraft), balloons and powered airships. A balloon may be free-flying or Moored b ...

section in 1908 under Colonel Vives, becoming a certified

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or li ...

pilot in July 1909. His unit was transferred to Spanish North Africa where he took part in the local military campaigns between 1909 and 1910.Warleta Carrillo, José (1989). «Revista Aeroplano nº 6». En Instituto de Historia y Cultura Aeronáutica. Eduardo Barrón y Ramos de Sotomayor. Madrid. p. 64 and foll. In 1911 Barrón was transferred back to

peninsular Spain Peninsular Spain refers to that part of Spanish territory located within the Iberian Peninsula, thus excluding other parts of Spain: the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, and a number of islets and crags off the coast of Mor ...

where he was selected to become an aircraft pilot together with pioneering Spanish military airmen

Alfredo Kindelán Alfredo Kindelán y Duany, 1st Marquess of Kindelán (13 March 1879, in Santiago de Cuba – 14 December 1962, in Madrid) was a Spanish general and politician. A close ally of Francisco Franco before and during the Spanish Civil War, thei ...

Emilio Herrera Emilio Herrera Linares (13 February 1879, in Granada, Spain – 13 September 1967, in Geneve, Switzerland) was a Spanish military engineer and physicist. Biography He was born in Granada, 1879 and became interested in the military from a you ...

, Enrique Arrillaga and

José Ortiz Echagüe José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

. Barrón became the second person to pass the first Military pilot training course in Spain.''Centenario de la Aviación Militar Española (1911-2011)'', Fundación de Aeronáutica y Astronáutica Española, page 11 The following year he was promoted as a Captain of the newly created Aeronautics section that was separated from the aerostat section under the orders of Alfredo Kindelán. In 1913 Barrón was posted to the Tétouan aerodrome, where he was in charge of the

Lohner B.I The Lohner B.I was a military reconnaissance aircraft produced in Austria-Hungary during World War I.Taylor 1989, 610 As Lohner strove to perfect the design, a variety of increasingly powerful engines were fitted, reflected in a range of militar ...

aircraft newly bought from

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. He carried out reconnaissance and light bombing in the Tétouan area as leader of the group.

Early aircraft development

In 1914 Barrón was transferred to

Cuatro Vientos Cuatro Vientos is a ward (''barrio'') of Madrid belonging to the district of Latina. Geography Cuatro Vientos is situated in the south-western area of central Madrid, close to the motorways A5 and M40 and to the homonymous airport. External ...

near Madrid in order to become involved in aircraft construction at the new military aircraft workshop. He modified the Lohner biplanes producing a new model that would be known as Barrón ''Flecha'', credited to be the first step of the Spanish aeronautical industry. The plane made its first flight in April 1915, following which he fitted the ''Flecha'' with a more powerful 140 hp

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

motor for a demonstration flight before King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, A ...

on 27 July. L. Utrilla Navarro= ed. ''La Aeronáutica Española, de 1898 a 1936''
/ref> Following the successful demonstration the

Carde y Escoriaza DRDC Valcartier is a major Canadian military research station at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, Quebec, one of nine centres making up Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC). Originally formed at the end of World War II in 1945 as the Can ...

company, based in

Saragossa Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, was commissioned to build twelve ''Flecha'' planes that would not be ready until 1916. Barrón continued modifying the ''Flecha'' prototype,Real Hermandad de Veteranos de las Fuerzas Armadas y de la Guardia Civil (eds.). ''Centenario de la Aviación Militar Española'' producing a new Hispano-Suiza-fitted model which had improved visibility for the pilot and which he named

Barrón W Barrón is a village and ''concejo'' in Ribera Alta, Álava, Basque Country, Spain. Barrón formerly belonged to the ''hermandad'' and municipality of Lacozmonte, which was part of Ribera Alta until 1927. Barrón is located in western Álava provi ...

. Subsequently, twelve Barrón W were built at the Cuatro Vientos workshops. After a visit to France, where he studied in depth the building of the SPAD S.VII, he built a version of the same plane that he would designate ''España'', also fitted with a Hispano-Suiza motor. The '' Loring Pujol y Cia'' company in Barcelona was commissioned with building twelve units of the ''Barrón España'', but these never entered active service owing to serious construction flaws. In 1917 Barrón, left the military in order to lead the aviation section of 'La Hispano', a subsidiary company of Hispano-Suiza. He designed a reconnaissance and a fighter plane for the company in 1918, the Hispano Barrón. However, the stock of cheap and more technologically advanced

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

planes available at the end of the conflict foreclosed any incentive for the development of a local aircraft industry for the time being. Barrón returned to the military profession in 1920 and was posted to the Tablada Aerodrome near

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...

. In August 1921 he became

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

and was transferred back to Cuatro Vientos in order to take charge of the direction of the workshops and stores ''(Talleres y Almacenes)''. In 1922 he was transferred again to Seville as chief of the

military airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

and in October the same year he married Matilde de la Vega y Martínez de Mora.

