Louis Blériot: the aviator who crossed the English Channel and made history

Discover the life of Louis Blériot, a pioneer of aviation and an iconic figure in French history.

The engineer who invented the first car headlights

Louis Blériot was born on July 1st, 1872 in Cambrai, in the Nord region. His parents, Louis Charles Blériot and Clémence Marie Eugénie Candeliez, enrolled him at the Institution Notre-Dame de Cambrai and then at the lycée in Amiens before their son was admitted, in 1892, to the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris. Freshly graduated, Blériot joined the Baguès house, specialized in lighting creation. This professional experience led, in 1905, to the creation of the L. Blériot Companies, specialized in the manufacture of acetylene headlights for the automotive industry. Blériot thus made his fortune by allowing drivers to drive at night 

Bird, duck, dragonfly, his inspirations are numerous

This industrial success is far from satisfying the engineer's creative passion. Fascinated by Clément Ader's School, or the first airplane prototype inspired by bat movements, Blériot invests much of his savings in the creation of a first airplane model. We thus find, first, the Blériot I, his mechanical bird capable of taking off; then followed by the Blériot II, the Blériot III, the Blériot IV, the Blériot IV bis, and many other prototypes between 1903 and 1909. Over these six years, Blériot got closer to Julien Mamet, future aviator, and will employ businessmen for the manufacture of his different airplane models. Bird, duck, dragonfly, his inspirations are numerous and his determination does not waver, even when broke: Blériot will mark the history of aviation.

The challenge: crossing the English Channel by airplane

In 1909, it was the British newspaper the Daily Mail that originated the challenge of crossing the English Channel by airplane. 25,000 gold francs were at stake, a significant amount for the engineer who had spent all his earnings on these prototypes! Three would attempt to succeed in this bet: Hubert Latham with Antoinette, his airplane; the Count de Lambert with his Wright biplane, and Blériot with his Blériot XI model. After the failure of the first candidate to achieve this challenge, Blériot decides to try his luck to avoid being overtaken by the next competitor.

40 long kilometers of crossing between Sangatte and Dover, at 80 meters altitude, his leg burned following an accident… After 26 minutes of flight, Blériot lands in England and officially succeeds in the first crossing of the English Channel by airplane, a feat! Acclaimed by the crowd, he will even be received by the king the next day!

Following this immense success, orders pour in and Blériot can comfortably enjoy his seven children. He will never stop innovating, like with the AeroBus in 1910, the first airplane designed for passenger transport. And at the dawn of World War I, his military Blériot-XI will equip a good part of the French, British, Italian, Belgian, Russian, and Serbian military forces. The end of the war will then lead him to develop a motorcycle with rather mixed success...

In any case, there is one thing to remember from this incredible journey: Blériot's determination in designing airplanes and confirming their utility! Blériot had over 30 flight failures in just 2 years and he couldn’t swim but took the risk of crossing the English Channel… What a story of Ancestors!