The vocation for aviation began in 1912, when the Brazilian Aeroclub received part of the land from the Union at the “Invernada dos Afonsos” to build the airfield.
In 1913, the first army aviation school, the Brazilian School of Aviation (EBA), was established there, inaugurated in 1914, receiving 60 military personnel from the Army and Navy and featuring foreign instructors.
However, a few months later, the school went bankrupt due to the onset of World War I.
Nonetheless, the hangars and planes remained for the use of the Brazilian civil Aeroclub, which also developed extensive aviation activities at the Campo dos Afonsos during the same period.
At the end of World War I, the Campo dos Afonsos was once again used by the Brazilian Army for aeronautical activities.
Thus, in 1919, the Military Aviation School (EAM) was created, with the support of the French Military Aviation Mission, which trained military aviators and mechanics for the Army until the 1940s.
The development of aviation in Brazil encouraged the creation of the “Aviation Arm” in 1927.
Subsequently, the Air Pioneers advocated for the establishment of the Ministry of Air as a fundamental instrument of National Defense.
It was at the Afonsos that then-Major Eduardo Gomes, commanding the Mixed Aviation Group and the 1st Aviation Regiment of the Army, began his aeronautical journey.
In this field, the aviation industry also took its first steps, enabling the emergence of talents in Brazilian engineering, such as then-Captain Antônio Guedes Muniz, designer of the first airplane to be mass-produced in Brazil, the M7.
The location was also the birthplace of the National Aerial Mail (CAN), one of the most important initiatives for integrating Brazilian territory.
It is important to highlight that significant parts of the history of the Ministry of Aeronautics developed at the Afonsos.
The transfer of command of the Naval Aviation and Military Aviation Arms occurred in 1941.
The old Military Aviation School was deactivated, and in its place, the Aeronautics School was created, also in 1941, which began training the country’s military aviators until 1971, when it was transferred to the city of Pirassununga-SP and became known as the Air Force Academy (AFA).