Bleriot's Cross Channel Flight Available in Franï¿½aise, Espaï¿½ol, Portuguï¿½s, Deutsch, Россию, 中文, 日本, and others. Old News he following account of Louis Bleriot's flight across the English Channel appeared in the 31 July 1909 edition of Flight, an English magazine devoted to the new field of aviation. It includes information from several eyewitnesses to the historic event. M. Bleriot's great success is a fitting sequel to Mr. Latham's splendid failure; there should be no jealousy in comparison, both are working in the cause of flight. M. Bleriot reflects glory on his defeated rival at the same time that he is crowned with the laurels of victory himself. And M. Bleriot deserves his success; how much, none save those who have followed his history in flight know. There were days not long since when M. Bleriot used to tumble with his machine with almost monotonous persistency; yet he kept on, in spite of criticisms.

In those days, too, he was still trying to fly a monoplane, and monoplanes were not very popular just then, for there were not wanting critics who almost went as far as saying that they would not fly at all. M. Bleriot is the champion of the monoplane, and he has done more than anyone else to develop it. Moreover, he is engineer and pilot combined, and the machine with which he has crossed the Channel, and thereby traced his name indelibly on the pages of history, is his own machine, the work of his own brain, and if the truth were known, contains, we dare say, a good deal of his own handicraft as well. He is not only a worker, he is a sportsman, is M. Bleriot, and most thoroughly deserves every prize he has won. It is rather apt to be forgotten how very early M. Bleriot commenced his aviation experiences. As long ago as 1906 an illustration appeared in The Auto-motor Journal of May 26th, of an aeroplane which MM. Bleriot and Voisin had constructed for experimental work on Lake Enghien.

It was a curious machine that, but it has this much of especial interest, that it was designed for use over water. In the following year, 1907, M. Bleriot had built and was trying at Issy, near Paris, a monoplane which does not differ in essentials from the machine which is on view this week at Selfridge's. What mishaps he used to have in those days! Almost every other time that he succeeded in getting off the ground he returned to earth with a crash; he always broke something, but it was never himself, always did this persevering pilot seem to bear a charmed life. As a matter of fact, he used to take what precautions he could, and he himself, as we mentioned last week, attributes many of his escapes to a little trick which he had of throwing himself on to one of the wings of his flyer when he saw that a catastrophe was imminent. M. Bleriot worked on the principle that it was impossible to save both man and machine. When M.

Bleriot had advanced in the art of flight until he was easily among the two or three genuine pilots of the day, he conceived the idea of making quite a small machine, which type has since been known as his short-span flyer "No. 11." It was shown first of all at the Paris Salon at the end of last year, and attracted a very great deal of attention on account of its compact appearance. It was such a flyer as many had set their hearts upon, but as many more had deemed impracticable. No one foresaw then that this was to be the epoch-making machine with which he should fly 25 miles across country on July 17th and 31 miles across the sea on July 25th. True, the dimensions of the span are somewhat larger as the result of alterations which followed various preliminary experiments, but that it is still to all intents and purposes the same compact machine must have been apparent to all who took the unique opportunity of seeing it at Dover or during the past few days in London at the Selfridge showrooms. By his two great flights across country and across the Channel M. Bleriot has set the seal of success upon the monoplane principle.

His achievements are another huge step in the ''coming of the monoplane," about which we had occasion to speak at some length in our issue of June 12th, when Mr. Latham had been making some record flights with a machine of the same class. It is an advance, but it does not alter the problem; the monoplane is still by way of being the racer of the air. M. Bleriot took roughly 40 minutes to cross the Channel, his speed being in the region of 45 miles an hour average, and according to his own account was nearer 50 miles an hour shortly after the start. That is a speed which only a limited number of pilots can be expected to feel safe at in their early experiments. Safety lies in speed, there is much reason to believe, but that is a different kind of safety, and is hardly in the reckoning if the pilot himself is not at home in the air under such conditions. M.

