"that take-off and landing were to be at locations no more than five miles from the newspaper's offices in those cities. Powered flight was a relatively new invention, and the newspaper's proprietors were keen to stimulate the industry's growth; in 1908 they offered £1,000 for the first flight across the English channel (won on 25 July 1909 by the French aviator Louis Blériot), and £1,000 for the first circular one-mile flight made by a British aviator in a British aeroplane (won on 30 October 1909 by the English aviator John Moore-Brabazon). In 1910, two men accepted the newspaper's 1906 challenge;"
"25, 1909, was the first person to fly across the English Channel. He flew from the beach at Sangatte to the White Cliffs of Dover, to claim the prize offered by the Daily Mail. The crossing took 37 minutes in his aeroplane, Blériot XI, built in collaboration with Raymond Saulnier. It was powered by a 3-cylinder engine. At the western end of the beach, a statue of the French aviator Hubert Latham overlooks the sea (). Latham was another pioneering cross-channel pilot whose earlier attempt on July 19 had failed. Sangatte also achieved notoriety as the location of a controversial"
"first crossing of the English Channel 20 years earlier. On 9 October 1930, Following the R101 Airship disaster in Beauvais, France, 41 Squadron pilots and ground crew formed a part of the Guard of Honour for the Lying-in-State of the 48 victims in the Palace of Westminster. Amongst the dead were the Secretary of State for Air, Brig. Gen. Lord Christopher Thomson PC CBE DSO, and the Director of Civil Aviation, Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker KCB AFC. Thousands filed past to pay their last respects. During the 1930s, displays, sports, competitions, tactical exercises and flying practice were a part"
"Hubert Latham Arthur Charles Hubert Latham (10 January 1883 – 25 June 1912) was a French aviation pioneer. He was the first person to attempt to cross the English Channel in an aeroplane. Due to engine failure during his first of two attempts to cross the Channel, he became the first person to land an aeroplane on a body of water. In August 1909 at the ""Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne"" he set the world altitude record of in his Antoinette IV. In April 1910 he set the official World Airspeed Record of in his Antoinette VII. Latham was"
"January 1916. Eleanor Trehawke Davies Eleanor Josephine Trehawke Davies (1880 – 1915) was an English aviator and the first woman to fly across the English Channel and to have ""looped the loop"" in an aircraft. Davies was born in 1880 in St Pancras, London, the daughter of Frederick and Eleanor Davies. Davies who was known as ""Miss Trehawke Davies"" was never a pilot but known at the time as an ""air companion"" to a number of early aviators. In August 1911 she chartered Horatio Barber to fly her from Hendon to Brighton and back. The flight, hampered by cloud and"
"the flight. At 4:15 am on the 25 July 1909, watched by an excited crowd, Blériot made a short trial flight in his Type XI, and then, on a signal that the sun had risen (the competition rules required a flight between sunrise and sunset), he took off at 4:41 for the attempted crossing. Flying at approximately and an altitude of about 250 ft (76 m), he set off across the Channel. Not having a compass, Blériot took his course from the ""Escopette"", which was heading for Dover, but he soon overtook the ship. The visibility deteriorated, and he later"
"the first time. Esnault Pelterie paced out the length of the flight, measuring it at . This made it the longest flight achieved in France that year to date, and although the flight had not been officially witnessed, Blériot was awarded a special medal by the Aero Club de France for the feat. Blériot VI The Blériot VI ""Libellule"" (""Dragonfly""), was built in 1907 and was one of the series of experimental aircraft built by Louis Blériot which eventually led to the Blériot XI aircraft in which he made the first flight across the English Channel. Abandoning the canard layout"
"Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, a number of examples have been preserved. Both the British and American restored-to-airworthiness examples, each now over a century old and believed to be the two oldest flyable aircraft anywhere on Earth, are usually only ""hopped"" for short distances due to their uniqueness. Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft of the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most famous accomplishments of the"
"Eleanor Trehawke Davies Eleanor Josephine Trehawke Davies (1880 – 1915) was an English aviator and the first woman to fly across the English Channel and to have ""looped the loop"" in an aircraft. Davies was born in 1880 in St Pancras, London, the daughter of Frederick and Eleanor Davies. Davies who was known as ""Miss Trehawke Davies"" was never a pilot but known at the time as an ""air companion"" to a number of early aviators. In August 1911 she chartered Horatio Barber to fly her from Hendon to Brighton and back. The flight, hampered by cloud and high winds,"
