Eduardo Barrón (full name Eduardo Barrón y Ramos de Sotomayor; 7 September 1888 – 13 January 1949) was a Spanish

aeronautical Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred solely to ''ope ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and military pilot who led the design department at ''

Talleres Loring Talleres Loring (Loring Workshops) was a Spanish aeronautical company founded by engineer and entrepreneur Jorge Loring after moving to Madrid. History A predecessor company, Loring Pujol y Cia, had been founded in Barcelona by Jorge Loring ...

'' from 1923 to 1930.

Biography

Eduardo Barrón was born in a village in Colonial Cuba. His family moved to Spain towards the turn of the century, settling in Madrid. He studied at the Academy of Military Engineering of Guadalajara in 1902, becoming an apprentice lieutenant in 1907. Barrón was posted to the ''Compañía de Aeroestación y Alumbrado en Campaña''

aerostat An aerostat (, via French) or lighter-than-air aircraft is an aircraft that relies on buoyancy to maintain flight. Aerostats include unpowered balloons (free-flying or tethered) and powered airships. The relative density of an aerostat as a ...

section in 1908 under Colonel Vives, becoming a certified

balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

pilot in July 1909. His unit was transferred to Spanish North Africa where he took part in the local military campaigns between 1909 and 1910.Warleta Carrillo, José (1989). «Revista Aeroplano nº 6». En Instituto de Historia y Cultura Aeronáutica. Eduardo Barrón y Ramos de Sotomayor. Madrid. p. 64 and foll. In 1911 Barrón was transferred back to

peninsular Spain Peninsular Spain is the part of the territory of Spain located within the Iberian Peninsula, thus excluding other parts of Spain: the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, and several islets and crags off the coast of Morocco kno ...

where he was selected to become an aircraft pilot, together with pioneering Spanish military airmen

Alfredo Kindelán Alfredo Kindelán y Duany, 1st Marquess of Kindelán (13 March 1879 – 14 December 1962) was a Spanish general and politician. A close ally of Francisco Franco before and during the Spanish Civil War, their relationship would later become s ...

, Emilio Herrera, Enrique Arrillaga and

José Ortiz Echagüe José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

. Barrón became the second person to pass the first military pilot training course in Spain.''Centenario de la Aviación Militar Española (1911-2011)'', Fundación de Aeronáutica y Astronáutica Española, page 11 The following year he was promoted to captain of the newly created Aeronautics section that was separated from the aerostat section under the orders of Alfredo Kindelán. In 1913 Barrón was posted to the Tétouan aerodrome, where he was in charge of the

Lohner B.I The Lohner B.I was a military reconnaissance aircraft produced in Austria-Hungary during World War I.Taylor 1989, 610 As Lohner strove to perfect the design, a variety of increasingly powerful engines were fitted, reflected in a range of militar ...

aircraft newly bought from

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. He carried out reconnaissance and light bombing in the Tétouan area as leader of the group.

Early aircraft development

In 1914 Barrón was transferred to

Cuatro Vientos Cuatro Vientos is an administrative neighborhood () of Madrid belonging to the district of Latina. Geography Cuatro Vientos is situated in the south-western area of central Madrid, close to the motorways A5 and M40 and to the homonymous airpor ...

near Madrid in order to become involved in aircraft construction at the new military aircraft workshop. He modified the Lohner biplanes producing a new model that would be known as Barrón ''Flecha'', credited to be the first step of the Spanish aeronautical industry. The plane made its first flight in April 1915, following which he fitted the ''Flecha'' with a more powerful 140 hp

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft engines, trucks and weapons. ...

motor for a demonstration flight before King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

on 27 July. L. Utrilla Navarro= ed. ''La Aeronáutica Española, de 1898 a 1936''
/ref> Following the successful demonstration the Carde y Escoriaza company, based in

Saragossa Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, was commissioned to build twelve ''Flecha'' planes that would not be ready until 1916. Barrón continued modifying the ''Flecha'' prototype,Real Hermandad de Veteranos de las Fuerzas Armadas y de la Guardia Civil (eds.). ''Centenario de la Aviación Militar Española'' producing a new Hispano-Suiza-fitted model which had improved visibility for the pilot and which he named

Barrón W Barrón is a hamlet and ''concejo (Álava), concejo'' in the municipality of Ribera Alta/Erriberagoitia, in Álava province, Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. Geography Barrón is located at above sea level, on th ...