Bleriot is now a master of the upper element, but he worked hard for his degree; on no occasion has his knowledge and skill stood him in better stead than during his Channel flight, for there he met with difficulties which must surely have brought a less experienced pilot to sad grief. Even at the start there was, according to M. Bleriot's own estimate, a 10-knot wind; while, off Dover, the breeze was double this velocity, and the cliff currents particularly strong. In mid-Channel the wind had dropped, but at the moment of landing it was blowing in all directions. The Story of the Flight It was almost without warning, but nevertheless with a send-off on the French shore from an enthusiastic crowd, that M. Bleriot flew across the Straits of Dover from Les Baraques, near Calais, to Northfall Meadow at Dover on Sunday, July 25th, thereby incidentally winning the Daily Mall ï¿½1,000 prize. Taking the week-end as a whole, it has been one of the windiest periods of a particularly unsettled summer, and the previous day had in particular seemed hopeless for any cross-Channel flight.

Half a gale had indeed been blowing and a heavy sea running only a few hours before, and hence it is hardly to be wondered at that the feat was as totally unexpected as it was. When this greatest of all great events in the annals of modern history was taking place the world and his wife were mostly abed, especially this side of the Channel. But M. Bleriot had got up at half-past two in the morning, not feeling very well, had taken a short motor run just to blow the cobwebs away, and that was why he was able to snatch the one brief fine moment that presented itself between the daytime storms of Saturday and Sunday. Seeing that the fates were propitious, he then lost little time in bringing out the flyer, and in spite of his injured foot he quickly carried out a practice flight over the sand-hills between Les Baraques and Sangatte. A little earlier, too, he had notified his intention to start to the destroyer "Escopette," which was consequently at that time standing out to sea, with Madame Bleriot and others already aboardï¿½all anxiously on the look-out for him.

Finding everything working properly with his machine, he speedily effected a fresh start, this time flying straight away over the cliffs and heading towards England. That was at about twenty minutes to five (French time) and it was about twenty minutes past five (also French time) that he landed at Dover. Accounts differ as to the exact moment of departure and descent, and as a matter of fact it is doubtful if any reliable timing was made since M. Bleriot started without a watch as well as without a compass. The distance of the flight was about 31 miles, and hence the speed was in the region of 45 miles an hour. During the crossing he flew at an altitude of 150 ft. to 300 ft., and thus kept much nearer the water than Mr. Latham did on his attempt. M. Bleriot's monoplane quickly outstripped the torpedo-beat destroyer "Escopette," with which the French Government replaced the "Harpon," that was on duty during Mr. Latham's attempt. In mid-Channel M.

Bleriot lost sight of land and of his escort for a very uncomfortably long periodï¿½estimated by him to have been ten minutesï¿½and was entirely without means of ascertaining his proper direction. In the circumstances he did the only thing possible, which was to keep straight on, and fortune favouring him, he sighted the English shore off Deal while heading for St. Margaret's Bay. Turning along the coast M. Bleriot flew towards Dover, and put in at a gap in the cliffs where a representative of Le Matin, M. Fontaine, was signaling to him with a tricolour flag. The site on which the landing was accomplished was the Northfall Meadow. Although the arrival was noticed from afar by several, and M. Fontaine was on the chosen part of the cliff at Dover, yet even he failed to see the real landing, and P.C. Stanford was the only eye-witness of this great historic event, the landing on British soil of the first flyer to cross the Channel. The actual contact with terra-firma was rather abrupt; in fact, not only was the propeller broken, but that part of the framework which carries the engine was also damaged.

Mishaps of this sort, however, are absolutely negligible by comparison with the success of the main issue. Bleriot had crossed the Channel, had won the Daily Mail prize, and was none the worse for it, nor in all probability would his machine have been damaged had he been familiar with the site on which he was forced to alight. Heard Afar Off One of the most interesting minor points associated with M. Bleriot's cross-Channel flight, is the manner in which at Dover he was heard afar off by the very few people who happened to be about at the time. The whirring of the motor (doubtless chiefly due to the open exhaust) was quite distinctly audible, according to more than one eye-witness, even while the flyer itself was a mere speck in the distance. The night watchman on the Promenade Pier, in relating his account of the proceedings to the Daily Telegraph, says : " I suddenly saw a peculiar object away to the eastward, moving very rapidly across the sky.

