{"id":24267008,"date":"2026-09-23T15:39:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T13:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/iberia-dc-4-madrid-buenos-aires-1946-80-years\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T15:40:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T13:40:24","slug":"iberia-dc-4-madrid-buenos-aires-1946-80-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/iberia-dc-4-madrid-buenos-aires-1946-80-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Iberia\u2019s DC-4 to Buenos Aires: 36 Hours and Three Stops in 1946"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On 22 September 1946 a four-engined Douglas DC-4 lifted off from Madrid and turned south. Thirty-six hours, three stops and one unscheduled diversion later it landed at Mor&oacute;n in Buenos Aires. Iberia had just become the first European airline to link the old continent with South America after the Second World War, and it had done it on an aeroplane built to haul cargo across the Pacific.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eighty years later the same city pair is three Airbus A350 departures a day and twelve hours block time. The gap between those two operations is the whole history of long-haul flying compressed into one route.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What makes the 1946 crossing worth revisiting is not the record. It is the detail: the astrodome, the storms flown underneath rather than over, the Brazilian paperwork nobody had filed, and the six-year-old boy who was shown two live leopards at a refuelling stop in the Spanish Sahara.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f6f8;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:18px;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Inaugural flight:<\/strong> 22 September 1946, Madrid to Buenos Aires<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Douglas DC-4, four Pratt &amp; Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp radials<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Block time:<\/strong> About 36 hours including stops<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Stops:<\/strong> Villa Cisneros (Spanish Sahara), Natal and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Average speed:<\/strong> Around 450 km\/h (280 mph)<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>DC-4 capacity:<\/strong> 44 seats in Iberia service; range about 6,800 km<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Crew:<\/strong> Captains Ansaldo, Pombo and Mart&iacute;nez Gallardo, navigator Indalecio Rego, radio operator Segundo Hern&aacute;ndez, mechanic Alejandro Arag&oacute;n<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Scheduled service began:<\/strong> 15 October 1946, initially once every ten days<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Today:<\/strong> Three daily Airbus A350-900 rotations, four in peak summer, about 12 hours nonstop<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A cargo hauler pressed into airline service<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DC-4 that flew the route was a war-surplus design. Douglas built it as the C-54 Skymaster, the type that moved men and freight across the Atlantic and Pacific for the US Army Air Forces, and after 1945 it flooded onto the civil market at prices no new airliner could match. Iberia bought into that market like everybody else.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The specification looks modest now. Four Pratt &amp; Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp radials, a wingspan of 35.82 metres, a top speed of 450 km\/h, 44 seats, and a range a little under 6,800 kilometres. It was unpressurised, which is why the crossing was flown low, and why storms had to be gone through or around rather than above.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/douglas-dc-4-skymaster-3-view-drawing.png\" alt=\"Three-view line drawing of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The DC-4 in outline. Unpressurised, four radials, 44 seats, and just enough range to island-hop the South Atlantic. Wikimedia Commons \/ public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gGy1xQcKQzE\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Thirty-six hours, and a stop nobody planned<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The route went Madrid to Villa Cisneros in the then-Spanish Sahara, then the long jump to Natal on the Brazilian bulge. That leg alone, the actual crossing of the ocean, took about thirteen hours. From Natal the plan was to run down the coast to Buenos Aires.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It did not go that way. The aircraft was diverted into Rio de Janeiro to sort out Brazilian entry formalities that had never been started before departure from Spain. The first Europe to South America service of the post-war era was held up by paperwork, which is either a disappointing detail or the most honest one in the story.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Navigation over the ocean was done the old way. The DC-4 carried a navigator, Indalecio Rego, who took astronomical sights through a glass astrodome in the cabin roof to fix the aircraft&rsquo;s position. The role was new to Iberia; the Madrid to Buenos Aires route is what forced the airline to add it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;More than a commercial flight, it was an aerial adventure that established for the first time regular itineraries between Europe and South America after the Second World War.