Felix Rigau Carrera

Felix Rigau Carrera (1884-October 13, 1954) was a Puerto Rican-Spanish aircraft pilot. He was the first Puerto Rican to become a pilot, and a celebrity during his era as an aviator.

Biography

Born in the town of Sabana Grande, Rigau Carrera was the son of a Spanish Navy sailor from Catalunia, and Carmen Carrera de Rigau, a Puerto Rican homemaker. Rigau Carrera had nine siblings.

Rigau Carrera began showing interest in mechanics as a child and he used to make model aircraft, using a local cathedral as launching pad for his small fixed-wing aircraft replicas. Later on, Rigau Carrera went to study mechanic engineering and electricity in the city of Mayaguez. While in Mayagüez, Rigau Carrera continued enjoying his hobby of building model aircraft.

After graduating from college, Rigau Carrera went to the United States Army, which allowed him to travel extensively around the world. Rigau Carrera was able to become acquainted with many of the world's famous pilots of the era during his stint with the Army, which in turn inspired him to get inscribed in an aviator school upon release from the military. He served in France with the Army, as a fighter pilot and parachutist. When he flew with the Army for the first time, Rigau Carrera became the first Puerto Rican to pilot a fixed-wing aircraft.

Rigau Carrera made it clear to everyone that knew him that his main objective was to be able to fly his own aircraft someday, and, as a consequence, his four brothers helped him economically towards buying his first aircraft. He was able to own an aircraft in 1919, when he bought a Curtiss JN-4.

Rigau Carrera performed the first flight in Puerto Rico, flying out of the exact area where Residencial Las Casas is currently located. At the time, the area was used by the military as an air base and it was also Puerto Rico's first commercial airport, and Rigau Carrera was allowed to perform his historic flight from the air field. Rigau Carrera then started using the air base frequently, for exhibition flights and to carry paying passengers on flightseeing trips. He became a national hero in Puerto Rico during the 1920s, traveling to many Puerto Rican cities by air. The speculation that his flights caused everywhere he flew to made local town people celebrate his landings with live music and fireworks. He became known as "The Sabana Grande Bird".

Not all of his career went without problems, however, as Rigau Carrera almost lost his life during flights twice, once in San German and another time in Guanica.

In 1931, Rigau Carrera got a license by San Juan's mail system authority to fly air mail through the island, becoming the first pilot to fly on air mail carrying duties in Puerto Rico. Rigau Carrera then established a system similar to the one used by airlines, where he would fly people from one point of the island to another, with paying customers on board.

Having amassed a fortune, he, his wife and six children moved to Virginia, where he became the owner of a funeral home and a factory.

On October 13, 1954, Rigau Carrera died at the age of 60.

Note: According to a letter from his widow, dated 26 October 1981, Felix Rigau was not a military pilot prior to November 11, 1918. Therefore, he did not fly as a pilot in World War One. He became a pilot after World War One and he received his pilot traiing in private pilot schools in Seattle, Washington and Minneapolis, Minnessota. (Information provided by Colonel Hector Andres Negroni)

External links

* [http://joseosvaldo.freeyellow.com/Felix.html [e-mail], in Spanish]