Blériot, Louis

Blériot, Louis (lwē blārēō`), 1872–1936, French aviator and inventor. He devoted the fortune acquired by his invention of an automobile searchlight to the invention and construction of monoplanes. After making several short-distance records, he was the first to cross (July 25, 1909) the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine.

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Blériot, Louis

(born July 1, 1872, Cambrai, France—died Aug. 2, 1936, Paris) French aviator who made the first airplane flight across the English Channel between continental Europe and Great Britain. A successful manufacturer of automotive accessories, Blériot also built and tested a variety of powered aircraft. On July 25, 1909, he piloted his Blériot XI, a monoplane with a 28-horsepower engine, from Calais, France, to Dover, Eng., winning a prize of £1,000 and demonstrating the power of airplanes to overcome geographic barriers. Blériot remained a leader of the aviation industry through World War I and in the immediate postwar decade.

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Blériot, Louis 

Born July 1, 1872, in Cambrai; died Aug. 1, 1936, in Paris. French engineer, airplane designer, and pilot; a pioneer in aviation.

In 1900, Blériot began to build gliders and ornithopters, and in 1906, airplanes. In 1908 he completed an airplane flight over a course of 14 km, and in 1909 he made the first flight across the English Channel. Airplanes using Blériot’s system were subsequently in wide use in French aviation.

REFERENCES

Rubel-Blériot, S. “Blériot—My Father,” parts 1–2. Air Trails Pictorial, vol. 24, 1945, nos. 1–2.