And he flew like Matías Pérez

Wednesday, 04 May 2011 14:45 Written by L.Calvo

Matías Pérez taking off in his hot air balloon

Mid-nineteenth century Havanians showed a great passion for flying hot air balloons. The city´s fever was produced when several French airmen were promoted in 1828, inspiring Domingo Blinó, a tinsmith by trade, to show off his skills by making his own balloon. On 30 May, 1831, this brave man went up in the air one stormy afternoon, and once up there, released pigeons, dropped flowers, poems and even two four-legged animals secured with a parachute.

Blinó is not only the first national to travel in air, but also one of the island´s most significant developers up until this day.

On 12 June, 1856, those living in the capital gathered to witness the ascension of a Portuguese man, acclimated and with family in Havana, the "King of awnings," Matías Pérez.

Just as Blinó, Pérez built his own contraption, dubbed "Villa de París," that was designed for, in his own words, "an important fight." The privileged few who who could see the balloon in its initial phase enthusiastically confirmed, "in that balloon, he will have the most transcendental flight in the history of hot air balloons around the world."

With this, Pérez proceeded, demonstrating an authentic love for flying hot air balloons. He was not improvising nor an ignorant bigot, he was a passionate reader of aviation books, including the giant work by Leonardo da Vinci and other necessary material for air travel, such as Wind Tunnel Principles.

His first undertaking was well known and concluded in the capital´s south, the Husillo area, without any major incidents. This success possibly went to this Luso-Cuban´s head, and 16 days later, on 28 June, our hero embarked on another journey, and never returned. As one very Cuban chronicler said, "That is called: to rise with the rest as stories."

Many efforts were made to find him, all painfully useless; however, Pérez was so outstanding that they still waited for him to return.

Since then, this daring balloonist´s disappearance generated a popular phrase, which is still around today. When someone disappears, evaporates, fades or goes away, we always make a verbal parallelism, a friendly analogy using the myth of Pérez who never returned, by saying: "He flew as Matías Pérez," a phrase you could possibly hear upon your visit to the island.