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Showing posts from August, 2016

Dumont and Whitehead: Replicas that Fly vs Wright Bros.: Replicas that Don't

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Alberto Santos-Dumont and the 14-bis Albert Santos-Dumont's "14-bis" replica in free flight, Brazil, 2006. The Brazilians didn't celebrate the Centennial of Flight in 2003 with a replica of the Wright "Flyer" I like the United States did . Their gala centennial ceremonies were three years later, in 2006, and honored their own Alberto Santos-Dumont with a replica of his pioneer plane, the "14 bis." The Brazilians call Dumont the  "Father of Flight," and claim that he, not Orville Wright, was "the first to fly." So t o the cheers of the 2006 celebrants, t he replica of Dumont's plane lifted up from level ground and flew like a champ. " Alberto Santos-Dumont 1873-1932 Ten years later, in the opening ceremonies of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics , the Brazilians again unveiled  a replica of their aviation hero Santos-Dumont's airplane, the "14-bis." This time, in front of millions of viewers throughout the w