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^[[1st Crossing of the Channel
July 26 1909]]

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^[[Morning Post-July 26, 1909]]
In spite of the interest with which the preparations to fly the English Channel have been watched and the admiration evoked by M. LATHAM's plucky attempt, the news that at last the feat has been accomplished will come to most Englishmen as a shock. We are a cautious race, sceptical of all innovation, and not a few have at heart disbelieved the probability of success, at least for many years. But here it is; conjecture and theorising are at an end: this country not only can be, but has been, reached by mechanical flight.  The first thought must be that of admiration for M. BLERIOT, and everyone will be ready to join in the enthusiastic congratulations of those who were able to greet him in Dover. We publish a full account of the flight from Baraques to the landing place in the fields behind Dover. So rapid was the journey through the air that although the intention to make the flight and the actual start were signalled by wireless telegraphy to Dover the preparations which has been made to notify the townspeople could not be used, and before warning was given the attempt had already been crowned with success. While fully and freely congratulating M. BLERIOT, it is impossible not to feel a touch of jealousy that this historic achievement has not fallen to the lot of an Englishman, the more so when it is realised that M. BLERIOT's success is due not to personal prowess alone but to the fact that his countrymen had been working without stint of time, money, or enthusiasm to perfect the instruments which have made his triumph possible. If the problem of flight was of scientific interest or even of commercial utility alone this country could afford to look with equanimity at the progress other nations are making, but since at the present time the practical aspect of flight which absorbs attention and completely overshadows all others is the use of flying machines in time of war, no nation, and least of all the United Kingdom, can afford to be one whit behind the foremost of its competitors. It is difficult for the ordinary citizen to realise that the progress made in flight during the last year alone is revolutionising many of the accepted ideas of warfare, and threatening the traditional safeguards upon which this island has relied in the past. While in other countries the sight of an airship steering a deliberate course from point to point is rapidly becoming too commonplace to need comment, here such a spectacle is not merely rare; few believe it possible. In so far as the crossing of the Channel comes as a surprise to the Englishman it is because he lacks the opportunity to appreciate the meaning of flight which is given to the population of foreign capitals. Many Londoners have in the last week realised more about the Navy than ever in their lives before, simply because they have been able to see the ships of which they have so often read. The Navy holds its place secure in immemorial tradition; the necessity for its supremacy is recognised, but if this new need of a new form of fighting machine and of a new expenditure is to find its true place in the national mind the ordinary man must be roused by the sight of airships, and must be roused at once. The idea that any country can wait and watch foreign developments is a perilous one, for progress is so rapid. Only a year ago flights of a few minutes duration were startling and almost incredible. To-day the Channel is crossed. Just as the flights of the WRIGHTS in America were disbelieved in this country so the progress and achievements of the dirigible balloons with which France and Germany are equipped receive only a cursory and half-sceptical attention. They rather than the heavier-than-air machines are the craft which must be accepted as a vital part of the preparation for national defence. For many years it is improbable that any form of aeroplane will be developed far enough to carry the equipment of men, armament, and wireless telegraphic apparatus which will make them formidable engines of war, but the dirigible is already established as a potent military machine. Every month great advances are made, and every month of delay increase the danger. Yesterday's success must bring home with new force to every thoughtful man the pressing need for educating this country. Te continued support received by the National Airship Fund provides the means. It is seeing that is believing, and it may be hoped that soon every important town in the country will have had the chance of believing in the necessity for the energetic construction of military airships because it has itself seen a modern dirigible. 

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