Don Felix and the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett

Don Felix⁽¹⁾ won participation in the Gordon Bennett balloon competition⁽²⁾ during the war in Africa. That was the reward for preventing a Spanish army reconnaissance balloon from falling into enemy territory. Months later, on 23 September 1923, he and Captain Peñaranda were in Solbosch, near Brussels. Everything was ready for the start of a new edition of this prestigious competition.

The Coupe Aéronautique Gordon-Bennett is the most important balloon competition in the world. It has been held since 1906.

The weather that day was terrible. It had rained all week. The race was in jeopardy because of the strong winds generated by a storm. The two men were waiting next to "Polar", an imposing hot air balloon weighing 294 kilograms and with a volume of 1,220 m3.

At the starting line they were ready 15 balloons from six different countriesFrance, USA, England, Switzerland, Belgium and Spain. The Italian and Polish teams had withdrawn at the last minute due to weather conditions. There had already been two accidents even before the start of the competition. The force generated by the wind had torn the envelope off an American balloon. Another American balloon had destroyed the Belgian team's gondola.

Finally, at 4:00 in the morning, in the middle of a terrible storm, the race started. "Polar" took off under an intense hail storm and strong winds. Just 30 km after take-off, the weather took a turn for the worse. The Spanish aviators decided to look for a place to land. Near the village of Hayst-op-den-Berg, the usual descent procedures began. Barely 100 metres from the ground, a farmer grabbed the brake rope to help stop them, but a strong gust of wind forced him to let go.

Suddenly, balloon rose to 1,200 metres. Don Felix kept his hands in his pockets. He wanted to be sure not to touch the wires that tied the gondola to the envelope. While they were in the middle of a cloud, lightning struck the aircraft. He turned and saw his friend vanish. He lay motionless, eyes wide open, on the side of the gondola. They were more than 1,000 metres above the ground and the envelope had caught fire. In a matter of seconds, he decided to pull the rip-valve strap and let the air out. Immediately afterwards, miraculously, the envelope took the form of a makeshift parachute and started to fall, fast, out of control...

When the farmers in the nearby village saw the hot-air balloon come down, they ran to meet it. They found the two brave Spaniards buried under the sandbags, the net, the envelope and other elements of the balloon. Don Felix shouted in his rustic French: "Aidez mon ami, aidez-le" (Help my friend, help him). There was nothing to be done. Captain Penaranda was dead. He lay lifeless, his face covered in blood, between sacks of wet sand. Don Felix could not move either. He had broken the femur in both legs.

On that day, in addition to the Spaniard, four other balloonists died during the competition: two Americans flying the "US Army" balloon and two Swiss in the "Geneve". In both cases, they were killed by lightning. In addition, five pilots were injured and two others had to be rescued at sea. For the Gordon-Bennett competition, that day was the most tragic day in its history..

The reckless Don Felix survived his wounds and married soon after. He had 4 sons and 3 daughters. One of them was my mother. Don Felix was my grandfather. We called him Papa-Felix.