Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho

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     After a successful career as a naval geographer and cartographer Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho (1869-1959) as navigator and Sacadura Cabra as pilot made the first flight across the South Atlantic in 1922. It took three airplanes to complete this flight.
     The first plane was a Fairey II-D named the "Lusitania." It flew from Lisbon to the Canary Islands and on to Cape Verde. The plane was damaged on landing, and a second Fairy had engine failure. A third plane was sent to Fernando Noronha Island and the flight to Rio De Janeiro was successfully completed.
     This was not only the first flight across the South Atlantic, it was also the first time that scientific aerial navigation was used. Coutinho was the inventor of the sextant for aerial navigation. Coutinho's sextant and the final airplane, also a Fairy are in the Naval Museum in Lisbon.

(Thanks to Adelino Morte for information on this flight.)

SCN 355