STEARMAN MODEL 75 : VUELO EN ESTADO PURO

Texto y Fotos Indicadas: José Manuel Serrano Esparza
ENGLISH
Aparecido en 1936, el biplano con motor radial a pistón Boeing Stearman 75 está considerado uno de los más genuinos representantes de la Historia Dorada de la Aviación, destacando por su maniobrabilidad, robustez y fiabilidad, que le confieren una gran seguridad durante el vuelo. 

Además, sus cualidades centradas en los aspectos más esenciales, con un diseño único que cumplía las especificaciones tanto del Ejército como de la Marina de Estados Unidos, le permitieron convertirse durante muchas décadas (entre finales de los años treinta y mediados de los sesenta) en un gran aparato de entrenamiento militar con muy buena respuesta de controles, lo cual fue clave en la formación de cientos de miles de pilotos por todo el mundo, que sacaron provecho de su fácil manejo, su tolerancia al trato duro y la consistencia de rendimiento de la habitual planta motriz Continental R-670-5 de 220 caballos del U.S Army (también conocido como PT-17) o el Lycoming R-680 de 225 caballos de la U.S Navy (también conocido como N2S).

Por otra parte, era fácil de reparar en caso de avería y su mantenimiento resultaba extremadamente sencillo.

El Stearman 75 destaca igualmente por su majestuoso vuelo y el muy característico sonido de su "round engine", y tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial, miles de ellos fueron utilizados como aviones civiles en tareas de fumigación - gracias a sus excelentes cualidades para el vuelo lento a baja altura - y en competiciones acrobáticas, dotándoseles frecuentemente con distintos motores de mayor potencia que el Continental R-670-5 de 220 C.V standard, sobre todo con Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior R-985 radiales de 450 caballos.

ORIGEN
El Boeing Stearman Model 75 es el producto final de varios aviones militares de entrenamiento que tuvieron su génesis a partir del biplano X-70 (inspirado en el Stearman Model 6 "Cloudboy" de 1931 con motor Wright J-6 Whirlwind-5 de 165 caballos), equipado con un motor Lycoming R-680 de 210 C.V y diseñado por Harold Zipp y Jack Clark, que fue fabricado por la Stearman Aircraft Corporation en un principio para el mercado civil, y cuyo vuelo inaugural tuvo lugar el 1 de Enero de 1934, tras un desarrollo de 60 días.

A partir de este momento y hasta la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la prioridad fue alcanzar una cúspide evolutiva que desembocara en un biplano de entrenamiento de dos plazas, gran fortaleza constructiva, notable fiabilidad y tolerancia con los errores de pilotos novatos y un motor con la mejor ratio coste de producción/consistencia de resultados posible.

Igualmente, el prototipo X-70 fue fabricado con una célula tal que pudiera soportar factores de carga superiores a los máximos que podían esperarse en vuelos de entrenamiento, de manera que se optimizara la seguridad de los futuros pilotos que habrían de adquirir con él sus primeras habilidades básicas de vuelo.

Así fue como a mediados de dicho año 1934, tanto la marina como el ejército de Estados Unidos realizaron pruebas con el prototipo Stearman X-70, que tuvieron como resultado su masiva adopción por la U.S Navy y una breve demora en su equipamiento por parte del U.S Army, que optó por esperar hasta la aparición del Stearman Modelo 75 en 1936.

De este modo, la U.S Navy recibió en 1934 su primer pedido de Stearmans (todavía muy similares al prototipo X-70), denominados NS-1 (también conocidos como Modelo 73) y equipados con el algo obsoleto motor Wright R-790-8, pese a lo cual mostró su notable rendimiento como aparato de entrenamiento primario, por lo que a principios de 1935, la U.S Navy decidió comprar varios miles de unidades del N2S, modelo ya bastante evolucionado con respecto al prototipo inicial X-70, y que fue construido en cinco subvariantes, cada una de las cuales fue dotada con un motor diferente.

Y fue en 1936, cuando se produjo la aparición del Stearman Model 75 propiamente dicho, con su primera versión: el modelo PT-13 equipado con motor Lycoming R-680-5 de 215 C.V y que fue adoptado en 1936 por el U.S Army Air Corps (que compró 26 unidades) y la U.S Navy (modelos N2S-2 y N2S-5), y que fue sustituido en 1940 por su segunda versión, el modelo PT-17, dotado con motor Continental R-670-5 de 220 C.V y que fue adoptado por el U.S Army Corps y por la U.S Navy (modelos N2S-1, N2S-3 y N2S-4).

Con el tiempo, la inmensa mayoría de pilotos norteamericanos que participaron en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, recibirían su formación inicial básica de vuelo en este histórico biplano.

GRAN ÉXITO Y DIFUSIÓN INTERNACIONAL
Gracias a su facilidad de pilotaje, su gran robustez y el coste de producción relativamente bajo tanto del motor como de su célula, el Boeing Stearman Model 75 cosechó una muy importante cantidad de ventas, y la fábrica Stearman Aircraft Company de Wichita (Kansas), subsidiaria de Boeing, trabajó a pleno rendimiento entre mediados de los años treinta y 1944, fabricando un total de 8584 unidades, lo cual constituye el récord absoluto con respecto a aparatos biplanos en la historia de la aviación norteamericana.

Evidentemente, la entrada de Estados Unidos en la Segunda Guerra Mundial a partir de 1941, fue el hecho que catapultó en gran medida la cifra de pedidos del Steirman 75, tanto por parte del U.S Army como de la U.S Navy, que necesitaba cantidades masivas de aparatos para entrenamiento militar básico, al igual que Canadá (donde fue exportado y recibió la denominación Kaydet), de tal manera que se compraron miles y miles de unidades para la formación básica de futuros pilotos de combate.

Pero las cualidades intrínsecas del Stearman Model 75 hicieron que posteriormente y hasta la actualidad, trascendiera con creces su papel inicial como avión militar de entrenamiento, desarrollando una vida operativa que tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial pasó a ser mayormente civil, convirtiéndose en un entrañable aparato impregnado de aureola y muy apreciado por los amantes de la aviación y los bellos aeroplanos clásicos con motor radial a pistón.

