Alex Ramirez
ASEN 3046-001
Midterm Paper
Due April 6th, 2018
The History and Contributions of
Roberto Fierro Villalobos
Since my parents are from Mexico and I am Hispanic, I decided to write about a pilot of Mexican descent; indeed, Roberto Fierro Villalobos was an influential pilot who fought in multiple Mexican revolutions, became governor, and even has an airport named in his honor. Not only was he a combat pilot during the 1920’s fighting the rebels, he also set aviation records during his lifetime. Roberto Fierro Villalobos had a significant impact on the multiple battles he fought during his service in the military; indeed, his background influenced his courage during battle and that same courage led him to set records for aviation
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during his time. There were many challenges when Roberto Villalobos was in the military and while setting multiple records some challenges were physical and others were just mentally degrading. Today he is known as a Mexican war hero and the international airport in Chihuahua was named in his honor. Roberto Fierro Villalobos was born into a farming family and he spent most of his childhood days as a farmer; however, he led an eventful life as he was a stunt double for movies, then was a mechanic, then became a soldier who rose through the ranks quickly, became an instructor for pilots in Mexico, set world records for Mexico, became chief of the Mexican Airforce by WWII, and was governor of Chihuahua in 1932.
Since his contributions stemmed from his military career he was a war hero; Villalobos’s air strikes during the battle of La Piedad de Cabadas had a significant impact on the battle without his contribution the outcome may have been different. The notorious bombardment was on a bridge which halted the advancement of the enemy, protecting a crucial plaza from falling into enemy hands allowed the Delahuertistas to capitalize on the terrain turning the point of the battle. Roberto Villalobos used a tactic called Air Interdiction in that battle and used the tactic when fighting another rebel force in Las Juntas, Jalisco. This attack style allowed the government troops to triumph over the rebels. Roberto was one of the most fervent and determined defenders who used a developmental stage air power for national …show more content…
security. Not only was his daring personality shown in battle, he also participated in aerial exhibition shows in multiple cities and was adored by many people in Mexico. A translated quote from Roberto reads “I remember the mechanics and pilots, as comrades we were, spent hours cleaning and repairing the planes, carefully taking care of the landing fields made by ourselves, not caring much about what we owned or what we wore or ate, in that cold and Naked land of that deserted part of Sonora” (“Roberto Fierro Villalobos” 2008) which truly captures the personality he had and the value he held with his companions. Not only was he impacting the future of Mexico with his battles or the future of aviation with his attitude, he was also impacting the people around him by sharing his virtues. Moving on to the record-setting era of his career, which had significant impacts on the world of aviation in Mexico, the first record set by Roberto Villalobos was a speed record, according to historynet.com it is stated that “Western Flying magazine considered his average speed of 108.72 mph ‘a record for a Wright Whirlwind-powered plane of that type” (Mexico’s Aviation, 2006) when he flew a Wright J-5C airplane from Mexicali to Mexico City. Mexico celebrated as they “Now had an aviation industry” this was significant as “Fierro had just flown 1,612 miles nonstop–in a plane built in Mexico, by Mexican labor and capital” (Mexico’s Aviation, 2006). This set a motion for Roberto to pursue setting new records for the aviators around the world. Especially since Roberto had met the notorious Charles Lindbergh, who gave him the confidence to pursue his dreams as a pilot. Another record set by Roberto was being the first to fly from Mexico City to Cuba, he was granted approval as this hadn’t been done before and it would promote Mexico’s aviation industry. The aviation industry in Mexico began to grow and get publicized as factories pumped out more airplanes. Also, Roberto Fierro Villalobos set a speed record on his non-stop flight from New York to Mexico City which he did in honor of his friend, who had died flying from Mexico to Washington. His attitude on aviation is what inspired Mexico to pursue aviation and Roberto showed it could be done. Roberto had planned to fly from Mexico to Spain, however, was denied approval by the government and it wasn't until “1949 that the Mexican people had flown the equatorial Atlantic” (“Mexico’s Aviation” 2006). However much of his career as a pilot did not come without challenges; a notable challenge that faced Villalobos was when his airplane had an engine failure mid-flight during one of his exhibitions and his plane crashed into the beach and he almost lost his life; however, 72 hours later he was back on a plane to finish his exhibition tour and he headed back to the capital.
