Proceedings of the 11th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Sciences and Engineering -- ENCIT 2006 Braz. Soc. of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering -- ABCM, Curitiba, Brazil,- Dec. 5-8, 2006 Paper CIT06-0458 A Brief History of Brazilian Aeronautics Bento Silva de Mattos Technological Institute of Aeronautics – São José dos Campos – São Paulo - Brazil
[email protected] Abstract. The history of aeronautics is the history of the technological development spiced by the enterprising spirit of aviation pioneers. The flight revolution was largely a product of technology and not so much of science. Its practitioners followed the tradition of the craftsmen and technicians who, awakened by the experimental method of Sir Francis Bacon and others, were the proto-engineers of the great expansion of technology and engineering that happened from the time of the Industrial Revolution onwards. Its first great accomplishment was the re-invention of lighter-than-air flight in 1783. Some time before the Brazilian Jesuit Bartolomeu de Gusmão make flew an unmanned small balloon in Portugal. By the mid-1790’s, the balloon had already been turned to practical benefit, as an observation system; it appeared as a scientific lifting platform shortly afterwards. The quest for steerable flight led to the creation of practical, small airships by the end of the 19th century, and the larger rigid airship appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, almost simultaneously with the appearance of the airplane. An overview of milestone events that marked the history of aeronautics worldwide is presented in its early days. The major achievements by the Brazilian Santos-Dumont are also described and analyzed as well as the major events in the Brazilian Aeronautics history.