AV Boland en Caracas 1912El Cojo Ilustrado No

The first aerial flight over

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

was carried out in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

on 29 September 1912, by the American pilot Frank E. Boland and his assistant Charles Hoeflich, in a biplane designed by Boland, constructed of

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

and fabric with a engine and weighing .

History

In 1912, General Roman Delgado Chalbaud invited American pilot Frank E. Boland, a member of the ''Boland Aeroplane Motor Co'', to visit Venezuela. Boland, accompanied by Charles Hoeflich and equipment, arrived aboard the steamship '' SS Maracaibo''. On arrival at

the aircraft were assembled and arrangements were made for the event to happen on 29 September in the grounds of the Hippodrome El Paraíso, where many city residents and the President of the Republic, the General

Juan Vicente Gómez Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón (24 July 1857 – 17 December 1935) was a Venezuelan military general, politician and '' de facto'' ruler of Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. He only officially served as president on three occasions d ...

witnessed the event. The flight lasted about 27 minutes, flying across the city from West to East landing back at the Hippodrome El Paraíso. At the second flight, performed on October 6, 1912, Hoeflich suffers the first aviation accident in the country, when on take off from the Hippodrome El Paraíso at Caracas, his aircraft flipped over causing serious damage to it and minor injuries to the pilot. Boland also gave successful demonstrations at

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Puerto Cabello Puerto Cabello () is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State, about 210 km west of Caracas. As of 2011, the city had a population of around 182,400. The city is home to the largest and busiest port in the count ...

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; ) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara (state), Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial a ...

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

and

Ciudad Bolívar Ciudad Bolívar (; Spanish for "Bolivar City"), formerly known as Angostura and St. Thomas de Guyana, is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolívar, Venezuela, Bolívar State. It lies at the spot where the Orinoco River narrows to about ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Biography of Boland with an un-modified image of the aircraft over Caracas
Aviation in Venezuela 1910s in Venezuela History of Caracas 1912 in South America

History

See also

References

External links