He is the first aviator to fly across the English Channel: Who is Louis Bleriot?

(1872-1936) French aviator and aircraft maker. He was the first aviator to cross the English Channel by plane. He was born on July 1, 1872, in Cambrai. He invested the money he earned in some small inventions related to the bicycle and automobile industry in aviation studies. He first developed several glider models. After the combustion engines were made light enough to be used in aircraft, he turned to aircraft design. After several unsuccessful flight attempts, his record flight over the English Channel in a monoplane of his design in 1909 earned him both fame and a British newspaper prize of £1,000. Bleriot, who designed various training and combat aircraft for the French Air Force during World War I and played an important role in the development of civil aviation after the war, died on August 2, 1936, in Paris.

In 1890, Bleriot was 18 and decided to become an aviator when Ader took off in his monoplane called the "Eole", proving that a heavier-than-air vehicle could also fly. Having saved enough money to implement this decision, he embarked on his first flight trials with the glider. However, both Bleriot's and other aviators' test flights on the River Seine with gliders pulled by marine engines were always unsuccessful. After the Wright brothers' successful flights in the United States in 1903, Bleriot, who decided to try powered airplanes instead of gliders, developed a monoplane model similar to Ader's and made its first long flight on January 21, 1908. In the summer of 1908, the most famous pilots of France and England gathered at Calais to cross the English Channel from the air. They chose between Calais on the French coast and Dover on the English coast because it was the narrowest part of the sea. Hubert Latham (1883-1912), who set off on July 19 in his 50 HP monoplane named “Antoinette”, fell into the sea because the engine of the plane broke down midway and was rescued by a French torpedo. Six days later, on July 25, Bleriot took off from Baraques near Calais in a 25 HP "Bleriot XI" monoplane. He flew the 38km route at an average speed of 70km/h and landed on a hill near Dover.

This success not only increased the interest in aviation in Europe and the confidence of those who were skeptical of the development of aircraft but also showed that the oceans that hindered close intercontinental relations could be crossed.