Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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First flight across the South
Atlantic Ocean in 1922
Inscribed 2011
What is it
Two reports by the pilots of the first flight over the
South Atlantic Ocean, from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro,
which was not only a major achievement in aviation but
also a milestone in the relations between Europe and
Latin America.
Why was it inscribed
This flight was a landmark in air navigation history. It
can also be placed in the long Portuguese tradition of
explorers and explorations to other continents, initiated
by Henry the Navigator in the mid-15th century.
Where is it
Arquivo Histórico da Marinha, Lisbon, Portugal
This unique document, which includes thirty-eight
photographs, is made up of two reports, one by Captain
Gago Coutinho and the other by Captain Sacadura
Cabral. In 1922 they made the first flight across the South
Atlantic Ocean, by floatplane (a type of seaplane where
conventional undercarriage is replaced by floats) from
Lisbon (Portugal) to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The flight
also marked the use of a sextant (especially designed by
Coutinho with an artificial horizon) in air navigation for
the very first time. This showed that precision navigation
could be performed on an aircraft in flight. Furthermore,
the flight cemented the relations between Portugal and
Brazil and involved Spain and Cape Verde, as the floatplane
touched all these territories, making it possible to say that
three continents were joined by two men in one floatplane,
in a mission that changed aeronautical navigation and
helped shrink the world.
Soon after the first flight had been made across the
North Atlantic Ocean in 1919 and following a visit to
Lisbon of the President of Brazil, Captain Cabral proposed
a project to attempt the first flight by air over the South
Atlantic Ocean, linking the two nations of Portugal
and Brazil. This project was welcomed by Portuguese
government, and Captain Cabral was immediately
commissioned to start the preparations for this epic
� Pages from the original report prepared by Coutinho and Cabral,
describing their epic flight across the South Atlantic from Lisbon
to Rio de Janiero in 1922.
adventure. Cabral invited Captain Coutinho to help him in
this venture and to perform the role of navigator.
The journey began at Lisbon on 30 March 1922 in a
floatplane (Fairey F III-D Mark II), specially designed
for this flight, equipped with a Rolls-Royce engine and
having the call sign, Lusitânia. The first leg took them
to Las Palmas. A further ten legs brought them to Rio
de Janeiro on 17 June 1922. Although they had taken more
than two months to cross South Atlantic Ocean, their
flight time was only 62 hours and 26 minutes; they had
flown 8383 nautical miles.
(following page) A statue at Belém near Lisbon
in Portugal that commemorates the first flight across
the South Atlantic undertaken by Captain Gago Coutinho
and Captain Sacadura Cabral in 1922. �
First flight across the South Atlantic Ocean in 1922 449