The first cross-Channel flight

In 1908, aviation practice is born. After groping in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first sustained flight in the United States, December 17 1903.

Henry Farman biplane on its “neighbors” was made on 1 km closed circuit officially controlled in Issy-les-Moulineaux, January 13 1908. He completed the first flight over the countryside, 27 km in 20 minutes, Bouy to Reims, 30 October 1908. The Wright brothers fly to France and make 123.200 km in 2 h 18 min, 31 December 1908.

The land is overflown. It remains for aviators to cross the seas.

On 5 October 1908, the British newspaper “Daily Mail” creates a price of 1 000 pounds sterling, to reward the aviator who manage to cross the English Channel using a heavier than air. The lighter than air in fact have already traversed. On 7 January 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries went to Dover to board a gas balloon to land in the forest of Guines near Calais.

It’s the turn of fans heavier than air now attempt the crossing.

An aviator, Serge de Bolotoff, is the first applicant in November 1908. He was thinking to use an airplane triplane built by the Voisin brothers, equipped with an engine of Panhard et Levassor 110 HP and then, faced with the difficulty, he gave his project soon.

Will remain in the competition three competitors:

• Hubert Latham (1883-1912), with a “Antoinette IV, built by Léon Levavasseur. The “sportsman”, after having participated in competitive canoe racing car driver became the company Antoinette in 1909.
• Louis Blériot (1872-1936) with his Bleriot XI. Engineer, he made his fortune in the sale of automobile headlamps, before a passion for aviation. After an association with the Voisin brothers, he built his own aircraft and developed the monoplane “Bleriot XI, which Gabriel Voisin itself recognize that all the best equipment from that time are just copies more or less successful. Neighboring cites, in particular, the aircraft Ryan “Spirit of St Louis” by Charles Lindbergh in 1927.
• Charles Lambert (1865-1944), Russian Count of French origin, with a Wright airplane. After interested in hydrofoils, Charles Lambert became an aviation enthusiast emerging: it is one of three licensed pilots at the Wright School of Pau, in early 1909.

On 12 June, Hubert Latham on his Antoinette IV, 55 hp engine, has conducted approximately 40 km in 39 minutes. La Mancha to the point where it is less wide, measuring about 34 km, the aircraft also seem to point to attempt the crossing. Sometimes, July 3, at Sangatte, near Calais, with the manufacturer Levavasseur Léon. On 19 July he took off at 6 h 47 du matin du Cap Blanc Nez. Suddenly, when the flight is more regular, the engine stops and the aircraft fell to the sea, 18 km from the coast of France. Fortunately for the pilot, the fuselage is shaped hull of the boat, floating on the sea … The “Antoinette IV” is raised by the destroyer “The Harpoon” and transported to Calais by the tug “The Calaisiens. It seems that the failure was due to the arrival of gasoline. It reached the engine by fine screens to be easily clogged. It would probably have sufficed to filter more carefully before the start … Also Hubert Latham is determined to try again.

Louis Blériot, July 19 1909, after learning of the failure of Latham, is committed to the price of the Daily Mail. On 13 July he was already 41 km in 44 min 13 s. He feels capable of crossing the English Channel aboard his airplane and he settled on 21 July in the hamlet of Barracks, near Calais. The aircraft used is the Bleriot XI, which flew for the first time in Issy-les-Moulineaux, January 23 1909. It is equipped with an engine Anzani 3 cylinder 25 HP. His Italian, Alessandro Anzani, is present to assist the builder and pilot in his attempt. A few days before his trial, Blériot was burned at the foot twice when he experienced his “Blériot XII. This burn was caused by the exhaust pipe of the engine with the coating of asbestos had jumped. So injured foot, walking with crutches, he will begin crossing the English Channel.

But Latham was another device, the ‘Antoinette VII. Between him and Blériot, who is leaving the first. This will Blériot! After a test flight of 10 minutes, finding the suitable time, July 25 he flew to 4 h 35. Note that the pilot can not swim! In the event of a fall, a cylinder filled with air to ensure the flotation of the device and a lifejacket allow the pilot to float. Flying at an altitude of 80 to 100 meters with an average speed of 60 km per hour, it will reach the English coast. Having drifted northeast, and could not cross the cliffs, he turned to the left along the coast to find a place for landing, if possible Shakespeare Hills. Blériot finally discovers the prairie of North Foreland Meadow, he said that as agreed, waving a tricolor flag, the journalist of the daily “Le Matin”, Charles Fontaine. The landing was hard, the chassis of the plane collapses and a blade of the propeller Chauvière detach. But the English Channel, 38 km, is crossed in 32 minutes. The land has been affected at 5 am 17.