Un factor clave en su difusión postbélica, ya mayoritariamente en el ámbito civil, fue su gran versatilidad, ya que además de ser durante casi diez años el avión entrenador básico de dos plazas tanto del U.S Army como de la U.S Navy (con el que muchas decenas de miles de pilotos adquirieron sus nociones básicas de vuelo antes de realizar la transición a aparatos de entrenamiento avanzado más potentes y modernos como el Texan T-6 y el posterior pilotaje a los mandos de cazas como el P-51 Mustang, F4U Corsair, etc, y bombarderos como el B-17 y B29), se convirtió también en una opción de muy alto nivel como entrenador con instrumentos de vuelo, en tareas de fumigación, misiones de reconocimiento, siembra de campos de arroz, acrobacia aérea, fotografía aérea, competiciones de velocidad, apariciones en películas famosas de la industria cinematográfica de Hollywood, e incluso como caza de ataque ligero en algunas fuerzas aéreas de países de Latinoamérica como Brasil, Venezuela, Argentina y Cuba, así como Filipinas, equipados con motores de mayor potencia, como el Wright Cyclone de 420 C,V, el Wright R760 de 320 C.V, el Pratt & Whitney Wasp de 320 C.V, el Lycoming R680 de 300 C.V y el Wright Whirlwind de 235 C.V respectivamente, sin olvidar abundantes cantidades de Stearmans 75 que fueron exportadas a China.

Asimismo, desde un principio, fue adquirido por muchos entusiastas de la aviación deportiva de los cinco continentes, que hallaron en él el aparato ideal para disfrutar del vuelo en su más pura expresión, convirtiéndose en todo un clásico de la Historia de la Aviación, con su aspecto inconfundible y su vuelo pausado y a la vez majestuoso.

Tampoco hay que olvidar el hecho de que el Boeing Stearman 75 fue el primer avión utilizado para aterrizar en la cubierta de un portaaviones, gracias a que era capaz de despegar y aterrizar en tramos muy cortos de terreno y sobre todo tipo de superficies, debido a su gran robustez, un hecho que contribuyó decisivamente a su difusión en el marco de la aviación deportiva y a su presencia habitual en todo tipo de aeródromos y aeropuertos, desde los más sofisticados hasta aquellos ubicados en zonas remotas de difícil acceso, incluso en áreas selváticas donde las dimensiones de las pistas suelen ser muy reducidas.

MOTOR DE GRAN FIABILIDAD

                        Photo: José Manuel Serrano Esparza

El Stearman 75 incorpora habitualmente un motor Continental R-670-5 de 220 C.V a 2175 r.p.m y siete cilindros en cuatro ciclos, refrigerado por aire, con un peso en vacío de 211 kilos y 10.94 litros de desplazamiento.

Su diámetro x carrera es de de 130´2 x 117´5 mm, con una longitud de 79´2 cm y 1´079 m de diámetro.

Lleva un carburador Stromberg, así como una válvula de admisión y otra de escape en cada cilindro, siendo su ratio de compresión 5.4:1

                         Photo: José Manuel Serrano Esparza

 

                         Photo: José Manuel Serrano Esparza

Desde un punto de vista diacrónico, el Stearman 75 ha mostrado su plena adaptabilidad a ser equipado con todo tipo de motores, desde la versión básica PT-17 y N2S3 con motor Continental R-670 de 220 caballos y 9 cilindros, hasta el modelo A75L300 reconvertido para uso civil con motor Lycoming R-680-13 de 300 C.V, sin olvidar las versiones más potentes como el "Super" Stearman IB75 con motor Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Jr de 450 C.V y dos alerones extra en el ala superior.

Ni que decir tiene que cada versión del Stearman 75 con sus distintas plantas motrices y potencias, posee una dinámica de vuelo y un sonido de motor diferente, lo cual añade todavía más atractivo si cabe a la biografía de este mítico biplano, que sigue presente hoy en día en muchas exhibiciones aéreas por todo el mundo y cuya contemplación suscita la admiración y entusiasmo de todos aquellos que tienen oportunidad de verlo en acción.

EXCEPCIONAL ROBUSTEZ CONSTRUCTIVA
El Boeing Stearman 75 está fabricado con unos parámetros de fortaleza de componentes insólitos para mediados de los años treinta, época de su aparición, destacando por su construcción mixta,

con alas hechas de madera especialmente resistente dotada con cubierta de tela, mientras que el fuselaje
está constituido por una durísima estructura tubular de acero inoxidable soldado y gran grosor, recubierta también de tela.

Por otra parte, el tren de aterrizaje fijo es igualmente de una enorme solidez,

con patas que forman parte de un rígido sistema de una pieza que va fijado con pernos a la parte inferior del avión,
 

y con unas ruedas integradas en ensamblajes eje/puntal que se deslizan hacia arriba y hacia abajo en el extremo inferior de las patas del tren de aterrizaje.

Además, el amortiguador de la rueda trasera y el conjunto del soporte tienen un peso mayor que la caja de dirección de muchos aviones ligeros de tamaño medio

Y las unidades principales de cantilevers poseen oleoamortiguadores de choque de gran calidad.

Teniendo todo ello en cuenta, corresponde a Boeing el gran mérito histórico de haber sido capaz de construir miles y miles de Stearmans 75 con un coste de producción de tan sólo aproximadamente 9.500 dólares de la época.

En otro orden de cosas, el Stearman 75 es un aparato de enorme tamaño en comparación con el de Havilland Tiger Moth, el SVA Stamp y la Bucker Jungmann, que fueron los aviones de entrenamiento biplazas más populares durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y su peso de 1,936 libras vacío equivale aproximadamente al de la Jungmann y cualquiera de los otros dos aparatos juntos.

También hay que tener en cuenta el hecho importante de que la cabina del Stearman 75 es mucho más grande y espaciosa, teniendo el piloto mayor libertad de movimientos en todo momento, y los grandes pedales de aluminio troquelado que gobiernan el timón de cola son de una robustez y durabilidad sin rival en su segmento de aeroplanos, de fácil ajuste y cuelgan de una sólida estructura.

Por su parte, la palanca de control es de tamaño bastante mayor de lo habitual en este tipo de aeroplanos, lo cual permite su uso continuo sin problemas durante décadas, aspecto que sinergiza a la perfección con la posibilidad de seleccionar nada menos que once posiciones distintas de asiento para lograr la máxima comodidad posible del piloto durante el vuelo. 

