Air-board inventor makes it more than halfway across Channel

SANGATTE, France — Looking like a superhero, the French inventor of an airborne hoverboard glided partway over the English Channel on his personal flying machine then crashed in the sea Thursday. After being rescued from the Channel’s choppy waters, Zapata smiled and said, “We won’t give up until we succeed.” Zapata took off to cross the Channel from the French coastal town of Sangatte. He scheduled Thursday’s flight to coincide with the 110th anniversary of the first flight across the Channel, by French aviator Louis Bleriot on July 25, 1909 — who also left from Sangatte. Noting that Bleriot also had several failed flying attempts, Zapata said, “Aviation is made by people who suffer failures, and advance by rising again.” ___ Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.