"of 1909. Like some of the other prizes offered by the paper, it was widely seen as nothing more than a way to gain cheap publicity: the Paris newspaper ""Le Matin"" commenting that there was no chance of the prize being won. The English Channel had been crossed by an unmanned hydrogen balloon in 1784 and a manned crossing by Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries followed in 1785. Blériot, who intended to fly across the Channel in his Type XI monoplane, had three rivals for the prize, the most serious being Hubert Latham, a French national of English extraction flying"
"an altitude of , landing at Saint-Inglevert after a flight of one and a half hours to the surprise of the airfield manager. The first double crossing of the Channel in a glider was made by Austrian Robert Kronfeld on 20 June. In a glider called ""Wien"", he took off from Saint-Inglevert by means of an aero-tow to an altitude of , and landed at the former RAF Swingfield airfield near Dover, Kent. From Swingfield, another aero-tow to an altitude of enabled him to return to Saint-Inglevert. Kronfeld received a £1,000 prize from the ""Daily Mail"" for his flights, which"
"of varying configurations were produced, each one marginally more successful than its predecessor, and culminating in the Type XI with which he became famous for being the first to fly across the English Channel in 1909. The publicity gained by this achievement brought the company orders for large numbers of the Type XI, and several hundred were eventually made. This commercial success enabled the research side of the business to expand considerably, and in the years before the First World War a startlingly heterogeneous collection of aircraft were produced, although none came close to being as successful as the Type"
"25 July 1909, he made the first flight across the English Channel. Shortly afterward the W3 configuration was changed to a 120°-angle, three-cylinder radial engine configuration as the original W3 engine's replacement. The 1917 Napier Lion aircraft engine was an early W12 engine. Lorraine built the 12Ed and 18Ka aero-engines of and in the early 1920s, while Isotta Fraschini built the 18-cylinder Asso 750 and Asso 1000 of and in the late 1920s. At the same time the Farman 12We was used by many aircraft; Farman also built a W18. A three-bank W12 design was also pursued by Audi, which"
"English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft and set up his headquarters in the unused shed. In Britain, the earliest aircraft hangars were known as aeroplane sheds and the oldest survivors of these are at Larkhill, Wiltshire. These were built in 1910 for the Bristol School of Flying and are now Grade II* Listed buildings. British aviation pioneer Alliott Verdon Roe built one of the first aeroplane sheds in 1907 at Brooklands, Surrey and full-size replicas of this and the 1908 Roe biplane are on display at Brooklands Museum. As aviation became established in Britain before World War I, standard designs"
"Aviators flying circus, as his passenger. On August 17, 1910, he flew the first flight with a passenger across the English Channel. His passengers on the flight were Albert Fileux, his mechanic, and his cat, Mademoiselle Fifi. This feat was accomplished on Moisant's sixth flight as a pilot. At the Belmont International Aviation Tournament at Belmont Park, New York, John Moisant flew his Blériot XI around a marker balloon 10 miles (16 kilometers) away and returned to the racetrack in only 39 minutes, winning an $850 prize. After this initial competition, Moisant collided his brake-less Blériot into another aircraft while"
"Claude Grahame-White Claude Grahame-White (21 August 1879 – 19 August 1959) was an English pioneer of aviation, and the first to make a night flight, during the ""Daily Mail""-sponsored 1910 London to Manchester air race. Grahame-White was born in Bursledon, Hampshire in England on 21 August 1879, and educated at Bedford Grammar School. He learned to drive in 1895, was apprenticed as an engineer and later started his own motor engineering company. Grahame-White's interest in aviation was sparked by Louis Blériot's crossing of the English Channel in 1909. This prompted him to go to France, where he attended the Reims"
"Claude Grahame-White Claude Grahame-White (21 August 1879 – 19 August 1959) was an English pioneer of aviation, and the first to make a night flight, during the ""Daily Mail""-sponsored 1910 London to Manchester air race. Grahame-White was born in Bursledon, Hampshire in England on 21 August 1879, and educated at Bedford Grammar School. He learned to drive in 1895, was apprenticed as an engineer and later started his own motor engineering company. Grahame-White's interest in aviation was sparked by Louis Blériot's crossing of the English Channel in 1909. This prompted him to go to France, where he attended the Reims"
