Embedded Files
Exupéry, Latécoère, Southern Mail & World's Fair
mise-en-scène intersecting world lines
1926 & 1929
“At the end of World War I, the planebuilders of Europe found new opportunities in commercial aviation...plane builder Pierre Latecoere came to the forefront...He won a strong position in the realm of...flying boats...He named his airline Lignes Aeriennes Latecoere, often called ‘the Line.’ It initiated commercial air service...late in 1918, just six weeks after World War I ended...he initiated regular service...early in 1920...with his own flying boats” ¹; “The Latécoère 21...was the first of the Latécoère flying boats” ²; “These early flights were part of a rivalry between France and Germany, as both nations sought to offer service across the South Atlantic...Germany was first, spanning this southern ocean in 1929 with an enormous flying boat, the Dornier Do X” ¹.
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In Spain, Sevilla’s “Plaza de España ³...built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929...
stands out because of...many different polychrome ceramic…[alcove] benches that depict 49 provinces of Spain ³ in ceramic tiles ³” ⁴.
The alcove for archipelago autonomous community province Canary Islands displays 2 side panels dated 1926 showing flying boats (that aircraft’s evolution commencing & reaching initial commercial success over roughly only the previous decade).
To identify the airplane, it’s image is culled from the tile photo & submitted, along with the keywords “flying boat 1926 Spain” to a hybrid Google Image+Keyword search, among whose results is a b&w photo of what appears as an essentially identical aircraft image, both labelled & linked to a Wikiwand website titled “Spanish Air Force”, on which site the photo’s caption identifies the aircraft via a link as a “Plus Ultra”; following the links leads to a site titled “Plus Ultra (aircraft)” which identifies the Plus Ultra via a link as a “Type...Dornier Do J flying boat which completed the first transatlantic flight between Spain and South America in January 1926…[&] arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which further links to a site titled “Dornier Do J” that notes “Dornier Do J Wal (‘whale’) is a twin-engine...mounted in tandem...above the wing; one engine drove a tractor and the other drove a pusher propeller...The Do J was first powered by two 265 kW (355 hp) Rolls-Royce Eagle IX engines...According to Nicolaou,1996...the Dornier Wal was ‘easily the greatest commercial success in the history of marine aviation’”.
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“South Atlantic air mail...On...a scheduled service beginning in February 1934, Wals flew the trans-ocean stage of the route...At first, there was a refueling stop in mid-ocean. The flying boat would land on the open sea, near a converted merchant ship. This vessel was equipped with a ‘towed sail’ onto which the aircraft taxied. From there it was winched aboard by a crane, refueled, and then launched by catapult back into the air” ⁵; video.
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“As Latecoere mastered the deserts of Africa, he also pitted his men and aircraft against the jungles of South America...Latecoere obtained financial support from a wealthy banker…[who]..took control of the Line in 1927. He gave it the new name of Aeropostale, reflecting its continuing strong involvement in airmail...Late in 1927 it launched a weekly service from Rio de Janeiro to...Buenos Aires [Argentina]. That city also became an airline center as the company set up a subsidiary, Aeroposta Argentina” ¹..
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“In 1926 I was enrolled as student airline pilot by the Latécoère Company, the predecessors of Aéropostale (now Air France)” - “Wind, Sand, and Stars”, Saint-Exupéry.
“In 1929, Saint-Exupéry was transferred to [Buenos Aires,] Argentina, where he was appointed director of the Aeroposta Argentina airline.
In 1929, his first book, Courrier Sud (Southern Mail) was published...The [later] publication of Vol de nuit (Night Flight)...mirrored his experiences as a mail pilot and director of the Aeroposta Argentina airline, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina” ⁶.
“The firm of Latecoere remains in business to this day, still headquartered in Toulouse. It serves as a manufacturing center for aircraft parts. It thus has long survived its founder, Pierre Latecoere, who died in 1943. In addition, the Line made a permanent contribution to aviation through the writings of one of its pilots—Antoine de Saint-Exupery. He presented the romance of flight as one who had lived it. In Africa, he allowed his skin to burn dark and flew repeatedly to negotiate with chiefs of the Berber tribes. In South America he faced the deadly winds from the Andes. He wrote books titled Southern Mail, Night Flight, Flight to Arras, and Wind, Sand and Stars. His book for children, The Little Prince, is still read and appreciated. In this fashion, the influence of the Line lives on” ¹.
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🌇 Museum
• “The Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica...(National Aeronautics Museum)...in...Buenos Aires, Argentina...collection includes...a Latécoère XXV flown by Antoine de Saint Exupéry”
• Aeroposta History, Pioneers, Museum
🎥 Movie: “Wings Of Courage (1995), the first 3D IMAX Movie ever filmed, showing the Aeroposta Argentina of 1930, depicting Mermoz, Saint-Exupery and Henri Guillaumet, who crashes in the Andes”; In 1920s South America, a small group of French pilots led by aviation pioneer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Tom Hulce) struggle to prove they can offer a reliable airmail service over the Andes” - Wiki; GKP (Google knowledge panel)
• Watch (Trailer on iTunes)
³ Jeffrey Bale's World of Gardens
Shr Aeroposta poster
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