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93-499: The task to open the new air routes was given to, among others, two well-known French aviators: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry as the director of the newly formed company based in Buenos Aires , and to Jean Mermoz , as the company's chief pilot. Saint-Exupéry conducted Aeroposta's inaugural flight on November 1, 1929, flying from an airfield at Villa Harding Green to Comodoro Rivadavia. In the early days of commercial aviation, which

186-496: A French journalist from La Provence , who was investigating Saint-Exupéry's death, contacted former Luftwaffe pilots who flew in the area of Marseille, eventually getting an account from Horst Rippert (1922–2013). Rippert was the older brother of the famous bass singer Ivan Rebroff , who was born in Berlin as Hans-Rolf Rippert. In his memoirs, Horst Rippert, an admirer of Saint-Exupéry's books, expressed both fears and doubts that he

279-678: A Hostage ), dedicated to the 40 million French living under Nazi oppression , in addition to numerous shorter pieces in support of France. The Saint-Exupérys also resided in Quebec City , Canada for several weeks during the late spring of 1942. During their time in Quebec City, the family lived with the philosopher Charles De Koninck and his family, including his "precocious" 8-year-old son, Thomas . After he returned from his stay in Québec, which had been fraught with illness and stress,

372-622: A Latécoère 28, No. 293, registration F- AJUX. Because of the Great Depression , Bouilloux-Lafont, who ran a major banking consortium and transport companies, was irretrievably affected. From early 1930, the French Government refused to release the loan approval that had been agreed in an agreement signed the previous year, and the company's financial situation was aggravated by the Argentinian coup of September 1930, in

465-689: A P-38 through engine failure on his second mission, he was grounded for eight months, but was then later reinstated to flight duty on the personal intervention of General Ira Eaker , Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces. After Saint-Exupéry resumed flying, he also returned to his longtime habit of reading and writing while flying his single-seat Lockheed F-5B (a specially configured P-38 reconnaissance variant). His prodigious studies of literature gripped him and on occasion, he continued his readings of literary works until moments before takeoff, with mechanics having warmed up and tested his aircraft for him in preparation for his flight. On one flight, to

558-463: A P-38 which was flown by Second Lieutenant Gene Meredith on 30 July, shot down south of Nice . In 1972, the German magazine Der Landser quoted a letter from Luftwaffe reconnaissance pilot Robert Heichele, in which he purportedly claimed to have shot down a P-38 on 31 July 1944. His account, corroborated by a spotter, seemingly supported a shoot-down hypothesis of Saint-Exupéry. Heichele's account

651-711: A bohemian spirit and a "viper's tongue". Saint-Exupéry left and returned to his wife many times—he saw her as both his muse, but, over the long term, the source of much of his angst. The relationship has been described as 'rocky', with Saint-Exupéry travelling frequently and indulging in numerous affairs, most notably with the Frenchwoman Hélène de Vogüé (1908–2003), known as "Nelly" and referred to as "Madame de B." in Saint-Exupéry biographies . Vogüé became Saint-Exupéry's literary executrix after his death and also wrote her own Saint-Exupéry biography under

744-857: A document with the Director General of Posts and Telegraphs, Mr. Arthur Goyeneche, the February 8, 1927, establishing an agreement for the transport of mail by air within and neighboring countries, which would be ratified by the Decree of the National Executive 10 June 1927, signed by the President of the Argentina, Dr. Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear and his interior minister, José P. Tamborini. Meanwhile, negotiations between Pierre Georges Latécoère and Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont culminated when

837-499: A fisherman found a silver identity bracelet bearing the names of Saint-Exupéry, his wife Consuelo , and his American publisher, Reynal & Hitchcock . The bracelet was hooked to a piece of fabric, presumably from his flight suit. Announcement of the discovery was an emotional event in France, where Saint-Exupéry was a national icon, and some disputed its authenticity because it was found far from his intended flight path, implying that

930-547: A metal hangar, two towers for the radio station, a weather station and a villa for office and attention to the passenger. The connection to Buenos Aires, Bahía Blanca was made by rail, from the Constitution Station , traveling all night to arrive at Bahía Blanca in the morning. In May 1930 he began operating from General Pacheco Aerodrome, becoming White Bay on a scale of travel. Meanwhile, in March 1930, Mermoz flew

1023-457: A preparatory Naval Academy , Saint-Exupéry entered the École des Beaux-Arts as an auditor to study architecture for 15 months, again without graduating, and then fell into the habit of accepting odd jobs. In 1921, Saint-Exupéry began his military service as a basic-rank soldier with the 2e Régiment de chasseurs à cheval (2nd Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment) and was sent to Neuhof, near Strasbourg . While there, he took private flying lessons and

