First Flight Across the English Channel

[Bill Greenwood]

I am rereading the book on the Wright Brothers and there are lot of others trying to fly and even claimed to fly, but one who actually did was the Frenchman Louis Bleriot, in an low wing monoplane more modern looking than other early planes, I used to have a children's book that stated it well.

He took off near Calais, in 1909, the closest point to England early one morning and made it the 23 miles or so across the channel where he as much of crashed as landed.

The kids book describes it succinctly.., "Monsieur Bleriot makes a very bad landing, as usual, but no matter for he is in England and he is the first."