History of aviation – September 18, 1928. On this Tuesday, September 18, 1928, it is the Spanish pilot Juan de La Cierva who is making aeronautical news, the latter wanting on this day to “measure” himself against the English Channel. In fact, he plans to take the path to the sky not far from London, in Great Britain, to reach the Paris region. A trip he wants to make with an autogyro.
It is from Croydon aerodrome that he will take off, installed at the controls of an aircraft that he himself designed, namely a C.8L-II which is halfway between an airplane and a helicopter, having a propeller on the front like an airplane and a rotor with four movable wings in a cross, like a helicopter. Everything is set in motion thanks to a 240 horsepower engine.
Escorted by an Air-Union Goliath, Juan de La Cierva will begin his journey on September 18, 1928, at 10:05 a.m., leaving for France, accompanied by a passenger: the director of the newspaper L’illustration, M .Baschet. Making a stopover at Saint-Inglevert and Abbeville, Juan de La Cierva will arrive at his destination after 2 hours and 55 minutes of flight, flying across the Channel for 20 minutes. It was 4:23 p.m. when he landed at Le Bourget. A great performance, praised among others by Mr. Laurent-Eynac, Mr. Rviensé and Mr. Bardel, respectively Minister of Air, director of the Bourget aerodrome and director of Air-Union.