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1116-925: A pseudonym, Pierre Chevrier. Saint-Exupéry continued to write until the spring of 1943 when he left the United States with American troops bound for North Africa in the Second World War . Following the German invasion of France in 1940 , Saint-Exupéry flew a Bloch MB.174 with the Groupe de reconnaissance II/33 reconnaissance squadron of the Armée de l'Air . After France's armistice with Germany , Saint-Exupéry went into exile in North America, escaping through Portugal. He stayed in Estoril , at

1209-459: A reconnaissance flight from Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires, landing on 14 January 1925, in El Palomar, accompanied by Paul Vachet pilots, Étienne Lafay and Victor Hamm and mechanics Gauthier, Estival and Chevalier. In unfavorable weather conditions in March 1925, they started back conducting aerial surveys between Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco (Recife), that would be useful for future pilots of

1302-727: A revolution that would lead Getúlio Vargas to power in Brazil in October of that year. In December of the same year some ministerial changes that are occurring in France to renew the lease prevent you from operating and guaranteed by the State to get new loans. For the Compagnie Générale Aéropostale is the end, the 31 March 1931 the company is liquidated, which would later be absorbed into the group of companies that would later give rise to Air France in 1933, continuing

1395-497: A rising star in the literary world. It was the first of his major works to gain widespread acclaim, and it won the prix Femina . The novel mirrored his experiences as a mail pilot and director of the Aeroposta Argentina . That same year, at Grasse , Saint-Exupéry married Consuelo Suncin (née Suncín Sandoval), a once-divorced, once-widowed Salvadoran writer and artist, who Saint-Exupéry described as having possessed

1488-461: A term of 10 years, increased the amount of the grant and contemplated the possibility of extending the route to Ushuaia . In October 1933 Rufino Luro Cambaceres made a reconnaissance flight and promotion by the Patagonia , explaining the authorities and population, the benefits of air transport for both mail and passenger, causing several southern regions of the requests sent to Buenos Aires for

1581-571: A tiny asteroid . "His most popular work, The Little Prince was partially based upon a crash he and his navigator survived in the Libyan desert. They were stranded and dehydrated for four days, nearing death when they miraculously stumbled upon a Bedouin who gave them water." Saint-Exupéry wrote in Wind, Sand and Stars that the Bedouin saved their lives and gave them "charity and magnanimity [by] bearing

1674-739: A townhouse on Beekman Place in Manhattan . Saint-Exupéry and Charles Lindbergh both became P-38 pilots during World War II, with Lindbergh fighting in the Pacific War , and Saint-Exupéry fighting over the Mediterranean, where he later died. Saint-Exupéry added the hyphen to his surname after his arrival in the United States, saying that he was annoyed with Americans addressing him as "Mr. Exupéry". During this period, he authored Pilote de guerre ( Flight to Arras ) , which earned widespread acclaim, and Lettre à un otage ( Letter to

1767-909: A year earlier while he was occupied witnessing the destruction of the French Army . Consuelo followed him to New York City several months later after a chaotic migration to the southern French town of Oppède , where she lived in an artist's commune, the basis of her autobiography, Kingdom of the Rocks: Memories of Oppède . Between January 1941 and April 1943, the Saint-Exupérys lived in New York City's Central Park South in twin penthouse apartments, as well as The Bevin House mansion in Asharoken on Long Island , New York and

1860-598: Is briefly explored in Wings of Courage , an IMAX film by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud . Saint-Exupéry's first novella, L'Aviateur ( The Aviator ), was published in 1926 in a short-lived literary magazine, Le Navire d'Argent ( The Silver Ship ). In 1929, his first book, Courrier Sud ( Southern Mail ) was published. It chronicled his time flying the Casablanca-Dakar mail route. The 1931 publication of Night Flight established Saint-Exupéry as

1953-412: Is commemorated in a special exhibit. In 1948, former Luftwaffe telegrapher Rev. Hermann Korth published his war logs, noting an incident that occurred at around noon on 31 July 1944 in which a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 shot down a P-38 Lightning. Korth's account ostensibly supported a shoot-down hypothesis for Saint-Exupéry. The veracity of his log was met with skepticism, because it could have described

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2046-630: Is presumed to have crashed. Debris from the wreckage was discovered off the coast of Marseille in 2000, although, the cause of the crash remains unknown. Saint-Exupéry was born in Lyon , France to an aristocratic Catholic family that traced its lineage back several centuries. Their surname references the 5th-century bishop Saint Exuperius . He was the third of five children of the Viscountess Marie de Fonscolombe and Viscount Jean de Saint-Exupéry (1863–1904). His father, an executive of

2139-488: The Allies in a Mediterranean-based squadron. Then 43, soon to be promoted to the rank of commandant (major), he was far older than most men in operational units. Although eight years over the age limit for such pilots, he had petitioned endlessly for an exemption which had finally been approved by General Dwight Eisenhower . However, Saint-Exupéry had been suffering pain and immobility due to his many previous crash injuries, to

