Monoplane louis bleriot biography

How Louis Bleriot crossed from France to Dover without the aid of a compass

MAKERS OF AIR HISTORY - 9

IN THE EARLY HOURS of July 25, 1909, Bleriot’s monoplane was wheeled out ready for the Channel crossing; Bleriot himself is seen standing in the cockpit.

After a short test flight Bleriot took off again and headed his machine towards the English coast. He completed his flight thirty-seven minutes later. He was escorted for the first part by a French destroyer, which was soon left behind.

ALTHOUGH few people realized it at the time, Great Britain’s island supremacy was weakened if not destroyed on July 25, 1909, when Louis Bleriot flew over the English Channel and linked the two countries by aeroplane for the first time.

That flight lasted less than forty minutes, but it was to cause a profound change in defence tactics. The flight roused great interest, but for the most part it was regarded as little more t