As it came closer I could hear the whirring of the motor, and I judged that it was one of the flying men who had made a start and had practically got across." The chief officer of the Coastguard Station similarly relates that he could hear "a continual buzzing when the machine was several miles away." Looked Like a Bird Next to the noise of the engine it was the high speed and bird-like appearance of the flyer which principally attracted the attention of those few who were privileged to witness its arrival in England. "The speed was almost incredible," said the chief officer of the Coastguard Station, and certainly the sight of a monoplane coming out of the distance through the air at forty miles an hour or so might be well calculated to appeal to the imagination even of one who's life duty it is to watch all that goes on in the Channel. M. Bleriot's Last Flight According to several reports M. Bleriot has definitely stated that he will give up flying after he has taken part in the Rheims races. Cherchez la femme of course, but who shall grudge Madame Bleriot her voice in the matter, now that her husband has done so much.

Besides, although only 36, he has five children to think of, and there is after all some risk attached to the game which even M. Bleriot's phenomenal good luck might not for ever tide over. Let us, at least, wish him every success and all good fortune inï¿½if it should prove to beï¿½ his last flight. It is nevertheless now said that, upon more mature thought, Madame Bleriot has since then withdrawn her embargo, so we may still hope to see M. Bleriot soar to even greater achievements. Lost in Mid-Channel It must have been a unique experience when M. Bleriot lost himself in mid-Channel, and it can hardly have been without a tremor that he realized himself absolutely "at sea,ï¿½ although only 10 minutes, as to which way to go. It was a phase of the Channel flight which a good many people had anticipated and against which the more or less elaborate precautions that were proposed in the way of motor boats, &c, were in part to guard.

That the first pilot should actually find himself in this predicament, no one of course expected, for most people naturally believed that no one would make the attempt without taking many precautions. To this extent M. Bleriot's flight may possibly be regarded as somewhat foolhardy, and the fact that he so quickly outpaced his convoy the destroyer, certainly rendered his position extremely hazardous had any accident happened; M. Bleriot himself admits as much. But fortune favoured him so that he kept his course. Speaking about his experience, M. Bleriot makes the curious remark that during the time when he was out of sight of land and other definite objects he "felt as if he was not moving." The Commercial Side Naturally enough M. Bleriot's success will give a trememdous impetus to his own aeroplane business, quite apart from the enormous lift which the entire industry, at home as abroad, will receive from his epoch-making exploit. Even as it is he has sold 15 of his machines since he started to take orders for them only a short time ago. He has also secured the monopoly of the Anzani engine which performed so well, and upon which so much of the success of the flight depended that, next to M.

Bleriot, M. Anzani has naturally come in for much of the credit attached to this great historic flight. Chevalier Bleriot M. Bleriot arrived in Dover clothed in a cork jacket and overalls, and the more orthodox garments in which he subsequently appeared were on loan from Mr. Hart O. Bergï¿½the European concessionaire of the Wright aeroplane, who happened to be staying at the Lord Warden Hotel. Mr. Hart O. Berg is a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and his coat was decorated with the ribbon, which M. Bleriot desired to remove. Mr. Hart O. Berg remonstrated with him, however, saying that he was sure to have the right to the ribbon himself before long, and sure enough during breakfast came a telegram from France saying the Government had already conferred the honour. Half Share with Latham With sportmanlike generosity M. Bleriot offered to share the ï¿½1,000 Daily Mail prize with Mr. Latham if his rival should succeed in making the crossing during Sunday. But as Mr. Latham remained on the French coast M.

Bleriot was not called upon to put his offer into effect. The Flyer in London Motoring in the vicinity of Dover, Mr. Gordon Selfridge, one of the heads of the great Oxford Street emporium, heard of the successful flight, and making his way to where the machine was surrounded by a crowd of spectators, he there and then arranged with the Daily Mail to have the flyer on view in his own showrooms in Oxford Street for the London public to see, and agreed to pay the sum of ï¿½200 to the London Hospitalï¿½an institution selected by the Dally Mailï¿½for the privilege accorded. By this smart action on the part of a businesslike man, M. Bleriot's aeroplane was not only brought to London, but was actually on view by 10 o'clock on Monday morning, huge crowds flocking in from the earliest moment to avail themselves of the unique opportunity of inspecting its details. During the first three days of the week the stream of sightseers was constant, so much so that Messrs.

