On July 23, 1916, Cantabrian aviator Salvador Hedilla, who had connected Barcelona and Palma in a historic flight just 21 days earlier, disappointed thousands of attendees at the Son Ferragut racetrack in sa Pobla by failing to complete the planned display.
110 years ago, on July 23, 1916, aviator Salvador Hedilla Pineda experienced one of the most remembered episodes, albeit for reasons opposite to those of his previous feat. Barely three weeks after becoming the first pilot to connect the peninsula with Mallorca by air, Hedilla arrived in sa Pobla to offer a display flight during the San Jaime festivities. However, the result was a resounding failure that was recorded in the chronicles of the time.
According to the local magazine Sa Marjal, dated July 23, 1916, the event took place at the Son Ferragut racetrack, where thousands of spectators gathered. The anticipation was at its peak: Hedilla was a hero after his Barcelona-Palma crossing on July 2, aboard the 'Monocoque Hedilla II', a wooden and fabric aircraft with an 80 HP rotary engine. But that afternoon, the display did not go as planned.
Reports from the time, also noted by Hedilla himself, detail that the aircraft could not take off properly or that the demonstration was interrupted, which caused disappointment among the audience. Although the exact causes vary according to the source, the fact is that the flight was not completed successfully, tarnishing the aviator's image in the locality.
Hedilla, a native of Cantabria, had achieved the first air link between Barcelona and Mallorca on July 2, 1916, piloting the 'Monocoque Hedilla II', which he designed himself and was manufactured by Pujol, Comabella and Cía. He took off from La Volatería in El Prat shortly after five in the morning, and after navigating strong easterly winds, he spotted the island as "a small spot" on the horizon. He landed at Son Sunyer, near the current Palma airport, as the Can Pere Antoni field was occupied by more than 20,000 people. For that crossing, he received the Mediterranean Cup, donated by Alfonso XIII, and a prize of 8,000 pesetas.
The failure in sa Pobla, occurring 21 days later, contrasts with that heroism. The chronicles of Sa Marjal speak of a "genuine failure", while Hedilla offered his own version of events, which circulated in the media of the time. Regardless, the incident did not tarnish his legacy as a pioneer of aviation in the Balearics.
The Son Ferragut racetrack, where the display was expected, no longer exists, but the memory of that day endures in local memory. The anniversary serves to remind us of the dawn of aviation in Mallorca and how, even heroes can have grey days.
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