GENG: Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight

[Klunk]

Book Title:

Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight

Author:

Paul Hoffman

ISBN:

9780786866595

Category:

History

Format:

Hardback

Summary:

This is an extraordinary history of an overlooked hero from the days of early 20th century aviation. Practically unknown today except in his native Brazil, Alberto Santos-Dumont, at the time was known throughout the world as a maverick among contemporary aeronauts. Obsessed with the idea of flight from an early age, he was an eccentric genius who first started his work with ballooning. Designing small cigar-shaped, engine powered vehicles, he used these for everything from travelling around Paris to circling the Eiffle Tower, even tethering them against the Parisian Lampposts. Later on he built the worlds first "Sports Plane". An unique character who devoted his life to the singular passion of aviation which was unmatched even by the obsessive nature of the Wright Brothers. This all during a time when the majority of American and Europeans hadn't even travelled in any kind of vehicle on the ground.