Selfridge arranged to keep the monoplane for a further twenty-four hours, and, to enable as many as possible to see it, kept the part of their premises in which the machine was housed open until midnight on Thursday. Bleriot and the Customs The Customs officers, who were among the very few actual spectators of the arrival of M. Bleriot on the English coast, were very properly among the first to accost the pilot after his unconventional descent on British soil. With fitting forbearance, however, they recognized that it was only "one of those flying-men," and therefore made no attempt at an inspection for contraband. Sixpence Admission After the initial excitement had somewhat abated, a tent was erected as a temporary housing for Bleriot's flyer, and, in aid of local charity, a fee of sixpence was charged for the admission of the public, who hastened up in numbers to see the machine which had thus come so strangely in their midst. The Prize and its Presentation By crossing the Channel M.

Bleriot had gained the ï¿½1,000 which the Daily Mall put up for this event, and the presentation of the cheque took place in the Savoy Hotel on Monday afternoon of this week. The gathering at the luncheon which preceded the formality was as notable as the occasion itself; among those present who supported Lord Northcliffe at the reception being the Right Hon. R. B. Haldane, Sir Edward Ward, Sir Thomas Lipton, Bart., Sir Horace Regnart, Bart., Sir Arthur Paget, Sir John Barker, Sir Francis Trippel, Sir Vezey Strong, Sir Thomas Dewa1-, Major Baden-Powell, Col. Capper, Capt. Jessel, Lieut. Shackleton, Hon. C. S. Rolls, Hon. Charles Russell, Mr. Roger Wallace, Mr. Frank Butler, Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, Mr. Moberly Bell, Mr. St. John Hornby, Mr. Kennedy Jones, Mr. Hugh Spottiswoode, Mr. Harold Perrin, Mr. H. Gordon Selfridge and Mr. George R. Sims.

Altogether there must have been nearly 150 people present, and there were certainly as many more outside waking for an opportunity to cheer Mons. and Madame Bleriot, who were both happily able to be present. Lord Northcliffe first of all made the announcement that the Aero Club of the United Kingdom had decided to present M. Bleriot with its Gold Medal, and then he presented M. Bleriot with a large silver rose-bowl on behalf of the British representatives of the Bleriot firm. The final proceeding was to present the Daily Mail prize of ï¿½1,000 in two ï¿½500 notes which were contained in a letter-case enclosed in a handsome silver cup. In his speech Lord Northcliffe paid very proper tribute to M. Bleriot's achievement, and incidentally took the opportunity of drawing attention to Lieut. Shackleton's presence among the guests, saying how pleasant it was that they were thus able to entertain at one and the same time such typical heroes of the respective countries. According to Lord Northcliffe, almost all good things had, like M.

Bleriot, first "come out of France,"for so many of the leading modern inventions had been due to the work of Frenchmen.ï¿½ In making the actual presentation, Lord Northcliffe concluded his remarks with a short speech of congratulation in French. M. Bleriot, in reply, spoke a few sentences characteristic of his modest personality, in which he attempted to belittle his successful effort. But in that, needless to say, his words carried no conviction to the enthusiastic assembly. The Wireless Story Although less exhaustive in its detail as compared with the wireless messages exchanged between Sangatte and Dover on the occasion of Mr. Latham's attempt, the following brief record is of historic interest:ï¿½ Calais, by Marconi Wireless, via Dover. 4.36.ï¿½Bleriot has started; look out for him. We saw him at 4.35. He started from Les Baraques. 4.40.ï¿½He is nearly half way across. 4 47.ï¿½He has outdistanced the boat. 4.50.ï¿½He is out of sight of French coast.

4.56.ï¿½Destroyers are now out of sight and far behind. 4.59.ï¿½Bleriot flew with perfect steadiness till out of our sight, not very high above the water. 5:00.ï¿½Let us know as soon as you see him. From the Dover side, unfortunately, the wireless operators entirely failed to locate Bleriot during his flight, although the torpedo boat was first sighted by them at 5.06 a.m., and its movements recorded every few minutes. Not until 5.31 a.m. had the rumour of Bleriot's landing at 5.20 a.m. reached them, to be finally confirmed by wireless to Calais at 5.52 a.m. Celebrating the Occasion Other more or less important and pleasing functions which have marked the greatness of M.

