 The French entry in the race, flown by the character Pierre Dubois,  is a replica of the "Demoiselle", designed by the Brazilian  expatriate Alberto Santos Dumont, who had been believed by the  French to be the first to fly a powered aircraft, until the Wright  brothers demonstrations in 1908. The replica builders were faithful  in constructing the Demoiselle, but no one could get it to leave the  ground until it was discovered that Dumont had been a very small man  who weighed only 85 pounds. A female pilot was hired. She  successfully flew the plane throughout the filming.