Alberto Santos-Dumont: Brazil's Father of Aviation
Monday October 23, 2006
A century on, Brazil still claims flight's first (The Christian Science Monitor) as Brazil celebrates the day when Alberto Santos-Dumont "launched, flew, and landed a boxy biplane christened "14bis" above a field in France. In Brazil, where he is a national hero, everyone passionately believes that his flight was the first.
In his homeland, he is considered an eccentric genius. Brazil's president recently named him a national hero, only the ninth person to ever receive such an honor, and he is without doubt the best known Brazilian who didn't act, sing, or play soccer, according to Marisa Guadalupe Plum, the woman in charge of the Santos-Dumont House and Museum.
Schools, roads, businesses, airports, towns, and even a small crater on the moon have been named after him."
Comments
Unfortunately, your article about Santos-Dumont does not pay the real homage to this great inventor (what about the wrist watch?). Please, research more, give us better data about the planes, dates, flights distance, inventions - and then compare to others, if you will. Thanks!
Aurea Rocha
There is a book “MAN FLIES” by Nancy Winters that chronicals the life of Santos Dumont,truly a man that if the world followed in his footsteps would certainly be a near UTOPIA. He ha d a real sense of community which this world certainly is in need of-Will weever overcome this selfish attitude?? Yes time will tell.
Dear Bonnie,
Thanks for all your articles about Alberto Santos Dumond, recognizing him as the father of aviation.Unfortunatelly, still there are people that, for ignorance or arrogance, deny that he was really the first one in the world to buid and, successfully, to fly a real air plane. Before him only many tries.