2232-546: The Argentine Air Force , which in the early 1940s established LASO (Línea Aérea Sud Oeste) and LANE (Línea Aérea Nordeste), which later became LADE (Líneas Aéreas del Estado) in 1945. In 1946, the Government of Argentina created the "Sociedades Mixtas", they were: Aeroposta, A.L.F.A. (Aviación del Litoral Fluvial Argentino), Z.O.N.D.A. (that replaced Panagra) and FAMA (Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina) which

2325-753: The Gaullists and Vichy factions. It was published in The New York Times Magazine in November 1942, in its original French in Le Canada, de Montréal at the same time, and in Pour la Victoire the following month. Other shorter pieces include (in French except where translated by others to English): Pilote de guerre ( Flight To Arras ), which describes the German invasion of France,

2418-726: The Le Soleil (The Sun) insurance brokerage, died of a stroke in the train station of La Foux before Saint-Exupéry's 4th birthday. His father's death affected the entire family, transforming their status to that of "impoverished aristocrats". Saint-Exupéry had three sisters and a younger brother, François, who died at age 15 of rheumatic fever contracted while both were attending the Marianist College Villa St. Jean in Fribourg , Switzerland , during World War I . Saint-Exupéry attended to his brother, who he claimed

2511-466: The Spanish Civil War (1936–1937). Saint-Exupéry wrote a number of shorter pieces, essays and commentaries for various newspapers and magazines. Notable among those during World War II was "An Open Letter to Frenchmen Everywhere", which was highly controversial in its attempt to rally support for France against Nazi oppression at a time when the French were sharply divided between support of

2604-457: The article wizard to submit a draft for review, or request a new article . Search for " Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont " in existing articles. Look for pages within Misplaced Pages that link to this title . Other reasons this message may be displayed: If a page was recently created here, it may not be visible yet because of a delay in updating the database; wait a few minutes or try

2697-536: The "Compagnie Générale d'Entreprise Aéronautique" and in May 1922, the "Société Industrielle des Avions Latécoère". In order to extend the line between Casablanca and Dakar, Captain Joseph Roig departed on May 3, 1923, with a group of three biplanes, Bréguet XIVs which flew between Agadir, Cap Juby, Villa Cisneros, and Port Étienne, on the west coast of Africa. The arrived at their destination on May 22. According to

2790-574: The "Mermoz line." After considering several locations, he chose Almonacid Pacheco, 35 km from Buenos Aires , where he built the airfield in 1928. In one corner of the field, there were three antennas 30 metres tall and housing material which had been used to build the LPD Radio Station "General Pacheco", a powerful multimedia station which was later transferred to the Post and Telecommunications and from where communications were made first with

2883-585: The Air Force, Saint-Exupéry lived in exile in the United States between 1941 and 1943 and helped persuade it to enter the war. During this time, his works Flight to Arras and The Little Prince were published. Saint-Exupéry joined the Free French Air Force in 1943, despite being past the maximum age as a war pilot and in declining health. During a reconnaissance mission over Corsica on 31 July 1944, Saint-Exupéry's plane disappeared: it

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2976-574: The Argentine aviator Vincent Almandos Almonacid, meet both in Buenos Aires with the President of the Republic, Dr. Marcelo Alvear and the urgent request submission of a contract that allows the country to service the proposed use Aeropostal with France. Representative in his capacity as Trustee of the "Compagnie Générale d'Entreprises Aéronautiques" Vicente Almandos Almonacid writes and signs

3069-659: The Atlantic line. Two months later, in June 1925, regular air mail service between Toulouse, Casablanca and Dakar was established. In order to raise the capital required for the development of the line on the South American continent, Pierre Georges Latécoère travels to Rio de Janeiro on December 3, 1926, to meet with French businessman living in Brazil, Marcel-Lafont Bouilloux . Immediately, in January 1927 and accompanied by

3162-604: The Company is subject to a lease and control of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the General Post and Telegraph , for the operation of the line between Bahía Blanca and Rio Gallegos, on an experimental basis for a period of six months, leasing its flight equipment and facilities that the Company had, at a cost of $ 7,000 per month. Legally, the company was designated as National Aeroposta, although at

3255-535: The Federal Capital. On November 1, 1927 Paul Georges Pivot inaugurated the Natal–Rio–Buenos Aires route using a Latécoère 25 registered as F-AIOZ, which was extended on March 1, 1928, when Jean Mermoz , aboard a Latécoère 25 loaded with 36 bags of mail, inaugurated the world's longest (13,600 km), from Toulouse to Dakar connecting Buenos Aires–Natal by sea until 1935. This route was called

3348-642: The French Underwater Archaeological Department officially confirmed that the wreckage was from Saint-Exupéry's aircraft. No marks or holes attributable to gunfire were found, but that was not considered significant as only a small portion of the aircraft was recovered. In June 2004, the fragments were given to the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum) in Le Bourget , Paris, where Saint-Exupéry's life

