Ramón Franco Baamonde


Category: Military man
Birth Date: 2nd February 1896 (†28th August 1938)
Birth Place: Ferrol (A Coruña)
 Curriculum

He entered the Infantry Academy in Toledo in 1911, becoming a captain in 1920. That same year, he became a pilot and was appointed to Tetuán. In 1925, he was raised to the rank of commander for war merits. His biggest achievement was the flight he carried out in the 'Plus Ultra' (together with Ruiz de Alda, Juan Manuel Durán and Pablo Rada) from Cádiz to Buenos Aires. After a series of altercations, stays in prison and a revolt, he went to Portugal into exile, moving to Belgium a bit later. Once the Republic was proclaimed, he returned to Spain and was nominated as director general of Aeronautics and elected deputy. Then he was nominated as air attaché of the Spanish Embassy in Washington. His brother, who had already been nominated as Generalissimo, nominated him as a head of the air base in the Balearic Islands, promoting him later to lieutenant-colonel of Infantry. He died in 1938 in a war action when his airplane crashed.