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Society
Main Category
Sub Category
Era
Date Created
Location Country
us
Coordinates
40.295833, -3.725
Address1
Air Base
Address2
Vereda de San Marcos
City
Getafe
Country
Zip

Getafe Airfield was the site of the world’s first successful rotorcraft flight, on January 17, 1923. Lieutenant Alejandro Gómez Spencer piloted a C.4 Autogiro designed and built by Juan de la Cierva, who tested a series of autogiros between 1920 and 1924 at the Getafe site. Cierva’s autogiros introduced important technologies and flight techniques that led to the development of helicopters and other rotary wing aircraft. Getafe Air Base, established in 1911, now houses several training and transport units of the Spanish Air Force, as well as two aerospace manufacturing plants.

Image Credit
Courtesy Flickr/Jumbero (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Image Caption
Getafe Airfield

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