The flight of heavier-than-air craft has marked as it were the triumph of man over gravity; while, “the struggle of power versus weight” constitutes an outstanding feature of technical development. Aviation was effectively born on that day when the mechanical engineer was able to design a sufficiently light engine: in France, Ader who conceived and made use of a steam engine weighing only 6.5 lb./B.H.P. (3 kg./C.V.) is credited with the first flight, in October 1897, of a piloted aircraft. A few years later, the Wright Brothers bettered the exploit, thanks to a sufficiently light engine, this time a petrol engine.

The aeroplane in which Louis Blériot flew across the Channel is worthy of attention today, because it is typical of the 1909–1910 type of aeroplane.