The First South Atlantic Air Crossing
Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho, both Navy officers, executed the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic, connecting Portugal to Rio de Janeiro
Gago Coutinho e Sacadura Cabral vigiam a manobra da saida do hangar do hidroavião Lusitania-CX. 510, N.º 7Biblioteca Central de Marinha
Sacadura Cabral, a naval officer who was a pioneer in military aviation in Portugal and Gago Coutinho, also a naval officer more dedicated to cartography and navigation, began, in 1919, the preparation of a long air voyage.
In this preparation, Sacadura Cabral was in charge of choosing the indicated aircraft, a Fairey III D seaplane, as well as all the necessary modifications for the accomplishment of the trip, while Gago Coutinho perfected several instruments and techniques of air navigation.
Due to the limitations of fuel autonomy, the journey had to be carried out in stages, so the beginning of the long journey took place in Lisbon, from where they left on March 30, 1922, towards the port of La Luz, in the Canary Islands archipelago, on a flight that lasted 8 hours.
O hidro Lusitania amarrado á popa do N.R.P. 5 de Outubro na baia do Gand nas CanáriasBiblioteca Central de Marinha
The Lusitania hydro moored to the stern of the N.R.P. 5th of October in the Bay of Ghent in the Canaries.
From there, they left Gando Bay on April 2, for Mindelo, in Cabo Verde (Cape Verde), where they arrived after 10 hours of flight and had to carry out some repairs and an overhaul of the aircraft.
As a result of the expected increase in fuel consumption, they were not able to fly directly to Fernando de Noronha, so they had to leave Praia on April 18 towards Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo (the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago), arriving after 17h of travel.
When docking next to a Navy ship, one of the floats of the seaplane broke and it ended up sinking, from which only their personal belongings were recovered.
Taken by the Navy ship to Fernando de Noronha, they waited at the residence of the director of the island's prison for the second plane that was taken from Portugal to them, which arrived on May 8.
On the 11th, they left Fernando de Noronha for Penedos, where they had an accident. To resume it, however, as soon as they left, a breakdown forced them to moor at sea, and they were saved by a freighter that was transiting nearby.
Thus, a third seaplane was sent from Portugal, which arrived on the 2nd of June and left on the 5th towards Recife and from there along the coast to Rio de Janeiro, the final destination of the trip they reached on the 17th.
An aerial feat of this magnitude, provoked great admiration by the public of both countries, with tributes, solemn sessions and dinners, as well as all over the world, especially in the media.
Also noteworthy are the numerous congratulatory telegrams that the Portuguese government and the aviators received from high-ranking entities and ordinary people from all over the world, congratulating them on this feat.
Gago Coutinho e Sacadura Cabral no alto do pão de açucar no Rio de Janeiro em 1922-CX.510,N.º 7Biblioteca Central de Marinha
Navigation instruments such as the artificial horizon sextant and other methods of air navigation developed by both, allowed military and civil aviation to navigate much more accurately and safely in the future and contributed to the development of aviation as we know it today.