3441-465: The French Government in 1939. In 1929, Saint-Exupéry was transferred to Argentina, where he was appointed director of the Aeroposta Argentina airline. He lived in Buenos Aires , in the Galería Güemes building. He surveyed new air routes across South America, negotiated agreements, and occasionally flew the airmail as well as search missions looking for downed fliers. This period of his life

3534-674: The Hotel Palácio, between 28 November and 20 December 1940. He described his impressions of his stay in Lettre à un Otage. On the same day that he checked out, he boarded the S.S. Siboney and arrived in New York City on the last day of 1940, with the intention of convincing the US to enter the conflict against Nazi Germany quickly. On 14 January 1941, at a Hotel Astor author luncheon attended by approximately 1,500, he belatedly received his National Book Award for Wind, Sand and Stars , won

3627-465: The Republic of South Korea, Japan, Morocco, Brazil, the United States and Canada: " Être homme, c'est précisément être responsable. C'est sentir, en posant sa pierre, que l'on contribue à bâtir le monde " (to be a man is to be responsible, to feel that by laying one's own stone, one contributes to building the world) The main street of the town of Campeche on the Ilha da Santa Catarina (where Florianopolis

3720-782: The Technical Director of the Company, Captain Vicente Almandos Almonacid , and the Viscount Jacques Delalot (Havas Agency Director), Julian Pranville (official Aeropostale) and journalist The reason, Mr. Enrique Gutierrez, being accompanied by Luro Cambaceres in the Latécoère 25, registration F-AIQF. Pilots Prospero Palazzo and Caesar Brugo lost their lives on June 23, 1936, in Pampa de Salamanca, 60 km from Comodoro Rivadavia aboard

3813-439: The United States, and only later appeared in France, posthumously, after the liberation of France , as his works had been banned by the collaborationist Vichy Regime . The Little Prince is dedicated to Saint-Exupéry's close friend Léon Werth . In April 1943, following his 27 months in North America, Saint-Exupéry departed with an American military convoy for Algiers , to fly with the Free French Air Force and fight with

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3906-635: The United States, its entry into the Second World War, to the closure of Syndicate Condor, Lufthansa subsidiary in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, Aeroposta in this situation the opportunity to acquire two Junkers Ju 52, the LV-AAJ "Ibaté" in Brazil, in April 1942 and LV-AAN 'Quichua' in Bolivia, in June 1943 and completed a fleet of five in June 1952. Similar service was later offered by airlines created by

3999-578: The activities of its Aéropostale and its other sibling predecessors. The situation for Argentina Aeroposta was not very different, with the Argentine government also denying funds, and in June 1931 it ceased operations. However, the Director of Postal Services and the Director of Civil Aviation joined the claims of the press and the general public and finally convinced the President of Argentine's provisional government to authorize Aeroposta Argentina SA to resume their services. By decree of 29 September 1931,

4092-490: The aircraft might not have been shot down. In May 2000, a diver found debris from a Lockheed P-38 Lightning submerged off the coast of Marseille, near where the bracelet was found. The discovery galvanized the country, which had conducted searches for his aircraft and speculated on Saint-Exupéry's fate for decades. After a two-year delay imposed by the French government, the remnants of the aircraft were recovered in October 2003. In 2004, French officials and investigators from

4185-430: The anticipated authorization and thus, Pedro Ficarelli departed aboard an aircraft Latécoère 25 from the General Pacheco Aerodrome on Friday at 06:00 Hrs on March 22, 1929, this being the first official postal flight from Argentina. Ficarelli Peter lost his life near Asuncion, Paraguay on August 16, 1929, after colliding with a mountain in the Latécoère 25, No. 619, registration F-AIFX, amid thick fog. In order to explore

4278-426: The best routes to cross the Andes mountain range , which extend down the length of South America, Jean Mermoz and his mechanic Alexandre Collenot conducted the first test flights between Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile . They began on November 19, 1928, and continued until March 9, 1929, flying towards Mendoza, Argentina aboard their Latécoère 25 (No. 603, registration F-AIEH). At one point they had to land on

4371-1224: The capital of the state is also situated), is named avenida principe pequeno because of his connection to the region. Numerous other tributes have been awarded to honour Saint-Exupéry and his most famous literary creation, his Little Prince : Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont Look for Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont on one of Misplaced Pages's sister projects : [REDACTED] Wiktionary (dictionary) [REDACTED] Wikibooks (textbooks) [REDACTED] Wikiquote (quotations) [REDACTED] Wikisource (library) [REDACTED] Wikiversity (learning resources) [REDACTED] Commons (media) [REDACTED] Wikivoyage (travel guide) [REDACTED] Wikinews (news source) [REDACTED] Wikidata (linked database) [REDACTED] Wikispecies (species directory) Misplaced Pages does not have an article with this exact name. Please search for Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont in Misplaced Pages to check for alternative titles or spellings. You need to log in or create an account and be autoconfirmed to create new articles. Alternatively, you can use

