The feat of the Spanish seaplane Plus Ultra in 1926 shown in color in a documentary

This year marked a century since the long journey of a Spanish airplane that marked a milestone in our aeronautical history: the Plus Ultra.

Plus Ultra: the great feat of the first Spanish flight that managed to cross the Atlantic
The history of the circular national insignias used by military aviation

The aircraft, a Dornier Do J Wal seaplane of the Spanish Army's Military Aeronautics Service (at that time, the current Spanish Air Force was still 13 years away from being founded), took off on January 22, 1926, from Palos de la Frontera (Huelva), the town from which, on August 3, 1492, the three ships of Columbus's first voyage set sail, leading to the Discovery of America. After making several stops in the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Brazil, and Uruguay, the Plus Ultra arrived in Buenos Aires on February 10, 1926, which was a major event in Argentina.

The Plus Ultra made this voyage crewed by Infantry Commander Ramón Franco Bahamonde (pilot), Artillery Captain Julio Ruiz de Alda (navigator), and Corporal Pablo Rada Ustarroz (onboard mechanic). As far as the Canary Islands, they were accompanied by Lieutenant Commander Juan Manuel Durán, a member of the Spanish Navy's General Corps and one of the pioneers of Spanish naval aviation.

Three years ago, we already covered the story of that famous journey here, told through black and white photos, as was common at the time. This Wednesday, the Spanish Air Force released an excellent documentary about that historic flight. The video is a production directed by Daniel Domenech, of Historical Exhibitions, and has the unique feature of showing the protagonists of that feat in color and in animated images, something we are not used to. You can watch it here (the video is in Spanish, you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

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Main image: Ejército del Aire.