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Mari&aacute;n Campra Ga de Viguera<\/strong> &mdash; Spanish Ministry of Public Works aviation history review, 2017<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What a 1946 crossing actually cost<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iberia&rsquo;s own anniversary material puts the 1946 fare at 11,435 pesetas outbound from Spain, or 3,381 Argentine pesos from the other end, with 114.35 pesetas charged for each checked suitcase. A Spanish Ministry of Public Works history published for the route&rsquo;s seventieth anniversary gives 7,250 pesetas. Both figures circulate; the difference probably reflects different cabins or different points in the first year, and we have not found a document that settles it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Run the higher figure through inflation and you land near 17,800 US dollars in today&rsquo;s money. Iberia currently sells the same journey for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 dollars return in economy and around 5,600 in business. That is the compound interest of eighty years of engineering.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the money, passengers got fried chicken, Spanish omelette, hard-boiled eggs and a chocolate in a cardboard box. Drinks were free. They also got a night in a parador at Villa Cisneros, built specifically so that travellers on the return leg had somewhere to sleep.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The passengers, and the boy with the leopards<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 22 September flight was a route-proving and inaugural run rather than a commercial service. On board were Iberia directors, Spanish government representatives, technicians and company staff. Scheduled operations with fare-paying passengers began on 15 October 1946 as service 1215, at first once every ten days, with an extra stop at Montevideo added at Uruguay&rsquo;s request. Demand pushed it to weekly before long.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cabin service on those first flights was run by Iberia&rsquo;s first stewardesses: Encarnaci&oacute;n Ruiz de G&aacute;miz, Pilar Mac&iacute;as, Mar&iacute;a Jos&eacute; Ugarte and Ana Marsans. What to call them was genuinely debated inside the company, with aeroviarias, aeromozas, mayordomas and provisadoras all proposed before the Spanish settled on azafata.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The only child aboard the inaugural flight was Francisco Botas, six years old, from A Coru&ntilde;a, travelling with his mother to meet Argentine relatives. In interviews given decades later he recalled a stewardess who stayed with him the whole way and gave him a toy car, being taken to the back of the cabin during turbulence and shown star charts to distract him, and a visit to the cockpit. What stuck most was the stop in the Spanish Sahara, where the passengers ate at the house of the governor of Villa Cisneros and he saw two live leopards.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The competition arrived immediately<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spanish emigration to Argentina made the route commercially obvious, and Iberia&rsquo;s head start lasted months rather than years. KLM came in, then Argentina&rsquo;s FAMA, the forerunner of Aerol&iacute;neas Argentinas, then British South American Airways, Air France and Panair do Brasil.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Between them they killed the transatlantic liner as a way of getting between Europe and South America. A sea crossing took more than a month and depended on the weather. Thirty-six hours in an unpressurised DC-4 sounds brutal until you price the alternative in weeks.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iberia followed Buenos Aires with Madrid to New York on 3 August 1954. The South Atlantic came first, which is unusual: most airlines built the easier North Atlantic franchise before reaching further.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/iberia-airbus-a350-900-ec-ndr-departure.jpg\" alt=\"Iberia Airbus A350-900 EC-NDR climbing after takeoff\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The modern version of the same route. Iberia flies Madrid to Buenos Aires with A350-900s, three times a day. Photo: Wikimedia Commons \/ CC BY-SA 4.0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZIBqLzhJG1s\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Eighty years on<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iberia marked the anniversary on 22 September 2026 with dulce de leche desserts in the cabin, which is a modest gesture for a route that has run continuously for eight decades. The airline now operates three daily Madrid to Buenos Aires flights, mostly with A350-900s, rising to four a day in June, July and August.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;It is a source of pride to mark this anniversary, because it began a story that connected both countries and allowed us to build a bridge between Madrid and Buenos Aires.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Marina Colunga<\/strong> &mdash; Commercial director for Latin America, Iberia<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Au7-RuOKqy8\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Twelve hours nonstop at 38,000 feet, above the weather, with two engines instead of four and no navigator taking star sights through a dome in the ceiling. The route is the same. Nothing else about it is.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Sources: Iberia press release, 22 September 2026; Aviacionline, &ldquo;80 years ago, Iberia flew to Buenos Aires for the first time&rdquo;, 22 September 2026; Mari&aacute;n Campra Ga de Viguera, &ldquo;70 a&ntilde;os del primer vuelo comercial Madrid&ndash;Buenos Aires&rdquo;, Spanish Ministry of Public Works, February 2017; Wikipedia, &ldquo;History of Iberia (airline)&rdquo; and &ldquo;Douglas DC-4&rdquo;.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>When was Iberia\u2019s first flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The inaugural flight departed Madrid on 22 September 1946 and reached Buenos Aires about 36 hours later. Scheduled service with fare-paying passengers began on 15 October 1946.