I just read 3 great books..."My Airships", by Alberto Santos Dumont=20 (but written before powered flight); "Wings of Madness, Alberto Santos=20= Dumont and the Invention of Flight", by Paul Hoffman; and=20 "Santos-Dumont" by Fernando Hipp=F3lyto da Costa (so far the only one=20 from that series I've been able to get). > On Wednesday, Dec 10, 2003, at 14:09 America/Anchorage, Miguel J. E.=20= > Branco da Silva <kispo@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Hi > Well, in fact was a Brazilian, named Alberto Santos Dumont, the first=20= > men to > fly using an aircraft able to take-off using it's own powerplant and=20= > fly in > a controlled manner like today's aircraft... He acomplished that on = the > 12th. November 1906 flying around 220 meters in Paris! It's aircraft=20= > was > called 14bis. He had flown that aircraft since the summer, that date was when he won=20= the A=E9ro Club award, and could have gone farther, yet he feared for = the=20 crowd gathering under his route. He flew that aircraft once more and=20 moved on to newer ones. The Wrights were quite secretive, whereas their contemporaries,=20 Langley, Santos Dumont and others held quite public trials. The Wrights=20= went after patents, Dumont published plans for some of his inventions=20 in popular magazines trying to encourage others (and gave his prize=20 monies to his mechanics). Dumont was flying in Europe in 1906, and the=20= Scientific American magazine was still doubting the Wrights' claims in=20= 1907. > In my opinion what the Wright brother did was by no means a controlled > flight, they took off using not the aircraft's power and the control=20= > they > had on their flight was marginal... The flight was a bit more like a=20= > "hop" > of 36 meters! The Wrights used the rail set in the sand ...which although ingenious=20 for the time as it could be positioned into the wind as it=20 shifted....would hardly work for modern aircraft. They then went to a=20 derrick system in September 1904 to augment the rail because they by=20 then needed 240 feet of rail to launch, and the wind might have really=20= shifted by the time that was down. Using a 1,600-pound weight drop from=20= a 20-foot high derrick propelled the aircraft down the original 60-foot=20= rail. But still not a normal undercarriage like Dumont used and the=20 concept still employed today for land planes. Dumont also started with=20= ailerons, whereas the Wrights began with wing warping. > > I know this is a controversial subject but to me Dumont did it... > It is, and sadly, most Americans only hear about the Wrights. Its not=20 as clear-cut as Yuri Gagarin being the first human in space (another=20 sore subject for many), but a century of controversy could have been=20 avoided if the Wrights had been public and make their attempts in front=20= of scientific peers like Dumont and others. Regardless, its too bad too=20= few Americans know and appreciate the innovations and contributions of=20= Alberto Santos Dumont. Mike=