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Who crewed the Plus Ultra?

Short answer

Four Spanish aviators: commander Ramón Franco, captain Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz, ensign Juan Manuel Durán and mechanic Pablo Rada. Franco and Ruiz de Alda piloted the Dornier Do J flying boat. They flew from Palos de la Frontera to Buenos Aires in January 1926.

Published: November 1, 2026 · Updated: November 1, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Who crewed the Plus Ultra?
Vliegboot Dornier Wal Vliegboot Dornier Wal (titel op object), RP F-F21278

The four on board

The crew of the Plus Ultra was made up of commander Ramón Franco, captain Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz, ensign Juan Manuel Durán and mechanic Pablo Rada. Piloting duties fell to Franco and Ruiz de Alda.

The January 1926 flight

The Plus Ultra was a Dornier Do J flying boat, and with it the first transatlantic flight between Spain and South America was completed, in January 1926. It departed from Palos de la Frontera, in Huelva, on 22 January and arrived in Buenos Aires on 26 January. It made stops in Gran Canaria, Cape Verde, Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco (Recife), Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo. The 10,270 km (6,381 mi) route was covered in 59 hours and 39 minutes. The aircraft carried two 355-horsepower Rolls-Royce Eagle IX V-12 engines, giving it a top speed of 115 mph.

A route already flown

The Plus Ultra's itinerary roughly followed the one taken in 1922 by Portuguese aviators Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho on the first transatlantic flight over the South Atlantic, from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro.

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