© the eyeranian

In terms of scientific accurateness, the Brazilian claim is perfectly right, the problem is that we´re not a superpower, therefore we don´t own the means of propaganda. Yes, science, as well as scientifical truth is constructed, a black box, as Science in Action (Bruno Latour) exhaustively explains and when you buy into a lie, it becomes truth. Too bad.
Yeah, Santos Dumont was great. in fact, did you know that the first wristwatch Cartier made, the first ever, was made for him? He is said to have contributed with the design because he had to have both hands free and still be able to track the time of his test flights. And he was filthly rich too, that helped a lot! :-)
His house is fun to visit, but also a bit enerving. He had to build a stairway to the attic, but the way was too narrow, therefore he build a strange staircase with room for one foot at a time, and it starts with the right foot.He was small and nimble, and also homossexual or bi-sexual( a largely deebated issue), and suicidal. He went into deep depression for reasons still unclear, one event though seems to have triggered the event: the bombing of an island during an uprising in São Paulo in 1932 by the new airforce loyal to the Federal Goverment. He was witness to it, and claimed to feel somhow responsible for those deaths, after all he was one whose efforts created that weapon, the first to make a real plane that could take off, fly a predetermined distance and land, he said he had never intended to make a weapon but rather something to help mankind.
We credit him not only as the father of aviation but also as man of great ethic whose ideals echo those of our nation, as a peaceloving country who is not and never will be proud of any bloodshed.

It depends on what the 'claim' of the Brazillian is and it has nothing to do with being a superpower.

The Brazillian aircraft was a derigable with a motor. While its a creative peice of work, and it was powered, it was a baloon.

Back then balloons were used, and the quest for 'heavier than air' flight was commonly called 'powered flight'. And technically the Brazillian ship was powered, by a small car engine actually. But Its lift came from a zepplin.

Wilbur and orville wright on the other hand designed very precise wind tunnels (I think the first) with smoke trails and all. They developed the air foil they wanted, experimented with surfacing materials and made THE FIRST heavier than air powered vehicle. They invented the airplane, the Brazillian craft was a blimp.

The Brazillian airship predates the Wright Brothers by about two years.

Science and discoveries like everything else in our world will continue to provide us with what we need to make our lives better or otherwise. But, getting credit for such mere flash points will always be told by the one who has the tools and savey to capatilize on the subject. Truth in this respect is realtive and really doesn't matter who did it, after all what is done is done, right!

AH, better do your homework, look for better resources for those American are in fact pretty poor because their main concern is not to discuss facts, but to get through ideology. There are good sites in English though which discuss the technical aspects and the political dispute about the early flight pioneers. By the way, you are talking about the dirigibles he´s made, earlier than 1903. The 14-Bis is from 1906 (boxy, with wings, tails, wheels), and it was a full aricraft, the first to use ailerons, which were perfected in the Demoiselle series, and are part of modern planes. The question is: how can you prove, scientifically that the brothers have really flewn that glider? More, how can you claim that was an airplane, if it was unable to take off by itself, fly a predetermined course and land (not crash or "gently fall"). These are the patterns that define aviation that the borthers never met. And the current attempt to reproduce their flight proved one thing: that thing can´t be flown under unfavourable weather conditions , just like any glider. If you consider that alberto flown the 14 bis under adverse wind conditions... in fact you can fly it anytime
I strongly disagree with you Ali, because technology has always been a way for superpowers to exhert their influence, and in this case we are more than happy to point out that the US used its power to make true a lie. A scientifical lie.

Another curiosity is that as he was rich, Dumont never cared about making money with his models, in fact he let people use his devices for free, because he wished to benefit mankind first and foremost.

I saw a talk by a bigrapher of the Wright Brothers. He did cover the topic of the Brazillian fellow, and I was led to believe that his development of the Alerons cam after the Wright Brothers flew thier plane. The Wright Bro.s had a method for steering with a deformable wing that acted as an aleron, but was not a seperate hinged peice. So the Wright Brothers had a type of aleron.

Also this Wright Brothers expert said that his Boxy did not predate the Wright bros, his powered dirigables did.

Also, on the topicof his dirigables, there was a contemporary of his in Massachusttes flying powered dirigables, so even his claim to being first in that field could be cahllenged.

I will check the history.

It is funny how even this topic, along with every other topic in world these days is turned into a 'White American Men Are All Evil' spin.

OK Now I get it, your whole argument rests on a couple of supports, one is that it cannot be 'proven ' that the Wright Brothers flew on a certain date, and the other is that your guy invented certain improvements like the 'rigid' aleron, as opposed to the deformable wing section the Wright Brothers used.

Lets be absolutley clear about this. The Wright Brothers invented the airfoil. Thats the counter intuitive shape of the wing that provides lift. They did this inventing process in thier own home built lab, and thier work was documented. Your guy's heavier than air craft does not pre-date the Wright brothers.

As far as his improvements, like I said, the Wright Brothers had alerons, of a different sort, deformable wing sections.

And your claim that a super power has suppressed the truth is just more racist America bashing as is so common on this page.

This crap about a

I read some of the postings herein and it becomes glaringly apparent that so many of you wish to indulge in fanciful dreams fed by complete lies and half-truths. Santos-Dumont supporters seek to dispute the Wright Bros flight by stating that the good brothers used a catapult to launch their craft; they did not and the "catapult" in question would not be used until 1904. In 1906, when S-D is supposed to have made his miserable little "flight" (I have seen the newsreel), the Wrights had already done a circular flight totaling some 24 miles! Not exactly a "hop", my friends! Furthermore, the Wrights went to France and thankfully silenced those doubting and arrogant frogs. Lastly, it should be remembered that the Wrights later did many wildly successful flights in planes only slightly refined from their 1903 model. What does that tell you folks? It should tell you that their original design was a sound and successful one! I hope I have managed to piss off a good many of you, but only you pretenders so richly deserve it!