Santos Dumont
Alberto Santos-Dumont, scion of a
rich Brazilian coffee planter, was born July 20, 1873 in the district of Joao Aires, state
of Minas Gerais. He came to Paris at the age of eighteen, filled with youthful enthusiasm
for the twin novelties of balloons and automobiles. Santos-Dumont had dreamed of flying
ever since he saw a balloon ascension at Sao Paulo, Brazil.
With leisure and money--two powerful assets in probing the secrets of
flight--Santos-Dumont could afford to indulge his fancies. His "steerable
balloons," constructed early in the new century, became the toast of sophisticated
Paris.
At the Bagatelle cavalry grounds in Paris on October 23, 1906 he flew
the first powered flight 197 feet (60 meters) before an excited group of formal observers
from the Aero Club de France. With this accomplishment he was awarded the Archdeacon prize
of 3,000 francs for the first flyer to cover 25 meters. Santos-Dumont bettered this
performance twice on November 12, first with 82.6 meters in 7 1/5 seconds and then with a
wavering flight of 220 meters in 21 2/5 seconds, gaining a further reward from the Aero
Club of 1,500 francs. The instability of the plane's design, however, led to its
abandonment the following year.