|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Editor's Note:
French engineer and inventor Louis Bleriot established the
first airplane factory in France in 1906, three years after the Wright brothers'
success at Kitty Hawk. In 1909, a London newspaper called the Daily Mail offered
a £1,000 (\$5,000) prize to the first aviator to successfully fly across the
English Channel. Louis Bleriot developed a 28-horsepower monoplane, Model No.
XI, to attempt to cross the narrowest point in the channel, 24 miles of open sea
between Calais and Dover.
ABOVE THE CHANNEL
by Louis Bleriot
In
the early morning of Sunday, 25 July, 1909, I left my hotel at Calais and drove
out to the field where my airplane was garaged. On the way I noted that the
weather was favorable to my endeavor.
I ordered the destroyer
Escopette, which had been placed at my disposal by the French Government,
to go to sea. I examined my airplane. I started the engine and found that it
worked well. At half-past four the sky was clear.
Daylight had come. My
thoughts were only upon the flight, and my determination to accomplish it this
morning.
Four thirty-five. All is ready!
In an instant, I am in the air.
My engine is making 1,200 revolutions--almost its highest speed--in order that I
may get quickly over the telegraph wires along the edge of the cliff.
As soon
as I am over the cliff I reduce my speed. There is now no need to force my
engine. I begin my flight, steady and sure, towards the coast of England. I have
no apprehensions, no sensations, none at all.
The Escopette has seen
me. She is driving ahead across the channel at full speed. She makes perhaps 26
miles per hour. So what? I am making over 40 miles per hour! Rapidly I overtake
her, traveling at a height of 250 feet.
The moment is supreme, yet I surprise
myself by feeling no exultation. Below me is the sea. The motion of the waves is
not pleasant. I fly on.
Ten minutes go by. I turn my head to see whether I
am proceeding in the right direction. I am amazed. There is nothing to be
seen--neither the destroyer, nor France, nor England!
I am alone. I am
lost.
Then I see the cliffs of Dover! Away to the west was the spot where I
had intended to land. The wind had taken me out of my course. I turn, and now I
am in difficulties, for the wind by the cliffs is much stronger, and my speed is
reduced as I fight against it. My beautiful airplane responds.
I see an
opening and find myself over dry land. I attempt a landing, but then the wind
catches me and whirls me around two or three times. At once I stop my motor, and
instantly my machine falls to the ground. I am safe on the English shore.
Soldiers in khaki run up, and also a policeman. Two of my compatriots are on the
spot. They kiss my cheeks. I am overwhelmed.
Although he had been
blown off course, Bleriot's monoplane had crossed the channel in less than 40
minutes before crash-landing on the grounds of Dover Castle. The French aviator
collected the award from the Daily Mail. Model No. XI was placed on display in
England for the next four days, where 120,000 people came to see it.
SOURCE:
"Bleriot, Louis," in Eyewitness to History. John Carey, editor.
Harvard U. Press. 1987.
OLD NEWS (ISSN 1047-3068) is published nine times a year by Susquehanna Times & Magazine, Inc. Each issue is 11" x 17" (tabloid) size, 12 pages long and contains 4-6 articles on historical topics ranging in time from the fifth century B.C.to the early 1900s. Subscriptions cost \$15 per year.
OLD NEWS - 400 Stackstown Rd. Marietta, PA 17547-9300 - (717) 426-2212
