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Santos-Dumont 14-bis

Santos-Dumont 14-bis (1:1 Scale)

The 14-bis was a pioneer era canard biplane designed and built by Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont. In 1906 near Paris the 14-bis made a manned powered flight that was the first to be publicly witnessed by a crowd.

Some contend that the 14-bis rather than Wright Flyer was the first true airplane. For takeoff the 1903 Wright Flyer used a launch rail and a wheeled dolly which was left on the ground; the airplane landed on skids due to the sandy landing surface at Kitty Hawk. After 1903 the Wrights used a catapult to assist most takeoffs of their 1904 and 1905 airplanes. The Santos-Dumont 14-bis did not use a catapult and ran on wheels located at the back of the aircraft, with a skid under the front of the fuselage. Many Brazilians therefore hold the 14-bis as the first airplane and Santos-Dumont is revered as Father of Aviation in the country. - Wikipedia

Nothing special about this other than being recreation of an historic airplane. The design is unusual. Instead of a tail, it has a boxkite-style pitch and yaw control surfaces made of wing pieces at the front attached to fuselage by universal joint. Set physics detail to high because it relies on pivots for flight control.

1. Keep the speed low when taxiing or simply push the plane to align with runway
2. Keep the airplane stable until reach takeoff speed
3. Try to takeoff slowly
4. Be proud because it's not easy to takeoff
5. Try to land without taking damage if you can!