|
Louis Blériot (July 1 1872 – August 2 1936) was a French inventor and engineer. He performed the first flight over a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft.
Early years Born in Cambrai, Louis Blériot studied engineering at the École Centrale Paris. His interest in aviation manifested itself when, in 1900, he built an ornithopter, a type of early aircraft designed to use wing-flapping to achieve flight. Blériot and collaborator Gabriel Voisin formed the Blériot-Voisin Company. Active between 1903 and 1906, the company developed several aircraft designs. The Channel and beyond After years of honing his piloting skills, Blériot decided to go after the coveted thousand-pound prize offered by the London Daily Mail for a successful crossing of the English Channel. On July 25, 1909 he flew the twenty-two miles (35 km) from Les Barraques (near Calais) to Dover in his Blériot XI. The trip took forty minutes. Afterwards, Blériot became a successful businessman, with his Société Pour Aviation et ses Derives manufacturing thousands of Allied planes in World War I. Rumor See also | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||
 |
|
| |