Ten days ago, on 20th of July, the Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos Dumont would complete 150 years old, so this post is a tribute to him. He spent his early childhood 35 miles from where I live. He wrote in his time about the importance of technology to the development of countries. This post is a summary of the article published at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Santos-Dumont
Alberto Santos Dumont (1873-1932) was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, he dedicated himself to aeronautical study and experimentation in Paris, where he spent most of his adult life. He designed, built and flew the first powered airships and won the Deutsch Prize in 1901, when he flew around the Eiffel Tower in his airship No. 6, he becoming one of the most famous people in the world in the early 20th century. Santos Dumont then progressed to powered heavier-than-air machines and on 23 October 1906, he flew about 60 meters at a height of three meters with the fixed-wing 14-bis in Paris, taking off unassisted by external launch system. On 12th November in front of a crowd, he flew 220 meters at a height of six meters. These were the first heavier-than-air flights certified by the Aeroclub of France, the first flight officially witnessed by an aeronautics body and first of their kind recognised by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Santos Dumont was the sixth child of Henrique Dumont, an engineer who graduated in Paris, and Francisca de Paula Santos. The couple had eight children: three sons and five daughters. In 1873, the family moved to the small town of Cabangu in MG, for Henrique Dumont to work on the construction of the D.Pedro II railroad. In 1879, the family moved to Ribeirão Preto, where they bought a coffee farm. Until 10, he was taught by his older sister, Virginia, after he then attended schools in São Paulo e after Rio and later at the school of Engineering from Minas, without finishing the course. By reading the works of Julio Verne, with whose fictional heroes he was later compared, Santos Dumont got the desire to conquer the air. Technology fascinated him. He began building kites and small aeroplanes powered by a propeller driven by twisted rubber springs, as he says in a commentary on the letter he received the day he won the Deutsch Prize. In 1892, his father had a serious accident, with that, he left the Ouro Preto Mining Engineering School and go to France, where he took part in motor racing and cycling. The 14-bis or Oiseau de Proie, consolidated his studies of what had been done in aviation until then, finish after two months, in mid-1906, an aeroplane attached to a hydrogen ballon to assist takeoff. On 23rd October, Santos Dumont present himself at Bagatelle with the Oiseau de Proie II, a modification of the original model. The plane had been varnished to reduce the porosity of the fabric and increase lift. The rear wheel had been removed. In the morning he limited himself to manoeuvring the aircraft across the field, until the propeller shaft broke. It was repaired in the afternoon, and the plane was moved into position for an official attempt. An expectant crowd was present. At 4:45 pm, Santos Dumont started the engine. The plane lifted off and flew for 60 meters, without taking advantage of headwinds, ramps, catapults, slopes, or other devices. The flight had taken place solely by the aircraft's own means, and it was the first such achievement. The crowd celebrated, ran up to the pilot and carried him off in triumph. In 1909 he presented the Demoiselle No 20. This aeroplane schemes were published in the issues of Popular Mechanics and around 300 were built in Europe and U.S. This aeroplane consolidated Santos Dumont's role in the birth of aviation in the 20th century. This aeroplane also featured an engine of original invention by Santos Dumont and was capable of flights of up 2 kilometers and reaching 96 km/h and it was used for pilot training during World War I. Santos Dumont began to show symptoms of multiple sclerosis. On 22 August 1909 he attended the Great Aviation Week in Reims, where he made his last flights. After an accident with the his aircraft Demoiselle in 1910, he closed down his workshop and withdrew from social life. In 1913, the Icarus monument was unveiled, celebrating his winning the Deutsch Prize, made by sculptor George Colin. Soon after this event he returned to Brazil after a 10-year absence, returning to France the following year. In August 1914, World War I began, and Santos Dumont offered his services to the France. Aeroplanes began to be used in warfare, first for observation of enemy troops, and then in aerial combat. In 1915, his health worsened and he decided to return to Brazil. That year, he took part in the 11th Pan-American Scientific Congress in the U.S. In 1918, he bought a small plot of land on the side of a hill in Petrópolis and built a small house there filled with mechanical devices, including an alcohol-heated shower of his own design. The house is now a museum. In 1930, he was hospitalised in France, in 1931, he was treated in sanatoriums in the Pyrénées. In 1932 he settled in Guarujá. In July 1932, the state of São Paulo rose up in the Constitutionalist revolution against the revolutionary government of Getúlio Vargars and aeroplanes attacked the Campo de Marte in SP. They may have flown over Guarujá, and the sight of planes in combat may have caused deep anguish in Santos Dumont who, in his nephew's absence, died by suicide at the age 59. His friend the French businessman and aviator Gabriel Voisin wrote, "Several legends were told about our Brazilian friend. They said he had an immense fortune! But how to explain the festure of this man who distributed prizes awarded for performances to charitable institutions? Not at all, Santos Dumont was generosity itself, innate elegance, kindness and righteousness".
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