blériot

M. Prier told the press that he set off following the River Thames before heading south to Chatham, Canterbury and Dover. I suspect that this photo shows M Prier offering a toast to the success of his flight, before he left Hendon. At the front of his cockpit is a map showing the first part of his route along the Thames. This would date the photo to the morning of 12 April 1911.

Earle Lewis Ovington (December 20, 1879 - 1936) was an American aeronautical engineer, aviator and inventor, and served as a lab assistant to Thomas Edison. Ovington piloted the first official airmail flight in the US in 1911, from Garden City, New York to Mineola, New York. He delivered 640 letters and 1,280 postcards, including a letter to himself from the United States Postal Service designating him as "Official Air Mail Pilot #1." Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earle_Ovington Frank Harris Hitchcock (October 5, 1867 – August 25, 1935), was chairman of Republican National Committee from 1908 to 1909. He was then Postmaster General of the United States under President William Howard Taft from 1909 to 1913. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Harris_Hitchcock The plane is instantly recognizable as a Blériot XI. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bl%c3%a9riot_XI

Other Bain/LOC photos of Earle Lewis Ovington, the first U. S. Airmail pilot:

Photo taken Nassau Boulevard Aerodrome Garden City, Long Island, New York. Notice hangars, helpful in identifying Nassau Boulevard Aerodrome

That mustache definitely belongs to Louise Bleriot (1872-1936), French engineer who flew a plane of his own design across the English channel in 1909: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Blériot

Inverted date on negative seems to read 5/26/27. Bleriot was in the news that day. On May 25, the previous day, he had entertained Charles Lindbergh to lunch and the meeting of theaviator who first crossed the English Channel and the aviator who first crossed the Atlantic was reported in the NYT on May 26, 1927. (subscription needed for access to full article) select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10C12F73C5F1773... LINDBERGH GREETS BLERIOT AS MASTER; Old Victor of English Channel Embraces Young Conqueror of the Atlantic. SEE BIG FUTURE IN THE AIR They Agree Transocean Service Is Possible With Financial and Technical Backing. LINDBERGH GREETS BLERIOT AS MASTER By CARLYLE MACDONALD.Copyright, 1927, by The New York Times CompanySpecial Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.By CARLYLE MACDONALD. May 26, 1927, Thursday PARIS, May 25. -- Louis Bleriot, "the father of Old World aviation," whose flight across the English Channel from Calais to Dover just eighteen years ago was recorded to an unbelieving world, listened today with all the attention of a student to the opinions of Captain Charles A. Lindbergh as the American youth recounted for him the story of his flight from New York to Paris. .... However, I find myself wondering if that is really the date the photo was taken. A picture in an article from the same NYT shows a much older Bleriot and if he has a mustache it is much shorter.

A much more likely date (and location) for the picture -- in which Bleriot looks much the same as at the time of his 1909 flight across the channel -- is April 1912, when he came to New York on the France as part of celebration of Champlain. The stamp at lower right also has a date but is largely obscured. However, the first number is certainly 4. From query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C05E2DE153CE633A... FLOWER OF FRANCE BRINGS RODIN BUST; Distinguished Delegation, Bearing Champlain Memorial, In on New Liner France. April 27, 1912, Saturday The French delegation bringing over the bronze bust executed by Rodin, the gift of the French Nation, which is to be erected at Crown Point, Lake Champlain, N.Y., on May 3, in memory of Samuel de Champlain, the explorer, who discovered the lake on July 20, 1619, arrived yesterday on the new French liner France. See www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2458991233/ for another picture (with only Andrew Carnegie identified) from the same trip. I think Bleriot is probably at the front left on that picture.

This photo was printed in the Morning Oregonian, May 02, 1912, Image 2 . He was indeed a member of the Champlain delegation. About the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse and the Rodin Bust see www.historiclakes.org/crown_pt/champlainlight.htm Flickr photos: www.flickr.com/photos/9171182@N02/4722976302/ www.flickr.com/photos/dougtone/5160062854/

Thanks swanq for the link to the newpaper article. We'll add that info to the catalog record.