Who is Alberto Santos-Dumont, the aviator celebrated at the Rio 2016 opening ceremony?
Bis 14, the aeroplane flown by the 'father of aviation' is set to 'fly' inside the Maracana during the festivities
Alberto Santos-Dumont is known in Brazil as the 'father of aviation' after his first powered flight in 1906 (Photo: WikiCommons)
Who is Alberto Santos-Dumont?
Santos-Dumont was born in 1873 in Palmira, Minas Gerais in the southeast of Brazil. His father, Henrique Dumont, owned a coffee plantation. Dumont became fascinated with the steam-powered machines on the plantations as well as Jules Verne, a French novelist.
Follow the Olympic Games opening ceremony with Rio2016.com
After a fall from a horse gave him partial paralysis, Henrique sold the plantation and moved with his wife and Alberto to Paris. There, Alberto became interested in flying, specifically balloons and dirigibles. He made his first flight in a balloon shortly after arriving in Paris and soon wanted to create his own.
He reached the peak of his balloon career when he flew from Parc Saint Cloud to the Eiffel tower in Paris, earning him the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize. Shortly thereafter, Santos-Dumont turned to heavier-than-air aircraft...
What is Alberto Santos-Dumont known for?
Santos-Dumont is known for piloting one of the first powered flights in history. On 23 October 1906, Santos-Dumont’s aircraft flew five metres off the ground for a distance of 60 metres in Paris. He later set the first record by The World Air Sports Federation on 12 November 1906 with a flight distance of 220 metres for 22.5 seconds.
Santos-Dumont made his first powered flight in the 14-bis, above, in 1906. He latered designed four versions of the Demoiselle plane. (Photo: WikiCommons)
Santos-Dumont continued to design monoplanes for personal use. His Demoiselles aircraft was mass-produced by and could travel at 120 kph.
He retired from flying in in March 1910 and made his last flight on 4 December of that year. The flight ended in an accident, but Santos-Dumont managed to escape without serious injury. He moved back to his native Brazil in 1914 after the outbreak of World War I.
What is Alberto Santos-Dumont’s legacy today?
Santos-Dumont died on 23 July 1932 in Guarujá, São Paulo. Today, he is regarded as the “father of aviation” in Brazil and the domestic airport in Rio de Janeiro, Santos Dumont Airport, is named in his honour. His hometown, Palmira, was later renamed as Santos Dumont in his honour as well. The official Brazilian Presidential Aircraft is also named after him.