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What aircraft flew the first Madrid to Buenos Aires service?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A Douglas DC-4, the civil version of the wartime C-54 Skymaster. It was unpressurised, seated 44 passengers in Iberia service, cruised at around 450 km\/h and had a range of roughly 6,800 km.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Where did the 1946 flight stop on the way to Buenos Aires?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">It stopped at Villa Cisneros in the then-Spanish Sahara, then Natal on the Brazilian bulge, then Rio de Janeiro. The Rio stop was unplanned and was made to complete Brazilian entry formalities that had not been arranged before departure.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How much did a ticket cost in 1946?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Iberia gives 11,435 pesetas from Spain or 3,381 Argentine pesos from South America, plus 114.35 pesetas per checked suitcase. A Spanish Ministry of Public Works history published in 2017 gives 7,250 pesetas. The higher figure works out at roughly 17,800 US dollars in today\u2019s money.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did the DC-4 fly so low across the Atlantic?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The DC-4 was unpressurised, so it could not climb above weather the way a modern jet does. Parts of the crossing were flown at low altitude to get around Atlantic storms rather than over them.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who was on board the inaugural flight?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">It was a route-proving and inaugural run, not a commercial service. The passengers were Iberia directors, Spanish government representatives, technicians and company staff, along with one six-year-old boy, Francisco Botas, travelling with his mother.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How long does Madrid to Buenos Aires take today?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">About twelve hours nonstop. Iberia operates three daily flights, mainly with Airbus A350-900s, rising to four a day in June, July and August.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When was Iberia\u2019s first flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The inaugural flight departed Madrid on 22 September 1946 and reached Buenos Aires about 36 hours later. Scheduled service with fare-paying passengers began on 15 October 1946.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What aircraft flew the first Madrid to Buenos Aires service?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A Douglas DC-4, the civil version of the wartime C-54 Skymaster. It was unpressurised, seated 44 passengers in Iberia service, cruised at around 450 km\/h and had a range of roughly 6,800 km.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Where did the 1946 flight stop on the way to Buenos Aires?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"It stopped at Villa Cisneros in the then-Spanish Sahara, then Natal on the Brazilian bulge, then Rio de Janeiro. The Rio stop was unplanned and was made to complete Brazilian entry formalities that had not been arranged before departure.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How much did a ticket cost in 1946?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Iberia gives 11,435 pesetas from Spain or 3,381 Argentine pesos from South America, plus 114.35 pesetas per checked suitcase. A Spanish Ministry of Public Works history published in 2017 gives 7,250 pesetas. The higher figure works out at roughly 17,800 US dollars in today\u2019s money.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did the DC-4 fly so low across the Atlantic?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The DC-4 was unpressurised, so it could not climb above weather the way a modern jet does. Parts of the crossing were flown at low altitude to get around Atlantic storms rather than over them.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who was on board the inaugural flight?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"It was a route-proving and inaugural run, not a commercial service. The passengers were Iberia directors, Spanish government representatives, technicians and company staff, along with one six-year-old boy, Francisco Botas, travelling with his mother.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How long does Madrid to Buenos Aires take today?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"About twelve hours nonstop. Iberia operates three daily flights, mainly with Airbus A350-900s, rising to four a day in June, July and August.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/etops-explained-engines-turn-or-passengers-swim\/\">Engines Turn or Passengers Swim<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/great-circle-routes-why-pacific-flights-curve-north-past-alaska\/\">Great Circle Routes: Why Pacific Flights Curve North Past Alaska<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eighty years ago Iberia flew an unpressurised DC-4 from Madrid to Buenos Aires in 36 hours, with a navigator taking star sights and one unplanned stop for Brazilian paperwork.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":24266554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665,666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24267008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-history-and-legends"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Iberia\u2019s DC-4 to Buenos Aires: 36 Hours and Three Stops in 1946<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Eighty years ago Iberia flew a DC-4 from Madrid to Buenos Aires in 36 hours. 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