ONLINE RESOURCES
     Using the Google search engine on "Jorge Chavez +aviation", ( 6-19-04), you will find some 878 links. Today, (9-10-09), there are 15,900!! By refining the search using "Jorge Chavez + historia", (6-19-04), you will find about 383 links. Today, (9-10-09), there are about 33,700!!! Most of them are in Spanish, but many have English translations readily available. Usually you will have to visit the site in the foreign language to enjoy the many photographs, but then you can use the English version to better understand the story.
 

 
 
JORGE CHÁVEZ DARTNELL
     Perhaps one of the best places to start is on this page of the Museo Aeronáutico del Perú website. It offers a very concise and complete revue of his life and career. In addition to a number of important photographs, you can view a short video of his life. The narration is in Spanish, but even if you only understand English, you will enjoy the pictures. You can access an enlarged diagram of his Bleriot-XI directly from the page.
LA HAZAÑA DE JORGE CHÁVEZ
 
 
Hazaña
 
 
THE EXPLOIT OF JORGE CHÁVEZ
     If you scroll down to about the middle of the page, you will find the banner seen above. If you click on it, you will be taken to a website which describes this interactive CD which offers a remarkable collection of materials on the life and career of the pioneer Jorge Chávez Dartnell. It was authored by Major General FAP Oscar Gagliardi Kindlimann, with the collaboration of his co-author: Oscar Gagliardi Corpancho. It was officially presented for the first time at the Military Air School of the Peruvian Air Force on June 13, 2002, the date of the anniversary of the birth of Jorge Chávez Dartnell. More than 450 people attended the celebration.
     You will find this CD to be a remarkable resource for anyone interested in learning more about his story.
 
       This is a list of the contents of the CD. The entire text is in Spanish, but I have tried to translate it into English so that my English-only visitors can appreciate the wealth of materials which are available.
# Personal Data
# Childhood and adolescence
# Aerial Activity
# Bleriot XI
# The Feat "He crosses of the Alps"
# Dialogue with the hero
# Agony and death
# Funeral Rites
# Delivery to Peru of the remains of the Bleriot XI airplane of Jorge Chávez
# Repatriation of the remains of the hero
# Monuments erected
# postal Compositions and poems
# Stamps celebrating the feat
# "Jorge Chávez Dartnell" Decoration
# The Hymn of the Aviation of Peru
# Aeronautical Museum of Peru - Jorge Chávez Room
# Publications in the "El Comercio" Newspaper of Lima
# Historical Documents
# Links to pages of interest on the Internet
# Multimedia Elements: Some 300 images, drawings, photographs, maps and diagrams
# Videos
# Audio: Dialogues, hymns, stories and poems
# Animations
# Comic strip: Animated by the artist Jose González Corpancho
 

 
 
EL MUSEO AERONAÚTICO DEL PERÚ
     This is the homepage of the museum on which the article cited above is to be found. It is well worth visiting if you want to know more about Peruvian Aviation. Of particular interest are the Heroes de la Aviación Peruana (Heroes of Peruvian Aviation) and Pioneros de la Aviación Peruana (Pioneers of Peruvian Aviation) sections. There is even a section containing four video and two audio files. Most of the text is in Spanish, but there are some passages available in English. You can access the site by clicking on the title above.
 

 
 
Jorge Chávez Dartnell
     This page on the Museo Aeronáutico del Perú website was recommended to me by my friend Eduardo Dargent. The text is entirely in Spanish, but there are many photographs which can be enjoyed by anyone. You can access the site by clicking on the title above.
 

 
 
JORGE CHÁVEZ MONUMENT
     This link leads to the Skyscraper City website where Enrique Rodriguez Castillo has contributed six beautiful picture of the monument, both historical and recent. The first one shows the dedication of the monument in 1937 and the multitude of people who attended as well as the airplanes which overflew the site. You can access the site by clicking on the title above.
 

 
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RECOMMENDED READING
 

 
 
Geo. Chavez
GEO. CHAVEZ
Il primo trasvolatore delle Alpi
 
Martini Luciano
 
Product Details
Editore: Tararà 2004
Prezzo: € 19.00
ISBN: 8886593422
ISBN-13: 9788886593427
 

