Jorge Alejandro Newbery (1875-1914), known as
Jorge Newbery or, more familiarly, simply as "George", was an
ArgentineArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
pilotAn aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887 as a variation of the French 'aviation', from the latin 'avis', coined 1863 by G. de la Landelle in "Aviation ou Navigation Aérienne"...
of North American descent. His father, Ralph Newbery (a dentist born in 1848), emigrated from Long Island, New York, to Argentina after the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
(in which he is said to have taken part in the
Battle of GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg , fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of...
) . Along with
Alberto BraniffAlberto Braniff was a Mexican airplane pilot.Braniff was born in a wealthy and powerful family in Mexico during the Porfirio Diaz era. His father was the industrial Thomas Braniff, who came to Mexico to build the Veracruz railroad. Alberto went to study in Europe, where aviation flourished as he...
and
Jorge ChávezJorge Chávez Dartnell , also known as Géo Chávez, was a Franco – Peruvian aviator. At a young age, he achieved fame for his aeronautical feats...
, Jorge Newbery was one of the first Latin American aircraft pilots.
Jorge Alejandro Newbery (1875-1914), known as
Jorge Newbery or, more familiarly, simply as "George", was an
ArgentineArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
pilotAn aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887 as a variation of the French 'aviation', from the latin 'avis', coined 1863 by G. de la Landelle in "Aviation ou Navigation Aérienne"...
of North American descent. His father, Ralph Newbery (a dentist born in 1848), emigrated from Long Island, New York, to Argentina after the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
(in which he is said to have taken part in the
Battle of GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg , fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of...
) . Along with
Alberto BraniffAlberto Braniff was a Mexican airplane pilot.Braniff was born in a wealthy and powerful family in Mexico during the Porfirio Diaz era. His father was the industrial Thomas Braniff, who came to Mexico to build the Veracruz railroad. Alberto went to study in Europe, where aviation flourished as he...
and
Jorge ChávezJorge Chávez Dartnell , also known as Géo Chávez, was a Franco – Peruvian aviator. At a young age, he achieved fame for his aeronautical feats...
, Jorge Newbery was one of the first Latin American aircraft pilots. He was also an
engineerEngineers are concerned with developing economical and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics and scientific knowledge while considering technical constraints. The term is derived from the Latin root "ingenium," meaning "cleverness"...
.
On April 9, 1909, Newbery wrote the first
newspaper article on
aviationAviation is the activity involving man-made air-borne flying devices , including the people, organizations, and regulatory bodies involved with them.- History :...
in Argentina. Entitled "Aeronáutica", the article was featured in the Buenos Aires
El NacionalEl Nacional is a Venezuelan publishing company under the name C.A. Editorial El Nacional, most widely known for its El Nacional newspaper. It, along with Últimas Noticias and El Universal, are the most widely read and circulated daily national newspapers in the country, and it has an average of...
.
By that time, Newbery was already a seasoned
aerostatThe word aerostat was originally French and is derived from the Greek aer + statos . An aerostat is a lighter than air object that can stay stationary in the air. Aerostats include free balloons, airships, moored balloons and tethered Helikites...
pilot, having flown these balloons four times over the Argentinian landscape. He had not, however, been in or even seen a heavier-than-air craft before he wrote the article.
Eduardo NewberyEduardo Federico Newbery was an Argentine doctor and aerostat pilot of North American descent. His father Ralph Lamartine Newbery, emigrated from Long Island, New York, and settled in Argentina after the American Civil War war where he took part at the Battle of Gettysburg...
, one of Jorge's siblings, was also a pioneer aviator in Argentina, and a member of the Aero Club Argentino which Jorge helped found. Eduardo perished in his aerostat, thus becoming one of the first two casualties in Argentine aviation history. One month after the death of his brother, on November 24, Jorge married Sara Escalante.
Newbery had been elected second vice-president of the Aero Club Argentino after he decided to join it to help it come out of the financial crisis it was facing, but Eduardo's
deathDeath is the termination of the biological functions that define a living organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby. The true nature of the latter has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical...
became an emotional issue and Jorge resigned shortly thereafter, though he would remain an ordinary member of the Club.
Newbery flew an
aerostatThe word aerostat was originally French and is derived from the Greek aer + statos . An aerostat is a lighter than air object that can stay stationary in the air. Aerostats include free balloons, airships, moored balloons and tethered Helikites...
round-trip for the first time on January 24, 1909, making his second round-trip flight on April 2. Ironically, on April 27, just eighteen days after publication of the aforementioned article, he was elected president of the same Aero Club Argentino which he had previously served as second vice-president. Newbery accepted, with the hope of turning around the club's dire situation.
Newbery had promised both his mother and his wife that he would not attempt to fly again after his brother's aerial death. The article that he wrote in 1909 showed his family that he had broken that promise, resulting in his
divorceDivorce or dissolution of marriage is the final termination of a marriage, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between two persons...
from Escalante, with whom he had at least one child.
He took part in the
Exposición Internacional del Centenario (1910)The Exposición International del Centenario was an exhibition held between May and November 1910 in Buenos Aires, to mark the centennial of the May Revolution in Argentina...
in Buenos Aires by making balloon ascents over the exhibition so that visitors could view the surrounding area of
PalermoPalermo is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is located in the northeast of the city, bordering the barrios of Belgrano to the north, Almagro and Recoleta to the south, Villa Crespo and Colegiales to the west and the Río de la Plata river to the east. With a total...
and the river.
By 1910, engine-propelled aircraft began to arrive in Argentina, and Newbery was first in line to fly them. In 1912, Argentina became the first country in Latin American to promote a
militarizedA military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...
air forceAn air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps, is in the broadest sense, the national military that primarily conducts aerial warfare...
, the culmination of an effort in which Newbery was one of the driving forces.
Jorge Newbery died as a result of an airplane crash on March 1, 1914, in the Argentine province of Mendoza. His name is still widely recognized in Argentina, where the second largest
airportAn airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
, the
Aeroparque Jorge NewberyJorge Newbery Airport is located in Palermo neighborhood, northeast of the center of Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. The airport covers an area of and is operated by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. It is located in the city near the Río de la Plata...
in
Buenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital, and largest city, of Argentina, currently the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the eastern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, is named after him.
External links