4464-400: The cause of his death remains unknown, and Rippert's account remains one hypothesis among many. While not precisely autobiographical, much of Saint-Exupéry's work is inspired by his experiences as a pilot. One notable example is his novella, The Little Prince , a poetic tale self-illustrated in watercolours in which a pilot stranded in the desert meets a young prince fallen to Earth from

4557-429: The chagrin of his colleagues awaiting his arrival, he circled the airport for an hour after returning, so that he could finish reading a novel. Saint-Exupéry frequently flew with a lined notebook ( carnet ) during his long solitary flights and some of his philosophical writings were created during such periods when he could reflect on the world below him. Before his return to flight duty with his squadron in North Africa,

4650-556: The collaborationist Vichy Regime unilaterally promoted Saint-Exupéry as one of its members. Saint-Exupéry was shocked and dismayed by this, in keeping with his historical harsh criticism of the Vichy Regime. Subsequently, French General (later French President) Charles de Gaulle , whom Saint-Exupéry held in low regard, made a public statement that implied that Saint-Exupéry was supporting Germany. Saint-Exupéry became depressed by these events and began to consume alcohol heavily. His physical and mental health began deteriorating. Saint-Exupéry

4743-407: The corporate level it was still operated as Aeroposta Argentina S.A. Services were restarted on October 2, 1931, until May 31, 1932, when a new decree extends the authorization from the June 1, 1932, until December 31, granting for the first time, a fixed monthly allowance and the provision of fuel needed to account for YPF , while a third decree, that of March 24, 1933, fixed the operating agreement

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4836-436: The county's new national airline, Aerolíneas Argentinas . Founded at the end of the World War I , the " Lignes Aériennes Latécoère " was established in September 1919. The France–Morocco postal route became its first scheduled air service between Toulouse and Morocco, and which traveled along the cities such as Barcelona and Alicante on the east coast of Spain. On that same time its founder, Pierre-Georges Latécoère , created

4929-417: The early morning hours at the General Pacheco Aerodrome, carrying Captain Almandos Almonacid , Director of Aeroposta Argentina, plus officials and journalists. At Bahía Blanca , was replaced by Richard Gross Palazo Prospero, who was in charge of 'the line' to Comodoro Rivadavia. During the first six months, the head of the line was located in the area of Villa Harding Green, Bahía Blanca, where they had built

5022-648: The establishment of a national corporation, a proposal that has the approval of the Chairman Dr. Marcelo T. Alvear and prestigious Argentine jurists. The Constitutive Act of the Aeroposta Argentina S. A. was signed into law on September 5, 1927, with Argentina being an affiliate of the "Compagnie Générale Aéropostale," by Agustin Melian gentlemen, on behalf of Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont, Alberto Dodero, Gaston Fouvell Lleau Rigo, Alejandro Behety Menendez, Luis Nicol, Guillermo Padilla (Aeronautical Radio Head, Department of Civil Aviation), Raul A. Razzio, Emmanuel Sieyes and Mr. Almonacid, with headquarters on Calle Reconquista No. 240 of

5115-530: The event by French President Jacques Chirac .) This period of Aeroposta Argentina is graphically explored in Wings of Courage , an IMAX film (its very first in 3D) by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud . In September 1928, pilot–mechanic Peter Ficarelli Alfredo Vitolo, board a Latécoère 25 and using facilities that the Aero Club of Bahia Blanca had in the place "The Mendoza", made the first reconnaissance flight to Comodoro Rivadavia. In February 1929, Paul Vachet continued exploration flights and began building

5208-527: The extent that he could not dress himself in his own flight suit or even turn his head leftwards to check for enemy aircraft. Saint-Exupéry was assigned with a number of other pilots to his former unit, renamed Groupe de reconnaissance 2/33 "Savoie" , flying P-38 Lightnings , which an officer described as "war-weary, non-airworthy craft". The Lightnings were also more sophisticated than models he previously flew, requiring him to undertake seven weeks of stringent training before his first mission. After wrecking

5301-438: The family of his fiancée , future novelist Louise Lévêque de Vilmorin , subsequently left the air force to take an office job. The couple ultimately broke off their engagement and he worked at several more odd jobs over the next few years. By 1926, Saint-Exupéry was flying again. He became one of the pioneers of international postal flight , in the days when aircraft had few instruments. Later, he complained that those who flew

5394-426: The first Santiago de Chile to Mendoza airmail flight in a Potez 25. Later, on June 13, 1930, Guillaumet crashed his Potez (registration F-AJDZ) on the surface of a frozen lake, Laguna del Diamante , but was found on June 20 by 14-year-old Juan Garcia (a future Argentinian pastor) after a harrowing, death-defying walk out of the Andes. (Garcia would later be decorated with the Legion of Honour for this 71 years after

