|
|
|
Title: Bleriot Airplanes |
|
Description: BLERIOT AIRPLANES. G. Borel & Co. 25 Rue Brunel, Paris This poster from around 1910 shows a Bleriot Type XI monoplane flying over the French coast at night. The Bleriot XI was one of the most famous and influential airplanes of the pre-World War I era. Built by aviation enthusiast Louis Bleriot in 1908, the Type XI catapulted into world fame on July 25, 1909 when Louis Bleriot successfully piloted his machine across the English Channel from Calais to Dover to win the 1,000 pound Daily Mail prize for the first flight over the Channel. Bleriot’s 36 1/2 minute flight captured the public’s imagination in Europe and the U.S. in a way that no other single flight had done up to that time. The British newspapers declared that Great Britain was no longer an island "guarded by the inviolable sea." As when Charles Lindberg soloed the Atlantic nearly 20 years later, this flight meant that the world had suddenly grown smaller. The publicity generated by the cross-Channel flight brought in hundreds of orders for the Bleriot Company. Less than 2 months later, Bleriot had 100 orders for new planes, and by 1914, the firm had sold hundreds of altered and updated models based on the original Type XI design. In addition, many more were manufactured in other countries under license and as illegitimate copies. By the opening of the World War I, the Type XI design was obsolete. The plane’s structure was not substantial enough to handle the higher speeds that the competition travelled at. The Bleriot Company then went on to newer models and produced other well-respected aircraft. |
|
|
|