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If you search the net for "Victor de Carvalho e Silva" using Google, you will find one remarkable link. It is titled "1939 - "A Última Missão" Por Sergio Luis dos Santos This very comprehensive article details the trip of Brazilian Army and Naval officers who visited Germany in 1939. It includes some fourteen photographs of individuals and incidents during the trip, which were supplied by the Mello Family. It offers a fascinating glimpse into this otherwise little known episode in history. To read the entry in the original Portuguese, just click on: To read it in English, as translated by machine, just click on: |
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September 19, 2002 Hi: I am a researcher on the history of Brazilian Naval Aviation. As one of the important early names is Orthon Hoover, from time to time I attempt to find more about him. Today, the catch was your page, Hoover. Perhaps some additional info may be of interest: Orthon Hoover apparently first came to Brazil in mid-1916 as a Curtiss representative to the Brazilian Navy which had just purchased three "F" boats to innaugurate the Naval Aviation School (Escola de Aviação Naval - EAvN). It seems that, in spite of being a trained mechanic, he did not hold a pilot's license. That he was an able pilot is evident, however, as he was the instructor to the first naval aviators, starting with 1st. Lt. Raul Ferreira Vianna Bandeira, 1st. Lt. Antonio Augusto Schorcht and 2nd. Lt. Victor de Carvalho e Silva in October of the same year. He also flew some notable flights, as the first Rio de Janeiro-Ilha Grande raid on October 12, 1916. In 1917, Lt. Schorcht graduated as an instructor and Hoover's importance in the EAvN gradually diminished. It is not clear when he left. In 1919 he was hired by the State of São Paulo to train pilots in the new aviation branch of São Paulo's Public Force (a kind of paramilitary police). He was an inspiring force behind the project to build aircraft locally, the first of which was named, appropriatelly, the "São Paulo". From then on, I lost track of him. Sometime, he changed the spelling of his name to "Orton" and married a brazilian lady. In 1932, during the Paulista (i.e. São Paulo's) revolution, he flew with the rebel (i.e. paulista's) forces and bombed the naval river monitor Pernambuco, an ironic twist to a former Naval Aviation instructor. It seems likely that he became a brazilian citizen, but this is not clear to me. Excuse me for the lengthy email. You may, of course, use it at your convenience. Congratulations on a nice and informative site. Truly yours, Mauro Lins de Barros I am truly grateful to Mauro for sharing this bit of information on several of the pioneer Brazilian aviators. If by chance you have any other information, which might help both of us to tell their stories, we would love to hear from you. The reference to the Curtiss "F" boat was especially exciting for me. It was my father-in-law, Walter E. Lees, who flew that plane during the first years of his career. If you are interested in that phase of his life, please click on: |
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If you have any information on this Early Flier, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper Back 
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