Alberto Santos Dumont - Was This The Gentleman Who Invented The Airplane?ALBERTO SANTOS DUMONT (1873-1932) Jules Verne's fictional accounts of flying machines inspired young Alberto Santos-Dumont to fantasies about flight.
At age 18 Santos-Dumont moved to France where he became immersed in internal-combustion engines and automobiles. In 1897 he flew in a balloon for the first time. This led to him becoming one of the foremost balloonists in France.
"In 1905 he built an airplane consisting of three box kites connected to each other by bamboo poles, powered by a steam engine. Strapping his machine to the undercarriage of a balloon, Santos-Dumont went aloft, started the airplane's engine, climbed into the cockpit, and cut the plane loose from the balloon. He plummeted to the ground." (www.trivia-library.com) However, he didn't give up and built a new model, which he tested outside of Paris on Oct. 23, 1906. With the same kite-shaped wings but a lighter gasoline engine, this airplane successfully took off and flew 722 ft. before landing. Qualified witnesses verified and documented the takeoff and flight. The French government recognized this as the first time a human being had flown in a heavier-than-air machine.
Maybe it was a Brazilian who invented the airplane? What do you think? Or maybe it was Clement Ader or Samuel Pierpont Langley or maybe The Wright Brothers Tough decision! There is also a conclusion to this debate which can be found here.
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