Atlantis patrol

The Patrulla Atlántida was a flight in stages carried out between Melilla and Equatorial Guinea in 1926.

History

The patrol, made up of three Dornier Wal planes with Rolls-Royce "Eagle 9" engines, named "Andalucía", "Catalonia" and "Valencia", left Melilla on December 10, 1926. She arrived in Santa Isabel (present-day Malabo) on the island of Fernando Poo (present-day Bioko) on December 25.

The crews were as follows:

• Valencia: chief of patrol and pilot commander Rafael Llorente Sola, observer captain Teodoro Vives Camino, radiotelegrapher Sergeant Navarro and second mechanic Naranjo.
• Catalonia: pilot captain Manuel Martínez Merino, second pilot Antonio Llorente Sola, captain photographer Cipriano Grande Fernández Bazán and second mechanic Juan Quesada.
• Andalusia: pilot Captain Niceto Rubio García, second pilot captain Ignacio Jiménez Martin, ("Jesus of the Great Power 1928-1929) and navigator captain aeronautical engineer Antonio Cañete Heredia and second mechanic Modesto Madariaga (formerly mechanic of the Four Winds in 1933).

Escorted by the sailboat x#34;Cabo Falcón#34; of 120 tons.

The route was: Melilla, Casablanca, Las Palmas, Port-Étienne, Dakar, Conakry, Monrovia-Grand Bassam, Lagos, Santa Isabel. They traveled 15,000 km round trip.

In 1927 the International League of Aviators awarded first prize to Charles Lindbergh for his crossing of the North Atlantic and second prize to Cte. Rafael Llorente as head of the Atlántida Patrol.

Stages of Flight

Global data

• Total distance route: 6,829 km
• Inverted time; 53 h 55 min
• Average speed: 126.9 km/h