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Important Names in Aviation: Alberto Santos - Dumont



Born on 20 July 1873 Alberto Santos – Dumont is a Brazilian aviation pioneer and inventor. His name has an indispensable position in the list of people who significantly tailored the development of both heavier-than-air and lighter-than-air aircraft. He was known as the father of Aviation by his countrymen, but Alberto preferred himself to be known as the very first 'Sportsman of the air'.
He was always interested in aviation and learned about hot air ballooning. It was not after long, he began piloting balloons by himself and designing his very own ones. He flew his first air balloon called "Bresil", which could lift 114.4 lbs. This took place in 1898 on the 4th of July. Later on he designed steerable balloons which could be propelled in the direction the pilot wishes and not just the wind direction alone. Though dirigible balloons were a previous experiment, it was Dumont who was successful in flying it.
Dumont was the first to achieve flight of a powered airplane with his 14-bis biplane in Europe and was able to build and fly a total of 11 dirigibles. Since there was no air traffic rules Dumont used to fly around his air balloon.  

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