Bleriot's feat have included a civic reception at Dover on Monday morning, when the hero of the hour was on his way to be lionized in London, a dinner given in his honour that evening by the well-known Bleriot Lamp Company of London, a reception by the management at the Empire Theatre later the same evening when animated pictures were shown typical of the aerial trip across the Channel, and, by no means least, the dinner given by the Aero Club at the Ritz Hotel on Tuesday, when their Gold Medal was presented. Also it is significant to observe that a moveï¿½ment is already on foot to erect a commemoration column at Dover on the spot where M. Bleriot alighted. M. Bleriot in Paris When M. Bleriot and his wife arrived in Paris on Wednesday afternoon, they were greeted by a surging crowd of people who simply swamped the extra force of police which had been detailed to keep the road clear. As soon as the train steamed into the station the crowd surrounded the carriage in which M. Bleriot and his party were, and they had great difficulty in fighting their way to the spot where M.

Barthou and the deputation of the members of the Aero Club of France were waiting to receive them. All along the four miles which separates the North Station from the Aero Club house, the streets were lined with cheering people, and every vantage point had its occupant who waved a flag or a handkerchief. On arrival at the Aero Club, the guests were welcomed by the President, Comte de la Vaulx, who presented M. Bleriot with the Club's special Gold Medal. Later in the day, M. Bleriot was presented by his workmen with an objet d'art, entitled Le Cri de la Victoire, executed by M. D. Grisand. Bleriot Monoplane Fabric and Fittings It is of interest to notice that the material of which the planes of M. Bleriot's monoplanes were made was Continental aeroplane sheeting, which is used on many of the most successful flying machines of to-day. Another point of interest is that the Bowden wire mechanism was used by M. Bleriot for the control of the Anzani motor on his flyer.

Faked Cross-Channel Photos In the interests of historic accuracy it is very important to publish a warning against many of the extremely clever but totally imaginative photographs of M. Bleriot's cross-Channel flight that have appeared in various papers during the week. For our own part we have exercised the greatest care in accepting any of the dozens of photographs that have been offered to us, and have studiously rejected all those which are obviously "fakes." In days to come, those looking back upon the present records may well be misled by some of the photographs in question, and even their absence from our own columns may fail to afford the necessary clue. As a matter of fact, no known photographs were obtained of M. Bleriot's flight while he was still in mid-air, in any case, subsequent to the time that he passed above the French torpedo boat.

First electric planes cross English Channel | The Salt Lake Tribune First electric planes cross English Channel By MAGGY DONALDSON and MILOS KRIVOKAPIC The Associated Press First Published Jul 10 2015 03:15PM • Last Updated Jul 10 2015 03:15 pm Pilot Didier Esteyne, left, raises his arms after crossing the Channel with his European planemaker Airbus E-Fan prototyp, at the Calais Airport, Friday, July 10, 2015. Airbus flew its electric plane across the English Channel for the first time Friday, hours after a French pilot made a similar voyage in his electric plane  journeys seen as a symbolically important step toward making electronic flight viable in the long term. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler) Pilot Didier Esteyne, left, raises his arms after crossing the Channel with his European planemaker Airbus E-Fan prototyp, at the Calais Airport, Friday, July 10, 2015.

Airbus flew its electric plane across the English Channel for the first time Friday, hours after a French pilot made a similar voyage in his electric plane  journeys seen as a symbolically important step toward making electronic flight viable in the long term. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler) Share This Article ARTICLE PHOTO GALLERY (8) Calais, France • With zero fanfare, an independent French pilot beat aeronautics giant Airbus by about 12 hours Friday in the race to fly the first electric plane across the English Channel — a symbolically important step toward making battery-powered flight viable in the long term. Several people and companies in different countries are developing electric planes in hopes of offering a fuel-free, noise-free, emissions-free flight alternative for the future. So the battle to perform world "firsts" in electric planes is heating up as the technology becomes more durable. European planemaker Airbus flew its E-fan plane from Lydd, England, to the French port of Calais on Friday morning. The plane operates exclusively on batteries, and since there's no oil or water, the 20-foot-long, 1,300-pound jet releases zero emissions.

VIDEOS TOP JOBS Yet pilot Hugues Duval had also long dreamed of making that flight and knew that his two-engine, one-seat Cricri plane was ready to cross the Channel. So instead of letting Airbus grab all the glory Friday, he set out for a Calais airfield the day before. "I was really motivated to go," he told The Associated Press on Friday, describing it as a family goal, to repeat a journey his father made across the Channel. "Our vocation (as pilots) is to take on challenges." Because he lacked authorization to take off from Calais, a larger, fuel-driven plane towed his 220-pound Cricri for the start of the trip, he told The Associated Press. Then he separated from the helper plane and flew autonomously to Dover and then back to Calais, landing safely. Duval said he reached a speed of 90 mph on his 31-mile journey. When he approached the Calais airfield again, he said, "The fact that you are flying over land is reassuring." "Then when you land . well you are happy," Duval said, calling it an "important moment" after years of fine-tuning the plane and flying it over land.