 
  Excerpt
Courtesy of Giovanni Giorgetti

Italian

Il meeting di Verona, pur con le sue multiple manchevolezze, è importantissimo per Geo e quindi anche per noi. Arthur Duray, un pilota lorenese naturalizzato francese, era al suo esordio in un meeting internazionale; sino ad allora aveva guidato automobili da corsa. Era poi passato, assieme a Hubert Latham, a fare il collaudatore presso la società Antoinette. A Verona, Duray ebbe un primo gravissimo incidente il 25 maggio. Dopo aver vinto il premio di velocità, egli tentò di ripartire. L'aereo però, invece di innalzarsi, si inclinò in avanti e si schiacciò al suolo. Il pilota riuscì a salvarsi saltando fuori dal sedile; il motore, dato il tipo di incidente, rimase comunque danneggiato assieme all'elica. II 29 maggio, ultimo giorno del meeting, l'aereo dopo le necessarie riparazioni, era a punto, o almeno così sembrava. Duray parte e arriva fino alla cabina delle segnalazioni situata alla fine della pista di decollo, senza però riuscire ad alzarsi dal campo. Nel bloccare la corsa dell'aereo, Duray scivola dal sedile, cade in avanti e viene imprigionato dalle ruote del carrello. Non riesce a liberarsi, mentre l'aeroplano continua a ruotare su se stesso.

Geo che è ai bordi del campo ad attendere il proprio turno di volo, si lancia di corsa, sale sull'apparecchio impazzito, raggiunge il posto di guida e riesce a fermare il motore. Duray, che prima dell'intervento di Geo, era stato colpito più volte dall'elica al fianco sinistro, ha tre costole fratturate, che, nei giorni successivi, gli procureranno un emotorace; il versamento di sangue nella pleura sarà così abbondante da spostare il cuore del povero pilota verso destra, creandogli così problemi cardio-circolatori. I medici sono molto preoccupati per la sua vita. Tuttavia, per fortuna sua e di Geo; Duray si rimise dopo qualche mese di ospedale: ritenne però prudente abbandonare la carriera di pilota. Decise di continuare comunque a vivere le emozioni dell'aviazione, offrendosi di seguire il suo salvatore Geo Chavez. Diverrà il suo amico più fidato, il confidente pi ù silenzioso, il consigliere più attento. Sarà con lui a Briga, sarà con lui a Domossola. Era nata, da quell'incidente, una grande amicizia. Forse la più grande nella storia dell'aviazione.

English

The meeting in Verona, despite its multiple shortcomings, was very important for Geo and thus also for us. Arthur Duray, a Lorraine pilot naturalized French, was on his debut in an international meeting, until then had driven racing cars. He was then chosen, along with Hubert Latham, test fly at the Antoinette company. In Verona, Duray had his first serious incident on May 25th. After having won the speed prize, he tried to leave. The airplane, however, instead of rising, pitched forward and crashed to the ground. The pilot managed to escape by jumping out of the seat; the engine, due to the type of accident, was damaged along with the propeller. On the May 29th, the last day of the meeting, the airplane after the necessary repairs, was readied, or so it seemed. Duray prodeeded and reached the signal box located at the end of the take-off runway, but he could not get off the field. In stopping the run of the plane, Duray slid from the seat, fell forward and was imprisoned by the wheels of the undercarriage. He could not free himself, while the airplane continued to turn on itself.

George, who was on the sidelines waiting for his turn to fly, raced forward, got on the aircraft gone crazy, made it to the driver's seat and stopped the engine. Duray, who before the intervention of George was hit several times by the propeller on his left hip, had three fractured ribs, which, in the days that followed, caused a hemothorax and the pooling of blood in the pleura was so abundant as to move the heart of the poor pilot to the right, thus causing cardio-circulatory problems. The doctors are very worried for his life. However, fortunately for him and Georeg, Duray recovered after a few months in the hospital, but he thought it was prudent to abandon his career as a pilot. He decided to continue anyway to experience the excitement of aviation, and offered to follow his saver George Chavez. He will become his most trustworthy in Domodossola. It was from that incident that a great friendship was born, perhaps the most intense in aviation history.
 

 
 
Before Amelia
Storie di piloti e di aeroplani
Some tales of pilots and airplanes
First Edition
 
Giorgio Evangelisti
 
Product Details
Publisher: Editoriale Olimpia - Florence 1991.
 
 
Description:
via email from Giovanni Giorgetti, 3-31-05
Dear Ralph
     A friend of mine Umberto Saccenti has brought me the book of Giorgio Evangelisti "Storie di piloti e di aeroplani" (Some tales of pilots and airplanes) Editoriale Olimpia - Florence 1991.
Two photos referring Chavez are in the book.
I thank Umberto for the courtesy.
Giovanni Giorgetti,

Editor's Note: When I searched on the title using Google, (4-2-05), I found the Editoriale Olimpia website on which is described the new, second-edition of the book, as well as a biography of the author. You can access that site, in Italian, by clicking on:
Storie di piloti e di aeroplani
     If you are like me and can't read Italian, you can access a machine-translation of the site by clicking on:
Some tales of pilots and airplanes
 

 
 
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