5487-453: The first regular flights between Buenos Aires and Rio Grande were started, on board the "Patagonia". They were piloted by Paul Selvetti Rohlandt and the Argentines Gross and Irigoyen. In April 1938, another decree authorizing Aeroposta Argentina S.A. to combine the national and international operating with Air France and Condor Ltda Union in December 1939 decree changing the frequency Buenos Aires – Rio Gallegos and Rio Grande. Pressure from

5580-399: The first three Junkers Trimotor Ju 52/3m in 1937, registered LV-AAB "Patagonia", LV-BAB "Pampa" and LV-CAB "Tierra del Fuego", plus spare parts, BMW engines and Lorenz and Telefunken radios, in order to modernize its operating equipment. German Lufthansa and other personnel were recruited for flight and maintenance training operating from the Quilmes aerodrome, where, in October of that year,

5673-407: The first transatlantic airmail in 21 hours aboard a pontoon equipped Latécoère 28 and carrying 130 kg of correspondence, on Wednesday 31 of that month, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Director of Operations of the Company, made the inaugural flight to Rio Gallegos in the Latécoère 28 aircraft, registration F-AJLO, "El Pampero", carrying passengers as Chairman of the Aeroposta, Mr. Marcel Boilloux Lafont,

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5766-409: The following year was offered a transfer from the French Army to the French Air Force. He received his pilot's wings after being posted to the 37th Fighter Regiment in Casablanca, Morocco . Later, Saint-Exupéry was reposted to the 34th Aviation Regiment at Le Bourget on the outskirts of Paris, and then experienced the first of his many aircraft crashes . Saint-Exupéry, influenced by the urgings of

5859-417: The gift of water." The Little Prince is a philosophical story, including societal criticism, remarking on the strangeness of the adult world. One biographer wrote of his most famous work: "Rarely have an author and a character been so intimately bound together as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and his Little Prince," and remarking of their dual fates, "...the two remain tangled together, twin innocents who fell from

5952-563: The infrastructure of future scales. Between October 29 and November 1, 1929, the final inspection flights were performed by the company's director Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , accompanied by pilot Rufino Luro Cambaceres aboard a Latécoère 25, registration F-AIQF, along with the other pilots Prospero Palazzo and Richard Gross in another Latécoère 25, registration F-AIQL. On November 1, 1929, the Buenos Aires–Bahía Blanca–Comodoro Rivadavia line opened, with stops in San Antonio Oeste (now Antoine de Saint Exupéry Airport ) and Trelew . The first flight

6045-420: The latter purchased, on April 11, 1927, 93% of the shares of "Compagnie Generale d'Entreprises Aéronautiques" at the cost of 30 million francs, taking over the company's directorships, and agreeing to buy Latécoère 25s, 26s and 28s manufactured by the "Société Industrielle des Avions Latécoère". As a result of the transfer of functions, at a special meeting held in Paris on December 12, 1927, they resolved to change

6138-421: The law's provisions is an increase of 30 years to the duration of the original copyright's duration of 70 years; thus most of Saint-Exupéry's creative works will not fall out of copyright status in France for an extra 30 years. Museum exhibits, exhibitions and theme villages dedicated to both him and his diminutive Little Prince have been created in Le Bourget , Paris and other locations in France, as well as in

6231-402: The line include its cities like scales. In early 1935, Argentina Aeroposta purchased obsolete aircraft from Air France that had once belonged to Aéropostale, and in September 1935 and continued service to Rio Grande . In November 1935 the bylaws of the company were amended, allowing the entry of a group share Argentina. When, in 1936, new financial difficulties threatened the operations of

6324-447: The line, a new group of Argentine businessmen, headed by Dr. Ernesto Pueyrredón formed a consortium which acquired 97% stake in the company, which ultimately rests with nationals. Officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and by Decree 99,184 of 1 February 1937, authorized the company to extend its flights departing from Buenos Aires and replaces the cash grant and fuel for a monthly contribution of $ 1.50 per every mile flown for

6417-424: The military airport of Campo Grande Paraguay, in the presence of authorities and large audience, but the correspondence had not been transported not released an official capacity for lack of authorization of government Argentina, these historic flights are considered "trial airmails". Finally, after reforming the "Regulations on Navigation on the Argentine territory," on February 27, 1929, the national government gave

6510-433: The more advanced aircraft had become more like accountants than pilots. He worked for Aéropostale between Toulouse and Dakar , and then also became the airline stopover manager for the Cape Juby airfield in the Spanish zone of South Morocco , in the Sahara . His duties included negotiating the safe release of downed fliers taken hostage by Saharan tribes, a perilous task that earned him his first Légion d'honneur from

6603-475: The name of Compagnie Générale d'Entreprises Aéronautiques with the new name of Compagnie Générale Aéropostale . Surprisingly, on August 13, 1926, an Executive Order amended the Regulations for Navigation on the Argentine Territory, which did not allow the use of Argentine airspace by foreign companies and where the War Office should adopt positions Defense, civil aircraft to peaceful use. In order to conform to these Regulations, Vicente Almandos Almonacid proposes

