Diego Marín Aguilera

Diego Marín Aguilera (1757–1799) was a Spanish inventor who was an early aviation pioneer.

Early life Born in Coruña del Conde, Marín became the head of his household after his father died and had to take care of his seven siblings. He worked as an agricultural laborer, tending his animals and fields. Marín spent long afternoons and days herding sheep in the surrounding fields. one that improved the working of a fulling mill; and another used to improve the cutting of marble in the quarries of Espejón. Marín managed to cross the river Arandilla and reached the area known as Heras, where he crash-landed after one of the metal joints broke. Fearing the worst, his companions ran to the spot. Marín was only scratched and bruised, but angry at the blacksmith for failing to weld the joint properly.

Death and legacy

Marín suffered further bad luck. The inhabitants of the town, believing him to be a lunatic, heretic, or a fraud, burned his "demonic" flapping-wing creation. The castle was offered for sale for €1 in 2002, on the condition that the buyer restore the crumbling building.

Of Marín, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics writes: "It is impossible to determine how much truth there is to the story of Marín, but it seems that he did achieve some gliding flight, surviving after structural failure and a crash landing. Marín, who had no formal scientific education, was endowed with a special technical ingenuity and is a good example of the ageless human aspiration toward flight." They credit him with a flight of approximately 360 meters.