[2] In 1896, Vives was made head of the Servicios de Aerostación [es] ("Aerostation Services"), and at his suggestion, the army adopted the kite-type ballon and then had it built in Guadalajara.

[2] In May 1878, the general director of the Arma gave him a Service Commission for one month to visit the Universal Exhibition in Paris, where his interest in the advances in technology and science of his time led him to identify with its most modern achievements.

[2] Before returning to Spain in 1884, he requested a six-month leave of absence to move to the United States, with the aim of perfecting his English, and expanding his technical and scientific knowledge in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and other cities; while there, he made his living as an engineer.

[2] A year later, he was assigned to the Malaga Engineer Command, where he created and developed a military dovecote, which went on to play such an important role in communications with Melilla during the First Melillan campaign in 1893.

[5] Vives continued with his eagerness for organization and established barracks, parks, and the Aerostation Polygon in Guadalajara,[2] and after overcoming the difficulties that arose, on 1 December 1900, with the first kite-type balloon acquired from Germany, he finally carried out the first "free ascension" of Spanish Military Aeronautics.

[2][5] The crew was made up of Pedro Vives Vich and Captain Fernando Giménez Sáenz, they were followed on horseback towards Alcalá de Henares by the lieutenant of the ballooning company Alfredo Kindelán,[2][5] who later stated that "the event was not an improvisation.

[5] In an ascension made by the Mars balloon on 25 October 1902, the crew members were prepared to test an idea from Vives, which consisted of a ballast bag tied to a 15-meter-long rope that would allow them to cushion the speed of descent, upon touching the ground and suddenly unloading the corresponding weight, which shows that Vives not only had the desire to fly, but also to experiment to provide solutions to the development of air navigation.

[2] In 1906, tests were carried out with satisfactory results, but despite the success achieved and the enthusiasm of Torres Quevedo, Alfredo Kindelán, and Vives, the airship was never manufactured in Spain.

[3] In the aforementioned congress of Saint Petersburg in 1904, it was agreed that simultaneous balloon ascensions would be carried out in several European cities, to study the influence of an eclipse on the atmosphere.

To this end, on the day of the Solar eclipse of August 30, 1905, ascents were made from the Burgos Artillery Park, with Vives as pilot of the Jupiter, accompanied by Professor Berson and Doctor Romeo, who rose with the purpose of carrying out meteorological and spectroscopic observations of great scientific interest.

[2] In January 1909, Colonel Vives and Captain Kindelán carried out a service commission in England, France, Germany, and Italy, to study airships and airplanes in their military applications.

[3] In September 1910, he was appointed director of the Academy of Engineers of Guadalajara, where he had finished his degree as number 1 in his class, and it was decided that, without prejudice to his destiny, he would continue to serve as head of the Aerostation Park and Service.

[2] In October 1910, a commission of chiefs and officers of the Aerostation service, chaired by Colonel Vives, left for Paris again to select the material necessary for airplane experimentation.

[2] On 7 March 1911, the Regulations governing airplane experimentation were published, and Vives was put in charge of choosing the land to build the first military airfield and direct flight training.

[2] Cuatro Vientos thus became the first aerodrome of Spanish aeronautics, and in this field, starting on 15 March 1911, the first five students slowly began to assimilate the teachings of their instructors.

[2] When the Regulations were published, Colonel Vives assumed an extraordinary volume of command, with his powers being those that corresponded to a head of the Corps and his responsibility was enormous, given the special modality of the service and the activity that took place at the airfields.

[2] In 1912, Vives and Kindelán became the first two heads of the Aeronautics service and the Aviation branch respectively, something that at that time was unimaginable since airplanes did not yet exist and the evolution of the nascent Spanish military ballooning was unpredictable.

[3] For instance, when he was commissioned to Tétouan to learn the necessary elements to cooperate in the operations that were about to begin against the rebel group of Bni Arouss, he chose the Sania Ranel field, which was the first African airfield of Spanish Aeronautics, and which he prepared to be able to defeat the enemy zone of Larache.

[2] Thus, in 1915, he tried to achieve an airplane that would allow flights to continue in schools and squadrons in Africa; his plan, which he put into practice, began with the manufacture of a genuinely Spanish engine.

[2] In Barcelona, he forced the Hispano-Suiza automobile factory to design and develop an aviation engine, which obtained such a success that it was manufactured in a large series by the French subsidiary of Hispano-Suiza, and ended up playing a very prominent role in the war, but he still needed an aerial platform to mount, so he got the Cuatro Vientos aerodrome workshops to manufacture a prototype airplane ("Arrow") that would serve as a flying test bench for the Barcelona aeronautical engine.

[2] In the territory of Melilla, when the Annual disaster occurred (July 21), there were no military railways, nor troops of this specialty, and furthermore, the scarce civil network remained in the power of the enemy.