6696-720: The narrow ledge of a mountain range and then, after making adjustments to their engine carburetor , managed to take off and reach the safely of Copiapó, Chile . This experience convinced them that the aircraft best suited to fly the airmail route between Argentina and Chile over the Andes would be a Potez 25 , because of its superior climbing ability—needed to rise above the Andes. Five such planes were purchased, registered as: F-AJDX (No. 1520), F-AJDY (No. 1521), F-AIDZ (No. 1522), F-AJZR (No. 2035) and F-AJZS (No. 2036). Finally, on July 14, 1929, Jean Mermoz and Henri Guillaumet conducted

6789-576: The other bases, since at that time the aircraft had no radio, and later with the company aircraft and ships overseas. There are two flights of exploration for studies of this route: On Tuesday, January 1, 1929, Argentina Aeroposta started mail services and passenger transport, still without official authorization, at 06:00 Hrs in the morning, leaving the General Pacheco Aerodrome with two Latécoère 25 (Renault 450 HP) monoplanes: After stopping at Corrientes , both aircraft landed at

6882-593: The plan he had conceived during the war by Pierre G. Latécoére, Captain Joseph Roig was sent to South America in May 1924 in order to consider extending the line between Natal, Brazil and Buenos Aires . In the capital city Joseph Roig met with officials of the Department of Civil Aviation of the War Office and explained that the aim of the directors of the Compagnie générale d'entreprises aéronautiques (CGEA)

6975-555: The sky." Saint-Exupéry's notable literary works (published English translations in parentheses) include: During the 1930s, Saint-Exupéry led a mixed life as an aviator, journalist, author and publicist for Air France , Aéropostale 's successor. His journalistic writings for Paris-Soir , Marianne and other newspapers covered events in Indochina and the Far East (1934), the Mediterranean, Soviet Union and Moscow (1935), and

7068-483: The trip. In this new contract, which provided for a period of 10 years, the Company must make a 50% discount in the price of tickets for Posts and Telegraphs and the Aeronautics Directorate, had seats available, and reserve up to 2 kg charging for official correspondence, to be carried free of charge and commitment to renew the existing flight material. In a pivot to Germany, the company bought

7161-403: The war, and contemporary archival sources, consisting mostly of Allied intercepts of Luftwaffe signals, offer no evidence to verify Rippert's claim. The entry and exit points of Saint-Exupéry's mission were likely near Cannes , yet his wreckage was discovered south of Marseille. Though it is possible that German fighters could have intercepted, or at least altered, Saint-Exupéry's flight path,

7254-441: The wife of one of his publishers helped persuade Saint-Exupéry to produce a children's book, hoping to calm his nerves and also compete with the new series of Mary Poppins stories by P.L. Travers . Saint-Exupéry wrote and illustrated The Little Prince in New York City and the village of Asharoken in mid-to-late 1942, with the manuscript being completed in October. It was published in early 1943 in both English and French in

7347-600: Was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator. Saint-Exupéry trained as a commercial pilot in the early 1920s, working airmail routes across Europe, Africa, and South America. Between 1926 and 1939, four of his literary works were published: the short story The Aviator , novels Southern Mail and Night Flight , and the memoir Wind, Sand and Stars . Saint-Exupéry joined the French Air Force for World War II and flew reconnaissance missions until France's armistice with Germany in 1940. Being demobilised by

7440-484: Was a supporter of Germany, and he then had his literary works banned in France's North African colonies . Saint-Exupéry's writings were, with irony, banned simultaneously in occupied France and the territory which was controlled by Free France . Due to Saint-Exupéry's wartime death, the French government awarded his estate the civil code designation Mort pour la France (English: Died for France ) in 1948. Amongst

7533-464: Was further expanded to include Comodoro Rivadavia and San Antonio Oeste , closely followed by Río Gallegos . Aeroposta Argentina remained Argentina's only airline until 1946, when several new ones were created. In 1949 Aeroposta Argentina merged with three other air carriers, ALFA ( Sociedad Mixta Aviación del Litoral Fluvial Argentino ), FAMA ( Flota Aerea Mercante Argentina ) and ZONDA ( Zonas Oeste y Norte de Aerolíneas Argentinas ), giving rise to

7626-581: Was held in low regard. Early in the war, de Gaulle became the leader of the Free French Forces in exile, with his headquarters in London. Even though both men were working to free France from Nazi occupation, Saint-Exupéry viewed de Gaulle with apprehension as a possible post-war dictator, and he consequently provided no public support to the General. De Gaulle retaliated by implying that the author