NOTABLE RENDIMIENTO COMO AVIÓN ACROBÁTICO
A la hora de analizar la capacidad acrobática del Stearman 75, hay que distinguir dos vertientes básicas:

a) En su configuración básica de producción con motor Continental R-670-5 de 220 C.V, Lycoming-R-680 de 220 C.V así como algunas plantas motrices Wright y Jacobs con potencias entre los 215 y los 225 C.V, la capacidad ascensional del avión es relativamente limitada por su notable peso de 1380 kg y su tamaño mucho mayor que los modelos de entrenamiento de su época (De Havilland Tiger Moth, Polikarpov Po-2, Arado Ar 66, Naval Aircraft Factory N3N Canary, Fleet Finch, Gotha Go 145, Bucker Bü 131 Jungmann, PWS-26, Focke-Wulf  Fw 144, etc), por lo que generalmente los Stearmans 75 dotados con esta planta motriz o bien con la Lycoming R-680-5 de 225 C.V no son utilizados en competiciones acrobáticas.

Pese a ello, su capacidad acrobática con cualquiera de los dos motores básicos es muy notable para un avión de entrenamiento básico creado a mediados de los años treinta, y gracias a su durísima célula es capaz de resistir 12Gs positivas y 8 Gs negativas.

No hay que olvidar que durante los años treinta y cuarenta, tanto el U.S Army, la U.S Navy y la Fuerza Aérea Canadiense utilizaron el Stearman 75 con sus dos motores básicos de 220-225 C.V como entrenador primario, avanzado y de vuelo acrobático.

b) En su configuración como aparato acrobático dotado con hélice de velocidad constante (mayormente Hamilton Standard 2B/20) y equipado con motores Lycoming R-680 de 300 C.V, Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind de 300 C.V, Jacobs R-755-A2 de 300 C.V, Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior R-985 de 450 C.V e incluso plantas motrices de 600 C.V como el Osmoh 600 H.P y el Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp 600 H.P, añadiéndosele con frecuencia dos alerones suplementarios bajo el ala superior, el Stearman 75 se convierte en un excelente avión acrobático de muy altas prestaciones, con la ventaja añadida de que cada versión es única y posee su propia dinámica de vuelo.

La instalación de todos estos muy potentes motores de rendimiento y peso superior a las plantas motrices básicas del Stearman 75 entre 215 y 225 H.P es posible gracias a la robustísima estructura del aparato, repleto de tubos metálicos de aluminio reforzado del tamaño de tuberías, lo cual aporta una gran resistencia y versatilidad a la aeronave, permitiendo realizar barrenas, rizos internos, toneles rápidos por debajo de 175 km/h, toneles lentos por debajo de 204 km/h, giros Immelmann, vuelo invertido, barrenas invertidas, etc.

EXCELENTE APARATO EN TAREAS DE FUMIGACIÓN Y SIEMBRA
Durante muchas décadas consecutivas tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el Stearman 75 se convirtió en la espina dorsal de las flotas de aviones empleados en agricultura, sobre todo en Estados Unidos y Canadá, especializándose en labores de fumigación y siembra, equipado sobre todo con el motor de alto rendimiento Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Jr de 450 C.V, que tenía el doble de potencia que la planta motriz original Continental R-670-5 de 220 C.V del Stearman 75, ya que los pilotos dedicados a estos menesteres en zonas rurales, necesitaban un superior control de respuesta al volar a cinco pies de altura, ya que además, este biplano no permite la visión total a su alrededor, y a tan reducidas cotas de vuelo, cualquier obstrucción inesperada de la visibilidad podría resultar fatal.

Un aparato Stearman 75 dedicado a labores de fumigación que aparece en la película de 1959 Con la Muerte en Los Talones, dirigida por Alfred Hitchcock y protagonizada por Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint y James Mason hizo todavía más popular a nivel mundial a este ya de por sí muy famoso avión.

ESPECIFICACIONES

Tipo: Entrenador primario biplaza.
Tripulación: Dos, el piloto instructor y el aprendiz de vuelo.
Longitud: 7.63 m
Altura: 2.79 m.
Envergadura de Alas: 9.80 m.
Superficie Alar: 27.59 metros cuadrados.
Peso en Vacío: 878 kg.
Peso Máximo en el Momento del Despegue:1232 kg.
Propulsión: Un motor radial a pistón Continental R-670-5 de 220 C.V o bien Lycoming R-680-5 de 225 C.V
Radio de Acción: 813 km.
Velocidad de Crucero: 171 km/h
Velocidad Máxima: 200 km/h
Altura Máxima que Puede Alcanzar: 3415 m


Copyright Texto y Fotos Indicadas José Manuel Serrano Esparza

STEARMAN MODEL 75: FLIGHT IN ITS PUREST FORM

Text and Indicated Photos: José Manuel Serrano Esparza
SPANISH
Introduced in 1936, the radial piston engined biplane Boeing Stearman Model 75 is considered one of the most genuine representatives of the Golden Era of Aviation, excelling because of its manoeuvrability, sturdiness and reliability conferring it a remarkable stability during flight.

Besides, its flight qualities focused on the most essential sides, with a unique design fulfilling both the U.S Army and U.S navy allowed it throughout a lot of decades into a great military trainer aircraft with an exceedingly good controls response, which was a key factor in the basic instruction of hundreds of thousnads of pilots all over the world, who took advantage of its easy handling, its tolerance to hard use and the performance consistency of its usual Continental R-670-5 powerplant of the U.S Army version (also known as PT-17) 220 hp powerplant or the Lycoming R-680-5 engine of the U.S Navy one (also known as N2S).

On the other hand, it was easy to repair in case of breakdown and his maintenance was extremely easy.

The Stearman 75 also stands out because of its majestic flight and the fairly characteristic sound of its ´round engine´, and after the Second World War thousands of them were used as civil planes in fumigation labours - thanks to its excellent capability for slow flight at low altitude - and in aerobatics competitions, being often provided with different engines sporting more power than the standard 220 hp Continental R-670-5 power plant, above all with Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior R-985 delivering 450 h.p.

ORIGIN
The Boeing Stearman Model 75 is the final offspring of several military training aircraft which had their dawn with the X-70 biplane (inspired by the 1931 Stearman Model 6 ´Cloudboy´ featuring a 165 hp Wright J-6 Whirlwind-5), equippped with a 210 hp Lycoming R-680 and designed by Harold Zipp and Jack Clark, which was firstly made by Stearman Aircraft Corporation for the civil market, and whose maiden flight took place on January 1, 1934, after a 60 day development.

