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The Poliplano Dominican first aircraft

Zoilo Hermogenes Garcia Peña Born December 21,1881 Die November 11, 1916

Engineer Zoilo Hermogenes Garcia Peña, first Dominican aircraft pilot and known as the father of Dominican aviation, manufactured in 1911 an aircraft that exceeded the aircraft built by Orville and Wilbur Wright brothers in 1903 and released in 1906.

His inventive genius and her contribution to the development of air transportation in the country were highlighted during the conference Life and Work of Don Zoilo Hermogenes Garcia Peña, organized by the Foundation Flight Insurance and issued by the president of this institution, Pedro Dominguez and Reynolds Perez, member of the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic.

During his presentation, Perez said Peña was a person with a very restless and brilliant mind and it is estimated that during his stay in France, where he studied civil engineering , met Alberto Santos Dumont , a Brazilian inventor who built a aircraft in 1906 and who may have influenced him to design the Poliplano.

One of the many advantages of the invention is that Zoilo Garcia had two parallel wings, a horizontal and a completely flat, allowing that if the aircraft had some technical fault could glide for much longer and slowly descend down to earth and not freefall.

The main contribution of the Dominican inventor was the sitting position of the crew of the aircraft, as now used, unlike the model of the Wright brothers, where the pilot was lying, and Santos Dumont, where the aviator traveling stopped. Also you placed the landing gear wheels as did Santos Dumont in his 14 Bis in 1906 and unlike the Wright brothers, who had skis and other important contributions.

Our inventor with the mere fact of conceiving the plans of your poliplano enough to be known not only in the Dominican Republic, but at the level of the world, he said.

The Poliplano, called by that name because it presented several planes that would allow planning for much longer without falling to the ground in case you happen to some technical fault, was flown by its own inventor in La Vega, Dominican Republic. Where it was manufactured, and then was taken to the United States where it was exhibited at the New York Air Show at Nassau Boulevard, Long Island.

Zoilo Garcia has underlined the planes of his invention and although he received several offers in the US to sell it, he refused. One night, while in storage at the New York Air Show a surprising and mysterious fire burned the Poliplano it caught fire in the hangar where it was stored. It is believed that the fire was intentional.

After the destruction of Poliplano, engineer Zoilo Hermogenes Garcia Peña returned to the Dominican Republic very depressed. He in died November 1916 in the city of La Vega. Garcia Peña also builds in the Dominican Republic lighthouses, bridges, railways, houses and other buildings, as Secretary of Public Works.