7719-527: Was his closest confidant, beside his death bed, and later wrote that François "...remained motionless for an instant. He did not cry out. He fell as gently as a [young] tree falls", imagery later recrafted into the climactic ending of The Little Prince . At the age of 17, now the only male in the family following the death of his brother, Saint-Exupéry soon assumed the role of a protector and took to consoling his family, despite still being distraught over his father's death. After twice failing his final exams at

7812-482: Was made by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry aboard the Latécoère 25 , F-AIQL, carrying as passengers journalists from Bahia Blanca: Enrique Julio "La Nueva Provincia," Emilio J. Fence "The Atlantic" and Augustus Hunter "Morning", delivering and receiving mail in each of the stopovers. The official inauguration flight was conducted by Jean Mermoz , accompanied by Richard Gross pilot on board Latécoère 28 aircraft that started in

7905-544: Was met with skepticism because he described flying a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9, a variant which had not yet entered Luftwaffe service. In the lists which are held by the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv , no victory was credited to Heichele or his unit in either July or August 1944, and the decrypted report of the day's reconnaissance does not include any flights by 2./NAG 13's Fw 190s. Heichele was shot down on 16 August 1944 and died five days later. In 2008,

7998-833: Was portrayed as being amongst the squadron's bravest defenders during the Battle of France . In support of their German occupiers and masters, Vichy authorities attacked the author as a defender of Jews (in racist terms) leading to the praised book being banned in France, along with prohibitions against further printings of Saint-Exupéry's other works. Prior to France's liberation new printings of Saint-Exupéry's works were made available there only by means of covert print runs, such as that of February 1943 when 1,000 copies of an underground version of Pilote de guerre were printed in Lyon. A further complication occurred due to Saint-Exupéry's and others' view of General Charles de Gaulle , who

8091-583: Was responsible, but in 2003 he stated that he became certain that he was responsible when he learned the location of Saint-Exupéry's wreckage. Rippert claimed to have reported the kill over his radio, but there are no surviving records to verify this account. Rippert's account, as it is discussed in two French and German books, was met with both publicity and skepticism. Luftwaffe comrades expressed doubts in Rippert's claim, given that he held it private for 64 years. Very little German documentation survived

8184-528: Was said, by his peers in the air force, to be intermittently subject to depression, and there was discussion about grounding him. Saint-Exupéry's last reconnaissance mission was to collect intelligence on German troop movements in and around the Rhone Valley preceding Operation Dragoon , the Allied invasion of southern France. Although he had been reinstated to his old squadron with the provision that he

8277-527: Was slightly censored when it was released in its original French during wartime by Éditions Gallimard in his homeland in 1942, due to the removal of a derogatory remark which was made about Hitler (which Gallimard failed to reinsert in subsequent editions after World War II ). Shortly after the book's wartime release in France, Nazi appeasers and Vichy supporters objected to its praise of one of Saint-Exupéry's squadron colleagues, Captain Jean Israël , who

8370-520: Was still in its infancy, its pioneers had to scout routes and sites for everything from potential emergency landing strips to gasoline depots. Saint-Exupéry's experiences in Argentina would inspire his novel Night Flight , winner of the Prix Femina literature award in 1929 and later made into an identically named Hollywood movie . That same year regular flights commenced to other Argentinian cities: Posadas and Mendoza . The following year service

8463-497: Was that Buenos Aires would become terminal site of a future South American airmail line between that continent and France, and later to become a clearinghouse of airmail between Argentina, and its neighboring countries. President Dr. Marcelo Torcuato Alvear was excited about the idea and gave his approval for the company to send a mission to civil aviation. This time, Captain Roig and his group of three biplanes Bréguet XIV Renault, made

8556-1065: Was to be the first Argentine airline to fly intercontinentally. In 1950 and due to new regulations the private shares were no longer permitted in air-services so all of them, except LADE (Líneas Aéreas del Estado) merged into the Argentine flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas . On January 2, 1979, the surviving pilots of Aeroposta Argentina gathered to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of its first flight. The attendees were: Virgilio Mira • Alberto Papa • H. Papa • Leonardo Selvetti • Pedro Artigau • Oscar Bujia • Martignoni, and, additionally, señora Ermenilda Almandós Almonacid, daughter of Vincent Almandós Almonacid, founder of Aeroposta Argentina. . Citations Bibliography Antoine de Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, vicomte de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900 – c. 31 July 1944), known simply as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ( UK : / ˌ s æ̃ t ɪ ɡ ˈ z uː p ər i / , US : /- ɡ z uː p eɪ ˈ r iː / , French: [ɑ̃twan də sɛ̃t‿ɛɡzypeʁi] ),

8649-429: Was to fly only five missions, on 31 July 1944, he took off in an unarmed P-38 on his ninth reconnaissance mission from an airbase on Corsica . To the great alarm of his squadron compatriots, he did not return, vanishing without a trace. Word of his disappearance soon spread across the literary world and then it spread into international headlines. In September 1998, to the east of Riou Island (south of Marseille),

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