A pilot has successfully flown an original Bleriot monoplane over the English Channel on his second attempt one day after the centenary of the first cross-Channel flight.
Swede Mikael Carlson had planned to make the crossing from France to England on Saturday, but his take-off was scuppered by strong winds.
But Frenchman Edmond Salis made the dawn trip in a replica Bleriot aircraft to mark the exact 100th anniversary of pioneering French pilot Louis Bleriot's flight from the Sangatte cliffs near Calais to Dover Castle in Kent on July 25, 1909.
However, the French authorities deemed conditions too unfavourable for Mr Carlson's afternoon crossing as he sat in the aircraft preparing for take-off.
The Swede arrived at the Duke of York's Royal Military School in Dover just before 9am, 33 minutes after departing from Calais Airport.
Speaking following his landing, he said: "It feels great, it was a lovely flight. We were so lucky with the weather as we had a tail wind when we took off from Calais.
"It worked very well after what happened yesterday, which was frustrating. Of course, it was a disappointment, it was a big black cloud hanging over us, but we've now done the flight."
Mr Carlson paid tribute to Bleriot's past achievement.
He said: "The flight by Bleriot was one of the most important flights that's ever been done, alongside the Wright Brothers and the journey to the Moon.
"Bleriot's flight was exceptional in those days. He was the first to cross the Channel, he wrote history and opened people's eyes."