Blériot returned in the evening against France on the destroyer “the escopetas” which followed during the flight and on board which was his wife. On 26 July, he returned to Dover and travels to London where Lord Northcliffe, owner of the Daily Mail, “gives him a cup and the prize money. The aircraft is set in London. Blériot, back in Paris, received a triumphant welcome. The Bleriot XI is purchased by the newspaper “Le Matin” 10 to 000 F. It is presented to the public at the offices of the newspaper, then at the Air Show before being handed over at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.

Charles Lambert, a student of Wilbur Wright at Pau, moved him to Wissant, near Boulogne-sur-Mer. It’s a biplane aircraft “Wright” built by Toxna, equipped with an engine and Marre Bariquand of 24 hp. His attempt it seemed redundant after the successful Bleriot? On 27 July, at 8 am 30, he decided to do a test before making a decision. A bad landing the aircraft is temporarily out of use. The circumstances have decided for him. He abandons, for the following other successes.

Latham, sportingly tries again crossing on a new device, the ‘Antoinette VII, 50 hp engine. It took off July 27 to 17 h 50. At 18 h 16, the engine stops and the plane has to land on water, only a mile of the coast of England. He covered 34 km at a speed of 90 km / h. It seems that there was a pipe ruptured gasoline. Latham waived, but other exploits are waiting too. In August 1909, he beat the distance record (over 154 km) and height (155 m). On 7 January 1910, it reaches 1 000 m altitude.

Dover District Council has revealed the details of its plans for a weekend of celebrations next July to commemorate the centenary of Louis Blériot’s epic flight across the English Channel.

Throughout the weekend of 25-26 July 2009, Dover will host a prestigious international festival in celebration of Blériot’s achievement in becoming the first person to fly across the Channel, and to commemorate the pioneering age of aviation.

The weekend, which also marks the 50th anniversary of the first hovercraft crossing of the English Channel between Calais and Dover by Sir Christopher Cockerell, aims to be an event for all the family to enjoy.

Among the attractions on show will be:

• A historic recreation of Blériot’s flight across the English Channel by the distinguished Swedish pilot, Mikael Carlson, flying one of his two Blériot XI aeroplanes.
• A procession of aeroplanes flying from Calais to Dover that will form part of an Air Pageant commemorating 100 years of aviation.
• Participation by the Royal Air Force featuring, amongst others, the famous Red Arrows.
• The transformation of the Seafront, which will be home to a number of Anglo-French and Anglo-Italian themed activities.
• A firework spectacular across the harbour on the Saturday evening, courtesy of Standard Fireworks.

Dover District Council’s Leader, Cllr Paul Watkins said: “This will be a truly memorable event that will play an important part in our continuing efforts to showcase Dover, its world class heritage, its town and its port. Dover 2009 will be an occasion for local people and also visitors from far and wide to experience the rich culture and heritage of Dover, the warmth of its hospitality, its proud history with France, its long association with the Armed Forces and its role as one of Europe’s busiest gateways. We hope that everyone will join in to make Dover 2009 a memorable event.”

To make Dover 2009 a truly international event Dover District Council is working closely with colleagues in the Communauté d’Agglomération du Calaisis (CAC) to ensure that the centenary celebrations are a prestigious showcase for Dover and Calais.

Monsieur Philippe Blet, President of the CAC said: “The centenary of Louis Blériot’s epic flight across La Manche, and the exciting plans now being developed, herald a new phase of cooperation between Calais and Dover especially as we look forward together to London 2012 and the opportunities for sustained economic growth.”
Further information about the celebrations can be found on the official Dover 2009 website – www.dover2009.com – which will also feature details of new events as they are confirmed over the coming months.

The 100th anniversary of Louis Blériot’s historic flight across the English Channel is being celebrated in July 2009 with a new sheet of collectable Royal Mail Stamp Sheets and a set of Commemorative Covers – The Blériot Collection.

Leading philatelic specialists Buckingham Covers are working officially with Cresting Ltd, official event organizers of Dover2009, to produce this superb souvenir of the celebrations taking place over the weekend of the 25^th and 26^th July.

Paul Tipple, Chairman of Cresting Ltd, says of the Bleriot Collection:

“These are the most unique set of aviation collectables you’ll ever see.  Both the Commemorative Covers and the Stamp Sheet are impressive in terms both of their quality, authenticity and design, and reflect the exceptional professionalism of the design-award team at Buckingham Covers”

The A4-sized collectable Stamp Sheet features an image of the Blériot XI aeroplane flying over Dover Castle recreating the historic 100th anniversary flight taking place on the 25th July.  The Stamp Sheet features ten stamps depicting the images of those Blériot XI aeroplanes actually taking part in the centenary celebrations.

