[00:00.25]Lesson 20
[00:02.10]Pioneer pilots
[00:09.15]What was the name of the first plane to fly across the English Channel?
[00:15.81]In 1908 Lord Northcliffe offered a prize of 锟?, 000 to the first man who would fly across the English Channel.
[00:26.78]Over a year passed before the first attempt was made.
[00:31.28]On July 19th, 1909, in the early morning,
[00:36.36]Hubert Latham took off from the French coast in his plane the 'Antoinette IV.'
[00:43.14]He had travelled only seven miles across the Channel when his engine failed and he was forced to land on the sea.
[00:52.26]The 'Antoinette' floated on the water until Latham was picked up by a ship.
[00:59.22]Two days later, Louis Bleriot arrived near Calais with a plane called 'No.XI'.
[01:07.16]Bleriot had been making planes since 1905 and this was his latest model.
[01:14.33]A week before, he had completed a successful overland flight during which he covered twenty-six miles.
[01:22.54]Latham, however, did not give up easily.
[01:25.76]He, too, arrived near Calais on the same day with a new 'Antoinette'.
[01:32.20]It looked as if there would be an exciting race across the Channel.
[01:37.19]Both planes were going to take off on July 25th, but Latham failed to get up early enough.
[01:45.05]After making a short test flight at 4.15 a.m., Bleriot set off half an hour later.
[01:53.10]His great flight lasted thirty-seven minutes.
[01:56.90]When he landed near Dover, the first person to greet him was a local policeman.
[02:03.67]Latham made another attempt a week later and got within half a mile of Dover,
[02:09.34]but he was unlucky again.
[02:11.85]His engine failed and he landed on the sea for the second time.
1908年，诺斯克利夫勋爵拿出1,000英镑，作为对第一个飞越英吉利海峡的人的奖励。然而一年多过去了才有人出来尝试。1909年7月19日凌晨，休伯特.莱瑟姆驾驶“安特瓦特4号”飞机从法国海岸起飞，但他只在海峡上空飞行7英里，引擎就发生了故障，他只好降落在海面上。“安特瓦特”号飞机在海上漂浮，后来有船经过，莱瑟姆方才获救。
两天之后，路易斯.布莱里奥驾驶一名为“11号”的飞机来到加来附近。布莱里奥从1905年起便开始研制飞机，“11号”飞机是他制作的最新型号。一周以前，他曾成功地进行了一次26英里的陆上飞行。但是莱瑟姆不肯轻易罢休。同一天，他驾驶一架新的“安特瓦特”号飞机来到了加来附近。看来会有一场激烈的飞越英吉利海峡的竞争。两天飞机都打算在7月25日起飞，但莱瑟姆那天起床晚了。布莱里奥凌晨4点15分作了一次短距离试飞，半小时后便正式出发了。他这次伟大的飞行持续37分钟。当他在多佛着陆后，第一个迎接他的是当地一名警察。莱瑟姆一周以后也作了一次尝试，飞到离多佛不到半英里的地方。这次他又遭厄运，因引擎故障第二次降落在海面上。