At Bagatelle Airfield, Paris, on October 23, 1906 at 4PM before a large crowd of witnesses, including the Aero-Club de France, Alberto Santos Dumont became the first person to fly a heavier than air machine in Europe (the “14 Bis”), and the first person in the world to demonstrate in public an Aircraft taking off under its own power, with non detachable landing gear, in still air conditions from a normal air strip (the Wright Bros. used a catapult and had no landing gear attached to their aircraft).

Santos Dumont made numerous valuable contributions to the field of aircraft control. The most notable being the use of ‘effective ailerons’ at the tips of the wings (1906). The “14 Bis” aircraft consisted of a box-like rudder and elevator mechanism which protruded in front of the wings like the head of a duck in flight. This was promptly dubbed ‘canard’ design and was incorporated into the then growing aeronautical lexicon where it remains today. He also made substantial improvements in ‘power to weight ratio’ and aircraft ‘construction techniques’.

On October 19, 1901 Santos Dumont won the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize of 100,000 francs for flying his derigible “Number 6″ from Parc St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back in less than 30 minutes. In a charitable gesture he donated half the prize money to the poor of Paris and the other half was split among his staff as a bonus.

Although the wrist watch was invented by Patek Phillippe, decades earlier, Santos Dumont played an important role in popularizing its use by men in the early 1900s. The story goes that in 1904, at Maxim’s restaurant, Paris, Santos Dumont complained to his friend Louis Cartier about the difficulty of checking his pocket watch to time his flight performance. Santos Dumont asked Cartier for an alternative that would allow him to keep both hands on the flying controls. Cartier made a wrist watch with a leather strap and buckle, Santos Dumont never took off again without his personal Cartier watch.

1873 – Alberto Santos Dumont was born on the 20th of July 1873 in the village of Cabangu, Minas Gerais, Brazil, the youngest of 11 children. He grew up on a coffee plantation owned by his family in the state of São Paulo. His Father was an engineer, and made extensive use of the latest labour saving inventions on his vast property. So successful were these innovations that Santos Dumont’s Father gathered a large fortune and became known as the “Coffee King of Brazil”.

1891 – Santos Dumont’s Father fell from his horse while inspecting some machinery and became a paraplegic.

1892 – Realizing that none of his three sons wanted to carry on the coffee business his Father Henrique decided to sell the business, keeping only the family home. The proceeds were divided among the children. Santos Dumont was sent to Paris to live with relatives and study. So at the age of seventeen, Santos Dumont left the prestigious School of Mines, in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais for the City of Paris.

1893-1896 - With a ready income from stock investments, the young Brazilian set himself an allowance and hired a well known engineering and science tutor. Santos Dumont loved Paris because of its global position as a centre of technological innovation and excitement, Paris teemed with industrial exhibitions, brilliant minds and scientific debate. The first automobiles were invading the streets. Santos Dumont joined the Automobile Club, bought a Peugeot Roadster and became an auto racing buff. When the Velocette (a motorized tricycle) became the latest craze, Santos Dumont swelled the ranks of the city’s dashing young sportsmen who sped around Paris at 20mph. Already Santos Dumont was making a name for himself with his money, his striking looks and fashion sense. After a couple of years he left his relatives and set up house on the corner of Rue Washington and the Champs- Elysee. The doors of high society and elite clubs began to open to him. He was found to be shy, polite, reserved and modest yet daring and courageous in competition and quite opinionated and outspoken when he felt needed to be.

Ballooning in Paris was somewhat common place in the late 19th century, many professional balloonists made their living from their colourful but risky toys by charging 200 francs for a joy ride over the roof tops. Ballooning was a precarious activity with both balloonists and passengers alike hoping that nothing would go wrong as the only controls were the ability to ‘dump’ gas or ‘ballast’ once airborne.

1897 – Afire with enthusiasm Santos Dumont went to two well known balloon makers in Paris, Henri Lachambre and his nephew Alexis Machuron and paid 250 francs for his first balloon ride. Two hours later having covered 60 miles and reached 8,000 ft, he was hooked! The very next day he commissioned his own balloon from Lachambre and Machuron. It was a one man balloon of his own design that he named “Brésil”. Right away he had his first heated debate with his two mentors when he insisted that the gas bag be manufactured from Japanese silk instead of taffeta.

Santos Dumont became an aerial sportsman with the “Brésil”, making hundreds of flights all over France. He would pack it up in a trunk and take it to the Riviera on the train. He became the man to beat at balloon races. After several scares, he decided to address the old problems of power and the ability to steer and came up with some creative solutions. Overnight he became the toast of Paris.