"in the capable hands of the western man and the boy, to be reunited at Hungroad or Kingroad. Records from Pill suggest that the first official Bristol Channel pilot was barge master George James Ray, appointed by the Corporation of Bristol in May 1497 to pilot John Cabot's from Bristol harbour to the open sea beyond. However, this is more likely legend as no written records exist. In 1837 Pilot George Ray guided Brunel's , and in 1844 William Ray piloted the larger on her maiden voyage. Cutters would leave their home-port in the Channel for the Western Approaches in"
"mass for the Channel flight was almost . To maintain the craft in the air, it was designed with very long, tapering wings (high aspect ratio), like those of a glider, allowing the flight to be undertaken with a minimum of power. In still air, the required power was on the order of , though even mild turbulence made this figure rise rapidly. Just before 6 am on June 12, 1979, amateur cyclist and pilot Bryan Allen, powered the ""Albatross"" to the rehearsed speed of 75 revolutions per minute and took off from a point near Folkestone, England. The Channel"
"twenty seconds. He bought one of six Wright Flyer aircraft built by Short Brothers under licence from the Wright Brothers and from early October 1909 made more than 200 flights. Founder in 1901 with Frank Hedges Butler of the ballooning club that became the Royal Aero Club in March 1910 he was the second person they licensed to fly an aeroplane. He became the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane taking 95 minutes on 2 June 1910. For this feat, which included the first East-bound aerial crossing of the English Channel, he"
"the first woman to fly combat missions as a bomber pilot and established air ambulance services throughout the world, and Infante Alfonso, Duke of Galliera, cousin of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and the first Spanish military pilot. In the spring of 1909, Latham made several impressive flights. This convinced Levavasseur that Latham could cross the English Channel in an Antoinette aircraft and win the ""Daily Mail"" prize for doing so. Latham made two attempts to cross the English Channel in July 1909, both of which were unsuccessful due to engine failure while over the Channel. Between Latham's attempts, former"
"in 1923 for the longest time to make the crossing successfully. Henry Sullivan (swimmer) Henry Sullivan (born c. 1893) was an American marathon swimmer who is best known for becoming the third person and the first American to swim across the English Channel, beginning his swim on the afternoon of August 5, 1923, from Dover, England and finishing 27 hours and 25 minutes later on the evening of August 6 at Calais, France. The son of a businessman from Lowell, Massachusetts, Sullivan had been swimming since he was eight years old. He first attempted to make the crossing in 1913,"
"crossed the English Channel aboard the ""Élise"", ex the Scottish p.s. ""Margery"" in March 1816, one of the earliest seagoing voyages by steam ship. The paddle steamer ""Defiance"", Captain William Wager, was the first steamer to cross the Channel to Holland, arriving there on 9 May 1816. On 10 June 1821, English-built paddle steamer ""Rob Roy"" was the first passenger ferry to cross channel. The steamer was purchased subsequently by the French postal administration and renamed ""Henri IV"" and put into regular passenger service a year later. It was able to make the journey across the Straits of Dover in"
"1909, the same day that Louis Blériot succeeded in crossing the channel in his Blériot XI. Undaunted, Latham made the attempt anyway on 27 July. Unfortunately, the result was the same, with Latham making a forced landing this time within sight of the English coast only away. He and the aircraft were rescued by HMS ""Russell"". The following month, Latham flew the same aircraft at the ""Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne"", winning the prize for altitude (155 m, 509 ft) and coming second in the contest for the fastest circuit, with a speed of 68.9 km/h, 42.8 mph Antoinette"
"and with similar honours from Turkey, Brazil and Sweden. Charles Manby Charles Manby, FRS (4 February 1804 – 31 July 1884) was Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers from November 1839 to 1856, and engineer of the first iron steamer to cross the English Channel. Fluent in French, he installed gas piping into Paris and advised on the construction of the Suez Canal. Manby was born in Cowes on the Isle of Wight to Aaron and Juliana Manby, née Fewster. Aaron Manby was a successful engineer building bridges, ships and engines. As a child Charles attended a Roman Catholic"