However, challenges come in many forms and most of his challenges appeared during his record-setting era, simply put there was a lot of challenges that halted him from flying. When setting his record on his flight from Mexicali to Mexico City his flight had many challenges, according to historynet.com the start of his flight was a rough one as he forgot to switch from the reserve fuel to the main fuel supply he quickly resolved the issue with relief knowing the ocean wouldn’t swallow him up, later in the flight the weather was not looking good and turbulent winds veered him off path, however despite the conditions he flew in he made his landing almost 15 hours from takeoff. Another challenge during his record on his flight from Mexico City to Cuba was a challenge from the whole country; it seemed as if every time Roberto would set a departure date he would have to delay it because of the weather so the public grew impatient and many called him an embarrassment to the military and he became a laughing stock of the country. The mental toll of being ridiculed by your own country must’ve been a challenge to
him as it was not his fault the weather kept delaying his departure and he was even approached by a General who said, “why don't you go now?” but the General refused to provide a written order for takeoff as he knew it would be a death sentence. Roberto’s friend Carranza had died because of the challenges of harsh weather, however, Roberto, although at the time he didn’t know about his friend's death, seemed to not make the same mistake. The weather was a problematic force in his career as he delayed this flight multiple times but the resilience of Roberto showed as he focused on his dreams. Once he was able to fly to Cuba but on his way back another challenge appeared and once again it was the weather, “hurricane-force winds over the mountains drove him back, and he put down near Belize city, landing on the beach, as there was no airfield.” (Mexico’s Aviation, 2006) luckily he found friendly hands and soon enough he was flying back to Mexico. Although his flight from New York to Mexico did not have many challenges at the beginning, towards the end of the flight the weather worsened and he was not able to see the coastline but eventually made it to Mexico. After looking at the history, the impact Roberto has made, the challenges he faced, we can see that today he has a lasting impact on the world of aviation. The International airport in Chihuahua, Mexico was named after Roberto to honor him as a war hero and a spectacular pilot who inspired and publicized the aviation industry of Mexico. According to chihuahuamexico.com a military base in Mexico along with the airport mentioned earlier “boast the name of this distinguished Mexican soldier, whose spirit and passion, to serve and protect the nation, inspires all the men and women of the Mexican Air Force.”(“Roberto Fierro”, 2008) Which articulates the lasting impact he has today based on just the history of this one person who helped the aviation industry in Mexico and the pilots of Mexico. Roberto was one of the few who got to be a part of Mexico’s developmental stage of aviation and heavily influenced the improvement, an example is when his plane “had two additional fuel tanks fitted in the front cockpit to augment the two 50-gallon wing tanks, providing a capacity of 350 gallons of gasoline” (“Mexico’s Aviation”, 2006); the gallons of gasoline were added in an enthusiastic attempt “demonstrate his [General Rodriguez] company’s ability to build aircraft for duration flights.”(“Mexico’s Aviation”, 2006). The eagerness to build airplanes that would last shows the impact Roberto had on companies as he kept asking permission for new flights that had never been done before. The persistence of augmenting the distance traveled for non-stop flights pushed for better airplanes in the industry which is what got Mexico into a movement of aviation and without that push for improvement Mexico’s industry would be behind those of other countries. Roberto helped set a movement in Mexico by wanting to reach new heights which pushed the improvement of airplanes, but he also didn’t back down when he could not get the funding for some flights he instead worked to raise money from the public and his friends and raised “$35000 in less than 20 days”(“Mexico’s Aviation”, 2006) for the flight of New York to Mexico which he completed in 13 hours which was a record, this eagerness to do new amazing things while overcoming obstacles is what we see today in the world, an example is Elon Musk, he is eager to push new records in space by sending many rockets into space and planning to colonize Mars with SpaceX, which in turn will set a new movement just as it did in the history of Mexico’s aviation. Roberto Fierro Villalobos had a significant impact on the world of aviation in his time and now in the present; indeed, his life was eventful as his background in the military helped give him a platform to set significant world records while overcoming difficult challenges presented causing the improvement of aviation in Mexico. References 6/12/2006, “Mexico’s Aviation Enthusiasm”, Historynet.com Retrieved from http://www.historynet.com/mexicos-aviation-enthusiasm.htm 2008, “Roberto Fierro Villalobos”, Chihuahuamexico.com Retrieved from http://www.chihuahuamexico.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4330&Itemid=59
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