Airbus officials gathered in Calais to celebrate the landing of the E-fan would not comment on Duval's trip. "I don't have to talk about that. ... We did something today, it is important for us," said the pilot of the Airbus flight, Didier Esteyne. The E-fan took its maiden voyage in March 2014, and has taken off 100 times since its latest flight at the Paris Air Show last month. Airbus aims to put the two-seater on the market in 2017, targeting sales at training facilities for entry-level pilots. "It's a great victory, but it's also a start. For us, it's an adventure that permits us" to imagine commercial flights on electric or hybrid planes, Esteyne said. "It's really the beginning of great innovations." The choice of flight path was not coincidental: In 1909, French pilot Louis Bleriot was the first person to fly a plane across the English Channel. For Airbus' flight Friday, security professionals were out in full force, with helicopters and rescue speed boats trailing the E-fan.

Safety was of secondary priority for Bleriot — he was concentrated on winning $1,550 in prize money from the British Daily Mail newspaper by performing the feat first. Electric flight is a nascent sector of the aviation industry, so safety regulations are still in development. Airbus and the French civil aviation authorities worked together to create a test flight program for the jets. Many compared this week's flights to the feats achieved by Solar Impulse, the solar-operated plane that is traveling around the world in stages and just completed a 5-day journey from Japan to Hawaii. While the E-fan only seats two for now, the aircraft manufacturer is aiming bigger down the line. Chief Technical Officer Jean Botti told The Associated Press at the Paris Air Show last month that "our objective here is to make a hybrid-electric 100-seater for the future," calling it an ambition that Airbus could realize in the next 15 years.

Pedal-powered airship to cross English Channel | ETA Pedal-powered airship to cross English Channel 1st September 2008 0 Comments View now As airlines around the world remain preoccupied with the cost of oil and its ruinous effect on their industry, a Frenchman who hopes to become the first person to fly across on the English Channel using a bicycle-powered balloon is more concerned with the speed of the wind. Stéphane Rousson has developed a pedal-powered 16m-long airship to make the 28-mile journey, but the balloon is so light that it is at the mercy of the wind and needs conditions to be absolutely still in order to fly successfully. Monsieur Rousson is a qualified pilot who was first inspired in his quest to develop human-powered aircraft when he watched the flying bicycle scene in the Steven Spielberg film, E.T. The English Channel on average experiences windless days no more than four times a year – two in May or June and one or two in September and October.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “Monsieur Rousson’s pedal-powered airship is the greenest mode of human flight ever devised – we wish him every success.” It was a fellow Frenchman, Louis Blériot, who in 1909 became the first person to cross the English Channel in a plane. In 1979, the Gossamer Albatross became the first human-powered plane to cross the Channel. Pedal-powered airship One Tiny Craft Just Became The First Electric Plane To Cross The English Channel But which? By Kelsey D. Atherton posted Jul 10th, 2015 at 5:24pm Airbus E-Fan Crossing The Channel Six years after the Wright Brothers' first flight, Frenchman Louis Blériot became the first person to fly across the English Channel in an airplane. This week, three highly modern airplanes attempted the same feat, for a much smaller place in history: Which would be the first fully electric two-engined airplane to make the leap from Europe to the isle of Great Britain? As of this afternoon, it appears at least two planes crossed successfully, but there’s now a dispute over which was first.

The Airbus E-Fan looks like the tiny, electric-smartcar version of an A-10 fighter. Powered only by batteries, it has two fans situated behind the cockpit, promising up to 45 minutes of flight time with a top speed of 137 mph. Today, the E-Fan cross the channel in about 40 minutes. Here’s a gif of it landing in England: There’s a good chance that the E-Fan’s channel crossing may be less historic than thought. Last night, pilot Hugues Duwal appeared to cross the channel in a tiny Columban Cri-Cri. It’s name comes from French for “cricket” , and it is an unbelievably tiny airplane. If the E-Fan is a Smart Car, the Cri-Cri designed in the 1970s, resembles nothing so much as a Peel Trident , the world’s second-smallest car. The Cri-Cri is a half-sized cockpit put into the middle of a quarter-scale plane, with two small engines powering propellers that stick out in front of the cockpit like catfish whiskers. The wingspan is just 16 feet, so flying the whole plane is like wearing giant wings .