Since then and till Second World War, top priority was reaching an evolutive pinnacle resulting in a two-place biplane trainer boasting great building construction, outstanding reliability and tolerance with novice pilots and an engine with the best possible production cost/consistency of results.

Likewise, the X-70 was manufactured with such an airframe that it could endure load factors superior to the maximum ones which could be expected during traning flights, so optimizing the safety of future pilots who would have to acquire their first basic flight skills with it.

Therefore, in mid 1934, both the U.S Army and U.S Navy carried out tests with the Stearman X-70 prototype which brought about its massive adoption by the U.S Navy and a brief delay in its supply for the U.S Army, which chose to wait for the introduction of the Stearman Model 75 in 1936.

This way, the U.S Navy was delivered its first order of Stearmans (still very similar to the X-70 prototype), called NS-1 (also known as Model 73) and equipped with the somehow a bit obsolete Wright R-790-8, though it showed its noteworthy performance as a primary trainer, so in early 1935, the U.S Navy decided to buy some thousand units of the N2S, a model already advanced enough in comparison to the X-70 starting prototype, and which was built in five subvariants, each one being set up with a didferent engine.

And it was in 1936 when the appearance of the Stearman Model 75 itself happened, with its first version: the PT-13 model equipped with a Lycoming R-680-5 215 hp engine, which was adopted in 1936 by the U.S Army Corps (that bought 26 units) and the U.S navy (models N2S-2 and N2S-5), which was replaced in 1940 by its second version, the PT-17 model, provided with a Continental R-670-5 220 hp engine, that was taken over by the U.S Army Corps and the U.S Navy (models N2S-1, N2S-3 and N2S-4).

Within time, vast majority of American pilots who took part in Second World War would acquire their flight basic expertise on board of this historical biplane.

GREAT SUCCESS AND INTERNATIONAL SPREADING
Thanks to its piloting easiness, its great ruggedness and the relatively low cost of both its engine and airframe, the Boeing Stearman 75 reaped a very significant quantity of sales, and the Stearman Aircraft Company at Wichita (Kansas), a subsidiary of Being, worked full steam ahead between mid thirties and 1944, making a total of 8,584 units, which is the absolute record as to biplane airships in the history of American aviation.

Evidently, the entering of United States into Second World War from 1941 was the event greatly catapulting the figure of orders of Stearman 75s, both by the U.S Army and the U.S Navy, which needed massive quantities of aircraft for military basic training, in the same way as canada (where it was exported and received the Kaydett denomination), in such a way that thousands and thousands of units were bought for the basic learning of future combat pilots.

But the inherent qualities of the Stearman Model 75 made that later and up to nowadays its starting role as military training aeroplane was greatly stretched, developing an operative life that after the Second World War was essentially civil, becoming a very beloved aircraft oozing charisma and highly appreciated by the enthusiasts of aviation and the beautiful radial piston engined classic planes.

The key factor in its postwar spreading, already mostly in the civil sphere, was its great versatility, since as well as being the basic two-seat military trainer both in the U.S Army and U.S Navy for almost ten years (many dozen thousands of pilots learned their fundamental flight skills with it before making the transition to most powerful advanced training planes like the Texan T-6 and the subsequent flying of fighters like the P-51 Mustang, F4U Corsair, etc, and bombers like the B-17 and B-29), also turned into a top-notch choice as a flight instrument trainer, in tasks of fumigation, reconnaissance missions, sowing of rice fields, aerobatics, aerial photography, spped contests, appearance in famous Hollywood movies, and even performing the role of light attack in some air forces of Latin American countries like Brasil, Venezuela, Argentina and Cuba, together with Philippines, equipped with more powerful engines like the Wright Cyclone 420 hp, Wright R760 320 hp, the Pratt & Whitney Wasp 320 hp, the Lycoming R-680-13 300 hp and the Wright Whirlwind 235 hp, without forgetting abundant quantities of Starman 75s which were exported to China.

In the same way, from scratch, it was acquired by many fans of sporting aviation in the five continents, who found in it the ideal plane to enjoy flight in its purest form, becoming a full-fledged classic in the History of Aviation, with its unmistakable appearance and its slow yet stately flight.

On the other hand, it mustn´t be forgotten that the Boeing Stearman 75 was the first aircraft used to land on the deck of an aircraft-carrier, for it was able to take off and land on very short stretches of space and on every kind of surface, due to its great sturdiness, a fact that was instrumental in its expansion in the scope of sporting aviation and its frequent presence in all kind of aerodromes and airports, from the most sophisticated to those ones located on remote zones of difficult access, even in jungle areas where the dimensions of the airstrips are often very reduced.

A HIGHLY RELIABLE ENGINE

                         Photo: José Manuel Serrano Esparza

The Stearman 75 is usually equipped with a Continental R-670-5 220 hp at 2,175 rpm air-cooled engine featuring seven cylinders in four cycles, with a dry weight of 211 kg and 10.94 litres of displacement.

It has a length of 79.2 cm and a diameter of 1.079 m, with a bore x stroke of 130.2 x 117.5 mm.

It also sports a Stromberg carburettor, together with an inlet and exhaust valve per cylinder, its ratio of compression being 5:4:1.

                         Photo: José Manuel Serrano Esparza

                         Photo: José Manuel Serrano Esparza

From a diachronic viewpoint, the Stearman 75 has proved its full adaptability to all kinds of engines, from the basic PT-17 and N2S3 featuring a Continental R-670-5 power 220 hp and 9 cylinder power plant to the A75L300 reconverted for civil use with a Lycoming R-680-13 300 hp engine, without forgetting the most powerful versions like the Super Stearman IB75 with a Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Jr 450 hp and two extra ailerons in the upper wing.

Needless to say that each version of the Stearman 75 with its various engines and powers, has a different flight dynamics and engine sound, which adds even more allure to the biography of this mythical biplane, which goes on currently alive and kicking in many aerial exhibitions all over the world and whose watching raises the appraisal and enthusiasm of everybody having the chance of seeing it in action.

EXCEPTIONAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
The Boeing Stearman 75 is made with unusual strength of components for mid thirties, the time of its introduction, being prominent because of its mixed construction,

with specially resistant wooden wings covered with fabric, while the fuselage is made up by an exceedingly hard tubular structure of very thick welded stainless steel also covered with fabric.

