EUCLIDES PINTO MARTINS 1892-1924

Euclides Pinto Martins Photo courtesy of Roberto Pires de Oliveira

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES from A Saga de Euclides Pinto Martins e Seus Amigos by R. Pires      Euclides Pinto Martins was born in the city of Camocim, state of Ceará, Brazil on April 15, 1892. He is best remembered as being the co-pilot for Walter Hinton on the first flight from New York to Rio de Janeiro. The trip started on September 4, 1922 and ended in Rio on February 8, 1923. You can read the whole fascinating story by accessing the websites which are shown below.

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Euclides Pinto Martins", using the Google search engine, (9-18-04), you will find about 30 links. All of them are written in Portuguese, but most have machine translations available. The two written by R. Pires cited below are the most comprehensive and interesting.

 

CAMOCIM, FILHO ILUSTRE! CAMOCIM, ILLUSTRIOUS SON!      This introduction to the life and career of Euclides was written by R. Pires and was originally found on the Literário On-Line website, but has disappeared from the net. (10-1-05). Fortunately for us, the author, Roberto Pires de Oliveira, has kindly allowed me to translate his article and make a copy of it available on this site. It is the shorter of two articles written by him and is a good place to start. You can access it by clicking on the title above.

 

A Saga de Euclides Pinto Martins e Seus Amigos The Saga of Euclides Pinto Martins and his Friends by R. Pires      This article is several pages long, very comprehensive, and offers the most complete story of his life and career which I have been able to find. It is divided into sub-sections entitled: His Life, The Airplane, The Trip, The Arrival, and His Death. Each of the sections is quite complete and very interesting. It also includes two photographs of the aeroplane, the Sampaio Correia II. The original article has disappeared from the net, but luckily, the author Roberto Pires de Oliveira, has kindly allowed me to translate his article and make a copy of it available on this site. You can access it by clicking on the title above.

 

A Epopéia da Aviação Os Hidroaviões Aterrissam no Potengi      This page, written in Portuguese, offers a brief mention of Walter Hinton and his first trip to Brazil. You will find a brief extract from the whole article immediately below and a translation into English right below that.      "No dia 21 de dezembro de 1922, o brasileiro Euclides Pinto Martins e o norte-americano Walter Hinton chegava a Natal, fazendo o "Sampaio Correia II" amerissar nas águas do Rio Potengi. Estavam realizando o "raid" Nova Iorque-Rio de Janeiro."      "Após essas façanhas, a capital norte-rio-grandense passou a receber grande número de aviadores famosos, que com suas aventuras escreviam a história da aviação. Todos eles foram recebidos como verdadeiros heróis." The Epic of Aviation The Hydroplanes Land in the Potengi      On December 21, 1922, the Brazilian Euclides Pinto Martins and the North American Walter Hinton arrived in Natal, landing the "Sampaio Correia II" in the River Potengi. They were on a flight from New York to Rio de Janeiro.      After these exploits, the Rio Grande do Norte capital began to receive large number of visits from famous aviators, who by means of their adventures helped to write the history of aviation. All of them had been received as true heroes.

 

DOCUMENTARY MOVIE

O Vôo Histórico de Pinto Martins The Historical Flight of Pinto Martins Eliani Israel Feldman Brasil/RJ, 45 min, cor, 35mm, 1998 Uma reconstituição do vôo histórico de Euclides Pinto Martins que em 1922 foi o idealizador e desbravador da rota aérea Nova York - Rio de Janeiro. A reconstitution of the historic flight of Euclides Pinto Martins who, in 1922, created and flew the New York - Rio de Janeiro route. Contato/ Contact: Lerpan Produção de Vídeos E-mail: lepanp@aol.com.br

 

"Pinto Martins morto em seu quarto com um tiro na cabeça vitimado talvez por uma crise de depressão. Era o dia 12 de abril de 1924, pouco mais de um ano depois de tão glorioso feito."      Pinto Martins died in his room by a shot in the head, perhaps due to a depression crisis. It was April 12, 1924, little more than one year after his glorious triumph. from Literaria ON-LINE website   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this Early Bird, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back