A fantastic image of Belgian Cycling Champion and Aviator Charles-Louis Van Den Born.
Charles-Louis Van Den Born rode as a professional from 1897 to 1910 and again from 1914 to 1916. Van Den Born was a seven-time Vitesse Champion of Belgium, a bronze medal winner at the 1907 European Championships and the World Track Championships in 1908.
In 1909 Van Den Born met one of the early pioneers of aviation, Henri Farman on a train. He went on the become the sixth Belgian to obtain a pilot’s license in 1910 and won the Buirette prize that same year with a Farman biplane, by flying the Bouy Aerodrome Circuit. Farman then entrusted him with the management of his flight school. He was the first aviator to land in Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou. In January 1911, he gave a flight demonstration for the King of Sian, Rama VI. When World War I broke out, he returned to Europe to join the Belgian Air Force.
In 1997 to commemorate the first flight in Hong Kong, Van Den Born’s plane, named Spirit of Sha Tin, was rebuilt and flown on the Feast of the King of the Belgians on November. The plane is now on display at the Hong Kong International Airport.
All of the postal cards on our site are original, with no reproductions.
As many of the cards are quite old and one-of-a-kind, please look carefully a the photos to determine their condition.
Vitesse, also known as “sprint” in English, was a 2-3 lap track race between two riders starting from the same position on the track. A draw determined which rider started in the upper and lower positions on the track. This was a very short, but tactical race, with the winner crossing the line first.
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All of the postal cards on our site are original, with no reproductions.
As many of the cards are quite old and one-of-a-kind, please look carefully a the photos to determine their condition.
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