While designers differed hotly as to what technology was going to get humanity airborne, Santos Dumont had a clear vision and made significant progress quickly as evidenced by the fact that in his first balloon design there were several essential features of the future airplane, the long fuselage, tail rudder, propeller and gasoline engine.

1898 – Santos Dumont was so successful in this endeavour that his dirigible Number 3 was able to takeoff, circle the Eiffel Tower a few times, and land flawlessly. The boy from Brazil was now in the front ranks of aircraft pioneering. His father, who had died shortly after Santos Dumont left Brazil, would have been proud if he had lived to see it. Santos Dumont not only designed and flew airships but also helped his mechanics build them. Finding it inconvenient to fill balloons every time he wanted to fly he came up with the idea of a hangar to keep his balloon permanently inflated. At Neuilly, near Paris he built his own hangar and workshops.

During his lifetime he built 22 airships ranging from balloons to dirigibles and aircraft, although not all of them actually flew. Occasionally he crashed a model during test which made for front page Paris news.

1901 – One of Santos Dumont’s greatest achievements came in 1901 when he piloted his dirigible Number 6 from Parc Saint Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and returned in less than thirty minutes. The feat earned Santos Dumont the Deutsch Prize of 100,000 francs and made him a world-wide celebrity. His continued success in the field brought such fame and fortune that Santos Dumont was invited to the White House to meet President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.

Although Santos Dumont continued to work with dirigibles, his primary interest turned to ‘heavier than air’ craft from 1904 onwards.

1905 – He completed his first airplane design and also tinkered with plans for a two bladed helicopter that he designed but for which he could never find an engine suitable to get it off the ground.

1906 – At Bagatelle Airfield, Paris, on October 23, 1906 at 4PM before a large crowd of witnesses, including the Aero-Club de France, Santos Dumont became the first person to fly a heavier than air machine in Europe (the “14 Bis”), and the first person in the world to demonstrate in public an Aircraft taking off under its own power with non detachable landing gear, in still air conditions from a normal air strip (the Wright Bros. used a catapult and had no landing gear attached to their aircraft).

1908 – The last plane Santos Dumont built, La Demoiselle is a landmark achievement in its own right since many consider it to be the genesis of the modern-day ultra-light.

The Demoiselle (Dragonfly) was not only elegant but was eminently flyable. She became Santos Dumont’s’ trademark and he used her to hop all over France. Associates urged him to patent her design, the belief being that the Demoiselle could become the aerial version of the model T Ford. However Santos Dumont was not interested in becoming a baron of the industry, instead he let the design go into the public domain and in fact sued a designer who attempted to patent it. As a result of his altruism other designers refined the Demoiselle and it became the prototype of the modern airplane.

1909 – Santos Dumont flew the Demoiselle for the last time. Storm clouds were gathering over Europe, Germany was arming herself and Britain, France and their ally, the United States, would surely oppose Germany. The experts had awakened to the fact that dirigibles and airplanes could be more than carnival acts and toys. Santos Dumont recognized this reality but was very upset by the prospect. He had no taste for war.

1910 – Ironically he quit his business not because of the threat of war but because he fell ill with what was later diagnosed as multiple sclerosis. His illness soon led to depression and he dismissed his staff, shut down his work shop and dropped out of aviation.

1913 – The Aero Club named Santos Dumont as a Commander of the Legion of Honour, and erected a granite monument in the Bois de Boulogne to commemorate his historic flights. On October 13, 1913 Santos Dumont made his last speech in Paris at the unveiling of the monument.

1914 – World War 1 broke out – the use of airships and aircraft for the purposes of killing and maiming caused Santos Dumont to fall into a deep depression. He made many fiery pacifist statements but few in Europe were listening to his speeches made mostly in Brazil.

1918 – With the war over the Brazilian Government made Santos Dumont its delegate to the first Pan American Conference on Aeronautics.

1928 - Santos Dumont retired to Brazil in 1928, never to return to Europe. He bought a small lot in the city of Petrópolis in the mountains near Rio de Janeiro.

1930 – Civil war broke out in Brazil – the use of aerial warfare again agitated Santos Dumont.

1932 – Santos Dumont died at the age of 60 in the city of Guarujá in São Paulo, on July 23, 1932 . It is thought that the noise of the bombing and the carnage of the war being fought close by drove him to commit suicide. He hung himself with one of his neckties on the 23rd of July, 1932. He was interred in the Cemitério São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro. Having never married and having left no known children, Santos Dumont’s contributions to aviation remains his only legacy.