Alberto Santos-Dumont
Santos-Dumont’s No. 15, probably March
1907. This was his first conventional machine – i.e. front engine and
propeller, tail in rear. It never flew, but was a valuable predecessor to his
later Demoiselle. It had ailerons
(not visible here) in the outer section of each wing. The wings were narrow,
and given a large dihedral angle. Santos-Dumont is in the pilot’s seat.
Notes from Le Matin, except where otherwise shown.
[for an excellent account of Santos-Dumont’s
work in 1906, and his building and flying of the 14bis then, see Pierre
Lissarrague, ‘Histoire des Techniques. Une étude systématique sur le XIV bis de Santos- Dumont’, in Pégase, No. 31, September 1983]
1907
15 February 1907. Revue
de l’Aviation 2:3 (15 February 1907).
11-13 ‘Causerie faite le 31 janvier 1907 par M. Armengaud
jeune, à l’Hôtel des Sociétés Savantes devant le groupe parisien de l’École
Polytechnique.’ [This
talk is about Santos-Dumont’s history in France]
Archdeacon persuaded Santos-Dumont to
switch from lighter-than-air to heavier-than-air flight [in 1905?]. [A description is given of Santos-Dumont’s 14
bis -- mildly technical, no
mathematics.]
The wing is described as following the ‘cellular
kite type invented by the American Hargrave’. [Hargrave was Australian.] All
structure is of bamboo or light wood stiffened with piano wire (as in
Santos-Dumont’s dirigible). Propulsion
is by a 2 bladed aluminium propeller of 2 metres diameter, and pitch of 1
metre. It runs at 1,200 rpm, driven by an Antoinette gasoline engine of 45-50
hp , designed by Levavasseur. The power is high, the weight low (roughly 1.5
kilograms per hp). The thrust obtained is 150 kilograms.
………………………………
2 March, La Vie au Grand Air, No. 441
p.144
François Peyrey, ‘The new
aeroplane of Santos Dumont’ [‘Le nouvel aéroplane de Santos Dumont’][This is
Santos-Dumont’s No. 15]
Santos-Dumont now has military permission
to fly at St. Cyr, because Bagatelle is too crowded, and dangerous to the
public. It has a ‘vast plain’ previously reserved to the training of officer
cadets. Santos-Dumont has a hangar there now, to which he has taken his new
airplane for assembly. This is the No. 15, resembling the 14 bis. It has
dihedral, and a wingspan of 11 metres (the wing consisting of six ‘Hargrave
cells’). It is not silk covered but covered in Okoumé wood (nut wood from the
Isles [an African hardwood, coming mostly from Gabon]), and varnished. The
frame is of hollow steel tubing, reinforced by piano wire. The lifting area on
the 14 bis was sixty square metres. Now only fourteen square metres are
presented to the sustaining reaction of the air. The aircraft has a single
wheel of 90 mm [diameter?]. It has an elevator [‘gouverneur de profondeur’] in
the tail, which is a biplane [‘cellule’], like the wings. The tail span is 2.6
metres, chord 0.6 metres, and height 1.1 metres. It rests on a bamboo framework
4 metres long. Two small rudders [‘gouverneurs de direction’, but actually
ailerons] are in the outer cells of the wing. The propeller is of aluminium and
steel, 2.05 metres in diameter, and with
pitch of 1.7 metres. It is directly driven by the same engine as was in the 14
bis; though this will soon be replaced by a 100 hp engine. The pilot sits on a
saddle from a three wheel car [‘selle de tricar’], fixed to the frame that
carries the rudder, and below and slightly behind the engine. The centre of
thrust is a little above the centre of drag. The weight is 280 kilos.
The smaller lifting surface gives less air
resistance, though greater speed (and power) is needed to lift the machine. The
estimated speed of takeoff is 70-75 kph.
It is regrettable that the 100 hp engine is
not yet available. Santos-Dumont will test the machine with the 50 hp
Antoinette motor.
……………………………
16 March, La Vie au Grand Air, No. 443
p.175
[the cover page of this number]: A large frontal picture of
Santos-Dumont, seated in the new [No. 15] aircraft. He is sitting between the
wings (5-6 feet apart vertically). The engine is above the upper wing, in the V
of the dihedral with a tractor propeller. Two long, narrow radiators are behind
and on each side of the engine. The single wheel is at the leading edge of the
lower wing. The tire is fat. [The thrust line is very high.]
.......................................
.......................................
22 March.
Charles Dollfus, ‘Alberto Santos-Dumont, né le 20 juillet 1873’ [From L’Aéronautique. September 1932?].
p. 131 Dollfus
reports that this aircraft was destroyed on the ground on this day, owing to
deforming of the wings [which were too lightly built]. But other sources refer
to its being tested after 22 March. [See next two notes.]
