Louis Blériot’s epic 37-minute flight covering 36.6 km in 1909 over the English Channel won him worldwide acclaim. It also brought home to Britain’s leaders and military planners the startling realisation that the country was vulnerable to enemy airborne assault.

A century after the first fixed-wing aircraft crossed the English Channel, it apparently is no big deal. After all, at its narrowest, between Calais and Dover, “the Ditch” is a mere 37 km. Yet, when Louis Blériot successfully completed his flight on July 25, 1909, it was a remarkable feat. Most aircraft of the time could only fly very short distances. Engines were unreliable and prone to overheating and most could run for only about 20 minutes. Pilots prudently avoided long stretches of water so as to be able to head for a field in an emergency. Blériot’s flight was the first across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, and won him a £1,000 prize—a handsome sum in those days.

Louis Blériot was born on July 1, 1872, in a small village near Cambrai, France. After studying engineering in Paris, he invented automobile headlights and established a successful headlamp business. The money helped finance his growing interest in aircraft. In 1900, he actually built an ornithopter, which was supposed to fly by flapping its wings, much like a bird. However, it failed to take off. As lightweight engines became available, Blériot tried various configurations ranging from box-kite biplanes to a canard (tail-first) monoplane and his aircraft became known for their high quality and performance. Then, in 1907, for the first time, he flew a monoplane he had designed himself—the Blériot VII—traversing a distance of over 500 m. Although the craft itself was not a success, its basic design set the pattern for much of Europe’s monoplane development.

A £1000 prize offered by the London Daily Mail for the first successful flight across the English Channel changed Blériot’s life. It encouraged him to develop the monoplane Blériot XI, which had an ash fuselage with supporting struts and wire ties. The shoulder-mounted wing was also wooden. The tail section consisted of a central rudder and elevators at each end of fixed horizontal surfaces. Lateral movement of the aircraft was controlled by wing warping the trailing edges of the wings. The Blériot XI was equipped with a 25-hp engine driving a two-bladed propeller. After setting a European endurance record and winning a cross-country prize, Blériot felt confident about embarking on his perilous expedition, even though he had a severely scalded foot from a recent accident.

The French government provided a destroyer to support him. Blériot finally got airborne at dawn on July 25, 1909. A favourable light, south-westerly breeze was blowing. However, after take-off, he became lost in the clouds, which completely blocked his view of the surface below. He did not have a compass and could not even see the ship. The weather began to deteriorate rapidly. Later, he recalled in typical French fashion: “I am alone. I can see nothing at all. For ten minutes, I am lost.” Suddenly he spotted the green hills of Dover and its castle. The wind had blown him west of the field where he had planned to land. He would have to push his engine further. The turbulence became stronger and airspeed lower as his plane fought the wind. However, the rain that might otherwise have been a problem was cooling his engine. Finally, a most welcome sight—a French flag being waved furiously by his friend. It was the correct spot! Next Blériot had to manoeuvre to avoid buildings near the field. The wind caught his plane and whirled it around two or three times. With his altitude at about 20 m he cut the engine and dropped to the ground. The undercarriage collapsed and the wooden propeller splintered but the crossing was deemed successful.

Blériot’s epic 37-minute flight covering 36.6 km over the English Channel won him worldwide acclaim. It also brought home to Britain’s leaders and military planners the startling realisation that the country was vulnerable to enemy airborne assault. The mighty Royal Navy could no doubt repulse any seaborne invasion, but what about attack from the air?0