Dagoberto Godoy Fuentealba (22 July 1893 – 8 September 1960) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an military pilot and the first person to fly over the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

Biography

Godoy was born in

Temuco Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The city ...

, the son of Abraham Godoy and Clotilde Fuentealba. He was orphaned at the age of two and was raised by his maternal aunt Petronila y Tránsito Fuentealba. He entered the ''Escuela Militar del Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins'' military school in 1910, destined for a posting in the ''Batallón de Ferrocarrileros'' ("Railway Battalion") of the Army Engineers. In 1915 he requested a transfer to the ''Servicio de Aviación Militar de Chile'' ("Military Aviation Service of Chile"), and spent a year at the School of Military Aeronautics before graduating, and being promoted to lieutenant on 12 February 1916. He took part in several international competitions in 1916, winning the President of the Republic Prize, and coming second in a race held in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. In mid-1918 Chile received twelve Bristol M.1c aircraft from Britain. Major Victor Huston, a British flying ace, also arrived to assist in training the Chileans. In December Godoy, encouraged by Huston, obtained permission of the head of air service,

Pedro Dartnell Division General Pedro Pablo Dartnell Encina (December 24, 1873 – September 26, 1944) was a Chilean military officer and member of the Government Junta of Chile in 1925. Early life Dartnell was born in the city of Linares in 1873, the s ...

, to attempt a crossing the Andes, taking advantage of the Bristols superior performance to any aircraft they previously had. On 12 December 1918, flying Bristol M.1c ''C4988'', Godoy took off from the airfield of El Bosque, and flew past

Tupungato Tupungato, one of the highest mountains in the Americas, is a massive Andean lava dome dating to Pleistocene times. It lies on the border between the Chilean Metropolitan Region (near a major international highway about east of Santiago) and t ...

, through the mountain passes of Cristo Redentor and

Uspallata Uspallata is a village and administrative district in Argentina, in a scenic location on the road that crosses the Andes between Mendoza and Santiago in Chile. It is located west of Mendoza and was once served by the now disused Transandine R ...

, passing close to the summit of

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the Southern Hemisphere with a summi ...

, before landing in a field in Lagunitas, close to

Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (, ), officially the City of Mendoza ( es, Ciudad de Mendoza) is the capital of the province of Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern si ...

. Unfortunately he crashed into a fence, damaging his landing gear, propeller and starboard wing, and hitting his head on the dashboard, receiving a slight concussion. The flight had lasted 90 minutes at a speed of , at a maximum altitude of and was made in an open-cockpit aircraft without heating or oxygen. Godoy eventually returned to Chile to public acclaim, and was promoted to captain. His feat encouraged others, with Lieutenant Armando Cortinez Mújica flying another Bristol to Argentina and back on 5 April 1919, and the same year Sergeant Jose del Carmen Ojeda established the first South American altitude record of . Godoy left the army on 15 July 1924, and married Ernestina Lisbon Uribe the following year, with whom he had six children. In 1930 the

Chilean Air Force "With full speed to the stars" , colours = Indigo White , colours_label = , march = Alte Kameraden , mascot = , anniversaries = 21 March ...

was created as an independent branch, and in 1936, Godoy was granted the honorary rank of ''Capitán de Bandada''. In 1952 Godoy was promoted to the honorary rank of ''Comandante de Grupo'', and to ''General de Brigada Aérea'' in 1957. Godoy died in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

on 8 September 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godoy, Dagoberto 1893 births 1960 deaths People from Temuco Chilean aviators Chilean Army officers Chilean Air Force officers 20th-century Chilean military personnel