Veteran Breguet 14 to visit Brazil to commemorate 90 years of Aéropostale

Toulouse, France, 29 July 2015 — Let’s go back in time… One century ago, in November 1924, four Breguet XIV biplanes, stacked in crates, left the La Palice harbor, near Bordeaux, in France headed for Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Reassembled at Campos dos Afonsos — Brazil’s historical aerodrome located north of the then Brazilian capital Rio de Janeiro — these aircraft were soon, in 1925, to form the nucleus of the first air postal route ever in South America.

In order to pay tribute to these pioneers, this coming October and November, the only airworthy Breguet XIV existing in the world will re-enact the historical flight of these French aviators 90 years ago. The initiative, supported by the city of Toulouse, was launched by the preservation-minded Association Breguet 14 (www.breguet14.org) in order to recall the important achievement  of the Liaisons Aériennes Latécoère — the future Aéropostale — of the 1920s in creating the first air mail routes between Brazil and Argentina, using surplus as well as new Breguet XIVs (built in Toulouse-Montaudran until 1928) to link three South American countries : Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

During its 8-week stay in South America, the Breguet XIV crew, led by Eugène Bellet and Luc Gimazane its two veteran pilots, will first be the host of Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, and of general Nivaldo Luís Rossato, the commander of the Força Aérea Brasileira, before flying south to Montevideo in Uruguay, before finally crossing the estuary of the Rio de la Plata onto Buenos Aires’ Morón air base in Argentina, thus re-enacting the 90 years old postal airway with its famous stages in Santos, Florianópolis, Porto Alegre and Pelotas at the fantastic speed of… 140 km/h. The Breguet XIV F-POST will fly the route in and back spending some time during each stopover en route to be exhibited in public with the support of local associations and institutions, including the Association Internationale des Villes Escales de l’Aéropostale.

The Breguet XIV is often considered one of the best combat aircraft of World War 1, being used both for bombing and reconnaisance missions. A total of 26 air arms, including the French Aéronautique Militaire, flew this big biplane well into the century. Designed by Louis Breguet, who flew the first Breguet AV Type XIV (later to be shortened to Breguet 14) on its first flight on 21 November 1916, the big French biplane was to become one of the most famous aircraft of the conflict. It was built in very large numbers (over 7,000 copies ) and production continued for many years after the end of the war.

Apart from its widespread usage, it was noteworthy for becoming the first aircraft put in mass production to use a wide amount of metallic parts rather than wood in its structure. This allowed the airframe of the aeroplane to be lighter than a more traditional wooden airframe of the same strength, in turn making the aircraft quite fast and sprightly for its size, able to outrun many of the opponents of the time. Its strong construction was able to sustain much damage, it was easy to handle and had good performance. The aptly registered Breguet XIV F-POST is usually home-based near Moissac in France, at the Gandalou aerodrome shared by the municipalities of Moissac and Castelsarrasin in Tarn-et-Garonne, some 70 km north of Toulouse.

By Jean-Michel Guhl