Ala Delta

A really nice warm winters day. Went to the opening of Diana's painting exhibition. I went for a bimble along the beach. It was pleasantly peaceful until from over the mountains of La Herradura bay there was a rustling and flapping followed by a flock of hang gliders bearing down on me. I gave them the paw and they flew away.

Factoid: Juan de la Cierva was born in Murcia, Spain on September 21, 1895, and by 1908-9, had decided to make aviation his career. In 1911 he enrolled at the Civil Engineering College of Madrid (Caminos, Canales y Puertos) and in 1912 with his friends "Pepe" Barcala and Pablo Diaz constructed the first Spanish airplane, the BCD-I, known as "EI Cangrejo" - the "Red Crab", becoming the "Father of Spanish Aviation."

His first successful flight with the autogiro took place on January 9 1923. The craft was equipped with a conventional propeller for forward flight and an articulated, or hinged, air-powered rotor blade that could be adjusted to balance lift. This technical breakthrough was necessary for the successful development of the helicopter, which ironically, replaced the autogiro around the time of World War II.
Cierva moved to England in 1925. His aircraft were further developed by the Cierva Autogiro Company of Great Britain, as well as by U.S. and various continental companies. They were used widely in France, Germany, Japan, and the United States until World War II, when the helicopter replaced them.

Cierva died in an airplane crash on December 19, 1936, near London, England.