Louis Blériot

On 25 July 1909 Blériot flew his Type XI monoplane from near Calais to Dover, about 31 miles, in roughly 40 minutes, becoming the first person to fly an aeroplane across the English Channel. The flight won the Daily Mail's 1,000-pound prize.

After experiments from 1900, Blériot made the compact Type XI monoplane his main design; twelve days before the Channel flight he flew it about 25 miles across country. Britannica reports that his factory built more than 800 aircraft between July 1909 and August 1914, many of them Type XI monoplanes or variations, and that in 1914 he took over the makers of the SPAD biplane.

Before turning to aeroplanes, Blériot ran a business making automobile headlamps and accessories; Britannica says the fortune it produced paid for his earliest aeronautical work. Flight described the acetylene lamp bearing his name as world-renowned in 1909, and reported his own estimate that he had spent about 20,000 pounds on aeroplane experiments in nine years.

Flight reports that Blériot got up at about half past two on 25 July 1909, made a short trial flight, and then set out for England at about 4:40 French time with neither compass nor watch. He quickly outpaced the destroyer escorting him and, by his own estimate, spent about ten minutes out of sight of land and ship. Grahame-White and Harper say he chose not to circle and wait for the escort because the wind was rising and he thought his only hope was to fly straight on. Flight's editors judged the flight 'somewhat foolhardy', and noted that Blériot himself admitted as much.

Setting out over open water without a compass and not waiting for the escort is consistent with a high tolerance for risk; the same journal notes the precautions he did take and that luck helped, so the stance had real costs as well. Risk Tolerance

In his history of aeronautics, Charles Turner lists a run of wrecks: the No. IV biplane in a ditch in November 1906, the No. V monoplane days after its first flight in April 1907, the No. VI on 17 September 1907, and the No. VII, which overturned in December 1907 when a wing touched the ground in a turn. Turner writes that Blériot 'at once set to work' designing the No. VIII, and adds that some counted as many as fifty accidents in all. Flight reported in 1909 that he had spent about 20,000 pounds on experiments over nine years.

Rebuilding after each wreck for several years is consistent with persistence; Turner and Flight describe the sequence, not Blériot's own reasons, so the pattern is documented while the motive is not. Persistence

After the Channel flight, orders for the Type XI came quickly. Flight reported in July 1909 that he had sold 15 machines, in August that he had undertaken to deliver thirty-six by November at about 400 pounds each, and in September that he had sold his 101st and, to keep up with deliveries, was giving up a planned flying display in Berlin. Turner writes that he announced he would give up competitions and exhibition flying and devote himself to manufacture, which drew some criticism.

Moving from pilot and experimenter to full-time manufacturer while orders were arriving is consistent with opportunity sensing; the sources report the decision and the criticism, but not his own reasons. Opportunity Sensing