THE FIRST ULTRALIGHT

That Friday was about to rain in the outskirts of Paris on September 17, 1909. But bad weather has not intimidated Alberto Santos Dumont, who has decided to continue the flight routine in his improvised airdrome in the lawns of Saint Cyr near Versailles Palace. In the mid-afternoon, without telling mechanics and friends where he intended to go, the Brazilian, facing the commands of his little aircraft, started the engine, and after a short run was lost among the clouds. Two hours later, without his return and news, the team raised the alarm. It began, what probably was, the first search and rescue operation of an aircraft heavier than air in the aviation history. Parisian papers, used to the pranks of “petit Santos”, put their best reporters in search of him, fearing for the worst.

That Parisian end of summer was been especially pleasant for the inventor of the “14-bis”. After a series of setbacks and several unsuccessful projects, finally the designer had in hands a flying machine worth of this name. Equipped with a Darracq engine with nearly 30 HP, the small and elegant Demoiselle nº 20 was the most practical, functional and maneuverable aircraft of its time (probably also the fasted one).

Easy to build, light, stable and safe in flight, allowed Santos Dumont resuming the habit of daily tours, as in the times of the Baladeuse – his nº 9 dirigible balloon of 1903 – with which Santos Dumont used to leave his apartment and visit Parisian