June 2010

The son of a wealthy Brazilian coffee baron, the elegant Santos-Dumont, living in France, started with free-flight balloons, then turned to motor-powered steerable (that’s what “dirigible” means) versions, which he designed and built himself. He once landed a small dirigible in a Paris boulevard, visited a café, then flew back to his house.
   
In 1904, he turned his attention to heavier than air machines. On October 23, 1906, he flew his 14-bis before many spectators. Europeans and Brazilians regard him as the first to have flown: Santos-Dumont’s flight was the first to make use of fixed landing gear, and the Wright brothers had conducted their initial tests in secrecy. His Demoiselle, whose graceful frame was contructed from bamboo, was the first production airplane. The beauty of his aircraft was notable; unfortunately, disturbed following a search of his rooms by French police (he had been reported as a spy for using a telescope), he burned all his papers & designs. He returned to Brazil in 1918.

Santos-Dumont was high-strung. It depressed him that machines he had made fundamental contributions to were being used in warfare. In 1932, he went to live in a cabin on the Brazilian coast to recuperate from a nervous breakdown. There was a minor civil war going on. He witnessed an airplane strafing a village at the end of the beach. That evening, he hung himself, age 59.