If Duwal’s flight was indeed successful, and his CriCri was indeed an electric one and not the two-stroke engines common to Cri-Cris, then he may have under the cover of darkness snuck past Airbus and into the history books, or at least the books of minor aviation feats. Anubis2202, via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 Hugues Duwal In His Electric Cri-Cri Hilariously, a third electric plane was also supposed to cross the channel this week. The Pipistrel Alpha Electro (actual prototype name: WATTsUP ) was supposed to cross the channel on Wednesday, but Siemens, who provided the engine to the Electro, recalled it, claiming that the engine wasn’t approved for over-water flight . In what can only be an unrelated matter, Siemens also provided the engines for the E-Fan. While this is absurd theatrics for a minor first, it’s a promising sign for the future of electric aviation, and hearkens back to the early days of human flight, with multiple claims of firsts. Fortunately, when it comes to firsts in flight, there’s only one Wright answer.

Bleriot's Flight Across the English Channel | WYSO Bleriot's Flight Across the English Channel A photo of the actual flight, Louis Bleriot crossing the English Channel. From the Special Collections and Archives at the Wright State University Libraries At the Shuttleworth Collection in the UK, this Bleriot IX is nearly identical to the aeroplane Louis Bleriot flew across the Channel. The temperamental Anzani three-cylinder motor. Dan Patterson The frail nature of the aeroplane is apparent in how translucent the fabric and structure are seen in the Shuttleworth example. On very calm days this earliest of all existing early aeroplanes still flies. Dan Patterson At The Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace near Paris, two examples of the main competitors to cross the Channel first. At the top a Bleriot IX, built and flown by Louis Bleriot. Dan Patterson The stone marker at the base of Dover Castle, the outline of Bleriot's craft traced onto the ground exactly where he came to earth.

Dan Patterson On this day in 1909, a man named Louis Bleriot, a French engineer, was the first to fly across the English Channel, 21 miles from Calais in France to Dover, England. Dayton photographer Dan Patterson is an aviation historian, and he's traveled the world to photograph significant aviation history sites. A few years ago he went to see the places where Bleriot took off and landed. The stone marker at Bleriot Plage near Calais on the coast of France. Credit Dan Patterson Just outside Calais in Bleriot Place, which means Bleriot Beach, there's a small stone monument in a residential neighborhood commemorating the events of July 25, 1909. Near this spot, Bleriot made a short test flight in the dark at 4:15 am. He was flying a tiny frail monoplane with a three cylinder Anzani motorcycle engine that had a tendency to explode if it overheated - or after about 30 minutes, whichever came first. The flight across the channel would take about 40 minutes. It was a calculated risk.

Bleriot was not the only person trying to cross the channel in late July 1909. The Daily Mail, a London newspaper, had a put up a thousand pound prize to the first person who could do it. To be official, the flight had to happen in daylight, and at 4:41 when the sun was officially over the horizon, Bleriot took off. He had no instruments. The weather was blustery and misty. Visibility was not good. A French destroyer was positioned half way across the channel to help guide him, but legend as it - he got lost. Bleriot cut his engine and came to Earth pretty hard, breaking his propeller and landing gear, and proving again that any landing you can walk away from is a good one. The bad weather worked to his advantage, though. A rain shower cooled his engine. He had his way to the English coast, spotted someone waving a flag to signal the landing spot near Dover Castle. Bleriot cut his engine and came to Earth pretty hard, breaking his propeller and landing gear, and proving again that any landing you can walk away from is a good one.

