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Article: Homegrown hero was first to fly, Brazilians say.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- December 6, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Kevin G. Hall
GUARULHOS, Brazil _ Don't mention the upcoming 100th anniversary of powered flight to Wilson Cardoso. Like any good Brazilian, he knows that the first person to fly wasn't Orville Wright but homegrown hero Alberto Santos-Dumont.
"In my opinion, he was the first," said Cardoso, noting that the Wright Brothers relied on an inclined rail system to get their 1903 Wright Flyer into the air. "Santos-Dumont's plane flew under its own power!"
Although aviation historians generally favor the Wright brothers, Brazilians rely on Cardoso's argument in insisting that the centennial of flight will fall not on Dec. 17, 2003, but on Oct. ...