On July 25, 1909, French aviator Louis Blériot successfully flew across the English Channel.

 I am alone. I can see nothing at all.
Blériot

Louis Blériot, Birth Centenary
Issued by Monaco in 2022
Designer and engraver: Pierre Albuisson 

1909 was a golden year for aviation. Just 6 years after the first recorded heavier than air flight, records were being set and broken almost daily as pilots and designers testing the limits of their fragile aircraft. One of the great challenges facing aviation was crossing the English Channel. Don’t underestimate the dangers of flying from France to England, non-stop.  The first flight in 1903 traveled 120 feet, the Channel flight was 36.6 km distance. 

In 1908, the Daily Mail newspaper issued a challenge to the flying world. They would pay the first to cross the channel £500.  When 1909 rolled around, and no one had taken up the challenge, the English Channel Crossing Prize was doubled to £1,000.

Blériot’s route From L’Aérophile newspaper, 1909.

Three serious competitors squared off for the honour of being first and the £1,000 prize – Hubert Latham flying the Antoinette Flyer, Charles de Lambert in a Wright Model A  and Louis Blériot with his Blériot XI. Les Barraques, near Calais, picked as the take off site, offered flat land for take offs and the shortest distance to the English coast line. 

The first to attempt the crossing was Latham. He took off in the early morning of July 19, with the nimble Antoinette soaring into the air. Midway cross the Channel, Latham ran into engine trouble and ditched into the water 13 km off the Calais coastline. He and his airplane were plucked from the water and returned to France, where Latham’s team began preparing for another attempt. A second Antoinette ready for another attempt on the 21st, but bad weather grounded all attempts.

Blériot was not idle. He watched the skies, waiting for an opportunity, and on July 25, the weather cleared.  As dawn broke over the beaches of Les Barraques, the weather was perfect for an attempt. At 4:40am while Latham slept, Blériot took off on his history making flight. 

Blériot readying for take off on July 25, 1909 Credit: Public domain

The crossing took 36 minutes, 30 seconds. Although the weather was favourable at the start, it soon quickly turned. Wind buffeted Blériot about, and the rain came down. At one point in the flight, Blériot flew into a low lying cloud bank causing him to fly off course. When he managed to fly out of the clouds Blériot spotted the English coastline and followed it to the designated landing site of Northfall Meadow, near Dover Castle.  

This spot had been chosen by one of Blériot’s aides as the cliffs are relatively low and the engine was too weak to bank and climb far. He landed 36 minutes 30 seconds after takeoff, travelled at an average speed of 42mph at an altitude of 250ft (approximately 80metres). Due to gusty wind conditions, Blériot had switched the engine off before landing and so bumped to earth. This caused damage to the undercarriage and shattering a propeller blade. Louis Blériot – The first person fly across the Channel in a heavier-than-air craft | The Dover Historian

Shortly after landing, Bleriot was met by British customs agents who found themselves in a curious quandary. There were no categories for aircraft arrivals so it was decided to file the Blériot XI as a yacht. (r/f: Louis Blériot – The first person fly across the Channel in a heavier-than-air craft | The Dover Historian). Blériot managed two firsts – first non stop flight across the Channel, and first customs arrival for an aircraft. 

Front page coverage by the main aviation newspaper of the day L’Aérophile