"John Moisant John Bevins Moisant (April 25, 1868 – December 31, 1910), known as the ""King of Aviators,"" was an American aviator, aeronautical engineer, flight instructor, businessman, and revolutionary. As a pilot, he was the first to conduct passenger flights over a city (Paris), as well as across the English Channel, from Paris to London. He also co-founded a prominent flying circus, the Moisant International Aviators. Moisant funded his aviation career with proceeds from business ventures in El Salvador, where he had led two failed revolutions and coup attempts against President Figueroa in 1907 and 1909. Only months after becoming"
"and club member Kit Nicholson. The LGC soon became one of the biggest gliding clubs in the country. It hosted many National gliding competitions, and many national and world records were set from it. On 22 April 1939 the first soaring flight across the English Channel was made by Geoffrey Stephenson in a Slingsby Gull 1 glider. The launch was by winch and the landing place was Le Wast in France. During World War II the airfield was taken over by the military and for the duration was used as a prisoner of war camp. Most of the prisoners were"
"on 5 August 1905, the flight lasting 85 minutes. This was soon followed by an improved ""Willows No. 2"", in which he landed outside Cardiff City Hall on 4 June 1910. No. 2 was re-built as No. 3 which he named the ""City of Cardiff"" before he flew it from London to Paris in 1910. This was the first airship crossing of the English Channel at night and the first from England to France. The journey was not without incident, including dropping the maps over the side during the night, and problems with the envelope caused the airship to land"
"Cecil Grace Cecil Stanley Grace (1880 – 22 December 1910) was a pioneer aviator who went missing on a flight across the English Channel in 1910. Grace was born in Chile, the son of John William Grace of New York. His uncle was W. R. Grace, a former mayor of New York City. Grace was naturalised as a British citizen in October 1910. In 1909 members of the Aero Club of Great Britain established a flying ground at Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey. Grace was one of this early group of pioneering aviators, and in 1910 he was awarded"
"industrial units, private housing and a school, with the names of many roads reflecting the previous history as an airfield. The site had been associated with flying since as early as 1905 when Ernest Willows built his first airship at Pengam. His third airship ""Willows No. 3 - City of Cardiff"" flew from Cardiff to London on 6 August 1910. The flight established Willows as the first person to fly across the Bristol Channel and was the longest flight achieved in Britain at the time. He immediately followed this with a flight from London to Paris establishing the first airship"
"1883. They moved to England and raised four children, including Rhodes-Moorhouse who went to Harrow School and (briefly) Trinity Hall, Cambridge which he left in 1909. Rhodes-Moorhouse took private flying lessons and gained his pilot's certificate in that year. Besides designing aircraft he competed in aviation races and was the first to cross the English Channel, from Douai to Ashford, Kent, with two passengers, his wife and a London ""Evening News"" journalist, in a biplane. He changed his surname to Rhodes-Moorhouse in 1912, shortly before he married, as required by the will of his grandfather. His wife, Linda Beatrice Morrit,"
"Tunnelling the English Channel Tunneling the English Channel () is a 1907 silent film by pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès. The plot follows King Edward VII and President Armand Fallières dreaming of building a tunnel under the English Channel. The idea of building a tunnel under the Channel was much discussed in 1907; Méliès's film is a highly topical take on the popular subject. Méliès appears in the film as the engineer who presents the blueprints for the tunnel. Fernande Albany, an actress who also appeared in Méliès's ""The Impossible Voyage"", ""An Adventurous Automobile Trip"", and ""The Conquest of the Pole"","
"across the English Channel in 1954, initially using a fleet of Bristol Freighter twin-engined, piston-powered planes. These were later supplemented and eventually superseded by the larger-capacity, four-engined Carvairs. The Carvair design was based on the Douglas DC-4 piston-engined airliner. It involved raising the aircraft's cockpit ""above"" the fuselage in a 747-style bulge so as to create more space for vehicles and/or passengers on the main deck. It also involved replacing the DC-4's original tail fin with a newly designed, larger DC-7-style fin as well as equipping the aircraft with a Bristol Freighter-type nose-loading cargo door, more powerful brakes and a"