. Subsequently, twelve Barrón W were built at the Cuatro Vientos workshops. After a visit to France, where he studied in depth the building of the SPAD S.VII, he built a version of the same plane that he would designate ''España'', also fitted with a Hispano-Suiza motor. The '' Loring Pujol y Cia'' company in Barcelona was commissioned with building twelve units of the ''Barrón España'', but these never entered active service owing to serious construction flaws. In 1917 Barrón, left the military in order to lead the aviation section of 'La Hispano', a subsidiary company of Hispano-Suiza. He designed a reconnaissance and a fighter plane for the company in 1918, the Hispano Barrón. However, the stock of cheap and more technologically advanced

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

planes available at the end of the conflict foreclosed any incentive for the development of a local aircraft industry for the time being. Barrón returned to the military profession in 1920 and was posted to the

Tablada Aerodrome The Tablada Aerodrome, formerly known as the Tablada hippodrome, was a sports venue in the city of Seville, Spain. The venue was formed and reformed numerous times in its existence, being a historical fundamental piece in several categories such a ...

near

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. In August 1921 he became

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

and was transferred back to Cuatro Vientos in order to take charge of the direction of the workshops and stores ''(Talleres y Almacenes)''. In 1922 he was transferred again to Seville as chief of the

military airbase An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

and in October the same year he married Matilde de la Vega y Martínez de Mora.

Engineer at Loring and retirement

Barrón returned to Cuatro Vientos in order to become chief engineer at a newly built aeronautical factory, ''

'', which had won a contract to produce Fokker C.IV reconnaissance planes under licence. While at Loring Barrón designed and tested his own planes in flight, beginning with the Loring RB military

surveillance aircraft Surveillance aircraft are aircraft used for surveillance. They are primarily operated by military forces and government agencies in roles including intelligence gathering, maritime patrol, battlefield and airspace surveillance, observation (e. ...

, an obscure monoplane prototype of which there are no data. Meanwhile, General Primo de Rivera took power and began a dictatorship that sought to protect and promote local industries. Thanks to this support, Barrón's following project, the Loring R.I reconnaissance and light bomber, went into production and thirty units were built for the ''Aeronáutica Militar'' of the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

. Based on this plane he designed and developed the Loring R-III, an aircraft of similar characteristics powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12Hb, which went into production with a total of 110 units built. These were delivered to the ''Aeronáutica Militar'' beginning in 1929, still during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. Meanwhile, and despite the favorable situation the Spanish aeronautical industry enjoyed, other planes designed by Barrón remained in the prototype stage. Among these the following deserve mention: the Loring R-II, the Loring C-I fighter, the Loring T.1 trainer, and the Loring E.II light plane powered by an Elizalde A6 110 hp radial engine. A modified E.II, named ''La Pepa'' and fitted with a

Kinner K-5 The Kinner K-5 was a popular engine for light general and sport aircraft developed by Winfield B. 'Bert' Kinner. With the boom in civilian aviation after Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight the K-5 sold well. The K-5 was a rough running but ...

motor, would be used by Fernando Rein Loring (1902-1978) in his solo flight from Madrid to

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

in 1932. By 1930 Barrón suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

followed by

hemiplegia Hemiparesis, also called unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia, in its most severe form, is the complete paralysis of one entire side of the body. Either hemiparesis or hemiplegia ...

and had to interrupt all professional activity at Loring Aeronautical Works. A prototype was built of his Loring T-3 three-engined commercial monoplane, also known as ''Barrón Colonial'' in 1931,Birth, first steps and pre-war planes of the Spanish Military Aviation
/ref> but other designs, including the Loring B-2 a 4,000 kg payload bomber powered by six engines, remained in the project stage.

Later life

In 1931 Eduardo Barrón applied for retirement and obtained from the newly installed Spanish Republican government a substantial

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

. Barrón also finally was granted the

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

title by the Republic, for until then he had been carrying out his successful engineering work without being academically certified. Around that time the Loring company began to face financial difficulties in the wake of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and it became an uphill task for Jorge Loring to finance Barrón's more ambitious aircraft projects.Ateneo - Jorge Loring Martinez
/ref> Barrón moved to Seville, his wife's town, in 1933 where he lived in semi-retirement. In July 1936, at the outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, he was commissioned by General Queipo de Llano to adapt local industries to the war effort. At the end of the civil war, he was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the Corps of Aeronautical Engineers. In 1944 he was given the largely ceremonial post of inspector at the ''Dirección General de Industria y Material'', and had to move to Madrid, ascending to the rank of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in 1945. He died in Madrid in 1949, following a new stroke.

Bibliography

* Warleta Carrillo, José
''Eduardo Barrón y Ramos de Sotomayor''
, in Aeroplano. Revista de Historia Aeronáutica, nº 6. Marzo 1989. p. 64 and foll. * Permuy López, Rafael Angel y González Serrano, José Luis. ''Aviación Militar Española'', editorial Tikal, Madrid, 2010, p. 13 and foll.

References

External links

Ejército del Aire - Triplano Barrón
* ttp://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25854.htm Barron deltabr>Spanish military aviation pioneers (in Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barron, Eduardo 1888 births 1949 deaths Aerial warfare pioneers Aircraft designers Spanish aviation pioneers Spanish military aviators Bomber pilots Reconnaissance pilots People from Matanzas 20th-century Spanish engineers 20th-century Spanish military personnel