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Gago Coutinho

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Portuguese naval officer and aviation pioneer (1869–1959)
Gago Coutinho
Gago Coutinho when he had the rank of captain-lieutenant of the Portuguese Navy
Born
Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho

(1869-02-17)17 February 1869
Lisbon, Portugal
Died18 February 1959(1959-02-18) (aged 90)
Lisbon, Portugal
OccupationPortuguese Navy officer
Known forFirst aerial crossing of the South Atlantic
Military career
Allegiance Portugal
Service/ branch Portuguese Navy
Signature

Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho,GCTE,GCC (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈkaɾluʒˈvjeɣɐʒˈɣaɣukoˈtĩɲu]; 17 February 1869 – 18 February 1959), generally known simply asGago Coutinho, was aPortuguese geographer, cartographer, naval officer, historian and aviator. Anaviation pioneer, Gago Coutinho andSacadura Cabral were thefirst to cross the South Atlantic Ocean by air, in a journey from March to June 1922, started inLisbon,Portugal, and finished inRio de Janeiro,Brazil,[1] using aseaplane variant of the British reconnaissance biplaneFairey III.

In June 2022, the centenary of thefirst aerial crossing of the South Atlantic, it was announced thatFaro Airport would officially change its name to Gago Coutinho Airport.[2]

Early life

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He was born in Belém,Lisbon, in a modest family, the son of José Viegas Gago Coutinho and his cousin, Fortunata Maria Coutinho. He finished high school in 1885, and entered the Polytechnic School, where he studied for one year, as preparation for his entrance at theNaval School, in Alfeite,Almada, in 1886.

Naval and geographical career

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He joined the Navy in 1886 as an aspirant. In 1890, he was promoted to marine guard, in 1891 to second lieutenant, and in 1895 to first lieutenant. In 1907 he was promoted to captain-lieutenant and in 1915 tofrigate captain. In 1920 he became captain of sea-and-war. In 1922 he was promoted to vice-admiral, and in 1958 to admiral. During his first Navy years, he did several travels, being the first in the corvette "Afonso de Albuquerque", from 7 December 1888 to 16 January 1891, where he traveled toMozambique as a member of the Naval Division of Eastern Africa. He did several naval travels the following years, until 31 March 1898, when he did his first commission as an overseas geographer, inPortuguese Timor. Since March 1898, Gago Coutinho activities were developed mostly at the Cartography Commission, created in 1883. From 27 July 1898 to 19 April 1899, he was involved in field work, working at the delimitation of the borders and at the survey of the geographical chart of the most remote Portuguese colony. After his return to Portugal, he was assigned to work at the delimitation of the borders ofNiassa territory in Mozambique, from 5 September 1900 to 28 February 1901. He then moved toAngola, where he worked at the delimitation ofNoqui's borders, until the end of 1901. He returned to Mozambique, working for the borders delimitation inTete district, between 27 February 1904 and 18 December 1905.

Gago Coutinho was nominated head of the Geodesical Mission of Eastern Africa in May 1907, a post he held until the beginning of 1911. It was during this assignment that he met Portuguese aviator pioneerArtur de Sacadura Cabral, who become his close friend and who would be his mentor for future aviation projects. Afterwards, he led the Portuguese mission that delimited Angola borders in Barotze, which was formed in 1912. The year after his return toPortugal, he was nominated the head of the Geodesical Mission ofSão Tomé and Príncipe, in 1915, which he was until middle 1919. In 1917, Gago Coutinho and Artur de Sacadura Cabral did their first flights together. In 1919, encouraged by his friend, he started to dedicate himself to the improvement of the aerial navigation methods. They took several flights together to study the methods, the most important was the first flight from Lisbon toFunchal, in 1919. Artur de Sacadura Cabral had already delineated by them the project of making the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic, meant to take place in 1922, the year of the centennial of theindependence of Brazil.

First aerial crossing of the South Atlantic

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Main article:First aerial crossing of the South Atlantic
Gago Coutinho (right) and Sacadura Cabral (left) on board theLusitânia.

TheFairey IIIB seaplane namedLusitânia used by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral for their transatlantic flight did not have enough fuel capacity to make the entire trip unaided so various stops were made along the way and the aviators were shadowed by a support ship,República. On the journey down the Brazilian coast a heavy rain storm caused the aircraft's engine to fail and the aviators were forced to ditch in the ocean. Realizing that something was wrong, theRepública sent out a distress signal asking other ships in the area to look out for the seaplane. After some time in the water, the aviators were found by a British freighter. TheParis City of theReardon Smith Line, under Captain A.E. Tamlyn, en route from Cardiff to Rio, rescued Coutinho and Cabral; they completed their journey with a new aircraft. A commemorative painting of the rescue was made by the Portuguese painter and cartoonistJosé Stuart Carvalhais.

Inventions

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Gago Coutinho invented a type ofsextant incorporating two spirit levels to provide an artificial horizon.[3] This adaptation of the traditional marine sextant allowed navigation without visual reference to the real horizon. He also invented an opticalflight instrument, to be mounted on the plane's cockpit floor, which measuresleeway in flight whenever ground remains visible.

Historical work

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He dedicated himself to the nautical history of thePortuguese Discoveries after 1924. His vast body of work later would be published inA Náutica dos Descobrimentos (The Nautical of the Discoveries) (1951–1952), in two volumes.

Criticism of relativity

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Gago Coutinho was a critic of Albert Einstein'stheory of relativity and authored articles and books against it.[4][5] His arguments were well publicized, causing mathematicianRuy Luís Gomes to defend relativity against his criticisms.[4]

Gallery

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  • Lisbon monument to the flight
    Lisbon monument to the flight
  • Lisbon monument of the route
    Lisbon monument of the route
  • Route of the first to cross the South Atlantic Ocean by air
    Route of the first to cross the South Atlantic Ocean by air
  • Monument to Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho in Grândola (Portugal)
    Monument to Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho inGrândola (Portugal)

References

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  1. ^"Gago Coutinho Biography (Portuguese)". Archived fromthe original on 2021-05-17. Retrieved2018-09-18.
  2. ^"Faro Airport renamed". The Portugal News. The Portugal News. Retrieved17 June 2022.
  3. ^History of the Sextant includes a photograph of a Gago Coutinho spirit level attachment.
  4. ^abEisenstaedt, J; Kox, A. J. (1998).Studies in the History of General Relativity. Berlin. Springer. p. 11.ISBN 0-8176-3479-7
  5. ^"The Portuguese Academic Community and the Theory of Relativity". Augusto José dos Santos Fitas, 2005.

Bibliography

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  • Pinto, Rui Miguel da Costa, "Gago Coutinho simples aventureiro ou um homem de Ciência", inFilatelia Lusitana, série III, nº19, Lisboa, Federação Portuguesa de Filatelia, 2009.
  • Pinto, Rui Miguel da Costa,Gago Coutinho e as relações luso brasileiras, Espírito Santo (Brasil), Instituto Histórico e Geográfico do Espírito Santo, 2009.

External links

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