First of two parts
Considered the ultimate hero of the Mexican Aviation, Captain Emilio Carranza Rodríguez became the first mexican pilot in making a long flight by plane without stops, so today he rests in the roundabout of the illustrious men of the country.
In Tampico one of the main streets of the downtown area bears his name, in honor of the feat carried out by this man.
He saw the light for the first time in Villa Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, on December 9, 1905, son of Mr. Sebastián Carranza and Mrs. María Rodríguez. He was the great-nephew of Don Venustiano Carranza, the first commander of the Constitutional Army, who became the first Constitutionalist President of the Mexican Republic. He was also the nephew of General Alberto Salinas Carranza, pioneer of Mexican aviation and founder of the Mexican School of Aviation.
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According to the story told by the Ministry of Communications and Transportation, after the start of the Mexican Revolution in early 1911 the Carranza family was forced to leave her country and they moved to San Antonio, Texas, to return to the Mexico City.
Attracted by the National Aviation Academy and the aircraft parts factories, the young Emilio accompanied his uncle General Alberto Salinas Carranza every day to the Balbuena airport, where his vocation emerged, for which he entered school several years later. of aviation, to be accepted in the School of Military Aviation on July 2, 1923 from where he graduated with honors.
THE DREAM OF FLYING
In January 1926 he was commissioned lieutenant of the Mexican Air Force. A few months later he went to the United States to buy an airplane that he was trying to use on long-haul flights, where he acquired in Chicago, Illinois, a Lincoln Standard airplane with a 180-horsepower Heso engine.
With this he projected a trip following the route: Chicago, Moline, St. Joseph, Kansas City, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Laredo, Monterrey, San Luis Potosí and Mexico City.
After leaving Oklahoma City he had to make a forced landing due to lack of fuel and trying to avoid hitting a woman who crossed his path hit some trees, a situation from which they came out when his mechanic brother repaired the ship and continued with your destiny.
Three months he was assigned to the Yaqui Campaign in the state of Sonora, where he distinguished himself and was promoted to the rank of captain, while still thinking about his dream of long flights, for which he fixed a wooden plane that the Air Force had discarded. and he put a 185-horsepower BMW engine on it.
After testing it and satisfied that he could fly it long distance, he named it “Coahuila” and announced that he was ready to fly without stages from Mexico City to Ciudad Juárez, a feat he achieved on September 2, 1927 when he landed in Ciudad Juárez. , arrival at the border city that coincided with that of Charles A. Lindbergh and his ship, Spirit of St. Louis, in El Paso, Texas. The two met and a great friendship began between the two airmen; which became even more profound when Lindbergh, who was called “The Solitary Eagle”, visited Mexico City on a goodwill flight on December 14, 1927. Captain Emilio Carranza was the official companion of Charles Lindbergh during his stay. in our capital.
The flight Lindbergh’s flight from Washington to Mexico City was the goal that aroused interest and enthusiasm in Mexican aviation, spreading the idea that Mexico should sponsor a goodwill flight from Mexico City to Washington in response to the gesture of friendship on the Mexican flight. Lindbergh that December.
This aroused the interest of the banks and soon people from all sides were sending contributions including Mexicans who had emigrated to the United States; students from all over the country of Mexico and all those people with a sense of patriotism who wanted to promote the noble cause of peace, goodwill and understanding between the two countries. When Lindbergh learned of the possible flight, he sent in a donation of $ 2,500 himself. The committee required a ship already tested and capable of flying 24 hours continuously. They decided it had to be a Ryan B2 (replica of the Spirit of St. Louis) made in San Diego, California. The order was made and the ship that was named “Excelsior” was built. Mexico was now looking for the most serious and professional of its pilots for this memorable flight. On February 14, 1928, the Excelsior newspaper invited Emilio Carranza by telegraph to carry out this sensational flight from Mexico City to Washington, DC
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