The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-07-26
SLEEPY OLD DOVER is STARTLED
WHEN FRENCH AVIATOR
COMES TO TOWN.
.BLER|0T CROSSES SEA
BY Flying Over English Channel on
Monoplane Son Of France Wins Five
Thousand Dollar Prize Offered by
the London Daily Mails Heartily
Congratulated on Performance.

/ Frenchman, has at last succeeded in
| crossing the English channel in an air
| ship, This sleepy seaport town ex-
| perienced the keenest thrill known in
1 a generation when at sunrise today d
/ White-Winged, bird-1iiSe machine with
1 loudly humming motor, swept out from
the haze obscuring the sea toward the
/ distant French coast and, circIing
twice above the high, cflalky cliffs OF
Dover, alighted' on English soil.
just Like Frenchman.
Bleriot. portly and red -mustached
calmly descended from the saddle
limping on bandaged foot which had
been burned ON his previous overland
flight. Immediately two compatriots,
who had been waving a big tri-colored
flag as signal for the landing place,
fell upon his enthusiastically, embrace
ing him, shouting and pounding him on
the back. They, with few soldiers
and others, who happened to be on the
scene, We're the only persons to wit
ness the finish Of a remarkable feat
I1lS HIP.
Bleriot left Les -Barreques, three
miles from Calais, about 4; 40 a. m. on
one of the smallest monoplanes ever
used. He crossed the channel in little
less than half an hour, twice as swift
ly as the fastest mail boat. His speed
averaged more than 45 miles an hour,
sometimes approximating SO miles. He
"a a fI1n 1a&tn
and for about 10 minutes in mid-ctan
mel was out Of sight of both coasts and
the French torpedo poat destroyer,
which followed him with his wife and
friends aboard.
The wind was blowing 20 miles an
hour and the sea was choppy.
The aviator was sWathed in single
garment of drilling impervious to the
wind; which covered him from the top
of the head to his feet only his face
showing. He wore also a cork life
belt
How He Landed.
An eye witness of the landing thus
describes it:
Very early in the morning wireless
intended to make the flight. Then in
quick succession came the news that
he had left land, that he was flying
high and was fast making Dover. 1t
was expected that he would land west
of Dover, but from the direction taken
1T was soon evident that he would
alight to the eastward. Only few
minutes after the wireless announcing
the start, the laconic message, out Of
sight was received at Dover. Hardly
had this been transcribed when the
keen eyed coast guard, scanning the
sea with his telescope, shouted that
Bleriot was within sight.
Fastening to the cliff of the bay,
was fortunate enough to arrive just
before the airship. which was flying
fast like a gigantic hawk. The craft /
approached the cliff, growing larger
every instant. The noise of the en-
gines was audible in moment, SO
swiftly did 1t come. Beriot sWooped I
overhead and then turned his machine
to the east and came to the ground in |
the meadow. 1t circIed with consum- /
mate ease and made the landing grace I,
fully, but even though it touched the !
land lightly, it was slightly damaged"
Won $500.
BY his achievement, Bleriot won the I
prize of $1,000 offered by the London I
Daily Mail for the first flight across
the English channel, and stole march |
on his rivals, Hubert Latham and
Count de Lambert, both of whom had
hoped to make the attempt today.
Bleriot described his remarkable flight
very modestly.
Il rose at o'clock he said. "and /
went to the aeroplane shed. Finding
in order on the trial spin, / +
decided to make the flight. The French +
torpedo boat destroyed which was In
torpedo boat destroyed which was lii
was signalled and it put
the air and pointed directly to Dover (
After 10 minutes | was out of sight of
land and had left THE -warship well be- T
hind For a few minutes l could not (
to keep at an average height of $50 /
feet. / might easily nave gone higher, +
but it would have served no purpose. (
This was about the right height, 1
thought, to clear the Dover cliffs safe /
ly,
THE machine dipped toward the wa
ter several times, | put on more petrol /
once | estimate that the propellers
We're going 1,2o0 to 1,400 revolutions
a minute. The first objects l saw
were ships off the English coast, then
Continued on Page Twelye.s /