The inventor who regrets his invention: Who is Alberto Santos-Dumont?

Alberto Santos-Dumont (July 20, 1873 - July 23, 1932) was a Brazilian aviator (1909) who developed the Demoiselle or Grasshopper monoplane, one of the earliest examples of modern light aircraft.

Santos-Dumont, who started working on airplanes shortly after the Wright Brothers' flight in 1903, conducted various experiments with vehicles with vertical propellers. In 1906, he developed an interesting rear propeller, a box kite-like airplane.

The beginning of the story: The use of planes in war

On October 23, 1911, Italian Captain Carlo Piazza, flying over Ottoman lands, made the first military reconnaissance flight in history by plane.

Alberto Santos-Dumont (Palmira, 20 July 1873 — Guarujá, 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, he dedicated himself to aeronautical study and experimentation in Paris, where he spent most of his adult life. He designed, built, and flew the first powered airships and won the Deutsch Prize in 1901, when he flew around the Eiffel Tower in his airship No. 6, becoming one of the most famous people in the world in the early 20th century.

Giulio Gavotte, on the other hand, launched an air attack against the Ottoman forces in Libya on November 1, and this attack went down in history as the first air attack. Ottoman soldiers, who do not have any air defense weapons, manage to shoot down a plane with a rifle shot.

Life story of Alberto Santos-Dumont

Alberto Santos-Dumont, a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and a national hero, is a Brazilian aviator who developed the monoplane. Dumont was also the first person to fly a biplane in Europe. Despite being Brazilian, he completed his education in France and spent most of his life in France.

Heir to a wealthy coffee-producing family, Dumont devoted himself to aviation research in Paris, where he spent most of his life. In the early years of his career, he designed, manufactured, and flew hot air balloons and the first airship. He made an important contribution to the development of monoplanes and made airship flights popular.

Dumont is the youngest of seven children of Henrique Dumont, a French engineer, and Francisca de Paula Santos. Alberto Santos-Dumont's inventions were so successful that they allowed him to amass a large fortune and is known as "Brazil's Coffee King". As a child, Dumont learns to drive the farm's steam tractors and locomotives. He reads most of Jules Verne's works.

Later, with the help of a private teacher, he receives an education in the fields of physics, chemistry, mechanics, and electricity. After a short while, he becomes interested in flying. Dumont describes himself as "the first athlete of the air". Shortly thereafter, he begins to pilot balloons on his own and then design his own balloons. He then quickly turns his attention to the powered aircraft.

On October 23, 1906, he became the first person to fly a heavier-than-air machine in Europe and to demonstrate the automatic take-off and self-ejection take-off in the world. During the revolution, he suffers from remorse for using the airplanes he invented in the war, and therefore falls into a severe depression. He committed suicide on July 23, 1932.

Summary of Dumont's life:

At the age of thirty-three, he becomes the creator of the modern airplane. He invents the powered airplane that takes off without the aid of the catapult, soars, and flies six feet above the ground. When he lands, he cries out: I have much more confidence in the future of the plane.

At the age of forty-nine, shortly after the First World War, he warns the League of Nations: The heroism of air machines makes us see in all its horror the great destructive power they can, unfortunately, achieve in the future against defenseless people.

Fifty-three years old: I don't understand why planes dropping bombs on people can't be banned.