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THE SANTOS=DUMONT DEMOISELLE PART 1
BRAZILIAN ALBERTO SANTOS=DUMONT (the “=,” his stylized choice) was a Deutsch-Prize-winning balloonist (1901) who went on to demonstrate his 14 bis aeroplane on October 23, 1906 before a large crowd at Bagatelle, Paris.
This flight of Oiseau de proie (“Bird of Prey”) III appeared on the cover of Le Petit Journal, 25 November 1906. Image from Wikipedia.
This was the first powered, heavier-than-air, controlled flight in Europe. Indeed, some would (and still do) argue that it was first of its kind in the world. The 14 bis traveled 197 ft. at a height no greater than 15 ft.
However, as noted in “The Fervor of French Flyers,” “By this time, the Wrights were maneuvering in the air for more than a half-hour over distances exceeding 24 miles. However, their Wright Flyer was still relying on catapult launches, whereas Santos=Dumont’s craft left the ground under its own power. In fact, in a continuing squabble over aviation supremacy, various European competitions required such self-propelled takeoffs.”
Also, the Wrights chose Kitty Hawk for their experiments because of its reliable headwinds, gusting to 27 mph that frigid December morning at 10:35 a.m.
Tidbits such as these will continue here in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow (as I celebrate completion of yet another GMax project, the 1908 Santos=Dumont Demoiselle).
Alberto Santos=Dumont, Adventurer. As described in Wikipedia, “In 1891, when he was 18, Santos-Dumont visited Europe. In England he spent a few months practising his English, and in France he climbed Mont Blanc.” Later, he took part in French motor racing and cycling—and motorized ballooning. Wikipedia offers an extensive history of this last adventuring.
Wikipedia continues, “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 on his airship No. 6, becoming one of the most famous people in the world in the early 20th century.”
Alberto Santos=Dumont, 1873–1932, Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, pacifist. Image by José Rosael/Hélio Nobre/Museu Paulista da USP from wikisource.org
Wikipedia notes, “Santos-Dumont is a national hero in Brazil, where it is popularly held that he preceded the Wright brothers in demonstrating a practical aeroplane. Numerous roads, plazas, schools, monuments, and airports there are dedicated to him, and his name is inscribed on the Tancredo Neves Pantheon of the Fatherland and Freedom. He was a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters from 1931 until his suicide in 1932.”
Some sources say he suffered in later years from multiple sclerosis. Others suggest that his love of pioneer aeronautics conflicted tragically with his seeing aircraft being transformed into deadly weapons in World War I. For example, Wikipedia notes, “In January 1926, he appealed to the League of Nations, through his friend and ambassador Afrânio de Melo Franco, to stop the use of aeroplanes as weapons of war. He offered ten thousand francs to whoever wrote the best piece against the military use of aeroplanes.” Wikipedia also suggests “The real cause may have been depression and bipolar disorder.”
The Santos=Dumont Demoiselle. Today, the Demoiselle aeroplanes are recognized as pioneer ultralights, being as they were of the most basic type. Back in 1907, these were the last of Santos=Dumont aero designs.
For an extensively detailed and documented examination of the Demoiselle, see “Superbly Small: Alberto Santos-Dumont and his Demoiselle Airplanes,” by Stuart Wier. Indeed, I came upon this research paper only after completing my GMax Demoiselle.
Alberto Santos=Dumont piloting his Demoiselle No. 20. Image from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia notes, “The French pioneer aviator Roland Garros learned to fly in a Demoiselle… The June 1910 edition of Popular Mechanics published drawings of the Demoiselle and wrote, ‘This machine is better than any other which has ever been built, for those who wish to reach results with the least possible expense and with a minimum of experimenting.’ ”
Wikipedia continues, “Santos-Dumont was so enthusiastic about aviation that he released the drawings of Demoiselle for nothing, thinking that aviation would be the cause of a new prosperous era for mankind; 300 copies were built in Europe and the USA.”
Hmm…. So why not a GMax rendering of the Demoiselle for use in Microsoft Flight Simulator? We’ll see just that tomorrow in Part 2. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024
Simanaitis Says 
I’m glad that you put the “Wrights still relying on catapults” in quotes. That erroneous French claim was immediately refuted, yet over a century later, it still persists. The original Kitty Hawk flights did not use a catapult, and it was only developed at Huffman Prairie to deal with the smaller fields and varying wind directions. While a student glider flyer at Torrey Pines, I used model airplane skills to build a full scale 25′ span ‘wind jammer’ that was based on a primary glider layout. We mounted it on a deeply embedded pylon on the cliffs, facing into the off shore breezes, allowing students to practice coordinating controls. Inspired by the Demoiselle and having a 23 hp McCulloch two cylinder gunnery drone engine, we mounted it above the pilot and practiced a few runs down the short, rolling airstrip. We intended a test program at the inland dry lake beds, but when it was left out tied down, some Saturday night vandals took it to a nearby canyon between the field and the golf course, leaving it crunched and bloodied. (I tried to post this and some previous comments via WordPress, but that connection no longer responds to my system.)
Hi, Bob,
Agree with your sentiments. However, Wilber had a catapult when he wowed ’em at Le Mans in ’08.
And Orville used one at Ft. Myer, and most of their ’04-5 Huffman Prairie flights used one … but it was a convenience, not a necessity! I would regard it as an improvement rather than a cheat … as so many detractors imply. Their initial ’03 flights were made soley using their home made engine to get them airborne.
Yeah, I’m biased. When I catapulted an F-4J off some of Uncle Sam’s big grey boats, I never felt second rate to my blue suited AF friends and their 12,000 foot runways.
The New York Times, December 17, 1951. Page 30
WRIGHT TRIBUTE TODAY
Airmen to Mark Anniversary of Kitty Hawk Flight
KITTY HAWK. N.C, Dec.16 (U P) – Modern airmen will pay tribute here tomorrow to the forty-eighth anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ pioneering airplane flight, but an old-timer who watched the first take-offs said the celebrators have picked the wrong day.
Wilbur and Orville Wright are credited with making their first powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine on Dec. 17, 1903. But Alpheus W. Drinkwater, 76 years old, who sent the telegraph message ushering in the air age, said the brothers only “glided” off Kill Devil Hill that day.
Their first real flight came on May 6, 1908, he said. It was on that day, that Wilbur Wright declared the airplane was a mighty fine contraption, but predicted it would never carry enough gasoline to span an ocean.
Regardless of his quibble with aeronautics historians; Mr. Drinkwater will be on hand for the celebration tomorrow. The first flight will be marked by flights of jet planes, helicopters and huge cargo planes.
https://www.nytimes.com/1951/12/17/archives/wright-tribute-today-airmen-to-mark-anniversary-of-kitty-hawk.html