………………………….
28 March 1907
p.4
‘Aéronautique’
Santos-Dumont is at St. Cyr, Blériot and
Vuia are at Bagatelle. All made trials on 27 March. Blériot had to stop on his
first launch, because of breakage of the forks of the two pneumatic wheels of
his aircraft. Repair is easy. Vuia’s machine did well, making two trials with
short flights (‘bonds’) of 5-6 metres, at a height of about a metre. His
carbonic acid motor is weak. It gives too little speed for longer flights.
Santos-Dumont tried for the first time the
lateral rudders [presumably the ailerons -- ’gouvernails latéraux] of his
Aéroplane No. 2. The first launch went without incident. On the second, wood
buckled (from air pressure) enough to make the aircraft roll severely to right
and left. Finally the right wing hit the ground and the left one grazed the
ground; but the central part of the aircraft was not damaged. Santos-Dumont was
not hurt. He said he had expected all this. The wood was under great strain
(‘beaucoup travaillé’). He has ordered new wings. He will continue with his
trials with his No.1 meantime. [No. 1 here presumably means the 14bis of autumn
1906; No. 2 is the No. 15.]
………………………….
April 1907, in L’Aérophile, 15:4, April 1907, pp. 92-5
This aircraft, the No. 15, was built on
what became the conventional pattern, with a tractor propeller, rudder and
elevator surfaces in the tail (a 2.6 by 0.6 metre four-surface cellular structure), and a
biplane, dihedral, wing with the pilot seated between the lower planes. The
wing was wood-covered on both top and bottom surfaces. The airplane’s most
striking feature was probably the extreme narrowness of the wing: the chord was
0.6 metres, and the span 11 metres. Why Santos-Dumont chose this high aspect
ratio is not yet clear.
The No. 15 has ailerons – outboard, between,
and in front of, the wings. They are controlled by foot pedals, and could be
moved together or separately. They are said to be intended for use in making
turns and directional changes, ‘completely replacing the vertical rudder’. (The
aircraft had a vertical tail, moved from side to side by a control wheel.)
[It seems that the use of ailerons for
correcting unintended bank – the purpose for which they had previously been
fitted to French aircraft – is not the aim here. These ailerons are intended to
produce turns. They never did so, because the aircraft never flew. But
Santos-Dumont’s understanding of what ailerons could do to turn an aircraft is
far ahead of most thinking in France at the time.]
Taxiing trials of this aircraft took place
on 22 and 27 March 1907 at the champs de
manoeuvres of St.-Cyr. The aircraft almost flew, with the wing taking most
of the weight. But finally, in a practice on-ground turn into the wind, the right
wing touched the ground and was badly damaged. Stiffening of the wings was
needed, with steel or aluminium angle brackets. Heat and damp led to twisting
of the wings [which look, in photographs, very lightly built].
Santos-Dumont did taxiing trials both up-
and down-wind. The article notes that into wind taxiing is ‘more advantageous’.
…………………………..
April 1907. Le Matin has various references in this month to Santos-Dumont’s
flying in balloons, though not of his own design or making [e.g. 28 April 1907, p. 5].
…………………………..
1 April 1907
p. 5
Georges Besançon (‘sympathique sécretaire’ of the AéroClub) has told Le Matin that Santos-Dumont will today
attempt at St. Cyr the Grand Prix de l’Aviation with the 14bis, weather
permitting. The prize is 50,000 francs.
…………………………..
3 April 1907
p. 4
Santos-Dumont yesterday called to St. Cyr the aviation commission of the
AéroClub de France to witness any attempt he might make with the 14bis on the
Grand Prix de l’Aviation (i.e. the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize for one kilometer
with a 180 degree turn). But no attempt was made because of strong wind in the
morning. In the afternoon a good number of sportsmen came (Deutsch de la
Meurthe, Archdeacon, Besançon [these presumably were not sportsmen], and
Ferber, Delagrange, Gabriel Voisin, Kapferer, Tatin, Levec, Chenu, J. Faure,
Buisson, etc. Around 4 p.m. rain was briefly added to the wind. Santos-Dumont
decided to postpone his trial.
…………………………
3 April 1907
p. 4
In honor of the ‘brilliant performance’ of Delagrange’s airplane,
Santos-Dumont is offering a gold medal to the Voisin brothers, the builders.
………………………..