Engineer at Loring and retirement

Barrón returned to Cuatro Vientos in order to become chief engineer at a newly built aeronautical factory, ''

'', which had won a contract to produce Fokker C.IV reconnaissance planes under licence. While at Loring Barrón designed and tested his own planes in flight, beginning with the Loring RB military

surveillance aircraft A surveillance aircraft is an aircraft used for surveillance. They are operated by military forces and other government agencies in roles such as intelligence gathering, battlefield surveillance, airspace surveillance, reconnaissance, observa ...

, an obscure monoplane prototype of which there are no data. Meanwhile,

General Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquess of Estella (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a dictator, aristocrat, and military officer who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during Spain's Restoration era. He deepl ...

took power and began a dictatorship that sought to protect and promote local industries. Thanks to this support, Barrón's following project, the Loring R.I reconnaissance and light bomber, went into production and thirty units were built for the ''Aeronáutica Militar'' of the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. The ...

. Based on this plane he designed and developed the

Loring R-III __NOTOC__ The Loring R-III or R-3 was a 1920s Spanish two-seat sesquiplane reconnaissance and light attack aircraft designed by engineer Eduardo Barrón and built by Dr. Jorge Loring's company — ''Talleres Loring''. Operational history In the ...

, an aircraft of similar characteristics powered by a

Hispano-Suiza 12Hb Hispano-Suiza piston aero-engines were predominantly piston engines produced by Hispano-Suiza in France, Spain, and under licence in the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia from the First World War through to the 1950s. Development of these ...

, which went into production with a total of 110 units built. These were delivered to the ''Aeronáutica Militar'' beginning in 1929, still during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. Meanwhile, and despite the favorable situation the Spanish aeronautical industry enjoyed, other planes designed by Barrón remained in the prototype stage. Among these the following deserve mention: the Loring R-II, the Loring C-I fighter, the Loring T.1 trainer, and the Loring E.II light plane powered by an

Elizalde A6 Elizalde is a surname that originated in Spain and may refer to: Persons *Founders of Elizade & Company and Elizalde Holdings Corporation ** Fred Elizalde (1907–1979), Filipino musician and bandleader ** Joaquín Miguel Elizalde (1896–1965 ...

110 hp radial engine. A modified E.II, named ''La Pepa'' and fitted with a

Kinner K-5 The Kinner K-5 was a popular engine for light general and sport aircraft developed by Winfield B. 'Bert' Kinner. With the boom in civilian aviation after Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight the K-5 sold well. The K-5 was a rough running bu ...

motor, would be used by Fernando Rein Loring (1902-1978) in his solo flight from Madrid to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

in 1932. By 1930 Barrón suffered a stroke followed by

hemiplegia Hemiparesis, or unilateral paresis, is weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia is, in its most severe form, complete paralysis of half of the body. Hemiparesis and hemiplegia can be caused by different medic ...

and had to interrupt all professional activity at Loring Aeronautical Works. A prototype was built of his Loring T-3 three-engined commercial monoplane, also known as ''Barrón Colonial'' in 1931,Birth, first steps and pre-war planes of the Spanish Military Aviation
/ref> but other designs, including the Loring B-2 a 4,000 kg payload bomber powered by six engines, remained in the project stage.

Later life

In 1931 Eduardo Barrón applied for retirement and obtained from the newly installed Spanish Republican government a substantial

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

. Barrón also finally was granted the

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

title by the Republic, for until then he had been carrying out his successful engineering work without being academically certified. Around that time the Loring company began to face financial difficulties in the wake of the Great Depression and it became an uphill task for Jorge Loring to finance Barrón's more ambitious aircraft projects.Ateneo - Jorge Loring Martinez
/ref> Barrón moved to Seville, his wife's town, in 1933 where he lived in semi-retirement. In July 1936, at the outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

, he was commissioned by General Queipo de Llano to adapt local industries to the war effort. At the end of the civil war, he was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

of the Corps of Aeronautical Engineers. In 1944 he was given the largely ceremonial post of inspector at the ''Dirección General de Industria y Material'', and had to move to Madrid, ascending to the rank of

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

in 1945. He died in Madrid in 1949, following a new stroke.

Bibliography

* Warleta Carrillo, José
''Eduardo Barrón y Ramos de Sotomayor''
in Aeroplano. Revista de Historia Aeronáutica, nº 6. Marzo 1989. p. 64 and foll. * Permuy López, Rafael Angel y González Serrano, José Luis. ''Aviación Militar Española'', editorial Tikal, Madrid, 2010, p. 13 and foll.

References

External links

Ejército del Aire - Triplano Barrón
* ttp://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25854.htm Barron deltabr>Spanish military aviation pioneers (in Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barron, Eduardo 1888 births 1949 deaths Aircraft designers People from Matanzas 20th-century Spanish engineers 20th-century Spanish military personnel Spanish aviators Aerial warfare pioneers Orders of chivalry of Spain