Today the open grassy field where Bleriot landed is overgrown with dense shrubs. But as you walk through the thicket, suddenly you find yourself in a wonderful clearing, and you can stand where history happened. The outline of his plane has been set down and memorialized in marble. Like many small airplanes that made history, you are surprised at how small it is. Bleriot won the prize money and became the next great aviator to become world famous in an instant, but those were the days when flying records were made and broken quickly. Ten weeks later, our own Wilbur Wright flew up the Hudson River in New York more than 40 miles over open water, with a canoe attached to the undercarriage - just in case. That canoe, by the way? You can see it at Carillon Park. Tags: Bleriot-XI | Aircraft | Aircraft Links Bleriot-XI - $4.95 The Bleriot XI also had some ground-breaking technologies such as castering landing gear, allowing for crosswind landings. Wing warping (instead of ailerons) controlled the plane's roll.

The tail section of the Bleriot XI included a horizontal stabilizer with an elevator, and a rudder, but no vertical stabilizer. Louis Bleriot: Louis Bleriot and his Bleriot monoplane XI English Channel flight Louis Bleriot: Louis Bleriot and his Bleriot monoplane XI English Channel flight On the 25th of July, 1909, the Bleriot Monoplane made history. On his first attempt, Louis Bleriot flew his Monoplane from Calais to Dover and therefore was the first aviator to fly an airplane across the English Channel. This little 25 hp Anzani-powered monoplane went on to become one of the most heavily produced of the early pioneer era airplanes, and it set many records. The airplane was controlled by wing warping and was one of the faster of the early types, with a speed of 47 mph. With a span of less than 27 feet, and a gross weight of only about 660 pounds, the little Bleriot was used for many "firsts", and was copied all over the world, both with and without permission.

There are some surviving examples of the Bleriot still flying, but most that are seen at public events are replicas. Both the oldest flying original airplanes in England and in the U.S. are Bleriots. Frenchman Louis Blériot had been intrigued by the possibility of flight ever since he attended a 1900 Paris Exhibition featuring experimental flying machines. Over the next few years, Blériot - who had amassed a small fortune manufacturing automobile lights - would spend all his money in his own quest to fly. Unlike the Wright Brothers and other aviation contemporaries, Blériot didn't take a systematic approach to his flight attempts. Filled with boundless enthusiasm, Blériot spontaneously leaped from one experiment to the next without much planning - or concern for his own safety. Blériot always tested his own planes personally, and his attempts, almost always, ended in crashes. Over the course of eight years, Blériot built ten planes - all failures. In 1908, when the London Daily Mail offered a cash prize for the first person to cross the English Channel, Blériot was bankrupt, having even spent the last of his wife's inheritance on his passion for flying.

As luck would have it, Blériot wife happened to rescue a boy from falling off the balcony of a Paris apartment building. The young boy's appreciative father offered to fund Blériot latest experiment, the Blériot XI. Bleriot XI: The Blériot XI relied on its 25-horsepower Anzani engine to power its 22-mile journey. Blériot collaborated with designer Raymond Saulnier on the plane's construction. As a monoplane, the Blériot XI stood in stark contrast to its more common biplane contemporaries. Its single-wing design reduced drag and weight, enabling the plane greater speed and maneuverability. Lateral balance was aided by the plane's wing warping mechanism - derived from the Wright Flyer. The Blériot XI made its maiden flight on January 23, 1909. Over the course of the next several months, Blériot worked to improve the plane's performance. He made several modifications, including the addition of a 25-horsepower Anzani engine. Although the engine was rudimentary, it was known to be dependable - crucial if Blériot was to achieve his goal of crossing the English Channel.

In the early morning of July 25, 1909, Blériot set out across the Channel. Without any navigational instruments, Blériot somehow managed to make his way from Calais to Dover in just over 36 minutes. He spotted a French reporter who had promised to identify a suitable landing area by waving a large French flag. Sixty feet off the ground, Blériot thrust the plane down for a hard landing. Emerging from the wreckage, Blériot's only injury was a burned foot that had been sustained days earlier. Instantly, Blériot and his plane received worldwide acclaim. Soon Blériot opened a factory to produce copies of the Blériot XI. Hundreds of orders came streaming in from around the world. Some of the best known-aviators of the time flew Blériot's planes, including Harriet Quimby who would cross the English Channel three years after Blériot. The Blériot XI's single pair of wings would serve as the new model from which future planes were derived. Built and then flown over the English Channel in 1911 by Louis Bleriot.

This monumental feat won Louie many orders for his'flying machine which was looked upon as 'state of the art' until and just after the onset of the 'Great War 1914-1917.

Question: Who was the first person to cross the English Channel in a plane?
Answer: Louis Bleriot