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LILLE (France) - A FRENCHMAN on Sunday began his bid to cross the English Channel in a pedal-powered airship, two days after a Swiss adventurer made the trip on only a jet-powered wing.
Stephane Rousson left the beach at Hythe, near the English port of Dover, and was scheduled to arrive in Wissant in northern France about five hours later, his support team told AFP.
If he succeeds he will be the second person to fly into the record books this week after Switzerland's Yves Rossy landed Friday near Dover after making the journey over one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
Rousson, 39, made a first attempt to cross the Channel suspended from his helium-filled miniature Zeppelin in Jun but was forced to give up due to strong winds.
He will make the 45-kilometre crossing in a semi-recumbent position, 30 metres above the sea, and navigate using two large propellers, one on each side of his seat under the balloon.
In March 1993, Nicolas Hulot and Gerard Feldzer abandoned their bid to cross the Atlantic in a pedal-powered airship after flying 1,500 kilometres.
French inventor Louis Bleriot was the first person to fly across the English Channel in a plane 99 years ago, taking 37 minutes for the trip.
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