With no nameplate on the skinny vault & stuck in the middle of a narrow corridor, it’s easy to miss one of the greats of Argentine aviation.
Coming from a long line of Irish-American intermarriage in Argentina, Eduardo Bradley was born in the city of La Plata in 1887. His fascination for the sport of aeronautics led him to become friends with Argentina’s first & foremost aviator, Jorge Newbery.
Newbery died in an attempt to cross the Andes by plane in 1914, but two years later Bradley made it… not by plane but by hot-air balloon. No small feat for the time. The Andes are the second tallest mountain chain on Earth after the Himalayas, & temperatures reached a low of -34ºF during Bradley’s trip. He & co-pilot Ángel María Zuloaga departed from Santiago de Chile & landed in Mendoza in 1916.
Plaques from 1966—commemorating the 50th anniversary of Bradley’s flight—are the only reminder left. Most people have no idea who Bradley is today. He passed away in 1951.
Very interesting. I just would like to comment on the fact that Eduardo Bradley had no Irish blood running through his veins. Nothing personal, just the facts. Lovely pictures!
Eduardo – Thanks for stopping by. According to your family’s genealogy chart, his mother was Mary Hayes-O’Callaghan… which seems to be fairly Irish to me. And I seem to remember seeing other charts which showed a number of Bradleys marrying Irish Argentines. Is this not correct?
Eduardo’s mother was in fact Irish from Corrientes. That makes him half Irish at least. His father was Tomas Bradley Sutton, born in Argentina the son of Thomas Osgood Bradley married to Lucy Ann Sutton, both born and raced in the USA. I was wrong to presumed no Irish blood, but in fact, if we go by the Bradley’s in this case is a English branch of the tree with roots in America which go way back before the Revolutionary wars. Sorry I jumped, EMB
No worries. It’s difficult for me to put together a correct family history based solely on resources online, so it’s always nice to have a family member paying attention!
One question for you: the family vault is currently empty (even the Bradley nameplate above has been removed). Do you have any idea why, when or where they moved everyone?
You should claim the plaques so they are not one day removed & destroyed.
Saludos!