A French pilot has recreated the first-ever flight across the English Channel in a monoplane like the one that Louis Bleriot flew in 1909, complete with a wooden propeller, bicycle wheels and an engine about as powerful as a lawnmower. Edmond Salis took off from Bleriot Beach, near Calais on France’s northern coast, at 9.13am local time on Saturday (1713 AEST), arriving 40 minutes later in Dover.

That’s just slightly longer than it took Bleriot, who made his historic crossing July 25, 1909, in 38 minutes.

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