On the other hand, the fixed landing gear likewise sports a huge sturdiness,

with legs which are part of a rigid one piece system which is bolted to the lower area of the airship,

and with wheels integrated in assemblies axle/support sliding upwards and downwards in the lower end of the landing gear legs.

Besides, the rear wheel shock absorber and the support set have a bigger weight than the steering gear of many medium size light aeroplanes.

And the main units of cantilevers feature high quality oleo pneumatic struts.

Bearing it all in mind, Boeing deserves accolades for having been able to build a lot of thousands of Stearmans 75 with a production cost of only 9,500 dollars of the time.

On the other hand, the Stearman 75 is a huge size aircraft in comparison to the De Havilland Tiger Moth, the SVA Stamp and the Bücker Jungmann, which were the most popular biplane trainers during Second World War, and its empty weight of 1,936 pounds - 878 kg - ( with a maximum possible weight at takeoff of 2717 pounds - 1232 kg -) is roughly equivalent to the one of Bücker Jungmann plus any of the other two airplanes together.

It must also be taken into account the significant fact that the Stearman 75 cockpit is much larger and ample, so the pilot has a greater movement freedom at avery moment, and the big diecast aluminum pedals governing the rudder sport an unmatched strength and durability in its plane category, easily adjusted and hanging from a solid structure.

On its turn, the control stick sports a much larger size than usual in this sort of aircraft, which enables its continuous use without a hitch for decades, a trait perfectly synergizing with the chance of selecting nothing less than eleven different seating positions so as to achieve maximum comfort for the pilot during flight.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AS AN AEROBATIC AIRCRAFT
When analysing the aerobatic ability of the Stearman 75, two basic types should be distinguished:

a) In its basic production configuration with a Continental R-670-5 220 hp, Lycoming-R 220 hp and some power plants Wright and Jacobs with powers between 215 and 225 hp, the climbing rate of the Stearman Model 75 is relatively limited by its remarkable maximum weight of 2717 pounds - 1232 kg - and its much larger size than the trainers of its time (De Havilland Tiger Moth, Polikarpov Po-2, Arado Ar 66, Naval Aircraft Factory N3N Canary, Fleet Finch, Gotha Go 145, Bucker Bü 131 Jungmann, PWS-26, Focke-Wulf Fw 144, etc), so the Stearmans 75 usually equipped with any of those engines aren´t often used in aerobatics competitions.

In spite of it, the Stearmans 75 featuring any of those basic engines boast a remarkable aerobatic ability for a basic training plane created in mid thirties, and thanks to its exceedingly tough airframe, it is able to endure 12Gs positive and 8Gs negative.

It shouldn´t be forgotten that during thirties and forties, both the U.S Army, the U.S Navy and the Canadian Air Force used the Stearman 75 with its two besic 220-225 hp engines as a primary trainer and aerobatic plane.

b) In its configuration as an aerobatic aircraft featuring a constant speed propeller (mostly Hamilton Standard 2B/20) and equipped with engines Lycoming R-680-13 300 hp, Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind 300 hp, Jacobs R-755-A2 300 hp, Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior R-985 450 hp and even more powerful power plants like the Osmoh 600 hp and the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp 600 hp, often being provided with two extra ailerons under the upper wing, the Stearman 75 becomes a high performance aerobatic aeroplane, with the added benefit that each version is unique and has its own flight dynamics.

The installing of all of these very powerful engines boasting greater performance and weight than the basic 215-225 hp power plants of the Stearman 75 is feasible thanks to the very sturdy structure of the aircraft, full of pipe size reinforced aluminum tubes, which provides outstanding resistance and versatility to the airship, enabling to make spins, inner loops, quick rolls under  108.7 mph (175 km/h), slow rolls under 126.78 mph (204 km/h), Immelmann turns, inverted flight, inverted spins, etc.

EXCELLENT PLANE IN FUMIGATION LABOURS
Throughout many consecutive decades after Second World War, the Stearman 75 became the backbone of aircraft fleets used in agriculture, above all in United States and Canada, specializing in fumigation and seed-planting and mainly equipped with the high efficiency Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Jr 450 hp engine, which delivered double the power than the original Continental R-670-5 220 hp, since the pilots devoted to these toils in rural areas needed a superior response control on flying at a height of five feet, since besides, this biplane doesn´t allow to see utterly around it, and at so low flight, any unexpected obstruction of sight could be fatal.

A Stearman 75 aircraft intended for fumigation missions and appearing in the 1959 movie North by Northwest, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and featuring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason as main characters made this already highly famous plane even more popular worldwide.

SPECIFICATIONS
Type:           two-seat primary trainer
Crew:           2: pilot, trainee
Length:         25' 0.25" (7.63 m)
Height:          9' 2" (2.79 m)
Wingspan:     32' 2" (9.80 m)
Wing area:      297 sq. ft (27.59 sq. m)
Empty Weight:   1936 lb (878 kg)
Max Weight:     2717 lb (1232 kg) max at takeoff
Propulsion: A Continental R-670-5 220 hp radial engine or a Lycoming R-680-5 225 hp radial engine
Range:          505 miles (813 km)
Cruise Speed:   106 mph ( 171 km/h)
Max Speed:      124 mph ( 200 km/h)
Ceiling:        11,200 ft (3415 m)


Copyright Text and Indicated Photographs: José Manuel Serrano Esparza   

AGUSTÍ CENTELLES: AN UNKNOWN PICTURE MADE BY HIM IN ARAGÓN FRONT IN 1937 DISCOVERED AND LOCATED

Text by: José Manuel Serrano Esparza
SPANISH VERSION
The findings from different sources enhancing even more and helping to better understand the great photographic labour made during the Spanish Civil War by Robert Capa, David Seymour Chim, Agustí Centelles, Gerda Taro, Kati Horna, the Mayo brothers, Alfonso and others, go on in a steady way.

After a starting error made by José Manuel Serrano Esparza:

http://elrectanguloenlamano.blogspot.com.es/2011/09/descubierta-la-ubicacion-de-tres.html

corrected on October 6, 2011 and continuation of the research during the seven next months, elrectanguloenlamano.blogspot.com has been able to verify practically with certainty that Agustí Centelles is the author of a picture that we discovered in September 2011 in the book La Lucha del Pueblo Español por su Libertad, written by A. Ramos Oliveira and edited by the Spanish Embassy in London in 1937:

 
Refugees escaping from the aerial bombing of Tardienta (Huesca). 1937. Photo: Almost certainly Agustí Centelles, though in the aforementioned book written by A. Ramos Oliveira don´t appear either the names of the different photographers who made the images illustrating the book or the places where they were made. 

and in which we can see two old women clad in dark clothes and black coifs on their heads, who are grabbing baggages with the personal belongings they have been able to save in the last moment, along with blankets to sleep in the open air during the night. Because of their old age, they are walking tiresomely and difficultly, being the last ones in the group.

