Ramón Franco y Bahamonde (1896-October 1938) was a Spanish military aviator and political figure.
He was the brother of Nicolás and Francisco Franco, also a military officer. As an infantry officer, Ramón was assigned to Morocco in 1914.
In 1920 he became an aviator, participating in activities that earned him international attention. In 1926 he was in the crew that made a trans-Atlantic flight from Palos de Moguer (Huelva) to Buenos Aires, Argentina in the hydroplane 'Plus Ultra', making him a national hero. In 1929 he attempted another trans-Atlantic flight, this time crashing the airplane to the sea. The crew was rescued days later by an aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy.
During the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera he declared himself in several occasions against the regime. He dedicated himself to conspire against the Monarchy, inflicted losses on the army and was reduced to prison, from where he was able to escape.
In October 1930, along with other republican aviators, he seized some aircraft in the aerodrome of Cuatro Vientos and flew over Madrid with the intention to bomb the Palacio Real, an action that he could not realize. He fled to Portugal and returned to Spain when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed.
Reentering the Army, he was named chief of a main directorate of Aeronautics, a position which he was dismissed shortly afterwards by his participation in an anarchist revolt in Andalusia.
He was elected as a deputy in the Cortes for Esquerra Republicana in Barcelona, retiring from the army and focused on politics.
When the Spanish Civil War exploded in July 1936, he was in the United States as an air attache of the Spanish embassy.
When he returned to Spain, in spite of his political ideology, he joined the Nationalist side, where his brother Francisco was one of the main leaders. He was promoted to lieutenant Colonel and was named head of the Aerial Base of Majorca.
He was killed in October of 1938 when his hydroplane crashed off the coast of the island of Majorca, while attempting to bomb the republican zone in Valencia.