5 April 1907
p.1
‘M. Santos-Dumont s’envole mais retombe aussitôt’
If a future historian tells of the
beginnings of aviation, he will say ‘The years 1906 and 1907 saw many aircraft
hatch. They took off, they broke, they were repaired, and took off again. The
aviators, never discouraged,, always energetic, sought the solution to the
conquest of the air with an admirable tenacity’.
Yesterday Santos-Dumont tried for the Grand
Prix [the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize], having gathered the AéroClub de France
commission at St. Cyr. The 14 bis is too slow and has too much cloth surface
for anything but completely calm air. The air at St. Cyr was very turbulent
yesterday, blowing at 4.5-5 metres per second, according to Archdeacon’s anemometer.
But during a calm spell at around 5 p.m. Santos-Dumont decided to try. He took
off after a 10 metre roll; tilted right, then left; levelled the aircraft with
his ‘lateral rudder’; flew some 40 metres; then the tail rose, dropped again,
and entirely covered Santos-Dumont. There was a minute of anguish. But Santos
escaped unhurt and calm. He will repair the 14 bis to try again. [A photograph
shows the fuselage broken forward of the wing. It is unclear exactly what
happened here. Perhaps the downward break of the fuselage seemed to trap Santos
in his cockpit.]
10 April 1907
p. 4
Santos-Dumont is preparing a new aeroplane, with a 100 hp motor. It will
be tried probably at St.Cyr, where
conditions suit only aircraft with small surfaces and high speed. Santos-Dumont
intends to continue flying the 14 bis at Bagatelle. It is a place more suited
to slower aircraft of great [wing] area.
[The new aircraft is presumably the No. 15]
…………………………………….
26 April 1907
p. 5
‘Aéronautique’ Aviators have
seemed to be on strike (‘grève’) for the past week. But they are at work.
Santos-Dumont is preparing his No. 15. This
is the same as the preceding aircraft, except that the metal strips [? –
‘cloisons’] are of iron or aluminium rather than wood. The V-shaped cell
[presumably the wing] and the rear cell are of walnut (‘noyer’). The place of
the motor will be changed [no detail given].
The Voisin borthers are busy with an
airplane destined for the Italian government. They will restart trials of the
Delagrange machine in early May.
Blériot will build aircraft of the Langlet
[Langley] type. Vuia is waiting for a motor for his new ‘uni-plan’.
[It is interesting that the newspaper gives
this summary – as if a week without flights is now exceptional.
…………………………………..
21 May 1907
p. 6
Santos-Dumont has built a new dirigible and a new aeroplane. The first
is of 100 cubic metres capacity, with a 2 metre propeller forward.
There is reference here also to distance
balloon competitions (one yesterday), organized by the AéroClub de France.
…………………………………..
June 1907, in L’Aérophile, 15:6 p. 160.
Santos-Dumont’s 1907 aircraft [presumably
the No. 15] has been repaired with
slightly changed construction. The wings now have three layers of mahogany, connected
with steel brackets [‘cornières’]. The aim is to prevent twisting. New trials
will be with the 100 hp Antoinette motor [instead of the 50 hp Antoinette used
in March].
…………………………...
7 June 1907
p. 5
Santos-Dumont was prevented yesterday by rain and wind from trying his
new No. 16. The ground was too wet for a launch. No. 16 is a combination of
balloon and aeroplane; it is heavier than air, weighing about 80 kilograms [the
net weight, after the lift of the balloon is subtracted from the total weight?
– 80 kilograms is impossibly low for the all-up weight].
It has a varnished silk envelope,
spindle-shaped [‘fusiforme’] of about 99 cubic metres capacity, and 21 metres
long. There is an internal air ballonet.
The lighter-than-air envelope carries a 50
hp motor (taken from Santos-Dumont’s last aeroplane [the 14 bis or the No.
15?]), driving a 2 metre propeller. At the front is an elevator (‘plan mobile’)
to control altitude change; further aft, between the motor and a polygonal
rudder, is an aeroplane wing of 4 metres span. The pilot is on a saddle
(’selle’) behind the motor. The whole machine rests on two bicycle wheels. The
machine seems dangerous, since there is an 8 cylinder motor only 1 metre from
the balloon [hydrogen filled].
…………………………….
8 June 1907
p. 6
At the hangar at Neuilly Saint-James, Santos-Dumont is preparing his No.
16. He is very likely to try flying it early today. The motor is working very
well.