On the other hand, on far right of image, we can see a very sturdy and square faced mature woman being around 40 years old wearing a clear long garment with short sleeves and a somewhat darker overskirt garment with of stains and dirtiness tied to her waist. This woman is holding with her right hand a very little girl whose head is covered to protect her from the sun beams and who is wearing a black colour trouser-skirt. This exceedingly young girl goes barefoot. And this mature woman is probably holding some clothes or personal belonging with her left hand, though it isn´t visible in the picture, because the frame cuts on the shoulder.

On the left area of the photograph, there´s an approximately 30-35 years old woman making a very strenuous effort: she´s holding her daughter with her left arm and hand, while she grabs a big bag with personal belongings and blankets with her right hand.

And in this picture we can also watch a total of six children: two very young around 8 years old girls on far left of the image (one of them is wearing a long sleeved plaided dress, while the other one walking just in front of her is wearing white shoes and an also white dress, which is full of dirtiness), a very young blonde boy - being approximately 5 years old and located slightly on the left of the center of the photograph - who is wearing dark shor trousers with suspenders over his shoulders, and the saddest detail of all: two more girls (just behind the very young blonde boy), one of which - with his short sleeved dress very dirty with sand, both on the chest area and above all in the lower one - is grabbing with her left hand the right hand of an exceedingly young child (still almost a non more than two years old baby), while another young girl (being around 11 years old, showing the left middle area of her short sleeved dress stained with sand and the lower area even more) is taking with her right hand the very young child - almost a baby- right hand.

It seems apparent that when they were fleeing Tardienta while the village was being bombed, there have been some nearby explosions and the adult women have made - in one or some moments- the four girls, the blond boy (whose middle left area of his shirt is also very soiled with sand, in the same way as his trousers, in which the sand stains are barely perceptible in the image, since it is of a very dark colour) and the almost still baby (whose upper garment likewise shows abundant sand spots) to lie on the floor, trying to protect them to the utmost and probably covering them with their bodies.

Due to the rash flight and the fear to die, there hasn´t been any time to suitably dress the quoted child being still nearly a baby or at least to put him a diaper, so he appears wholly naked from waist area downwards, with his genital zone in the open air.

This still almost a baby child has learnt to walk for a very little time and is barely able to keep balance standing, so he´s constantly helped by his elder sisters.

REASONS FOR A PRACTICAL CERTAINTY ON THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE PICTURE BY AGUSTÍ CENTELLES
There´s a picture made by Agustí Centelles and published by Regards French magazine on December 2, 1937 and also by the Spanish newspaper El País on July 23, 2010 in its series The Favourite Photographs of Centelles , and on page 218 of the top-notch 321 pages book Centelles in_edit_ ¡oh! New York 2011 Salamanca (made with painstaking care, lavishly illustrated, with an excellent quality of photographic printing and paper, highly comprehensive documentation on the magazines and newspapers where Centelles published images made by him, and in-depth texts in each and every one of its nine chapters) edited by the General Technical Secretary of the Spanish Ministry of Culture thanks to the contributions of Sergi Centelles and Octavi Centelles (sons of the great Valencian photojournalist) with a great quantity of pictures made by their father during the Spanish Civil War and which are at the Agustí Centelles i Ossó Archive of the Documentary Center for the Historical Memory in Salamanca, together with articles wirtten by Joaquín D. Gasca - Commissar of the Centelles in_edit_¡oh! Exhibition that was held at the ICP New York in 2011-, Rocío Alcalá del Olmo Olea, Daniel Cortijo, Antón Gasca and Jesús Núñez Calvo).

In this image appear the same refugees as in the picture discovered and located by elrectanguloenlamano.blogspot.com, a few hundred meters beyond the point in the outskirts of Tardienta (Huesca) in which the previous photograph was made:

- The young mother between being approximately between 30 and 35 years old who was on the left of the previous image, is now on the right of the photograph - very near Centelles in the moment in which this gets the picture- , and both the thorough examination of her face with a Schneider 10 x magnifying loupe and through a selective reframing of it clearly reveal that this woman is not looking at the camera, she walks utterly plunged in thought and striving after putting her daughter farther away from danger as sson as possible, holding her with her left hand while she is taking a large bag full of personal belongings and clothes with her right hand.

To discover this very important fact, which hugely fosters this second picture made by Centelles to the same refugees (because the Valencian photojournalist manages to capture by surprise the 100% of the people appearing in image, and not even one of them is looking at the camera, which is highly praiseworthy), has been very important the page 153 of the book Centelles in_edit_ ¡oh! in which is shown the cover of Regards magazine number of December 2, 1937 with this image reproduced such a year by the French illustrated publication by means of the half-tone plate system probably made from the original 24 x 36 mm negative exposed by Agustí Centelles.

Her face (whose traits aren´t easy to discern because the non coated Leitz Summar 5 cm f/2 featuring 6 elements in 4 groups, designed by Max Berek in Wetzlar four years before ( an asymmetric variation of a symmetric Double Gauss formula with a large front singlet, glued central doublets and a back singlet) with which Centelles takes the picture, has the delicate front element - made with a very soft optical glass- with some cleaning marks, some little scratches and some presence of adhered dust which have lessened the resolving power and contrast) is absolutely contorted by the exhausting effort. She has an absent gaze, her eyes have lost coordination (the left one appears approximately 50% opened, while the right one is utterly opened), her mouth is ajar, clearly panting, with sweat and saliva falling on the corners of her lips, while her forehead creases appear very pronounced.

Among other factors, a significant fact making it to be easy to be wrong and think that this young mother holding her daughter with her left arm and hand is looking at the camera - when she isn´t really doing it- is that the Leitz Summar 5 cm f/2 lens, though attains a good sharpness for the time, doesn´t particularly excel for its good ability to capture details in shadows (the woman´s eyes are in low key area), so if you don´t use a powerful magnifying loupe or make a selective very large reframing of the woman face area, you can barely see detail of her eyes, which worsens even more due to the low contrast of the objective (whose optical performance is besides dwindled, since it features some cleaning marks, little scratches and some dust on its very delicate front element) and the reamrkable enhancing of the high keys providing an impressionist profile to the scene.

