The 14-bis performed the first powered flight made anywhere outside of the United States. Santos Dumont’s 14-bis flying machine. By Jules Beau, via Wikimedia Commons. He built a couple more ...

Santos-Dumont was in fact the first to fly by his own means, with autonomous takeoff and landing. On October 23, 1906, the 14-Bis covered 60 meters at a height of 3 meters, after running for some 100 ...

Santos-Dumont was born in Brazil and was involved in the development of airships and aircraft. In 1906, he achieved manned flight in a powered plane called ' 14-bis ' in France, which caused a ...