Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
More than 16 months after leaving Abu Dhabi, the experimental solar-powered monoplane Solar Impulse 2 completed its first-of-a-kind circumnavigation of Earth by returning to the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The innovative aircraft had been one of two built as part of a privately financed aviation project in Switzerland. The Swiss citizens leading this... Continue Reading →
In Brazil, the first flight of a new two-seat trainer aircraft took place. The low-wing monoplane, which became known as the A-122 Uirapuru, could accommodate both the pilot and instructor side-by-side. The A-122 Uirapuru was built by Aerotec, a design and manufacturing company that had been founded in the city of San Jose do Campos... Continue Reading →
Gino Bianco, who achieved fame as a racecar driver from Brazil, died in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 67. He had been born Luigi Emilio Rodolfo Bertetti in Milan, Italy, in 1916, and immigrated to Brazil as a child with his family. His original automotive career involved working as a car mechanic and... Continue Reading →
The Chilean duo of Gonzalo Bravo and Eduardo Canales Moya maneuvered a specially equipped 1986 Suzuki Samurai off-road car up the slopes of Ojos del Salado volcano. The volcano, measuring 22,615 feet in height, is located in the Andes on the Argentina-Chile border. It is the highest active volcano in the world and also has... Continue Reading →
Boliviana de Aviación (BoA), which serves as the national airline of Bolivia and is entirely owned by the South American country’s government, formally began operations with its first commercial flight. This flight was made by a Boeing 737 airliner traveling between the cities of La Paz (the capital) and Cochabamba. Evo Morales, Bolivia’s president since... Continue Reading →
The Argentine Navy icebreaker ARA Almirante Irízar, which was built and launched in Finland, first arrived in Argentina. The vessel was named in honor of Admiral Julián Irízar, who played an important role in modernizing the Argentine Navy’s fleet. He also commanded the ARA Uruguay when the gunboat rescued members of the 1903 Swedish Antarctic... Continue Reading →
A new station on the Buenos Aires Premetro light rail line on the outskirts of Argentina’s capital city was opened. Nuestra Señora de Fátima station (popularly known as Fátima station), which is located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood (barrio) of Villa Soklati, was the first Premetro station to be opened after service on the line... Continue Reading →
The Argentine Navy steam gunboat ARA Uruguay was launched in England, where she had been built by the shipbuilding company Laird Brothers. The new vessel arrived at the city of Montevideo in Uruguay (Argentina’s ally and neighbor) about four months after being launched. It was there that the Argentine Navy formally received the new vessel... Continue Reading →
Costa Rica’s first nationally operated airline, Empresa Nacional de Transportes Aéreos (ENTA), was established by an American émigré named William Schoenfeldt. The airline made its debut a little over two decades after the first-ever plane flight in the Central American country had taken place. When ENTA began operations, it provided only intermittent flight service between... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 