Keith Ferris Originals

Louis Bleriot is credited with creating the first monoplane with tractor engine, enclosed fuselage, rear mounted horizontal and vertical tail control surfaces and two-wheel main landing gear with tailwheel, which he first flew in the fall of 1907 as the Bleriot VII. This basic configuration is still regarded as the conventional platform among propeller driven airplanes today.

 

With his subsequent Bleriot XI of the same configuration, Louis Bleriot is seen during this July 25, 1909 flight from France to England as he became the first man to cross the English Channel in an airplane. At such a low altitude, he was out of sight of land for much of his 36.5minute flight. Bleriot had certainly demonstrated “Faith and Fortitude”  

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