Nevertheless, in this kind of photojournalistic photography, the technical perfection of the image is not a key factor, bacause the important thing is to be in the suitable place at the suitable moment, to approach as much as possible to the subject and capture the most meaningful moments, something in which Centelles was one of the great, such as he proves with this impresive image.

This woman - who seems to be much older than she really is, due to the very hard life conditions of the time in the villages - is frightened, she´s very worried about the uncertain future of both her and specially her daughter, her facial expression is dantesque and she is on the brink of physical collapse.

Agustí Centelles has realized everything in advance and has masterfully captured a highly significant instant vividly depicting the sufferings and hardships of refugees in war times.

The old woman clad in black garment who occupied the center of the frame in the previous image, is now on far left of the image, with her left arm leaned on her hip, utterly exhausted and looking at the other old woman also wearing black attire, holds a huge white baggage with her left arm and looks anguished - because on being likewise very tired, she can´t help her - at the little girl who in the previous picture was taking the right hand of the baby and that now has had to grab the heavy dark coloured baggage full of personal belongings and all sort of clothes which was taken in the previous photograph by the old woman located in this second picture on far left of the image, and who can´t load with it any more, so she has asked for help to the little girl, who is taking the baggage now with great difficulty and is captured by Centelles in full endeavour, trying to hold it with both of her hands.

- The girl with very dirty front of her skirt who was on far left of the image in the previous photograph, is now in the center of the frame, looking backwards to her younger brother (the blond boy wearing dark troiusers and suspenders) and also to her younger sister (who is advancing in the last place).

- The blonde boy clad in dark trousers and suspenders on his shoulders who was in the previous picture just on the left of the middle of image and with his left leg forward, is now in the background, between the two old women wearing black dresses and behind one of his sisters, and both he and that sister who has turned her head backwards (the girl appearing in the first place on far left in the first picture) look nervously at each other, on noticing that her little sister (the girl walking in the background) is barely able to take the dark baggage loaded with personal belongings and all sort of clothes, which in the previous photograph was taken by one of the old women wearing dark clothes and coif, who now appears located on far left of the image.

- The little girl who appeared in the middle of the image of the previous photograph, grabbing with her left hand the right hand of an exceedingly young child - still almost a baby - helping him to walk, is now the last in the group and has just taken the bag of the old woman visible now on far left of the picture and who was behind her in the previous photograph. It seems apparent that this old woman is frazzled and has asked the little girl to take her the bag (at the same time, this old woman has stopped to rest a moment and is leaning her hand on her left hip trying to recover her breathing), which the little lassie does with great effort, since as it is seen in the image, she can hardly load with it.

- The very little baby who was helped to walk by his two sisters in the previous picture, has been raised on her shoulders by his elder sister, who appeared in the previous photograph grabbing the left arm of the exceedingly young child.

- And the old woman clad in black attire who appeared on the right of the previous image taking a basket with blankets with her left hand, is now in the center of the image looking anxiously backwards to the girl who is striving after taking the bag of the other old woman with great difficulty.

Because of it all, it´s practically certain that the first picture of this article was made by Agustí Centelles and belong to the same sequence and roll of 35 mm film, though the chance that it could have been made by Capa or any other photographer also in the area was its author, because both photographers worked often near each other during their coverage of Aragón Front.

The evidence indicate that Agustí Centelles, after getting the first picture subject of this article in the purlieus of Tardienta (Huesca), isn´t satisfied, has the image he´s just made in mind and has realized that though he has managed to capture by surprise the blonde boy wearing dark short trousers and suspenders, the half naked baby taken by the hand by two of his sisters, and the very little girl covered with a white shawl, whose mother (on the left of the image) is holding her in a difficult way with her left arm while she grabs a heavy baggage with her right forearm, the rest of refugees were looking at him in the moment of pressing the shutter release button of his camera.

Centelles ( a man being tremendously eaxcating with himself and hyperactive) decides to make them a better picture, and with that aim he goes up the slope that can be seen on the left of the photograph and runs quickly forward on a higher soft terrain parallel to the way, following the trajectory of the refugees he has just taken the firt picture, but without their visual field, endeavouring to surprise them descending suddenly towards the way from the slope approximately 200 meters beyond the place where he makes the first image.

He knows that if he wants to photograph them without being looking at the camera, he will only have a shot, since they are a total of ten persons.

He makes a top effort to choose the key moment, being successful, because in an amazing way, Agustí Centelles achieves that not not even one of the eight persons he captures in this second picture is looking at the camera.

On the other hand, in the center of this second image, we can see that unlike the previous picture in which there were two girls grabbing the baby by his hand, now only the elder sister is taking care of him, taking the little baby on her head (his naked back can be watched in the open air, just over the head of his little sister who grabeed the baby by his right hand in the first picture captured by Centelles), and above all, the most stunning thing: Centelles also achieves to photograph by surprise - in the same way as the rest of refugees- the mother wearing a plaided dress, who is not looking at the photographer and walks absent-minded and thinking only about the security of her daughter, whom she is holding with her left arm and hand, while she holds a heavy bag with her right forearm, so at the moment in which Agustí Centelles presses the shutter release button of his Leica III, she doesn´t even see him, despite he he shoots almost at point blank range, probably at f/8, masterly framing her on the right area of the image, also getting a stressed contrast between the huge flurry and physical effort of the mother being afraid of her daughter safety and the outstanding quietness of the latter, looking backwards curiously at her brothers and sisters, while on the left of this mother clad in a checkered attire appear seven of the other eight persons (the approximately 50 years old mature woman wearing a white coif on her head who was on far right of the photograph discovered by elrectanguloenlamano.blogspot.com appears now almost completely covered by the mother wearing a plaided dress and her daughter whom she´s holding with her left arm and hand, while the girl clad in a long sleeved checkered attire who appeared on far left of the first picture just behind the other girl wearing a short sleeved white dress very stained with sand, appears now partially on the lower right corner (we only see her left arm and hand, neck and right pocket and a small area of her head), which doesn´t appear in the picture published by El País but is shown on page 218 of the book Centelles in-edit-¡oh!.