In addition, there is a set of three very distinctive and highly collectable Commemorative Covers.  The first is the official souvenir, featuring an image of the Blériot XI aeroplane belonging to the famous Shuttleworth Collection, includes a stamp and label from the Stamp Sheet and postmarked in Dover on the 25^th July 2009.

The second Commemorative Cover in the collection features a stamp and label from the Stamp Sheet plus a genuine French stamp. The cover will be postmarked in both Dover and Calais.

The final Cover in the Blériot Collection is a Commemorative Coin Cover. Featuring an image of a Blériot XI aeroplane, this cover will include a stamp and label from the Stamp Sheet and will be postmarked in Dover on 25th July. It will also contain a genuine 1909 penny coin.

Among the many events taking place over the Blériot Centenary weekend, will be a historic recreation of Blériot’s flight across the English Channel by the distinguished Swedish pilot, Mikael Carlson, flying one of his two Blériot XI aeroplanes, courtesy of Shell Aviation; by Henk van Hoorn flying with the support of the Dutch Early Birds Foundation; and the third by a member of the Salis family in France.  The Blériot pilots taking part in the celebrations will be signing a small number of the covers and sheets and some of the money raised through signed copies will be donated to the Help for Heroes charity.

The Blériot Collection Centenary Stamp Sheet Presentation Pack is £26.95 or £34.95 if signed by one of the Blériot pilots.  The Official Souvenir Cover with single stamp from our Stamp Sheet is £7.95 (or £14.95 if signed).  The Cover with UK and French postmarks is £14.95 (or £24.95 if signed) and the Commemorative Coin Cover is £14.95 (or £24.95 for the signed version).

Collectors can have their Stamp Sheets mounted ready to frame to fit in a standard 11” x 14” frame for an additional £5.00.

These highly collectable and desirable souvenirs are available through the Dover2009 website at www.dover2009.com or directly from Buckingham Covers on 01303 278 137, online at www.buckinghamcovers.com or by post to Buckingham Covers, Warren House, Shearway Road, Folkestone, Kent CT19 4BF.

Dover is set to come alive for the weekend of 25 – 26 July as it celebrates the hundredth anniversary of Louis Blériot’s epic flight across the English Channel from Calais.

Dover District Council, with Cresting Ltd, the organisers of Dover 2009, has announced the line up for their weekend of celebration at a launch at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School in Dover.

Among the key events of the weekend of celebrations are:

• An Air Pageant, with full supporting programme, and highlights including:
  • A historic re-enactment by Blériot XI aeroplanes
  • An Air Race being organised by the Royal Aero Club
  • A flypast by the RAF Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows
• The transformation of Dover’s historic seafront with British, Anglo-French and Anglo-Italian themed events running throughout the weekend, with entertainments and artistes reflecting in particular the period of La Belle Epoch and Edwardian England
• A programme of musical entertainment, including the Royal Air Force Halton Area Band
• A series of static and air displays of historic and vintage aeroplanes, hosted at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School in Dover
• A Fireworks Spectacular across Dover Harbour which the whole town will be able to view.

The anniversary of Louis Blériot’s historic flight across the English Channel is also being marked with a new sheet of collectable Royal Mail Stamp Sheets and a set of Commemorative Covers – The Blériot Collection.

Cllr Bernard Butcher, Chairman of Dover District Council, said:

“This is a fantastic event for Dover. The celebrations on 25 and 26 July will be an amazing experience for the thousands of people expected to attend and especially for the people of Dover. It is an event that commemorates a momentous occasion in the past, and by celebrating its centenary we are marking out the achievement of Louis Bleriot to future generations and keeping the story of his triumph alive.

“This event marks not just a key moment for air travel and engineering achievement, but a key moment in Anglo-French relations, as it removed the perception of the UK’s isolation from Europe. The 2009 celebrations promise to be a superb occasion, and a fitting tribute to a man whose triumph not only marked a new chapter in aviation history, but in Anglo-European relations as well.”

Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, Chief of the Air Staff, said:

“The RAF is delighted to be able to support this event, which marks a milestone in aviation history.  Notwithstanding the huge technological changes that we have seen over the past 100 years, the spirit of Blériot and other aviation enthusiasts lives on today in the modern Royal Air Force.  We salute these pioneers.”

Further information about the celebrations can be found on the Dover 2009 website (www.Dover2009.com) which will also feature further details of additional events as they are confirmed over the coming weeks.

In late 1911, Harriet Quimby is determined to become the first woman to cross the English Channel. Another woman Trehawke-Miss Davis has already flown as a passenger.

