Diego Marín Aguilera: Difference between revisions

'''Diego Marín Aguilera''' (1757–1799)<ref name="bird man">{{cite web|url= http://www.alpoma.net/tecob/?p=320| title=Diego Marín, el “hombre"hombre pájaro”pájaro" burgalés |trans-title=Diego Marín, the "bird man" of Burgos |date=January 18, 2006|publisher=Tecnologia Obsoleta |first=Alejandro Polanco |last=Masa|accessdate=August 28, 2013}}</ref><ref name="diego">{{cite web|url=http://www.terra.es/personal/soportal/laribera/personaj/diegomar.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120218100332/http://www.terra.es/personal/soportal/laribera/personaj/diegomar.html| archive-date=2012-02-18 |title=Diego Marín Aguilera|date=|website=El Soportal|accessdate=August 28, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}{{unreliable source?|date=May 2018}}</ref> was a [[Spain|Spanish]] inventor who was an early aviation pioneer.

Early on, Marin devised several labor-saving devices, including a device that improved the functionality of a [[watermill]] on the [[Arandilla River|Arandilla river]];<ref name="man who flew">{{cite web|url= http://burgospedia1.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/diego-marin-aguilera-el-primer-hombre-que-volo/| title=DIEGO MARÍN AGUILERA -El primer hombre que voló- |trans-title=Diego Marín Aguilera – The first man who flew |date=January 19, 2010|first=Yagüe |last=Garcés |website=Burgospedia|accessdate=August 28, 2013}}</ref> one that improved the working of a [[Fulling|fulling- mill]]; and another used to improve the cutting of [[marble]] in the [[quarry|quarries]] of [[Espejón]].<ref name="bird man"/> He also came up with a device used to whip horses during the process of [[threshing]], and another that made cloth pads.<ref name="bird man"/>

On the night of May 15, May 1793,<ref name="bird man"/><ref name="diego"/><ref name="man who flew"/> accompanied by the blacksmith Barbero and one of Marín's sisters, Marín placed his glider on the highest part of the castle of Coruña del Conde. In the light of the [[full moon]], he remarked (roughly): "I'm going to [[Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma|Burgo de Osma]], and from there to [[Soria]], and I'll be back in a couple of days."<ref name="diego"/>

Flapping the wings of the glider, he reached a height of "six or seven ''[[Spanish customary units#Vara|varas]]''" (approximately 5 or 6 m) and according to his companions, glided for "431 Castilian ''varas''",<ref name="diego"/> or approximately 300<ref name="bird man"/> to 400 metres.<ref name="man who flew"/> <!--The [[American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics]] writes that he flew for “about 360 meters.” link dead <ref name="aiaa">{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.aiaa.org/contentSecondary.cfmaspx?pageidid=448370 |title=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics – History – Spain |publisher=Aiaa.org |date=JanuaryApril 1822, 20122019 }}</ref>--> Marín managed to cross the river [[Arandilla River|Arandilla]] and reached the area known as Heras, where he crash-landed after one of the metal joints broke. Fearing the worst, his companions ran to the spot. Marín was only scratched and bruised, but angry at the blacksmith for failing to weld the joint properly.{{Citation needed|date = May 2017}}

Now called the “father of aviation” in Spain, the [[Spanish Air Force]] dedicated a monument to him that is located next to the castle where he took flight.<ref>{{cite web|author=c |url=http://www.terra.es/personal/soportal/laribera/coruna.html |title=Coruña del Conde, Clunia, Diego Marín Aguilera |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218100403/http://www.terra.es/personal/soportal/laribera/coruna.html |archive-date=2012-02-18 |website=El Soportal |df=mdy-all}}{{unreliable source?|date=May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.panoramio.com/photo/21505 |title=Photo of Coruña del Conde |publisher=Panoramio }}</ref> The castle was offered for sale for [[Euro|€]]1 in 2002, on the condition that the buyer restore the crumbling building.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/1855623.stm |title=MEDIA REPORTS &#124; Castle in Spain going for a song |work=BBC News |date=March 8, 2002 }}</ref>

Of Marín, the [[American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics]] writes: "It is impossible to determine how much truth there is to the story of Marín, but it seems that he did achieve some gliding flight, surviving after structural failure and a crash landing. Marín, who had no formal scientific education, was endowed with a special technical ingenuity and is a good example of the ageless human aspiration toward flight."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aiaa.org/Secondary.aspx?id=370|title=Spain:History of Flight from Around the World|publisher=The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|date=May 14, 2014|access-date=May 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517121935/http://www.aiaa.org/Secondary.aspx?id=370|archive-date=May 17, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> They credit him with a flight of approximately 360 meters.{{Citation needed|date<ref name="aiaa" May 2017}}/>

* [http://www.terra.es/personal/soportal/laribera/personaj/diegomar.html Diego Marín Aguilera] {{esin iconlang|es}}

[[Category:AviationSpanish aviation pioneers]]

[[Category:VictimsSpanish of aviation accidents or incidents in Spaininventors]]