Both of them are two hard pictures, vividly whowing the suffering of civil population in war times, and almost certainly belonging to the same series, made by the famous Valencian photojournalist with a very accurate framing, something which was one of the many sides in which Agustí Centelles excelled (he was not only one of the most important photographers of the Spanish Civil War, but also a very good portrait photographer besides a later remarkable publicity and industrial photographer often using large format cameras), such as happened for instance during his coverage on May 7, 1937 of the arrival in barcelona of 5,000 assault guards coming from Madrid and Valencia, together with government troops coming from Valencia on board of two destroyers and the battleship Jaime I during the Events of May 1937, where Centelles, a man featuring great will and stamina, endeavours to the utmost to get the best possible pictures, trying to capture the most meaningful moments and the rather special atmosphere of those instants from the most various taking angles, not even hesitating about bending as much as possible or lying on the ground, with great effort, to get some pictures with dramatic low angle shots from a very nearby distance to the marching soldiers advancing towards him, fighting to the end of his strength and living photography with boundless passion, without forgetting his huge bravery, cold blood and mastery of the focusing distances and hyperfocal technique, which turned him into an accomplished expert in getting very valuable pictures (often with his 35 mm Leica III rangefinder camera and Leitz Summar 5 cm f/2 non coated lens without its cap hidden inside his pocket) of events in which it was forbidden to take photographs, such as happened on August 11, 1936 on board of the ship Uruguay, during the court-martial to the generals Goded and Burriel (where Centelles gets some pictures of both of them, at the moment in which they enter the room and when they are sitting on the dock alike), being one of the pioneers in this kind of photography along with Erich Salomon, starter of the genre in 1927 with his 4.5 x 6 cm Zeiss Ernemann Ermanox camera and Ernostar 8.5 cm f/1.8 objective (a 6 elements in 4 groups design, Sonnar ADN, featuring a triplet and created by Ludwig Bertele in 1924), a tradiciton which would have his top exponent with Peter Magubane (Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2005 and Cornell Capa Award 2010), who made in South Africa a slew of pictures in forbidden places, hiding his Leica IIIG with collapsible Leitz Summicron 50 mm f/2 Version 1 featuring 7 elements in 6 groups in M39 screwmount inside sandwiches, bibles, milk boxes, etc, like for example during the trial to Nelson Mandela in Rivonia in 1964 and the Soweto riots in the summer of 1976.

Important Updating September 4, 2012.-
After the information provided by Octavi Centelles, son of Agustí Centelles, in his blog:

http://octavicentelles.blogspot.com.es/2012/08/frente-de-aragon-provincia-de-huesca-la.html

I do wish to publicly recognize my error, because I didn´t know at all that the photograph I found on September 15, 2011 in the book La Lucha del Pueblo Español por su Libertad, written by A. Ramos Oliveira and edited by the Spanish Embassy in London in 1937 (in which doesn´t appear Centelles´s credit and in which appear the same persons as in the other image made by Agustí Centelles in Tardienta and published by Regards magazine on December 2, 1937, along with the newspaper El País on July 23, 2010, and also appearing on page 218 of the excellent book Centelles in-edit-¡oh! New York 2011 Salamanca ) which is the subject of this article, had been published in the newspaper Última Hora number 260 of August 21, 1936, signed by Agustí Centelles i Ossó.

Before publishing my article, I strove as much as possible after finding the photograph that appears in the book La Lucha del Pueblo Español por su Libertad both in the blog of Octavi Centelles (whom I truly do thank for the correction) and in the pictures of his flicker, along with different books on Agustí Centelles, and throughout more than a year, I couldn´t find it anywhere (perhaps I got over it inadvertently) or in internet, until August 31, 2012 in the blog of Octavi Centelles.

Likewise, though I searched intensively as much as I could according to my possibilities, I couldn´t find this picture in magazines of other countries of the world, and I couldn´t find any mention to this image in the web, either in Spain or other countries.

On the other hand, on watching the second image made by Centelles after a few seconds in this same location in the outskirts of Tardienta (Huesca) to the same persons dated in 1937 (which was erroneous) by the newspaper El País - which selected this photograph with very good criterion- in the footnote of that picture which appears among The Favourite Pictures by Centelles, I took for granted that such second photograph made by Centelles (and also published by Regards in December 1937) had been made in 1937.

But if the first picture subject of my article was made by Centelles in the outskirts of Tardienta (Huesca) around August 19, 1936, the second picture that he takes shortly after, was made by Centelles a few seconds later in the same year, day, location and moment as the first one, and both photographs belong to the same series, made in August 1936 and not in 1937.

It´s impossible that the two pictures have been taken with a difference of a year and five months between each other, one in August 1936 and the other in November 1937, because evidently, both of them were made by Centelles one after the other in the same year, month, day, hour and identical place, id est, in the way which can be seen in the two pictures and located in the outskirts of Tardienta (Huesca).

Besides, the second picture made by Centelles in this location (approximately one hundred meters after the first one, subject of my article) appears on page 218 of the book Centelles in-edit-¡oh! in 17.5 cm x 11.5 cm with a footnote (which has proved to be erroneous) in bold-facet letters in which it is stated that the picture was made by Centelles in November 1937:

Evacuación de la población civil del frente de guerra aragonés, Noviembre de 1937.

Evacuation of civil population in the Aragon war front, November 1937.

so after reading it, I took it for granted, even with more ground (I couldn´t imagine that it was an error), that the photograph made by Centelles and subject of my article had been made in November 1937, because it was made in the same place, day and hour as the photograph appearing on page 218 of the book Centelles in-edit-¡oh!, approximately 150 meters before, in the same way in the outskirts of Tardienta (Huesca).

But truth is that elrectanguloenlamano.blogspot.com has proved that both pictures were made in a consecutive way, the same year, day, hour and moment, with an interval of some seconds between each other, in the same way in the outskirts of Tardienta (Huesca).

On the other hand, since the credit of Agustí Centelles doesn´t appear in the footnote of the book La Lucha del Pueblo Español por su Libertad, and on looking for that picture with the credit of Agustí Centelles in different both Spanish and foreign publications from 1937 onwards and I wasn´t able to find any reference at all to the picture subject of my article, I thought wrongly that  it could be one of the many photographs made by Agustí Centelles in which his authorship as an author didn´t appear, something of which he was victim throughout his great professional career as a photojournalist.

                                   José Manuel Serrano Esparza



Copyright Text José Manuel Serrano Esparza. LHSA