Handwritten postcard with Santos Dumont's 14-Bis (1906)

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In 1906, a likely witness to the 14-Bis' historic flights sent a postcard to his uncles.

Postcard written by an anonymous person representing Alberto Santos Dumont's historic flight with the 14-Bis on October 23, 1906. ~ 10 cm x 8 cm. Paris, December 27, 1906. Excellent condition. Unique piece.

A postcard of an airplane in 1906 is like a postcard showing a computer in 1975 or a postcard showing an electric car in 2019. It's History with a big H. Disclaimer: Neither the sender nor the recipient of this postcard are historical figures. They are perfect strangers.

However, on December 27, 1906, the Parisian who writes to his uncles to wish them a Happy New Year probably witnessed in some way, a little over a month earlier, the audacious Brazilian Santos Dumont (1873-1932) performing two historic flights in its famous 14-Bis, represented by the postcard.

The 14-Bis was a duck-type biplane (tail in front), designed and built in France by Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont. On October 24 and November 12, 1906, near Bagatelle Park in Paris, Santos-Dumont carried out two completely autonomous flights in a “heavier than air” aircraft. It crossed distances of 60 meters in October and 220 meters in November. This second flight allowed him to achieve three world records at the same time, under the control of the Aéro-Club de France.

I simply imagined this Parisian watching these historic flights, the first in front of an audience... I found it exciting.