Santos-Dumont, a lifelong bachelor, appeared to have a particular affection for a married Cuban-American woman named Aida de Acosta, who in 1903 became the only other person that he ever permitted to fly one of his airships – his No.
9.
Until the end of his life, he kept a picture of her on his desk alongside a vase of fresh flowers.
Nonetheless, there is no indication that Santos-Dumont and Acosta stayed in touch after her flight; upon his death she was reported as saying that she hardly knew him.

Santos-Dumont often used an equal sign (=) between his two surnames in place of a hyphen, to display equal respect for his French and Brazilian-Portuguese ethnicities.
Santos-Dumont, a lifelong bachelor, appeared to have a particular affection for a married Cuban-American woman named Aida de Acosta, who in 1903 became the only other person that he ever permitted to fly one of his airships – his No. 9. Until the end of his life, he kept a picture of her on his desk alongside a vase of fresh flowers. Nonetheless, there is no indication that Santos-Dumont and Acosta stayed in touch after her flight; upon his death she was reported as saying that she hardly knew him.
Santos-Dumont often used an equal sign (=) between his two surnames in place of a hyphen, to display equal respect for his French and Brazilian-Portuguese ethnicities.
Alberto Santos-Dumont