I'm not taking anything away from the Wright Brothers, they were first and deserve to be know as such. But Santos-Dumont invented the airplane (or so he thought

I'm not taking anything away from the Wright Brothers, they were first and deserve to be know as such. But Santos-Dumont invented the airplane (or so he thought) without any knowledge of the brothers since they did it in secret. So they weren't that influential for him. A lot of people never heard of him but he gave his designs away for free which helped bring more innovation at a break neck speed. > The Demoiselle could be constructed in only 15 days. Possessing a good performance, flying at a speed of more than 100 km/h, the Demoiselle was the last aircraft designed by Santos-Dumont. The June 1910 edition of the Popular Mechanics magazine published drawings of the Demoiselle and stated, "This machine is better than any other which has ever been built, for those who wish to reach results with the least possible expense and with a minimum of experimenting." American companies sold drawings and parts for Demoiselles for several years afterward.