Santos-Dumont 14-bis
The flight of Santos -Dumont 14 -bis on October 23, 1906 is considered the first officially recognized motorized flight over 25 meters.
The Brazilian Alberto Santos -Dumont came from the airship. As the end of 1905 showed Gabriel Voisin Santos -Dumont flight notes by Samuel Langley, he started in the winter of 1905/ 06 with the construction of a fixed-wing aircraft.
History
Prehistory
The Wright brothers had 1903-1905 already taken many flights. Wilbur Wright succeeded on October 5, 1905, the Wright Flyer III a flight over 38.6 km in 39.5 minutes. However, their flights have been questioned in Europe often. The details of the Wright brothers were able to see the diaries of the Wrights until September 4, 1908, the experts and the public. Some experts, like the French Ernest Archdeacon, Gabriel Voisin and Captain Ferdinand Ferber, led since 1905 correspondence with the Wrights, but doubted their information.
The chairman of the Aero Club of France Ernest Archdeacon had in 1904 offered a prize of 3500 francs, the one who was, who reached the first powered flight on 25 meters.
The flights of the German Karl Jatho even before the Wright brothers in 1903, and the Romanian Traian Vuia on March 18, 1906, the Dane Jacob Christian Hansen Ellehammer on September 12, 1906 never found official recognition.
Construction
As Santos -Dumont 14 -bis introduced, no one believed could such a strange box body ever fly. The aircraft design was based on experiences you had made with box kite. The " 14 - up " resembled a duck pressurized airplane propeller. The hull was composed of spruce wood and bamboo and covered with cotton. At the top of the machine was a 10 degrees angled box-shaped control section which acted as both height and rudder. The double-deck main wing at the stern was angled V-shaped. Was powered by a 50 hp Antoinette engine. The pilot sat slightly in front of the main wing. The " 14 - up " had a wingspan of 9.70 meters and a length of 11.20 meters. She was 290 kg heavy and reached a maximum speed of 41.7 km / h
Flight tests
Since Santos -Dumont wanted to destroy the flying machine is not equal to the first tests, he hung it under his airship No.14. The " 14 - up " Alberto Santos Dumont flew the first time on July 19, 1906 along with his airship as support. On 23 August 1906 he repeated this combined flight.
In combination with the airship which had " 14 - up " or a 24 hp Antoinette engine. With this engine, also the first real flight test was undertaken. On 13 September 1906, the aircraft flew but only 7 m wide and had an accident. Santos -Dumont repaired the machine and replaced the drive with a 50 hp Antoinette engine.
Successful controlled flight
With his plane 14 until he succeeded on October 23, 1906 to perform in the presence of the Commission of the Aero Club of France a successful controlled powered flight on 60 meters and so the the Aero Club for the first powered flight with a self-launching aircraft of more than 25 meters in length exposed to win cash prize of 3500 francs. On November 12, Santos-Dumont flew the same aircraft 220 meters and so won by the chairman of the Aero Club of France, Ernest Archdeacon doped with 1500 franc prize for the first powered flight of more than 100 meters width. At the same time he won with 41.292 km / h the first official world speed record for land planes.
With these flights, Alberto Santos- Dumont was at this time as the first successful powered aircraft in the world. Santos -Dumont developed the " 14 - up " unable to continue and instead built a tractor propeller aircraft, such as the famous Demoiselle.