……………………………
9 June 1907
p. 2
Santos-Dumont, yesterday at Bagatelle, had a slight accident with the
No. 16, tearing the envelope. He took out his combined heavier- and
lighter-than-air machine very early. The aircraft took off after a c. 50 metre
roll, as Santos-Dumont advanced the ignition. The rear of the machine rose,
because of the wing; but the front of the aircraft was held down by the weight
of the motor. The front of the frame [sic] hit the ground, displacing the
envelope so that it was hit by a propeller blade, which ripped it. Hydrogen
escaped. Santos-Dumont cut the engine. [Note that the normal clearance of the
propeller from the envelope is stated as only 2-3 centimetres.[
…………………………
19 June 1908
p. ?
Yesterday Santos-Dumont continued trials of the No. 16 at Bagatelle, not
trying to fly, but doing trials for stability and steering. He will continue in
the very early morning today.
………………………..
5 September 1907
p. 5
Santos-Dumont’s new aircraft is completely assembled, and ‘l’allumage
est posé’ [the ignition has been set?]. The ‘sympathique aviateur’ has built at
Issy a small hangar for the aircraft.
………………………
17 September 1907
p. 6
Santos-Dumont is now working on both the adjustment of his aeroplane’s
motor and the building of his hydroplane. This is ‘a sort of long cigar of
impermeable cloth, inflated with compressed air, resting at the front and the
back on wooden skates’. It is not know which of the two machines will be
finished first. It is probably that the first trials of the hydroplane will be
made next Monday. It will be ballasted and towed by a boat.
………………………
12 October, La Vie au Grand Air, No. 473
p. 252
[François Peyrey] Santos-Dumont has finished a ‘canot-hydroplane’, which
he hopes will reach 100 kph (with a 16 hp motor) – to win a 50,000 franc prize
offered by M. Charron. It consists mainly of a long, thin hull [‘fuseau’], ten
metres long. The wood and steel frame is covered with silk. The weight is 200
kilos.
………………………….
26 October, La Vie au Grand Air, No. 475
p. 290 [François Peyrey]: Santos-Dumont’s
hydroplane, a ‘curious slider’ [‘curieux glisseur’] should be now have been
tried on the Seine, towed by a power boat. This is Santos-Dumont’s eighteenth
machine.
…………………………
14 November, p.5.
For several months past, Santos-Dumont has
been working on a hydroplane. But he has just finished building a monoplane of
10 sq metres surface, with the form of a butterfly [‘papillon’]. Its 20 hp
motor drives a two-bladed propeller in the nose. A flat surface [‘surface
plan’] in the tail can move in all directions, like a bird’s tail. The total
weight is 56 kilos. The first trials are today, weather permitting.
…………………………
15 November, p.5.
At Neuilly, Santos-Dumont has set the
rudder controls of his ‘papillon’. He hopes to go out this morning.
………………………..
16 November, p.5.
Santos-Dumont has made the first trials of
his new aircraft, named No. 19, at Bagatelle. Few were present to watch. The
trial stopped because of the breakage of the axle of a wheel on the
load-bearing chassis.
……………………….
17 November, p.5.
Santos-Dumont yesterday, at Bagatelle, flew
about 200 metres in his new aircraft, and intends to try for the
Deutsch-Archdeacon prize today, from 9 a.m. onwards, at Issy. Some think that a
single trial does not warrant trying for so hard and delicate a task as the one
kilometer flight. But Santos-Dumont has never backed away from challenges.
……………………….
18 November, p.4.
Santos-Dumont’s attempt at Issy for the
Deutsch-Archdeacon prize yesterday was not a success. He made some flights of
50-140 metres, but broke some bamboo and some tensioners [‘tendeurs’]. Repairs
were made, but he put off further trials until today.
[This article has with it a nice photograph
of the aircraft, showing an all-moving four surface tail at the end of a single
bamboo aft fuselage. ‘No. 19’ is written very large on a vertical panel in the
nose. The pilot’s seat is below the wing. There is considerable dihedral on the
monoplane wing.]
………………………..
20 November, p.5.
Santos-Dumont made brief flights at
Bagatelle yesterday. Some modifications were needed, so he did not go to Issy to
try again for the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize, as planned.
………………………..
22 November, p.5.
Santos-Dumont yesterday at Bagatelle tried
for the 150 metre prize of the AéroClub de France. He made two flights of about
100 metres; and then, as he was taxiing back to the departure point one of the
propeller blades separated from the shaft, as a result of violent vibrations.
The blade flew over the car of M. Tissandier, who was observing the trials, and
came down 100 metres away. Luckily no spectator was hit. There was some damage
to the aircraft.
Santos-Dumont told a reporter that he would
cease aircraft trials for a month to go back to his hydroplane.
……………………….
22 November, p.5.
Officials of the AéroClub de France
observed Santos-Dumont at Bagatelle today.
……………………….