The feat of crossing the sleeve is for Quimby to achieve, but she is afraid that somebody do it before the exploit. It is therefore a party secretly in March 1912 for England, has borrowed a monoplane 50 HP Louis Blériot, who was the first person to cross the English Channel in 1909.

Quimby left for England in March 1912, and to pursue its main objective aviation and becoming the first woman to cross the English Channel. Although Louis Blériot flew the English Channel in July 1909, no woman has ever accomplished the feat.

Blériot, intrigued by the objective of Quimby, his expedition to one of his Blériot monoplanes of 50 horses (37 kW), a single seat aircraft for Blériot vol.A hand and a few others, nobody knew the plan Quimby.

On 16 April 1912, Quimby took off from Dover, England, en route to Calais, France. Flying at altitudes between 1000 and 2000 feet (305 and 610 meters), Quimby followed its path through the fog and made the flight in 59 minutes, having derived some of the planned landing about 25 miles ( 40 km) from Calais on a beach in Hardelot, France.

Harriet Quimby became the first licensed female aviator in the United States on 11 August 1911.

She wanted to keep secret because she feared that another woman can try to do it before the flight. She also feared that people can try to stop it because of the risks involved, especially the unpredictable weather.

Gustav Hamel, one of the friends of Quimby was one of the people who tried to stop it. With the best of intentions, Hamel offered to hide with a purple dress and the flight for her. He suggested that she could hide in a remote area in France and quickly reach the scene of the landing, but Quimby has refused the offer.

Very few people have learned of his feat, though, because of the bad press it receives. The Titanic sank only two days before and was still the main news of the day.

2009 marks the centenary of an extraordinary saga. On 25 July 1909 at sunrise, Louis Blériot, an engineer born in Cambrai and passion for aviation soars Sangatte to join Dover in England, on a plane of his own design.

If all previous attempts have failed, that of Bleriot, and will succeed to posterity.

This year, from April to July, the city of Cambrai will celebrate this great human adventure, which is also that of the nascent aviation … Numerous events will take place, which Cambrésiens invite all visitors and aviation enthusiasts or simply curious to discover and celebrate Louis Blériot and aviation.

The events already passed:

• April 17 – J-100, launch of Operation Blériot in Cambresis, with hoteliers and the Grand’Place restaurateurs.Animation
• From 6 to April 30 – Exhibition at the Cathedral of Cambrai.
• Thursday 14 May – Conference on Louis Blériot theater Cambrai.
• Saturday, May 23 – Trip up the Avenue de la Victoire by a plane engine and installation of aircraft on the Grand Place, opposite the Hotel de Ville.
• From 6 to June 13 – Week of aviation film in the cinema at the Palace Cambrai, and June 6, projection free outdoor film “Top Gun” of the place behind the cinema.
• From June 24 to July 12 – Blériot Village on the Grand, which presents a sculpture made from 200 tons of sand by the artist Laurent Dagron, an exhibition of drawings by children … and provides visitors a point of tourist
• On Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July – Exhibition of 100 models which discuss the history of aviation at the Palais des Grottes.

Events underway:

• Until October 31 – Exhibition at the Tourist Office Cambrésis (maison espagnole).
• June 20 to July 26 – Exhibition at City Hall on Louis Blériot which includes artefacts and collectibles.

Events still to come:

• Saturday, July 18 – Grand airshow at the aerodrome of Cambrai-Niergnies, which illustrate a century of aviation legend with an exceptional.

Louis Blériot was born in the Pas de Calais in 1872. After studying sound engineering at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. It will become an engineer in the car and made his fortune in automobile headlamps acetylene before beginning his experiments with the complicity aéronautiques brothers Neighbors. ”

In 1900, Louis Blériot decided to study and learn all the theories. He drew his own conclusions and decided to build these models on its own assumptions. In 1906, he founded his own team and miscellaneous equipment, try it himself with many accidents. With the help of a young engineer Raymond Saulnier, he directed the single Blériot XI.

On this device, on 25 July 1909, Blériot took off near Calais, at 4 am for crossing the English Channel. He joined Dover in England after 37 minutes of flight and about 38 Km This success earned him multiple orders from around the world which will ensure the future of the firm. Blériot continually drive itself at the end of 1909 to devote himself to the company Blériot Aéronautique,

In 1914, Louis Blériot acquires Devices Deperdussin “SPAD. Many factories had come Blériot SPAD. In July 1936 the health of Louis Blériot deteriorate and he died on 1st August 1936 of a heart attack.

Note that the first pilot’s license issued by the Aero Club of France in 1910, was given Blériot, not for his exploits, but simply he was the first alphabetically.