First international aviation event. Artwork of spectators cheering as a group of biplanes fly past at the first international aviation meeting, in Reims, France, in 1909. La Grande Semaine d'Aviation took place from 22-29 August 1909. The event followed the excitement caused by Bleriot's successful flight across the English Channel, and large numbers of people, including royalty, generals, ambassadors and the wealthy, congregated on the Betheny Plain outside Reims. Plane manufacturers in attendance included Bleriot, Voisin, Antoinette and Farman. The main race was won by the US aviator Glenn Curtiss. Artwork published in 1909, in the Parisian daily newspaper Le Petit Journal.