23 November, La Vie au Grand Air, No. 479.
p. 408
Has three photographs of the Santos-Dumont No. 19 at Issy. Last Sunday
he flew some fine flights [‘belles envolées’] of 50-150 metres. The aircraft weight is 56 kilos (including
22 kilos of motor); the length, 8 metres; span, 5.1 metres. [This is the first
version of the Demoiselle, apparently
with only one rod between wing and tail, though a great many wires, presumably
securing the tail. The tail is cruciform.]
……………………….
1908
25 January, p.5.
Santos-Dumont is still active, at Neuilly
St. James [the remains of an 18th century park of that name]. The
monoplane he tried last week is now ready, and he awaits only a rise in
temperature to start trials at
Bagatelle. Santos-Dumont is also preparing another monoplane with two
propellers turned by two 8 hp motors set on each side of the fuselage (which is
c. 6 metres long).
……………………….
21 March, p.5.
Santos-Dumont continues trials of his mixed
dirigible [‘dirigeable mixte’]. He has been travelling. After the aircraft had
rolled for about two minutes, one of the two propellers (which serve at the
same time as flywheels [‘volants’] and for propulsion), broke. No accident
followed.
………………………..
27 May, p.5.
A list of aircraft now flying, or soon to
do so, does not include any reference to Santos-Dumont.
……………………………
The
Automotor Journal, 14 November 1908, p. 1497, ‘M.
Santos Dumont’s New Monoplane’
]This is the Demoiselle, of which this page carried two photographs – one of the
nose, with low-mounted engine and propeller, and the other from the left side,
showing the long bamboo pole forming the fuselage aft of the motor, wing, and
main wheels. The propeller is driven by a
wide belt, with a smaller pulley on the engine and one about twice the diameter
on the propeller -- reducing rotational
speed for the propeller. On each side of the drive belt are long, thin
radiators, tilted a little outwards from the base.]
Total weight is ‘within’ 150 kilograms, and
the width of the wings 5 metres. The wing surface of 9-10 square yards
‘compares favourably’ with the c. 60 square yards of Farman’s plane.
………………………………
18 November, p.4.
The preparation for flight [‘mise au
point’] of the Santos-Dumont monoplane has been done at Issy.
……………………………
25 December, p.2.
The Santos-Dumont Demoiselle is displayed at the Grand Palais in the Salon
d’Aéronautique.
…………………………..
1909
9 April, p.1.
Santos-Dumont flew his Demoiselle at St. Cyr yesterday, for 2,500 metres and at an
altitude of 20-25 metres. The take off run, on wheels, was at most 20 metres.
He could have flown further, but was headed over a lake and did not want to
come down in it if his engine failed. The aircraft is now as it was shown at
the Exposition [late December 1908], with a wingspan of 5.2 metres, length of 6
metres, all up weight of 120 kilos at take off, including the pilot. There were
present some 1,500 spectators, including many pupils of the St. Cyr school. [A photo here shows the aircraft, nose up
after take off.]
…………………………
27 April, p.5.
Aircraft now at Issy include
Santos-Dumont’s Demoiselle.
………………………..
16 May, p.5.
Santos-Dumont is flying the Demoiselle at Issy. Yesterday he made
two flights in a calm period in a windy day. The first crossed the whole field.
The second consisted of hops because of loss of engine power. On a third flight
a gust pushed the aircraft down, breaking a piece of it (the forward
rudder-indicator [‘gouvernail-témoin d’avant’]).
Santos-Dumont removed this indicator
(considered to be useless) from the aircraft. At about 7 p.m. he departed
across the field closely guarded by municipal officers (free), and policemen
(paid). He managed hops. But then a gust pushed the aircraft down on to the
right wing, with damage to some tubes in the frame.
……………………….
[This is the last entry in Le Matin for Santos-Dumont before the
Grande Semaine at Bétheny in August 1909. He does not seem to have flown in
that competition.]
………………………
……………………..
Santos-Dumont came onto the airplane-flying
scene in Paris very prominently in the fall of 1906, when he flew his 14bis at
Bagatelle, in the Bois de Boulogne, becoming the first pilot in Europe to have
taken off and flown, unequivocally and before witnesses. In the 1907-1909
period, however, he was much less prominent. Le Matin pays little attention to him. He tended to stay away from
the fields where other pilots were active, although he did certainly fly at
Issy, as the above entries show. In the fall of 1907, in an early version of
his Demoiselle machine, he hoped to
take the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize, but did not come close to the required
distance. In 1908 he faded from the public scene. During that year he may have
concentrated on setting up manufacture of his Demoiselle aircraft, which after 1909 became a popular aircraft in
Europe.
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