Words
fly off
Jesús
Castañón Rodríguez
Spanish
version
On
the 17th of December the first flight will be one hundred.
It took place on the Kitty Hawk beaches, in North Carolina
(United States), when the Wright brothers got the Flyer
I to take off.
From
that date a new prospect for the world appeared, which
would have numerous repercussions and, between others,
cultural ones.
Aviation
in Spain
In
Spain, creation-literature about aviation is on top
form in the first half of the 20th century and it can
be organized into two stages.
Firstly, from 1912 to 1925, it is a period to emphasize
the fascination for riding the sky, for the wings of
liberty, for a new perspective which observe the world
with . It's time for the European flights with the expedition
Madrid-Paris in 1912 in charge of Verdines, one of the
first flight-proof by aeroplane in 1915 and the process
which ends with the invention of autogiro, by Juan de
la Cierva between 1919 and 1924.
And
secondly, from 1926 to 1933, we can talk about the epic
poetry of the outstanding feats in a no end of international
expeditions. It's time for the journeys Huelva- Buenos
Aires by the Plus Ultra, Spain- Philippines with the
pilots Gallarza and Lóriga and Spain- Guinea
with the Atlántida patrol, all of them carried
out in 1926. And also it is time for travelling around
several American Republics, like the pilots Jiménez
and Iglesias in 1929 by the Jesús del Gran Poder
(1), time for planning to go round the world, like Ramón
Franco by the Numancia and also for trying the crossing
Spain- New York, like Ramón Franco, Gallarza,
Ruiz de Alda and Madariaga by the Domier 16. A crossing
which Lindbherg would get successfully afterwards. And
in 1933, the expedition of Barberán and Collar
around Central America takes place.
This
golden age of the raids understood as a winged version
of the Hispanic ideal is completed by the first flight
without engine in 1943. However, the generalized usage
of aviation as far as tasks regarding to total destruction
raids are concerned put an end to the dream of contemplating
the sky.
The
literary output includes poetry, essay and journalistic
marginal notes, the first one having special renown.
Poetry
Poetry
has predilection for the flight of the aeroplane, and
aviation becomes an avant-garde symbol of the new times.
Its output is focused between 1915 and 1930, from Unamuno
to the literary avant-gardes.
Thus,
in 1915 Miguel de Unamuno's output "Al aeroplane"
is registered. It's followed by the avant-garde movement
from the magazine of Madrid Cervantes by Ángel
Espinosa and his "Aeroplanos" and Juan Larrea
with "Cosmopolitano" and, after, the magazine
of Seville named Grecia in 1919 and 1920 by José
María Romero in "Canción del aeroplano",
Guillemo Torre with "Madrigal aéreo"
and "Aviograma" and Rafael Lasso de la Vega
with "Aviones".
To
this task general information journalism is added with
La Tarde de Lorca in 1926 thanks to Heliodoro Puche
and his poem "Cruza un aeroplano" and also,
the writers Fernando de Lapi with "Excelsior"
and Antonio de Obregón with "Alas".
Essay
Essay
focuses on feat of the flight of the Plus Ultra from
Spain to South America as far as a combination of technical
competence and heroic effort is concerned.
In
1926 with "Discurso del Plus Ultra", Francisco
Maldonado de Guevara considered the heroic deed of aviation
as a new way of the Hispanic ideal and of the triumph
of the humanist school which consisted of the science
advances, and above all aeronautics. He presented the
atmosphere of paroxysm, collective emotion, mystic mystery
as a continuation of the discoveries of Gama and Cabral,
Magallanes, Colón and Elcano. And he understood
the aeronautical labour as a way of getting in touch
with the different countries to form new ideas and feelings
together.
José
Gomá Orduña in "El vuelo del 'Plus
Ultra' España- Argentina" shows the historical
dimension of this expedition. On the one hand he does
that because it meant the use of aviation as a feat
weapon. On the other hand it was important because it
symbolized the modernity of Spain to the extent of raising
the morality of the country, after the 1898 crisis,
when it was rediscovered by means of a sacrifice which
was able to contribute to the mankind progress.
This
essay is completed by several pieces of information.
Firstly, how Mariano Barberán was thought to
be instead of Ruiz de Alda. How the records of the journey
Portugal- Brazil and the United States- Ireland were
taken into account. How the preparations were carried
out in Pisa, Los Alcázares (Murcia) and Melilla.
