Alberto Santos-Dumont, self-stylized as Alberto Santos=Dumont, was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, he dedicated himself to aeronautical study and experimentation in Paris, where he spent most of his adult life. He designed, built, and flew the first powered airships and won the Deutsch prize in 1901, when he flew around the Eiffel Tower in his airship No. 6, becoming one of the most famous people in the world in the early 20th century.
Santos-Dumont in 1902
Henrique Dumont
Francisca de Paula Santos
Santos-Dumont during his teenager years, 1890s
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
A modern airship, Zeppelin NT D-LZZF in 2010
Dirigible airships compared with related aerostats, from a turn-of-the-20th-century encyclopedia
U.S. Navy airships and balloons, 1931: in the background, ZR-3, in front of it, (l to r) J-3 or 4, K-1, ZMC-2, in front of them, "Caquot" observation balloon, and in foreground free balloons used for training
The air-filled red balloon acts as a simple ballonet inside the outer balloon, which is filled with lifting gas.