2 Euro BU

Gago Coutinho was a naval officer, geographer and cartographer. Through surveying work in Portuguese colonial territories, he gained experience in astronomical navigation. Sacadura Cabral was also a naval officer and was one of the early Portuguese naval aviators. While Cabral piloted the aircraft, Coutinho was primarily responsible for navigation. Both had already tested their methods on earlier flights.

The journey was not a nonstop flight but took place in several stages along the West African coast and over islands in the Atlantic. The open ocean presented particular difficulties for aviation at the time: landmarks were absent, wind could divert an aircraft from its calculated course without this being noticed, and reliable radio navigation was not available. The methods developed by Coutinho transferred maritime techniques to the conditions inside an aircraft and enabled a more precise determination of position and drift.

The fact that a total of three aircraft were needed was the result of several incidents. The first aircraft was damaged after a water landing at St. Peter and St. Paul's Rocks (Sankt-Peter-und-Sankt-Pauls-Felsen). A replacement aircraft later had to land on the sea because of technical problems and was also lost; the crew was rescued. It was only with another aircraft, named “Santa Cruz”, that Coutinho and Cabral were able to continue the journey. They reached Rio de Janeiro on 17 June 1922, after a total journey of more than two months.

The timing was connected with the centenary of Brazilian independence. In 1822, Brazil had declared its separation from Portugal. The flight between the capitals of the former colonial empire and independent Brazil therefore also had diplomatic and symbolic links to Portuguese-Brazilian relations. The centenary of the undertaking gave Portugal an occasion in 2022 to remember the two officers as well as the connection between maritime navigation and early aviation.