And also it offers a complete information about the
functions in Madrid, Seville and La Rábida when
the expedition set off together with a meticulous narration
about what happened in all the stages of flight: Palos-Las
Palmas, Las Palmas-Porto Praia, Porto Praia-Nonronha,
Noroña-Recife, Recife-Río de Janeiro,
Río de Janeiro- Montevideo and Montevideo- Buenos
Aires.
This
heroic deed is completed by means of a description of
the experienced atmosphere by the Latin-American villages
with emotion, tears, flowers, kisses, parties, presents
and love affairs of a crowd filled with enthusiasm.
Journalistic
marginal notes
César
González Ruano and Santiago de la Cruz still
follow in "La hazaña del Dornier 16"
the evolutions of this new expedition between the 21st
of June and the 4th of July, 1929, which tried to break
the length and distance records of the hydroplanes known
to date.
They
talk about the effort of the airmen Ramón Franco,
Gallarza, Ruiz de Alda and Madariaga in their eagerness
to go to the United States from Spain and go back after
ten days with the following stages: Los Alcázares-Azores,
Azores-Halifax, Halifax-New York, New York-Washington,
Washington-Terranova and Terranova-Galicia. They tell
all these events for the newspaper El Heraldo de Madrid.
However, the seaplane didn't arrive at its destination
and uncertainty days together with popular dejection
appeared till the English aircraft carrier named Eagle
found it and till the crew, who were moved on Gibraltar,
were rescued. The story of this period was completed
by interviewing Nicolás Franco, commands of the
base of Los Alcázares, Juan de la Cierva (the
one who invented the autogiro) and Rada (the fitter
of the Plus Ultra).
Epilogue
Spanish
literature about aviation has focused on the lyrical
poetry of a new view of the world and on the epic poetry
of the transoceanic heroic deeds, together with the
constant amusement of the Plus Ultra expedition.
In
2003, we can state that flights have been in the sky
for a hundred years.
Notes
(1)
Jesus of the Great Power (name
given to the plane).
Bibliographical
references
CASTAÑON
RODRÍGUEZ, Jesús: "El entusiasmo
del relato deportivo", Idioma y deporte
número 41, Valladolid, 15 de junio de 2003.
ESPINOSA, Ángel: "Aeroplanos", en Cervantes.
Madrid: 1919, págs. 16-17.
GOMÁ ORDUÑA, José: El vuelo
del "Plus Ultra" España-Argentina.
Palma de Mallorca: Seminarios de formación de
FET y de las JONS de Baleares, 1951.
GONZÁLEZ-RUANO, César-CRUZ, Santiago de
la: La hazaña del Dornier 16. Madrid:
Imprenta Palomeque, 1929.
LAPI, Fernando de: "Excelsior", Suma poética.
Madrid: 1925, pág. 157.
LARREA, Juan: "Cosmopolitano", en Cervantes.
Madrid: 1919, págs. 22-28.
LASSO DE LA VEGA, Rafael: "Aviones", en Grecia
número 44. Sevilla: 1920.
MALDONADO DE GUEVARA, Francisco: Discurso del Plus
Ultra. Salamanca: Imprenta y Librería de
F. Núñez, 1926.
OBREGÓN, Antonio de, 1930, "Alas",
El campo. La ciudad. El cielo, Madrid, pág.
93.
PUCHE, Heliodoro: "Cruza un aeroplano", en
La Tarde de Lorca. Lorca: 21 de noviembre de
1926.
ROMERO, José María: "Canción
del aeroplano", en Grecia número
14. Sevilla: 1919, págs. 10-11.
TORRE, Guillermo de la: "Madrigal aéreo",
en Grecia número 25. Sevilla: 1919.
- "Aviograma", en Grecia número
41, Sevilla: 1920.
UNAMUNO, Miguel de: (1915) "Al aeroplano",
en Obras completas, XV., Madrid: Aguilar, pág.
382.

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CASTAÑÓN
RODRÍGUEZ, Jesús: Bibliografía
mundial sobre la lengua del deporte. Idioma
y deporte [en línea]. 15 de diciembre de
2003, número 46. [Consultada: 15 de diciembre
de 2003]. Disponible en Internet: <https://www.idiomaydeporte.com/avia.htm>
ISSN: 1578-7281.
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