Santos-Dumont << SAN tuhs doo MONT or SAHN tooz dyoo MAWN >> Alberto (1873-1932), a Brazilian inventor, pioneered advances in aviation in both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air machines. He also used his wealth to promote aviation and to help other inventors.
Santos-Dumont was born on July 20, 1873, in the state of Minas Gerais and was educated mostly in France. In 1898, he flew a cigar-shaped gas bag propelled by two small engines driving a single propeller. He built a box-kite airplane in 1905. Each wing was a box-kite, and a third box-kite was suspended ahead of the aircraft to provide control. In 1906, he flew it for eight seconds in the first motor-powered heavier-than-air flight in Europe. The main advantage of the box-kite construction was its light weight, about half that of the first Wright brothers’ biplane. Santos-Dumont’s work was a major stimulus to European aviation in the early 1900’s. He died on July 23, 1932.
