Triumphant Failure At Sangatte: Challenging the English Channel in a Monoplane

By Stephen H. King | Aviation History  | one comment  |  Print This Post  |  Email This Post

To Levavasseur, an airplane’s appearance was every bit as important as its performance, not surprising given that he was an avid sculptor and painter. His Antoinette was truly a testament to engineering genius allied with artistic flair. The plane was so meticulously crafted that many thought it belonged in a museum. The hours of labor required to construct it represented up to 10 times that needed for other airplanes of the day. The effort demanded skilled artisans of several disciplines, along with special preparations and tools, driving production costs ever higher.

Ash and spruce were used for the individual moldings, many of them bent with steam for more attractive lines, and only expensive red cedar was employed for the front fuselage paneling. The cedar veneer panels were fastened with burnished copper nails, which were polished with glass sandpaper and pumice stone for maximum smoothness. Then several coats of oil, each a different grade, were applied, and the panels got three or four coats of glistening varnish to make them impervious to moisture and to cut down on air resistance. The wings and fuselage, aside from the cedar panels and copper cooling tubes just behind the engine, were covered with rubberized linen developed by Dunlop Tire in England. No expense was spared to ensure that the plane combined superior agility with great strength.

Levavasseur was justifiably proud of his design. He gloated over one reporter’s comments about the Antoinette’s performance at the Reims aviation meet: “Down the hill sailed the Antoinette with the perfect precision and grace of a bird’s flight…like a giant dragonfly skimming with iridescent wings through the summer air. Just as it took its flight the sun broke through and made its white, varnished skin shimmer in a golden haze.”

Latham’s languid demeanor and cool hauteur, combined with the Antoinette’s regal bearing, made for performances never to be forgotten. No other competitor, not even other Antoinette pilots, in all the aviation events in France from August 1909 through June 1911 drew applause nearly every time his airplane passed in front of the grandstands.

Latham did have at least one early competitor for his Channel attempt, a Russian-born count with French citizenship, Charles de Lambert, who had studied with Wilbur Wright at his school in Pau, France. The count decided he would pilot his own Wright Flyer and go for the prize. But when de Lambert repeatedly experienced engine trouble and crashed on a practice flight, badly damaging his plane, he gave up on the competition.

Once the Antoinette had been reassembled at Sangatte, all that held Latham back was the weather. One miserable day followed another until July 18, when it was finally clear enough for a practice run. Levavasseur intended Latham to make a short flight, land, refuel and then go up for a longer flight, staying aloft for at least 45 minutes. Latham flew for several minutes, but then crashed on landing. Fortunately only a wheel strut had been damaged, and it was easily fixed.

By the time repairs were completed, however, the weather had worsened, and Latham was unable to get in his critical second endurance flight. Levavasseur, generally cautious when his inventions were on display, astounded the Antoinette camp by announcing that Latham was ready to make his Channel attempt, perhaps even the next day. Apparently the designer, tired of waiting, was willing to forego the second test flight.

Harpon, a French torpedo-destroyer, would accompany Latham as far as possible. Another logistical detail for the Antoinette team involved fine-tuning the Marconi wireless system. The Daily Mail’s reporter Harry Harper, who was not about to miss one second of this momentous event, had arranged to receive weather reports from Dover, England, which would be another historic first.

That night, after performing some static tests on the Antoinette’s engine, Levavasseur and the rest of the crew went back to their hotel in Sangatte. Disdaining that modest establishment, Latham opted to drive to Calais, where he stayed at the city’s finest hotel.

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Tags: Aviation History, Flight Technology, Historical Figures

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