page_title: Jorge Newbery
section_title: Aviation
hierarchical_section_title: Jorge Newbery / Biography / Ruler of the skies: balloons and aeroplanes / Aviation
caption_attribution_description: Muerte de Jorge Newbery. Restos del avión Morane-Saulnier, Los Tamarindos, Mendoza
context_page_description: Jorge "George" Newbery, born Jorge Alejandro Newbery Malagarie, was an Argentine aviator, civil servant, engineer and scientist with ancestry from the United States of America. His father, Ralph Lamartine Newbery Purcell was a dentist who emigrated from Long Island, New York, and settled in Argentina after the American Civil War, in which he fought on the Union side of the Battle of Gettysburg and was recognized for his courage. Along with Alberto Braniff and Jorge Chávez, Jorge Newbery was one of the first Latin American aircraft pilots. He was also an engineer, and is considered to be the architect and founder of the Argentine Air Force.
context_section_description: In 1910, Newbery obtained his (provisional) pilot's licence, but continued to make balloon flights until 1912. As a direct result of Newbery and the Aero Club Argentino's offer to make their park freely available to the Ministry of War, on 10 August 1912 the President Roque Sáenz Peña created the Military Aviation School, the first Latin American air force. Jorge Newbery as a civilian, and Lieutenant Colonels Enrique Mosconi, later the director of YPF, and M. J. López were the first directors of the School, established in Palomar de Caseros.
  The ACA organised a public collection with which the first aircraft were acquired. On 25 May 1913 they had their first parade: 4 monoplanes piloted by two civilians, Newbery and Macías, and two soldiers, Goubay and Agneta. A few months later the Army issued special insignia for the two military pilots. When choosing between monoplanes and biplanes, Newbery preferred the former.
  On 24 November 1912, Newbery crossed the Río de la Plata in the monoplane "Centenario", a 50 HP Gnome powered Bleriot XI. He was the first to cross the river and return in the same day. Influenced by Newbery, the young Teodoro Fels, took an aeroplane from the Military Aviation School without permission and reached Montevideo, breaking the world record for flight over water. On his return, President Roque Sáenz Peña had him arrested and promoted to corporal for the feat.
  On 10 February 1914, Newbery broke the world altitude record by 65 m, reaching 6,225 m in a Morane-Saulnier monoplane but the record was not ratified by the international commission because the previous record had not been exceeded by at least 150 m.
  Jorge Newbery arrived in Mendoza to attempt the first crossing of the Andes by aircraft. At the request of a woman who had seen him fly, he borrowed an aircraft from his friend Teodoro Fels, who warned him of a problem with the monoplane's wing. Jorge Newbery took off with Jiménez Lastra and did some aerobatics until 18:40, the monoplane fell violently. Jorge Newbery died in the Estancia "Los Tamarindos" in Mendoza (now Governor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport), on 1 March 1914, aged 38.
  The Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires commemorates his pioneering work in the promotion of aviation in Argentina. Villa Lugano in Buenos Aires claims the title of cradle of Argentine aviation, a claim also made by the district of El Palomar, seat of the First Aerial Brigade and previously the Military Aviation School. Newbery made his first flights in Villa Lugano, for which a monument was erected on the Avenida Teniente General Luis J. Dellepiane, close to Avenida Gral. Paz.
caption: Newbery's wrecked Morane-Saulnier G on 1 March 1914.
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